Developing a foundation of motor competence facilitates successful engagement in physical education, sport and physical activity across the lifespan. While research has extensively documented Irish children's failure to develop basic motor competence unaided, it has also identified how practitioners may address this shortcoming. This module will introduce students to core principles of motor learning and motor development so that they value developing motor competence in children and young people, and so that they are equipped with the knowledge and skillset to evaluate and develop basic motor competence within the physical education setting.

Defining motor development; a lifespan perspective on motor development; defining basic movement competence; evaluating the importance of basic movement competence for participation in physical activity and sport; how to measure movement competence; the role of both actual and perceived competence; the role of digital technology in the analysis and evaluation of motor competence; practical strategies to maximise student learning and engagement among a diverse range of children and adolescents.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Define motor competence, and evaluate its relevance in relation to physical education, sport and lifespan physical activity. • Develop and deliver meaningful and effective activities to enhance motor competence among a small group of school children.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Reflect on the value of, and their experiences of evaluating and developing, children's basic motor competence, and rationalise priorities for their further development as teachers

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Observe and assess the gross critical elements of selected fundamental motor skills in self and others through digital technology and/or live observation.

This module will pay particular attention to recent research on motor competence levels of Irish children (e.g., Behan et al., 2019) and adolescents (e.g., O'Brien et al., 2016), and interventions which may enhance motor competence (e.g., Smith et al., 2021), especially those interventions completed in an Irish context (e.g., Bolger et al., 2019). Behan, S., Belton, S., Peers, C., O'Connor, N. E., & Issartel, J. (2019). Moving Well-Being Well: Investigating the maturation of fundamental movement skill proficiency across sex in Irish children aged five to twelve. Journal of sports sciences, 37(22), 2604-2612. Bolger, L. E., Bolger, L. A., O'Neill, C., Coughlan, E., O'Brien, W., Lacey, S., & Burns, C. (2019). The Effectiveness of Two Interventions on Fundamental Movement Skill Proficiency among a Cohort of Irish Primary School Children. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 7(2), 153-179. O'Brien, W., Belton, S., & Issartel, J. (2016). Fundamental movement skill proficiency amongst adolescent youth. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 21(6), 557-571. Smith, W., Ovens, A., & Philpot, R. (2021). Games-based movement education: developing a sense of self, belonging, and community through games. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 26(3), 242-254. The LCPE specification has been consulted for this module. From this, the module aligns with Stand 1 - Towards Optimum Performance, which "focuses on the complex interrelationship between performance in physical activity and the range of factors that shape that performance." (LCPE, 2017, pg. 18). Leaving Certificate PE specification objectives - "performance in physical activity", "ability to reflect on performance in physical activity", and "knowledge and understanding of the factors which influence performance and participation in physical activity" (2017, pg. 8). UL Graduate Attributes: knowledgeable, proactive, creative, responsible, collaborative, and articulate. This module particularly focuses on creating an environment that supports students becoming Knowledgeable and Articulate. The Céim Standards for Initial Teacher Education relating to ' professional skills and practice, and, 'professional knowledge and understanding' were consulted when researching the module. Specifically, the key "principles of planning, assessment, reflection and evaluation" (Teaching Council, 2020, p.24).