Finnish Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Perceived Competence in Early Childhood Physical Education

This is a sel -a chi ed e sion o an o iginal a icle. This e sion may di e om he o iginal in pagina ion and ypog aphic de ails. Au ho (s): Ti le: Yea : Ve sion: Copy igh : Righ s: Righ s u l: Please ci e he o iginal e sion: CC BY 4.0 h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/ Finnish P e-Se ice Teache s’ Pe cep ions o Pe cei ed Compe ence in Ea ly Childhood Physical Educa ion © 2021 by he au ho s. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land. Published e sion Soini, Anne; Wa , An hony; Sääkslah i, A ja Soini, A., Wa , A., & Sääkslah i, A. (2021). Finnish P e-Se ice Teache s’ Pe cep ions o Pe cei ed Compe ence in Ea ly Childhood Physical Educa ion. In e na ional Jou nal o En i onmen al Resea ch and Public Heal h, 18(12), A icle 6454. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/ije ph18126454 2021 In e na ional Jou nal o En i onmen al Resea ch and Public Heal h A icle Finnish P e-Se ice Teache s’ Pe cep ions o Pe cei ed Compe ence in Ea ly Childhood Physical Educa ion Anne Soini 1,* , An hony Wa 2and A ja Sääkslah i 3   Ci a ion: Soini, A.; Wa , A.; Sääkslah i, A. Finnish P e-Se ice Teache s’ Pe cep ions o Pe cei ed Compe ence in Ea ly Childhood Physical Educa ion. In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/ ije ph18126454 Academic Edi o : Palma Chillón Ga zón Recei ed: 23 May 2021 Accep ed: 11 June 2021 Published: 15 June 2021 Publishe ’s No e: MDPI s ays neu al wi h ega d o ju isdic ional claims in published maps and ins i u ional a il- ia ions. Copy igh : © 2021 by he au ho s. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land. This a icle is an open access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms and condi ions o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion (CC BY) license (h ps:// c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1Depa men o Educa ion, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, 40014 Jy äskylä, Finland 2 College o A s and Educa ion, Vic o ia Uni e si y, Melbou ne, VIC 8001, Aus alia; an hony[email p o ec ed] 3 Facul y o Spo and Heal h Sciences, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, 40014 Jy äskylä, Finland; [email p o ec ed] *Co espondence: [email p o ec ed] Abs ac : Ea ly childhood educa ion and ca e (ECEC) eache s ha e a cen al ole in suppo ing young child en’s physical ac i i y (PA) and o e all de elopmen in he ea ly yea s. Howe e , he alue o ea ly childhood educa ion eache aining (ECETT) p og ammes is no widely unde s ood. This s udy aimed o in es iga e p e-se ice eache s’ pe cep ions o pe cei ed compe ence when (1) suppo ing a child’s PA, (2) eaching PE, and (3) obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA. These sel -e alua ions we e compa ed wi h a ange o indi idual, educa ional, and beha iou al cha ac e is ics. Final-yea Bachelo deg ee p e-se ice eache s (n= 274; 54%) om se en uni e si ies in Finland pa icipa ed in he sel - epo ques ionnai e. The esul s o he linea eg ession models showed ha he ele an PE s udies and p e ious expe iences o p e-se ice eache s p edic ed highe pe cei ed compe ence o suppo ing a child’s PA, eaching PE, and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA. Thus, he s udy indings demons a ed how eache aining could posi i ely in luence pe cep ions and a i udes o inc ease a pe son’s pe cei ed compe ence when implemen ing PE in he ea ly yea s. O e all, esul s ein o ce he impo ance o PE in ECETT, and he ime de o ed o his syllabus a ea should be main ained o inc eased. Keywo ds: ea ly childhood educa ion eache aining; physical educa ion; p e-se ice eache ; pe cei ed compe ence 1. In oduc ion Li elong physical ac i i y (PA) pa e ns ha e been egula ly epo ed as