The influences of a primitive reflex

integration programme within the classroom:

Teacher/parent perspectives and student
results.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in Education
by
Tessa Maude Grigg

School of Health Sciences

College of Education, Health and Human Development
University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand.
October 2018
 Table of Contents

APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................................... IX

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................. XI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ XII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... XIII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 WHY RESEARCH RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES? .......................................................................................................1

1.2 GENERAL AIMS OF THIS RESEARCH...........................................................................................................................2
1.3 REFLEXES DEFINED: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ......................................................................................................3
1.3.1 Primitive Reflexes. ..................................................................................................................................3
1.3.2 Retained Primitive Reflexes....................................................................................................................3
1.3.3 Testing Primitive Reflexes ......................................................................................................................4
1.3.4 Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) as an Intervention .......................................................................4
1.4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE: AN INTELLECTUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................5
1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS CHAPTERS .......................................................................................................................9
1.6 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 ....................................................................................................................................11

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 12

2.1 PART 1: THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMITIVE REFLEX KNOWLEDGE OVER TIME..................................................................12

2.1.1 Review Methods...................................................................................................................................13
2.2 CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND MOVEMENT .......................................................................14
2.2.1 School-based Exercise Programme Research .......................................................................................21
2.2.2 Interventions: Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices .....................................................................................24
2.3 RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES .............................................................................................................................26
2.3.1 Pre-2000...............................................................................................................................................26
2.3.2 Post-2000 .............................................................................................................................................29
2.3.3 Motor Development, Cognitive Development and Retained Reflexes .................................................31
2.3.4 Behavioural Issues and Their Relationship to Retained Primitive Reflexes ..........................................33
2.3.5 Retained Primitive Reflex Interventions ...............................................................................................35
2.4 PEER-REVIEWED REFLEX INTEGRATION PROGRAMMES ..............................................................................................35
2.4.1 Primary Movement Programme ..........................................................................................................36
2.4.2 Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) ............................................................................37

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 2.5 REFLEX INTEGRATION PROGRAMMES WITHOUT PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH ..................................................................38
2.5.1 RMT ......................................................................................................................................................38
2.5.2 Various Reflex Integration Programmes and their Research ...............................................................40
2.5.3 Dore programme research controversy. ..............................................................................................41
2.6 PART 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................43
2.6.1 Epistemological Assumptions and A Pragmatic Paradigm ..................................................................43
2.6.2 Developmental Theories Underpinning the Research ..........................................................................51
2.7 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2 ....................................................................................................................................58

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................ 60

3.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................60

3.1.1 Research Questions ..............................................................................................................................60
3.2 RESEARCH OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................................................61
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN: MIXED METHODS ....................................................................................................................63
3.3.1 Mixed Methods: Convergent Design ....................................................................................................63
3.3.2 Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Panel Research ...............................................................................65
3.3.3 Qualitative Data: Hermeneutic Phenomenology .................................................................................67
3.3.4 Quantitative Data ................................................................................................................................77
3.4 METHODS AND TOOLS OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................................................................88
3.4.1 Participant Selection ............................................................................................................................89
3.4.2 Intervention: Rhythmic Movement Training: .....................................................................................100
3.4.3 Qualitative Data Gathering................................................................................................................102
3.4.4 Qualitative Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................106
3.4.5 Quantitative Data Gathering .............................................................................................................108
3.4.6 Quantitative Data Analysis ................................................................................................................111
3.4.7 Integration: Mixed Methods, Convergent Design ..............................................................................115
3.4.8 Validity and Reliability, Rigour and Trustworthiness .........................................................................115
3.4.9 Ethical Issues ......................................................................................................................................122
3.5 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................................................125
3.6 OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS 4 AND 5 .......................................................................................................................125

CHAPTER 4 THE CLASSROOM: FINDINGS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................ 128

4.1 INTRODUCTION: ...............................................................................................................................................128

4.2 PARTICIPANT GROUP DESCRIPTIONS ....................................................................................................................129
4.2.1 Reflex Profiles of Participants ............................................................................................................130
4.2.2 Earthquakes and the Child’s Birth ......................................................................................................134

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 4.2.3 SES and Retained Primitive Reflexes ..................................................................................................137
4.2.4 Gender and Primitive Reflex Retention ..............................................................................................138
4.2.5 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................................139
4.3 RMT IN THE CLASSROOM ..................................................................................................................................142
4.3.1 The New Zealand Curriculum and RMT..............................................................................................144
4.3.2 Number of days completing RMT movements ...................................................................................146
4.3.3 Frequency...........................................................................................................................................148
4.3.4 Motivation .........................................................................................................................................150
4.3.5 Timing ................................................................................................................................................152
4.3.6 Focus ..................................................................................................................................................153
4.3.7 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................................154
4.4 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................................................................................164

