A Dumbarton primary school teacher has received a prestigious accolade for her academic achievements.

Sophie Wilson, who is currently completing her probation year at Aitkenbar Primary School, won the George D Gray Award which recognises the most distinguished assignment by an initial teacher education student completing a primary teacher education programme in Scotland. 

Assignments are judged on academic distinction, how the research and thinking involved align with the Standard for Provisional Registration, and how the candidates for the award have demonstrated their preparedness for entering the induction phase of their teaching career.

She received the award in recognition of her fourth-year dissertation '"I like to move it, move it." An investigation of children’s motivation for Physical Education; an upper school Scottish Primary context.’  

In her dissertation, Sophie investigated older primary school children’s levels of motivation towards and within physical education.

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She carried out whole-class questionnaires and one-to-one interviews exploring the experiences of children with higher and lower levels of motivation in relation to their basic psychological needs.   

The findings of her study suggest that positive correlations exist between autonomous motivation and each of the three basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness, with the strongest link evidenced between need satisfaction [the fulfilment of basic psychological needs] and autonomous motivation. 

Sophie said: "Particularly in these post-pandemic times with children and young people's mental health, alongside physical activity levels at all-time lows, the topic explored within this dissertation warranted real examination and investigation.

"From a personal perspective, I was keen to better understand upper-school Scottish children's attitudes and motivational processes towards physical education and physical activity more widely, and this research project provided a fantastic opportunity to do so, with the incredible support from mentors and supervisors at the University of Strathclyde.”  

“The findings which arose from this study are already having huge implications on my own pedagogy and practice.”

Dr Pauline Stephen, GTC Scotland chief executive and registrar, added: “Sophie’s passion for encouraging physical movement in children is clear and she is a deserving recipient of this award.

"The focus of her dissertation was very timely, including links to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the psychological needs of children in a post-Covid environment, and it clearly aligned with the Standard for Provisional Registration.”