Classroom teachers and physical activity integration Donetta J. Cothran a, * , Pamela Hodges Kulinna b , Alex C. Garn c a Indiana University, HPER 112, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA b Arizona State University, AZ, USA c Louisiana State University, LA, USA article info Article history: Received 7 July 2009 Received in revised form 15 April 2010 Accepted 19 April 2010 Keywords: Native American Activity breaks Healthy schools Student health abstract This project examined 23 teachers’ involvement in a curricular project to integrate physical activity into the school day. The teachers represented all grade levels and worked in schools that served Native American students in the United States. Interviews occurred twice during the year-long project. Data were analyzed via constant comparison. Teachers’ willingness to engage was influenced positively by caring about students and their own personal wellness history. Their engagement was impeded by institutional factors of scheduling and assessment pressures. The results provide insights into how teachers might be persuaded to and prepared for the implementation of similar programs in new locations. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The history of schools is filled with change attempts, some of which “worked” and many of which did not. Those change efforts have not always focused solely on “pure” academic interventions, the most recent example of which is the call for schools to serve as a primary intervention site in negative national health trends. Repeated research findings have documented that many children are physically inactive and become even less active as they age. This investigation examined classroom teachers’ perspectives on a curricular change project designed to increase student physical activity during the school day. 1.1. Curricular change and presses Saxe, Gearhart, Franke, Howard, and Crockett (1990) suggest that teachers work in complex environments with multiple presses on their work. For example, a district’s adoption of a new reading curriculum is a press on teachers to change their reading instruction methods. Presses can act as levers for change to the current system. Saxe et al. (1990) suggest three levels (stakeholder, personal, and institutional) at which presses may be at work. Certainly the levels are inter-related, but it is useful to examine each separately for the presses that may be at work in curricular change efforts. Stakeholders (e.g., parents, administrators, colleagues, and students) can serve as presses on teaching practices. Several studies have noted the importance of students in determining teacher satisfaction and perceptions of their work (e.g., Cothran & Ennis, 2001; Hargreaves, 2000). In a review of the literature related to the principal’s contribution to school effectiveness, Hallinger and Heck (1998), suggest that the role of the principal in transformational leadership (or leadership related to making change) has a major impact. Although elsewhere Hallinger (2003) cautions that the principal’s influence is more indirect than direct and is influenced by the school context (Oplatka, 2004). Leadership can also influence teachers’ perceptions of progress related to change and their perceptions of increases in student outcomes (Leithwood, 1994). A lack of emotional connection to students, parents, school and community can impede teachers’ ability to fully engage in a curricular change effort (McCaughtry, Martin, Kulinna, & Cothran, 2006). Supervi- sors, assistants and parents can all play a positive or negative role in how teachers perceive their profession (Oplatka & Eizenberg, 2007). Presses also exist for teachers at a personal level as they work to integrate their current and potential new practices with their own values related to schools, teaching, learning, and students. This may be the most critical level of press as teachers play a central role in determining the success or failure of any change effort (Fullan, 1991). Hardre and Sullivan (2008) report that teachers’ individual differences and perceptions influence the way they teach while Rushton, Morgan, and Richard (2007) suggest that teachers’ * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 812 855 6420; fax: þ1 812 855 3193. E-mail address: dcothran@indiana.edu (D.J. Cothran). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.04.003 Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1381e1388