TITLE:
Developing Children’s Communication and Social Awareness Skills in Volcano Disaster Areas through Physical Education and Sports Programs
AUTHORS:
Soni Nopembri, Ahmad Rithaudin, Saryono, Yoshio Sugiyama
KEYWORDS:
Physical Education, Sports, Communication, Social, Empathy, Skills
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.7 No.1,
February
27,
2017
ABSTRACT: This study examined the effects of physical education (PE) and sports programs on children’s communication and social awareness skills in a volcano disaster-prone area in which a 2010 eruption has already produced trauma. Fourth through sixth grade students (n = 810) from fifteen elementary schools in disaster-prone areas, 5 - 15 km from the top of the Merapi volcano, were randomly assigned to groups receiving standard and experimental PE and sports programs over 28 weeks in the academic year 2014/2015. Data were collected before and after the program using communication (10 items) and social awareness (10 items) skills scales. Two- and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and paired sample t-tests were used to compare group means at pre- and post-testing. There were significant interaction on communication and social awareness skills scores between the tests and groups, with gains on mean communication and social awareness scores from pretest to post-test and in the intervention group, compared to control groups. The intervention, a psychosocial-based PE and sports program, was an effective way to improve children’s communication and social awareness skills.