de eloping in ea ly childhood [ 1 – 4 ]. Recen ecommenda ions om he Wo ld Heal h O ganisa ion [ 4 ] ou line ha young child en should engage in a minimum o 180 min o PA and a mos 60 min o sc een-based seden a y ime pe day. Addi ionally, h ee hou s o PA pe day o any in ensi y is ecommended in Finland [ 5 ]. Howe e , i emains o global conce n ha child en do no each he le els o daily PA p oposed in he in e na ional guidelines and wi hin he Finnish p eschool-age popula ion e.g., [ 6 , 7 ]. Th ough he suppo o amilies, ea ly childhood educa ion and ca e (ECEC) se ings a e ins i u ions ha se e a c i ical ole in inc easing PA le els and imp o ing he heal h and de elopmen o young child en e.g., [ 8 – 13 ]. Wi hin eache educa ion ields, i is impo an o e alua e he skills and knowledge o indi iduals as hey p og ess h ough hei p o essional p epa a ion [ 14 ]. Examining p e-se ice eache s’ pe cep ions o hei ea ly childhood educa ion eache aining (ECETT) will suppo p og amme de elopmen and, subsequen ly, quali y o physical educa ion (PE) deli e y o in-se ice ECEC. Acco ding o Howell and Sääkslah i [ 15 ], no s anda d speci ica ions in ea ly yea s PE cu iculums ha e been desc ibed. Belgium and he UK encou age wo hou s a week o PE wi hin he cu iculums. In addi ion, I eland and he UK ha e speci ic elemen s o he cu icula dedica ed o physical de elopmen o PE as p ima y a eas o child en’s lea ning. In Finland, China, Denma k, and I aly, he ea ly yea s’ cu iculum s a es he impo ance o child en’s PA; howe e , i does no desc ibe he amoun o PA o be achie ed In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/ije ph18126454 h ps://www.mdpi.com/jou nal/ije ph In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 2 o 14 wi hin childca e [ 15 ]. Addi ionally, a ecen s udy by To ella e al. [ 16 ] has highligh ed ha No dic coun ies ha e a s ong ou doo cul u e. Fo ins ance, Finnish child en in ECEC a e engaging in app oxima ely h ee hou s pe day o ou doo play. Mo eo e , ou doo ac i i ies a e o en conside ed o subs an ially con ibu e o a child’s daily PA [ 17 ], and ou doo play posi i ely a ec s a child’s de elopmen and heal h [16]. In Finland, an essen ial goal o ECEC is o encou age child en o engage in physical ac i i ies ou doo s du ing all seasons. The Na ional Co e Cu iculum o Ea ly Childhood Educa ion and Ca e [ 18 ] also emphasises he impo ance o adequa e PA, bo h s uc u ed and ee play, o a child’s heal hy g ow h, de elopmen , lea ning, and well-being. In his espec , ECEC eache s ac as PA p omo e s in childca e cen es by o ganising sys ema ic, goal- and child- ocussed ac i i ies ha suppo child en’s PA and undamen al mo o skills (FMS) de elopmen . The pu pose o PE is o suppo he child’s physical, mo o , cogni i e, psychological, and socio-emo ional g ow h a all age s ages in ea ly childhood. The ac i i ies can be guided, bu he ole also includes enabling child en’s spon aneous PA. Fo example, adequa e PA can be made possible o child en by adap ing he en i onmen o be e sui physical ac i i ies [5]. Teache s in ECEC ha e a i al ole in suppo ing young child en’s o e all de elopmen and heal h in he ea ly yea s. Based on he analysis and compa ison o he en coun ies’ na ional ecommenda ions, he esul s indica e ma ked di e ences in s a educa ion, knowledge, and skills on how o suppo child en h ough physical ac i i ies ha p omo e physical and mo o de elopmen in ea ly ages [ 15 ]. Suppo i e PA engagemen beha iou s by ECEC eache s a e impo an because child en spend a signi ican amoun o hei ime wi h hem [ 19 ]. Ea lie s udies ha e shown ha he child en a ending ECEC cen es wi h mo e esou ces and a b oad ange o le els o e ia y-educa ed eache s and wo ke s demons a ed signi ican ly highe le els o physical ac i i y [ 20 – 22 ]. Acco ding o ecen esea ch by Ma ilidi e al. [ 21 ], eache s’ aining and p o essional de elopmen may p o oke aluable changes in child en’s daily ou ines o inc ease PA pa icipa ion. P e ious PE s udies in school PE eache educa ion (PETE) ha e indica ed he posi i e ela ionship be ween p o essional de elopmen p og ammes and eache s’ knowledge, pe cep ions, and eaching beha iou , as well as he posi i e in luence ha eache s ha e on s uden s’ lea ning pe o mance [ 23 ]. The enhancemen o ECEC eache s’ knowledge o child en’s mo o de elopmen can in luence highe le els o PA in child en [ 24 , 25 ]. Veldman e al. [ 26 ] indica ed ha in cen es wi h highe in en ional eaching p ac ices, child en spen signi ican ly mo e ime in mode a e- o- igo ous-in ensi y physical ac i i y (MVPA) compa ed o cen es wi h lowe in en ionali y. A child can ha e a e y di e en g oss mo o expe ience e en wi hin he same se ing and acili y based on hei eache ’s belie s, c ea i i y, and engagemen le el [ 27 ]. Lu and Mon ague’s [ 28 ] esea ch highligh ed ha eache s’ in ol emen and en husiasm signi ican ly a ec child en’s pa icipa ion in physical ac i i ies; see also [ 29 ]. Child en’s PA le els a e also highe when PE classes a e augh by mo e physically ac i e eache s [ 30 ]. I is also impo an o acknowledge ha i a pe son enjoys an ac i i y, inds i pe sonally a ac i e, and de elops he skills whe e he/she eels compe en , he e is an inc eased likelihood ha he/she will con inue o engage in hose asks [ 31 ]. Pas expe iences de e mine how a pe son pe cei es his o he cu en skills and compe ence. Finally, eache s’ pa icipa ion in play wi h child en may di e by gende ; o ins ance, male eache s seem o ha e mo e play willingness and pa icipa e mo e in physically ac i e play [ 32 ]. In con as , emale eache s end o p io i ise calm play. In Finland, ECEC eache s wi h a bachelo le el deg ee a e esponsible o he child’s pedagogical educa ion. The Finnish educa ion sys em is based on us in eache s and eache educa ion; consequen ly, eache s ha e he pedagogical eedom wi hin he cu - iculums o o ganise hei eaching [ 33 ]. Fu he mo e, eache s can suppo a child by p o iding indi idual ac i i ies because he adul –child eaching a io in Finland is 1:7. Al- hough ECEC eache s’ ini ia ions a e posi i ely ela ed o child en’s PA, e.g., [ 34 ], Finnish ECEC eache s a ely o ganise physical play o encou age child en o engage in physically ac i e play [ 35 ]. Acco ding o he epo o Repo e al. [ 36 ], PE in Finland is mainly well In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 3 o 14 implemen ed in ECEC; howe e , nea ly one- i h o esponden s indica ed ha daily ig- o ous PA is no a ailable. Addi ionally, a s udy [ 37 ] has shown ha child en’s indi idual exp ession h ough hei bodies (e.g., d ama plays and dance) is mo e consis en ly ealised in he child en’s ee plays han eache -led ac i i ies. I is no ed ha s a pe cei e hei pedagogical skills as lacking in he domain o child en’s bodily exp ession [37]. A a ie y o job oles exis wi hin he ECEC sec o , and he equi emen s o childca e s a di e signi ican ly om coun y o coun y [ 15 , 38 ]. Ne e heless, some b oad g oups o child ca e p o ide s can be iden i ied. Many eache s ha e been ained in No dic and cen al Eu opean coun ies in uppe -seconda y o e ia y educa ion, ocussing on ea ly childhood se ices a he han p ima y eaching [ 38 ]. In Finland, since 1995, he deg ee o ECEC eache has been a uni e si y-le el bachelo ’s deg ee in educa ion. Cu en ly, se en Finnish uni e si ies ( om sou h o no h: Uni e si y o Helsinki, Uni e si y o Tu ku, Uni e si y o Tampe e, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, Åbo Akademi, and Uni e si y o Oulu) o e h ee yea s o s udies (180 c edi s, ECTS) leading o he Bachelo o Educa ion. A bachelo ’s le el educa ion quali ies one o wo k in bo h ECEC and p e-p ima y educa ion o 6-yea -olds. In addi ion, all