CHAPTER 5 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND BEHAVIOUR: FINDINGS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................... 166

5.1 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: FINDINGS AND RESULTS ..................................................................................................167

5.1.1 Findings ..............................................................................................................................................167
5.1.2 Assessment - Results ..........................................................................................................................170
5.1.3 Draw-A-Person (DAP) .........................................................................................................................170
5.1.4 Reading ..............................................................................................................................................179
5.1.5 Writing ...............................................................................................................................................186
5.1.6 Mathematics ......................................................................................................................................191
5.1.7 Parent Comments: Extra-curricular Activities ....................................................................................196
5.2 STUDENT BEHAVIOUR FINDINGS/RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .....................................................................................198
5.3 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 5 ..................................................................................................................................207

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 210

6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................210

6.1.1 Hermeneutic Reflections and Research Limitations ...........................................................................214
6.1.2 Further Research ................................................................................................................................216
6.1.3 Recommendations from this research ...............................................................................................219
6.2 THESIS CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................................................220

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................... 222

APPENDICES....................................................................................................................................................... 243

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 List of Figures

Figure 2.1. Pyramid of learning. ................................................................................................... 16

Figure 2.2. Reflex presence progression from conception to 180 weeks. The blue line indicates
time of birth and the orange line indicates the third birthday (Collated from information in
Movements that Heal, Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). ................................................................. 31
Figure 2.3. Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of child development. ................................. 55
Figure 3.1. Research overview: Theoretical framework .............................................................. 62
Figure 3.2. Sequential and concurrent data gathering points of RMT research. .......................... 64
Figure 3.3. Convergent design process......................................................................................... 65
Figure 3.4. Intervention activity during phases. ........................................................................... 66
Figure 3.5. The Hermeneutic Circle as it applies to RMT. .......................................................... 69
Figure 3.6. Research process overview. ....................................................................................... 88
Figure 3.7. Processes used pre-data collection. ............................................................................ 89
Figure 3.8. Participant selection. .................................................................................................. 90
Figure 3.9. SES distribution of participants compared to general NZ population of primary
school-aged children. .................................................................................................................... 95
Figure 3.10. Participant requirements during the research. .......................................................... 98
Figure 3.11. STNR Rock starting position. ................................................................................ 102
Figure 3.12. Data gathering overview. ....................................................................................... 103
Figure 3.13. Theme structure...................................................................................................... 108
Figure 3.14. Linear mixed-effect statistical model used in this research. .................................. 114
Figure 3.15. Triangulation model for RMT research. ................................................................ 121
Figure 3.16. Findings, results and discussion structure. ............................................................. 126
Figure 3.17. Emergent themes and Figure 3.1. Research Overview (repeated). ....................... 127
Figure 4.1. Primitive reflex profile scores for individuals. ........................................................ 131
Figure 4.2. Primitive reflex profile scores for each group. ........................................................ 131
Figure 4.3. Percentage of birthdates in relation to Canterbury earthquakes. ............................. 136
Figure 4.4. Boxplot showing reflex profile scores in relation to school decile rating. .............. 138
Figure 4.5. RMT in relation to NZ Curriculum key competencies. ........................................... 146
Figure 4.6. Number of days RMT used during the school year. ................................................ 148

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Figure 5.1. Student drawings from the <4 times per week group. ............................................. 172
Figure 5.2. Student 167's progression of drawings from beginning to end. ............................... 173
Figure 5.3. Student 31's drawings: beginning, middle and end. ................................................. 173
Figure 5.4. Orla DAP drawings. ................................................................................................. 174
Figure 5.5. Orla’s writing sample at the beginning of the research. .......................................... 187
Figure 5.6. Orla’s writing sample after 3 years at school – mid-point of the research. ............. 187
Figure 5.7. Orla’s writing sample at the end of the research. ..................................................... 188

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 List of Tables

Table 5.12 Coefficient Estimates for Mathematics Using Model 1: Group………………………193

