Case Study 1: Movement Breaks

Contextual Background

I am an associate lecturer on the Illustration BA (Hons) at Camberwell College of Arts. One of my main duties is to deliver teaching in a studio environment. We have a significant minority of students with learning differences. The self-reported diagnoses include dyslexia, autism, and ADHD. These diagnoses effect many aspects of student engagement, including attention and focus.

Evaluation

The current strategies in supporting disabled students focus on the Individual Support Agreement (ISA). (Disability Service, ‘Individual Support Agreements’, 2023.) These agreements follow the social model of disability and give guidance to lecturers on reasonable adjustments and inclusive teaching strategies. Plans usually include flexibility with regards to attendance, student-regulated breaks during classes, and adjusted assessment. 

The ISA relies on students having accurate diagnoses and engaging with disability advisers. We know that women and people of colour are under-diagnosed for learning differences, therefore, we can assume actual numbers of neurodiverse students are higher than reported. (O’Nions et al., ‘Autism in England’, 2023.)

With this knowledge, I would suggest implementing strategies to improve focus and engagement that are beneficial for all students, in particular neurodiverse learners. 

Moving Forwards

I was introduced to the concept of movement breaks through a colleague working in Special Educational Needs (SEN). They use the ‘Busy Brain Breaks’ intervention: short periods of movement used to either break up long periods of concentration or as transitional activities. (Cline et al., ‘A Process Evaluation of A UK Classroom-Based Physical Activity Intervention—“Busy Brain Breaks”’, 2021.) An example break is embedded below.

While the ‘Busy Brain Break’ may not be appropriate for our learners, I believe movement interventions can be adapted to our specific context. There are fewer studies in this area, however ‘Classroom Movement Breaks Reduce Sedentary Behavior and Increase Concentration, Alertness and Enjoyment during University Classes: A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study’ (Peiris et al.) suggests that university students experience similar positive outcomes to their younger counter-parts when movement is introduced to lectures. The movement break activities from this study included squats, step lunges, and brisk walking. There is an immediate issue of accessibility with all of these activities, so I would look to adapt the movement or allow students to choose their own movement. 

It is important to note that illustration, the specific subject area I teach, is particularly physically involved. My experience as an illustrator is that the practice is a whole body experience, particularly the act of drawing. Therefore, drawing itself may act as a movement break. We often engage in short ‘warm-up’ drawing exercises at the start of a session. Perhaps a way of integrating movement into a session is to add short drawing tasks at intervals. A 2015 article from Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal examines the effectiveness of drawing as a way of encoding memory. The ‘Drawing Lab’ sort to answer whether ‘the physicality of drawing, as sensory information, might serve as an efficient mnemonic tool.’ (Michele Salamon, ‘Drawing Laboratory: Research Workshops and Outcomes’, 2018.) The feedback from students participating in their workshops indicated that the drawing techniques taught enhanced not only their recall but also concentration.

Finally, chronic wrist pain from illustrating is a known risk. Students in particular are often engaged in long periods of intense drawing and making. I believe with movement breaks there js an opportunity here to introduce movement to lessons that not only improve engagement but also teach students how to prevent injury. Simple hand and wrist stretches can become short interventions or transitions between activities.

In order to begin exploring movement intervention, I would like to implement the following reflect on the effects:

Re-Locating: briskly walking or moving to a new location within the studio space

Drawing: short drawing exercises interspersed in sessions

Stretching: hand, wrist, and arm stretches done whilst sitting or standing

Bibliography

Busy Brain Breaks #1, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH–H3zs_s4.

Cline, Alice, Gareth Knox, Luciana De Martin Silva, and Stephen Draper. ‘A Process Evaluation of A UK Classroom-Based Physical Activity Intervention—“Busy Brain Breaks”’. Children 8, no. 2 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/children8020063.

Disability Service. ‘Individual Support Agreements’. University of the Arts London, September 2023. https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/168404/Individual-Support-Agreements-September-2023.pdf.

Michele Salamon. ‘Drawing Laboratory: Research Workshops and Outcomes’. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal 3, no. 2 (2018): 131–41.

O’Nions, Elizabeth, Irene Petersen, Joshua E. J. Buckman, Rebecca Charlton, Claudia Cooper, Anne Corbett, Francesca Happé, et al. ‘Autism in England: Assessing Underdiagnosis in a Population-Based Cohort Study of Prospectively Collected Primary Care Data’. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe 29 (1 June 2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100626.

Peiris, Casey L., Gráinne O’Donoghue, Lewis Rippon, Dominic Meyers, Andrew Hahne, Marcos De Noronha, Julia Lynch, and Lisa C. Hanson. ‘Classroom Movement Breaks Reduce Sedentary Behavior and Increase Concentration, Alertness and Enjoyment during University Classes: A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study’. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 11 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115589.

‘Why Women with Autism and ADHD Are Underdiagnosed’. Accessed 24 March 2024. https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/health/wellbeing/why-women-with-autism-and-adhd-are-underdiagnosed.