o hese uni e si ies also o e cou ses leading o he Mas e o Educa ion (120 c , wo yea s). A mas e s’ deg ee is equi ed o he di ec o s o ECEC se ings. All se en uni e si ies p o iding ECETT in Finland can c ea e hei syllabuses, leading o mino a ia ion in he con en and speciali ies. The bachelo ’s deg ee syllabus s uc u e includes Gene al s udies, Communica ion and language s udies, Basic S udies, In e me- dia e S udies, P o essional S udies (e.g., PE s udies), and Elec i e S udies. The e is no speci ic PE cu iculum speci ica ion, and he e o e, uni e si ies can independen ly decide on he amoun and con en o PE s udies o e ed. Howe e , i is no able ha Finland is including ou doo ac i i ies in i s ECETT p og ammes [ 16 ]. Finnish uni e si y lec u e s who each ea ly childhood PE enjoy ha ing au onomy and pedagogical eedom wi hin hei syllabuses o o ganise he eaching con en . In he Finnish school sys em, PE has been a manda ed componen since he mid-19 h cen u y, and eache s esponsible o PE mus mee he equi emen o he mas e ’s deg ee quali ica ion in PE [ 39 ]. PE in ECEC is conside ed as a key cu iculum lea ning a ea, and i is implemen ed by he ECEC eache s, and he e o e, PE cou ses a e included in he ECETT p og ammes. Indeed, ECEC eache s can be seen as “PE eache s in he ea ly yea s”. The Finnish Highe Educa ion E alua ion Council (FINHEEC) has ou lined ha ECETT should be based on scien i ic knowledge and esea ch da a, especially when de el- oping he con en o aining p og ammes [ 40 ]. Based on he Ac ega ding Ea ly Childhood Educa ion and Ca e (i.e., 24§), p o ide s should e lec and e alua e hei ac i i ies and pa icipa e in he e alua ion execu ed by he esea che s ou side he o ganisa ion [ 41 ]. E alua ion p omo es ECE quali y, iden i ies ope a ional s eng hs, highligh s de elopmen needs, and de elops ac i i ies [ 18 , 40 ]. P omo ing eache -led PE in ea ly childhood, p o id- ing aining oppo uni ies o p o essional de elopmen , and enac ing eache s’ con inuous sel -moni o ing emain wa an ed ac i i ies o suppo p og ession in he quali y o PE in ECEC [ 42 ]. Bai and colleagues [ 19 ] ha e p oposed ha educa o PA- ela ed beha iou and p ac ices can be imp o ed ia a p o essional de elopmen in e en ion. Howe e , acco ding o he e iew o Wang and Ha [ 23 ], 85% o he s udies on he p o essional de el- opmen o PE eache s ha e concen a ed on in-se ice eache s, and he e o e, he e is a need o examine he in luence o pe sonal and con ex ual ac o s on p e-se ice eache s’ de elopmen . Finally, Howell and Sääkslah i [ 15 ] ecommend ha u he acc edi ed edu- ca ion and aining is needed o upskill all coun ies o he same le el o knowledge and unde s anding o PA. This s udy aimed o in es iga e p e-se ice eache s’ pe cep ions o pe cei ed compe ence when (1) suppo ing a child’s PA, (2) eaching PE, and (3) obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA. These sel -e alua ions will be compa ed wi h a ange o indi idual, educa ional, and beha iou al cha ac e is ics. In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 4 o 14 2. Ma e ials and Me hods 2.1. S udy Pa icipan s and P o ocol Two hund ed and se en y- ou (o a po en ial 509 in i ed p e-se ice eache s) inal- yea Bachelo deg ee p e-se ice eache s om se en uni e si ies in Finland (i.e., Uni e si y o Helsinki, Uni e si y o Tu ku, Uni e si y o Tampe e, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, Åbo Akademi, and Uni e si y o Oulu) comple ed he sel - epo ques ionnai e ( esponse a e o 54%). Responses we e p o ided ei he online (49%, n= 134 ) using mobile phones, able s, o compu e s, o in pape o m (51%, n= 140), using Finnish (98%, n= 269) o English (2%, n= 5) e sions. Pa icipan s ook app oxima ely 15 min o comple e he ques ionnai e. P e-se ice eache s esponded o he ques ionnai e as pa o hei o dina y cou se o s udy o in hei