...................................................................................................................................................... viii
Table 3.1. Specific Tests Used in Each School ............................................................................. 78
Table 3.2. Details of Testing Used in Schools .............................................................................. 79
Table 3.3. Reading Scores Adjusted for Statistical Analysis ........................................................ 80
Table 3.4. Possible Writing Scores ............................................................................................... 80
Table 3.5. Possible Mathematics Scores....................................................................................... 81
Table 3.6. Draw-A-Person Test Scoring Based on Question Type ............................................... 85
Table 3.7. Comparison of Research Participant SES with General NZ Primary School
Population in 2017........................................................................................................................ 95
Table 3.8. Expected Number of Participants if Participant SES was Matched to the NZ Primary
School Population in 2017 ............................................................................................................ 96
Table 3.9. NVivo 11 Nodes Used for Coding .............................................................................. 107
Table 3.10. Data Collection Timeline ......................................................................................... 109
Table 3.11. Variables Used to Answer Research Questions ....................................................... 112
Table 4.1. Number of Children in Each Group .......................................................................... 129
Table 4.2. Statistical Group (Intervention and control) Matching Tests at the Beginning of the
Research ...................................................................................................................................... 130
Table 4.3. Primitive Reflex Test Scores for Each Reflex ............................................................ 132
Table 4.4. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile using Model 1: Group ................................ 133
Table 4.5 Mean Reflex Profile Scores......................................................................................... 133
Table 4.6. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile using Model 2: Frequency ......................... 134
Table 4.7. Pairwise Comparisons using t-tests with Pooled SD................................................. 137
Table 4.8. Participant Gender Proportions ................................................................................ 138
Table 4.9. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile and Gender using Model 1: Group ............ 139
Table 5.1. Mean DAP Scores ...................................................................................................... 175
Table 5.2. DAP Scores with Age in Years and Months ............................................................... 175
Table 5.3. Coefficient Estimates for DAP Using Model 1: Group ............................................. 176
Table 5.4. Coefficient Estimates for DAP Using Model 2: Frequency ....................................... 177

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Table 5.5. Mean Reading Scores ................................................................................................ 182
Table 5.6. Coefficient Estimates for Reading Using Model 1: Group ........................................ 183
Table 5.7. Coefficient Estimates for Reading Using Model 2: Frequency ................................. 183
Table 5.8. Mean Writing Scores ................................................................................................. 189
Table 5.9. Coefficient Estimates for Writing Using Model 1: Group ......................................... 189
Table 5.10. Coefficient Estimates for Writing Using Model 2: Frequency ................................ 190
Table 5.11. Mean Scores Mathematics ....................................................................................... 193
Table 5.12 Coefficient Estimates for Mathematics Using Model 1: Group………………………193
Table 5.13. Coefficient Estimates for Mathematics Using Model 2: Frequency…………………194
Table 5.14. SDQ Classification Score Levels and Participant Levels………...………….…….202
Table 5.15. Coefficient Estimates for SDQ Using Model 1: Group…………..…………….….203
Table 5.16. Coefficient Estimates for SDQ Using Model 2: Frequency………………………..204

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 Appendices

The following list details the supporting documents for Tessa Grigg’s PhD research.
Page
Appendix A Information sheet – School 244
Appendix B Information Sheet – Teacher 246
Appendix C Information Sheet – Parent 248
Appendix Ca Additional Information for Parents 250
Appendix D Information talk – Children 251
Appendix E Informed Consent – Principal/Board of Trustees 252
Appendix F Informed Consent – Teacher 254
Appendix G Informed Consent – Parent 256
Appendix H Informed Consent – Child 258
Appendix I Interview – Semi-formal – Parent 259
Appendix J Interview – Semi-formal – Teacher 260
Appendix K SDQ – Questionnaire sheet for parents and teachers 261
Appendix L SDQ – Covering Letter – Parent 262
Appendix M SDQ – Covering Letter – Teacher 263
Appendix N SDQ – Scoring system 264
Appendix O RMT – Letter of Support 267
Appendix P RMT – classroom exercises – 268
Appendix Q RMT – classroom exercises – additional movement 269
Appendix R Draw-A-Person scoring system 270
Appendix S Reflex Tests 272
Appendix Tm Assessment Resources Map Mathematics 273
Appendix Tr Assessment Resources Map Reading 274
Appendix Tw Assessment Resources Map Writing 275
Appendix U Statistics - Scatterplots of Predicted and Residuals Values 276
Appendix V North Island ERHEC Approval 279
Appendix W Health and Safety Plan 280
Ngāi Tahu Consultation and Engagement Group (NTCEG) 281
Appendix Xa application
Appendix Xb Ngāi Tahu Consultation and Engagement Group (NTCEG) reply 283
Appendix Ya ERHEC first email reply to Ethics approval application. 284
Appendix Yb Researcher’s reply to ERHEC initial email 286
Appendix Yc ERHEC second email reply to Ethics approval application 289
Appendix Yd Researcher’s reply to ERHEC second email 291
Appendix Z ERHEC Approval Letter 292

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This thesis presents the original work of the candidate. All work from other scholars is
acknowledged in the text.

