Authors : Matidza Gundo; Mulovhedzi Shonisani Agnes

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 11 - November

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/2nd7czxc

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/466nfj3z

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25nov1232

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : This research explored the effects of movement-integrated teaching approaches on the motivation and engagement of learners in South African school settings in the Limpopo Province. Engagement remains a basic challenge in schools due to overcrowded classrooms, short staff, lack of infrastructures and inadequate teachers’ training. This research was grounded on the Montessori Hypothesis of learning and sought to enquire about the positions of the body as the centre of learning, challenging colonial legacies of mind-body partition in the formal learning environment. The study employed a qualitative approach wherein teachers’ interviews and classroom observations were conducted to investigate how movement-integrated approaches affect learners’ motivation and engagement. Focusing on under-resourced schools in the Limpopo province, two schools were selected and three teachers from each school were interviewed and their classrooms observed. The collected data was analysed thematically. The findings of the study revealed that when teachers integrated physical movement, either through songs, rhythm, or story telling it enhanced the attentiveness of learners, their participation and influenced whether learners enjoyed the lessons. Teachers also observed that it increased peer collaboration and improved retention of the content learnt. The study urges teachers to integrate physical movements more in their lessons, it concludes by recommending that in the early childhood curriculum, flexibility, teacher training initiatives and greater recognition of movement-based learning are essential.

Keywords : Movement-Integrated Teaching (MIT), Early Childhood, Learner Motivation, Physical Movement, Engagement.

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