leisu e ime. Pa icipa ion in he s udy was olun a y, and pa icipan s could wi hd aw a any ime. No pe sonal in o ma ion, excep age, gende , and na ionali y, was eques ed wi hin he ques ionnai e. Eligibili y o in ol emen in he esea ch equi ed p io comple ion o compulso y PE s udies. A g oup o 13 esponden s we e excluded om he inal da a due o incomple e PE s udies, and wo esponden s did no ully comple e he ques ionnai e. 2.2. E hical Conside a ion Uni e si y di ec o s ga e pe missions o da a collec ion, and esponden s ga e hei assen by answe ing he ques ionnai e. Responden s we e in o med and allowed o see he p i acy s a emen equi ed by he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, whe e he s udy was conduc ed. All ma e ial was collec ed, s o ed, analysed, and epo ed so ha no pa icipan s we e iden i iable. Resea che s used and handled he ma e ial’s s o age, acco ding o he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä E hical Commi ee guidelines. The da a we e s o ed on he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä’s passwo d-p o ec ed se e . 2.3. Ins umen De elopmen and he Va iables A li e a u e sea ch did no iden i y p e ious s udies ela ed o PE in ECETT o he exis- ence o published ea ly childhood PE ques ionnai es. When de eloping he ques ionnai e o his s udy, esea ch om school- ocussed PETE a eas we e u ilised see, e.g., [ 43 – 45 ]. The ques ions o he cu en ins umen we e de eloped o e lec he speci ic aims o his esea ch. The ques ions’ con en s we e based on ep esen a ion o he objec i es and equi emen s o ‘The Na ional Co e Cu iculum o Ea ly Childhood Educa ion and Ca e 2018’ and ‘Recommenda ions o Physical Ac i i y in Ea ly Childhood 2016’. The ques ionnai e consis ed o ou pa s as ollows; (1) esponden ’s backg ound in o ma ion (8 i ems), (2) esponden ’s PA beha iou (7 i ems; IPAQ-sho ), (3) esponden ’s educa ion and PE s udies (8 i ems), and (4) pe cei ed impo ance o PE con en in ECEC and pe cei ed compe ence o each PE (5 i ems). The ques ionnai e included 28 ques ions, o which nine we e mul iple-choice ques ions, h ee we e yes/no answe s, six we e Like scale, and 10 we e open-ended ques ions. The ollowing de ail ou lines he a iables included in he p esen s udy. Indi idual cha ac e is ics. The pa icipan s’ backg ound in o ma ion including age in yea s, gende ( emale, male, ansgende , o he , do no wan o de ine), and he uni- e si y whe e cu en ly s udying (Uni e si y o Helsinki, Uni e si y o Tu ku/Rauma Campus, Uni e si y o Tampe e, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, Åbo Akademi, Uni e si y o Oulu) was eques ed. Rele an PE s udies. Pa icipan s we e asked o e alua e, om 1 = comple ely disag ee o 5 = comple ely ag ee, hei expe ience o he adequacy o hei PE s udies in ECETT p og ammes (11 i ems; e.g., “I ha e adequa e aining in my PE s udies o each PE in ECEC” and “The o e all con en o my PE s udies was adequa e”). The subscale o he adequacy o PE s udies showed sa is ac o y eliabili y (C onbach’s alpha coe icien (α) = 0.81 ). The esponses o ma used a i e-poin (1 = comple ely disag ee, 5 = comple ely ag ee) Like scale o in es iga e how impo an /use ul/in e es ing pa icipan s hough PE s udies a e in hei ECETT. The subscale o alue o PE s udies showed a sa is ac o y In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 5 o 14 eliabili y ( α = 0.74). Fu he mo e, pa icipan s we e asked i hey ha e s udied PE as a majo o mino subjec (yes o no op ions) o ha e pa icipa ed in any addi ional aining ha has suppo ed hem in eaching PE a hei wo k. Responses we e ob ained using a mul iple-choice ques ion. These ca ego ies we e (1) unde 20 h, (2) 20 h o mo e, o (3) no addi ional aining. P e ious expe iences. Pa icipan s’ esponse o he ‘enjoymen o school ime PE’ i em was ob ained using a 10-poin (1 = no enjoyable a all, 10 = ex emely enjoyable) Like scale. Nex , pa icipan s we e asked, using yes o no op ions, abou hei spo s ins uc ion o coaching expe iences in ol ing g oups o 0–8-yea -olds (e.g., in spo s clubs, associa ions). Finally, a ques ion in ol ing yea s o wo k expe ience in ECEC se ings was asked (none; maximum o wo yea s; 2–5 yea s; 6–10 yea s; 11–15 yea s; 16–20 yea s and mo e han 20 yea s). The pe cei ed compe ence o PE. In o ma ion ega ding pa icipan s’ skills and com- pe ence in PE we e eques ed as well wi h a i e-poin (1 = no compe en a all; 5 = highly compe en ) Like -scale ques ion: “Wha a e you iews o you skills/compe ence when eaching PE in ECEC? Please selec he numbe ha bes co esponds o you iew”. The ques ion included 16 i ems ha ha e been highligh ed in he Na ional Co e Cu iculum o Ea ly Childhood Educa ion and Ca e 2018. Resul s indica ed ha he pe cei ed compe ence o PE had a sa is ac o y eliabili y. The C onbach’s alpha coe icien s o he subscales we e as ollows: suppo ing a child’s PA (sub-i ems 1, 2, 3) ( α = 0.56); eaching PE (sub-i ems 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) ( α = 0.76); obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA (sub-i ems 13, 14, 15, 16) (α= 0.88). 2.4. S a is ical Analyses All analyses we e pe o med using SPSS Ve sion 26. The no mali y o he da a was assessed, and desc ip i e s a is ics we e comple ed. Desc ip i e s a is ics a e exp essed as means wi h s anda d de ia ions (SD) o 95% con idence in e als (CI) and coun s wi h pe cen ages. C onbach’s alpha was o mula ed as a pa o he eliabili y analyses. The p- alue o his analysis was <0.05. The one-way ANOVA analyses we e used o compa e pe cei ed compe ence sup- po ing a child’s PA, eaching PE, and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA be ween he p e-se ice eache s om di e en Finnish uni e si ies. The las phase o analysis inco po a ed a se o nine s anda d linea eg essions. The s anda d linea eg essions we e pe o med o assess he abili y o indi idual ac o s, ele an PE s udies, and p e ious expe iences o p edic p e-se ice eache s’ pe cei ed compe ence when implemen ing PE. In he analyses, age, gende , uni e si y, subscale o adequacy o PE s udies in ECETT, subscale o alue o PE s udies, PE as majo o mino subjec , addi ional aining ha has suppo ed o each PE, he enjoymen o school ime PE, spo s ins uc ion o coaching expe ience, and wo k expe ience in ECEC we e independen a iables. Whe eas, he pe cei ed compe ence subscale o suppo ing a child’s PA, subscale o eaching PE, and subscale o obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA we e dependen a iables. The speci ic p edic o a iables used wi hin each o he h ee eg ession model se s we e as ollows: (1) Indi idual cha ac e is ics (3 i ems): age (1 = maximum o 22 yea s, 2 = 23–29 yea s, 3 = 30 yea s o o e ), gende ( emales we e coded as 0 and males 1), and uni e si y (1 = Uni e si y o Helsinki, 2 = Uni e si y o Tu ku, 3 = Uni e si y o Tampe e, 4 = Uni e si y o Jy äskylä , 5 = Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, 6 = Åbo Akademi, and 7 = Uni e si y o Oulu), (2) Rele an PE s udies (4 i ems): he subscale o he adequacy o PE s udies (1 = comple ely disag ee, 5 = comple ely ag ee), he subscale o alue o PE s udies (1 = comple ely disag ee, 5 = comple ely ag ee), PE as a majo o mino subjec (no coded as 0 and yes 1), and addi ional aining ha has suppo ed eaching PE (no addi ional aining was coded as 0 and all addi ional aining 1), and In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 6 o 14 (3) P e ious expe iences (3 i ems): he enjoymen o school ime PE (1 = no enjoyable a all, 10 = ex emely enjoyable), spo s ins uc ion o coaching expe ience (no expe ience was coded as 0 and coaching expe ience 1), and wo k expe ience in ECEC (0 = none; 1 = maximum wo yea s, 2 = 2–5 yea