20-Minute Rhythmic Gymnastics Program: It’s Impact on Gross Motor Skills, Learning Motivation, and Positive Attitudes toward PJOK among Elementary School Students

Abstract

Background: PJOK elementary school is supposed to cultivate movement competence, motivation, and positive attitudes towards active living, but in traditional elementary school lessons, command-style repetition is often favoured over developmentally appropriate fun. This is because a 20-minute rhythmic gymnastics programme can be pedagogically appealing by incorporating locomotor, non-locomotor, balance, and expressive movement with music in a limited format that can fit into crowded school schedules.

Purpose: The aim of the manuscript was to assess the impact of a 20-minute rhythmic gymnastics programme on the gross motor skills, PJOK learning motivation, and attitudes towards PJOK among elementary-school students in Grade V.

Techniques: A quasi-experimental pre-test-posttest control-group design involved 56 students who were placed in intact class teachers in an intervention or conventional PJOK condition. Gross motor performance, learning motivation, and PJOK attitude were the outcomes, and qualitative learner reflections were thematically analysed. Paired and independent t-tests, MANCOVA, multivariate effect sizes, and exploratory mediation were performed using quantitative analysis.

Findings: The intervention group exhibited larger adjusted gains in gross motor skills, motivation, and attitude than the control group. The gross motor skills showing the strongest effect were attitude, with a lesser effect. Multivariate testing reported a significant interaction of an intervention, and mediation analysis indicated that better perceived competence was a partial account of motivational gains. Thematic analysis produced three themes: music-supported fun, apparent movement confidence, and social engagement without too much competition.

Conclusion: The evidence substantiates 20 minutes of rhythmical gymnastics as a multidimensional PJOK innovation. Nevertheless, this should be interpreted cautiously since the limited duration of exposure (class-level allocation) and lack of long-term follow-up undermine strong causal and policy statements.