Move & Read

Physically Active Learning (PAL) has been found to benefit health, cognition, and school attainment, however most programmes have focused on maths curriculum. PAL may be optimised by utilising embodied cognition – that is when physical and cognitive activities are integrated in a meaningful way.

We aimed to co-develop with teachers an embodied PAL programme for early literacy skills, test the feasibility, and undertake a small scale pilot study (Booth et al, 2023, and in prep). Following the successful development of Move & Read for early literacy, we are now expanding this programme to cover upper primary and early secondary phases, and to explore other aspects of the curriculum.

Funder

This work has been funded by:  

• ESRC Impact Accelerator Account Grant
• Moray House School of Education and Sport Seed funding grant
• University of Glasgow project fund grant

Research team members

Dr Josie Booth – University of Edinburgh

Dr Josie Booth is a Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology. Her research focuses on understanding and supporting children’s learning and the relationship with health behaviours, such as physical activity. 

Professor Sarah McGeown – University of Edinburgh

Dr Sarah McGeown is a Professor of Literacy, specialising in collaborative research practices to understand and support children’s literacy experiences and outcomes.

Dr Zayba Ghazali-Mohammed – University of Glasgow

Dr Zayba Ghazali-Mohammed is a Lecturer in Developmental Psychology. Her research focuses on conceptual development of young children, particularly multimodal learning and data literacy. 

Dr Alexia Revueltas Roux – University of Glasgow

Dr Alexia Revueltas Roux is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on children’s learning development and engagement. 

Katrina Corder

Katrina is a psychology student at the University of Glasgow who is working as a researcher on Move & Read.

Collaborating teachers and schools from City of Edinburgh Council

• Sasha Young - Leith Primary School
• Jennifer Wilson - Leith Primary School
• Ellen Leonard - Leith Walk Primary School

Publications

Revueltas Roux, A., McGeown, S., Ghazali-Mohammed, Z., Sewell, D. & Booth, J. N. (In preparation). Co-designed Physically Active Learning programme for early literacy: Development, feasibility and pilot data from “Move & Read”.

Booth, J. N., Revueltas Roux, A., McGeown, S., Ghazali-Mohammed, Z., Sewell, D., Zhan, M. and Tan, C. (2023). Co-designed Physically Active Learning programme for early literacy in Scotland: Development, feasibility and pilot data from “Move & Read”. Oral presentation at Scottish Physical Activity Research Connections (SPARC) Conference, November, Edinburgh.

Revueltas Roux, A., McGeown, S., Ghazali-Mohammed, Z., & Booth, J. N., (2022). Move & Read: Co-Design and feasibility of Physically Active and Embodied Activities for Early Literacy. British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference, September, Sheffield.

More information

For more information, please contact Principle Investigator, Josie Booth (josie.booth@ed.ac.uk)

Contact Josie Booth