s, 3 = o e six yea s), o p edic he pe cei ed compe ence in suppo ing a child’s PA, eaching PE and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o s skills and PA (see Figu e 1). In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021, 18, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 o 16 (1) Indi idual cha ac e is ics (3 i ems): age (1 = maximum o 22 yea s, 2 = 23–29 yea s, 3 = 30 yea s o o e ), gende ( emales we e coded as 0 and males 1), and uni e si y (1 = Uni e si y o Helsinki, 2 = Uni e si y o Tu ku, 3 = Uni e si y o Tampe e, 4 = Uni- e si y o Jy äskylä, 5 = Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland, 6 = Å bo Akademi, and 7 = Uni e si y o Oulu), (2) Rele an PE s udies (4 i ems): he subscale o he adequacy o PE s udies (1 = com- ple ely disag ee, 5 = comple ely ag ee), he subscale o alue o PE s udies (1 = com- ple ely disag ee, 5 = comple ely ag ee), PE as a majo o mino subjec (no coded as 0 and yes 1), and addi ional aining ha has suppo ed eaching PE (no addi ional aining was coded as 0 and all addi ional aining 1), and (3) P e ious expe iences (3 i ems): he enjoymen o school ime PE (1 = no enjoyable a all, 10 = ex emely enjoyable), spo s ins uc ion o coaching expe ience (no expe ience was coded as 0 and coaching expe ience 1), and wo k expe ience in ECEC (0 = none; 1 = maximum wo yea s, 2 = 2–5 yea s, 3 = o e six yea s), o p edic he pe cei ed compe ence in suppo ing a child’s PA, eaching PE and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o s skills and PA (see Figu e 1). Figu e 1. The concep ual model o he a iables. A es – e es ques ionnai e was execu ed wi h he i s -, second-, and i h-yea p e- se ice eache s (n = 27) om he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä. The online ques ionnai e was comple ed du ing pa icipan s’ ee ime o an in e al o wo weeks. In a- a e eliabil- i y was assessed by compa ing he comple ed ques ionnai e o each esponden a Time 1 and Time 2, and subsequen ly epo ing bo h single measu e in aclass co ela ion coe - icien s (ICCs) using a one-way andom absolu e model o con inuous a iables, and Co- hen’s kappa wi h pe cen ag eemen o subscales. O e all, he es – e es esul ed in a mode a e ag eemen o mos o he i ems. ICCs anged om ai o good (ICC = 0.55 o eaching PE o 0.70 ega ding he adequacy o PE s udies). Figu e 1. The concep ual model o he a iables. A es – e es ques ionnai e was execu ed wi h he i s -, second-, and i h-yea p e- se ice eache s (n= 27) om he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä. The online ques ionnai e was comple ed du ing pa icipan s’ ee ime o an in e al o wo weeks. In a- a e eliabili y was assessed by compa ing he comple ed ques ionnai e o each esponden a Time 1 and Time 2, and subsequen ly epo ing bo h single measu e in aclass co ela ion coe icien s (ICCs) using a one-way andom absolu e model o con inuous a iables, and Cohen’s kappa wi h pe cen ag eemen o subscales. O e all, he es – e es esul ed in a mode a e ag eemen o mos o he i ems. ICCs anged om ai o good (ICC = 0.55 o eaching PE o 0.70 ega ding he adequacy o PE s udies). 3. Resul s De ails o he mean alues, s anda d de ia ions, and pe cen ages associa ed wi h he independen a iables a e p esen ed in Table 1. In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 7 o 14 Table 1. Demog aphic and a iable cha ac e is ics. Indi idual Cha ac e is ics Rele an PE S udies P e ious Expe iences Gende Age Adequacy o PE S udies (1–5) The Value o PE S udies (1–5) PE as a Majo o Mino Subjec (yes) Addi ional PE T aining (yes) School Time PE (1–10) Spo s Coach- ing (yes) Wo k Expe ience in ECEC in Yea s All Female Male n= 274 ≤22 23–29 ≥30 n= 265 n= 269 n= 274 n= 274 n= 265 n= 272 n= 274 Uni e si y n (%) n (%) n (%) M (SD) n (%) n (%) n (%) M (SD) M (SD) n (%) n (%) M (SD) n (%) None (%) ≤2 (%) 2–5 (%) ≥6 (%) Uni e si y o Helsinki 39 (14) 36 (92) 3 (8) 30.87 (8.13) 6 (15) 12 (31) 21 (54) 3.20 (0.49) 4.76 (0.34) 0 (0) 7 (18) 6.61 (2.52) 11 (28) 15 49 26 10 Uni e si y o Tu ku 35 (13) 35 (100) 0 (0) 25.31 (5.13) 11 (31) 18 (51) 6 (18) 3.43 (0.44) 4.61 (0.59) 4 (11) 9 (26) 7.91 (1.60) 11 (32) 14 63 23 0 Uni e si y o Tampe e 45 (16) 43 (96) 2 (4) 25.87 (6.55) 21 (47) 14 (31) 10 (22) 3.15 (0.49) 4.63 (0.51) 4 (9) 7 (16) 7.20 (2.06) 11 (24) 42 42 16 0 Uni e si y o Jy äskylä 65 (24) 60 (92) 5 (8) 25.05 (5.41) 30 (46) 27 (42) 8 (12) 3.50 (0.40) 4.82 (0.35) 4 (6) 8 (12) 7.56 (2.20) 15 (23) 28 60 8 5 Uni e si y o Eas e n Finland 32 (12) 26 (81) 6 (19) 25.78 (6.63) 11 (34) 15 (47) 6 (19) 3.29 (0.46) 4.67 (0.57) 0 (0) 4 (13) 7.90 (1.61) 14 (44) 34 50 9 6 Åbo Akademi 12 (4) 11 (92) 1 (8) 22.25 (1.49) 8 (67) 4 (33) 0 (0) 3.47 (0.51) 4.53 (0.61) 1 (8) 2 (17) 6.45 (2.54) 5 (42) 8 58 25 8 Uni e si y o Oulu 46 (17) 41 (89) 5 (11) 24.48 (4.41) 19 (41) 22 (48) 5 (11) 2.88 (0.46) 4.59 (0.50) 5 (11) 1 (2) 6.80 (2.70) 8 (18) 26 70 2 2 To al 274 252 (92) 22 (8) 25.91 (6.26) 106 (39) 112 (41) 56 (20) 3.25 (0.50) 4.68 (0.48) 18 (7) 38 (14) 7.27 (2.20) 75 (28) 26 56 14 4 In . J. En i on. Res. Public Heal h 2021,18, 6454 8 o 14 P e-se ice eache s’ pe cep ions o hei pe cei ed compe ence o suppo a child’s PA esul ed in he highes mean sco e (M= 3.85, SD = 0.53), while he second-highes mean was he skills o each PE (M= 3.63, SD = 0.51), and he lowes mean sco e was o obse ing and assessing child en’s mo o skills and PA (M= 3.41, SD = 0.70). One-way ANOVA analyses we e conduc ed o compa e he e ec o uni e si y loca ion on he p e-se ice eache s’ pe cei ed compe ence suppo ing a child’s PA, eaching PE, and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA. An analysis o a iance showed ha he e ec o loca ion o uni e si y on pe cei ed compe ence suppo ing a child’s PA (F(1.388, 71.210) = 0.861, p= 0.524), eaching PE (F(3.152, 67.729) = 2.032, p= 0.062), and obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA (F(6.031, 125.413) = 2.132, p= 0.050) was s a is ically non-signi ican (Table 2). Table 2. A compa ison o p e-se ice eache s’ pe cei ed PE compe ence in di e en Finnish uni e si ies. Pe cei ed PE Compe encies To al A B C D E F G ANOVA p-Value Sche e E a2 n= 271 n= 39 n= 34 n= 44 n= 65 n= 31 n= 12 n= 46 M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Suppo ing a child’s PA 3.85 (0.53) 3.92 (0.50) 3.97 (0.53) 3.87 (0.51) 3.77 (0.46) 3.85 (0.54) 3.69 (0.66) 3.83 (0.55) 0.524 0.633 0.019 Teaching PE 3.63 (0.51) 3.52 (0.43) 3.83 (0.47) 3.53 (0.59) 3.69 (0.52) 3.73 (0.40) 3.56 (0.47) 3.55 (0.56) 0.062 0.465 0.044 Obse ing and assessing a child’s mo o skills and PA 3.41 (0.70) 3.33 (0.62) 3.69 (0.56) 3.21 (0.87) 3.45 (0.72) 3.44 (0.49) 3.65 (0.69) 3.33 (0.68) 0.050 0.265 0.046 A = Uni e si y o Helsinki; B = Uni e si y o Tu ku; C = Uni e si y o Tampe e; D = Uni e si y o Jy äskylä; E = Uni e si y o eas e n Finland; F = Åbo Akademi; G = Uni e si y o Oulu. The esul s o he nine linea eg essions o he h ee linea eg ession models a e epo ed in Tables 3–5. The R squa ed esul s anged om 0.014 o 0.186. Table 3. Linea eg ession esul s o suppo ing a child’s PA. Reg ession Model Independen Va iables Coe icien (S d. E o ) p-Value Cons an R2F-Ra io Indi idual cha ac e is ics Age 0.022 (0.043) 0.613 3.769 0.014 1.232 Gende 0.208 (0.116) 0.075 Uni e si y 0.007 (0.019) 0.699 Rele an PE s udies The subscale o adequacy o PE s udies 0.223 (0.062) <0.001 2.425 0.123 8.883 The subscale o alue o PE s udies 0.139 (0.068) 0.042 PE as a majo o mino subjec 0.226 (0.129) 0.081 Addi ional aining 0.197 (0.091) 0.032 P e ious expe iences The enjoymen o school ime PE 0.046 (0.014) 0.001 3.334 0.149 15.008 Spo s ins uc ion o coaching expe ience 0.306 (0.068) <0.001 Wo k expe ience in ECEC 0.086 (0.039) 0.027