This thesis has not been submitted, in part or as a whole, for another degree at this or any other
university.

Approval to conduct the research presented in this thesis was gained from the University of
Canterbury Educational Research Human Ethics Committee.

Pseudonyms have been used for all participants: schools and individuals.

The quotations in Chapters 4 and 5 have been reproduced from transcriptions. Speech
disfluencies and superfluous speech such as repetitions have been deleted to add clarity while
maintaining intended meaning.

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 Abstract
The birth of a human is facilitated by primitive reflexes which assist with the infant’s survival.
Once the reflexes have been engaged, they then integrate and cognition takes over the functions
needed to survive and thrive. Typically this process is completed within the first year of life.
However, for some people, the primitive reflex integration process is interrupted, varying
degrees of immaturity may persist and this may be associated with delays in skill acquisition.
Movement-based interventions have been developed to assist the integration process. This thesis
focuses on the phenomenon of primitive reflexes and the use of one reflex integration
programme: Rhythmic Movement Training, with an aim of addressing the research question
‘What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have in a classroom?’
The mixed methods methodology allowed the complexity of the issue to be explored
hermeneutically and statistically. Ninety-eight New Zealand children, divided into two groups,
intervention and control, used the RMT movements for between five and ten months. Seven
teachers and 26 parents were interviewed and test results relating to the children’s reflex profiles,
Draw-A-Person Test, Reading, Writing, Mathematics and the Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire were analysed. The findings and results of this thesis are organised around three
emergent themes: the classroom, student achievement and student behavioural outcomes. The
intervention’s focus on the ‘whole child’ was seen as a strength and recommendations for further
research are made to extend what is known about how and why primitive reflex integration
enhances children’s development. The teachers found the generic RMT programme easy to use
with their children and they noticed positive changes in focus, achievement and self-worth.
Statistically significant differences were detected in student reflex profiles, reading scores, social
and emotional challenge scores when RMT was used four or more times each week for five
months. This research also found that there were gains noted by teachers and parents, and
improved results for children when they were engaged in this reflex integration programme using
generic movements for five minutes per day, four or more times a week for five months.

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 Acknowledgements
Ehara taku toa, he takitahi, he toa takitini
My success should not be bestowed on to me alone, as it was not individual success but the
success of a collective.

Te amorangi ki mua, te hapai o ki muri

The leader at the front and the workers behind the scenes

My successful completion of this thesis has been supported by a team in the background:
Supervisors: Prof, Ian Culpan and Associate Prof. Wendy Fox-Turnbull.
The schools, teachers, parents and children who were part of the research.
My family: Drew, Harry and Benson as well as Harry’s Swedish parents, Annika and Micke.
Tutorial support from Dr Myron Friesen, and statistics support from Dr Elena Moltchanova, Dr
Daniel Gerhard, and Andrew Richens (MSc in Statistics)
RMT founders Harald Blomberg, MD and Moira Dempsey

Thank you for the part you played in enabling me to achieve my goal.

Proverbs retrieved from Woodward Ltd (2017) http://www.maori.cl/Proverbs.htm

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 List of Abbreviations
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ASD Autistic Spectrum Disorder
ATNR Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex
DAP Draw-A-Person test
DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition
DST Dyslexia Screening Test
EBP Evidence-Based Practises
EBSCO Elton B. Stephens Co (information discovery service)
ECE Early Childhood Education
EDA Exploratory Data Analysis
ERHEC Educational Research Human Ethics Committee
FPR Fear Paralysis Reflex
ILE Innovative Learning Environment
INPP The Institute of Neuro-Physiological Psychology
IQ Intelligence Quotient
M-ABC Movement Assessment Battery for Children
MNRI® Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration
MKO More Knowledgeable Other
NMT Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics
PPCT Process-person-context-time (Bronfenbrenner Theory of Development)
QRI Quantum Reflex Integration
r Correlation (a statistical test)
RMT Rhythmic Movement Training
SES Socio-economic Status
STNR Symmetric Tonic Neck Reflex
TINE Touwen Infant Neurological Examination
TLR Tonic Neck Labyrinthine Reflex
UC University of Canterbury, New Zealand
UP Unlocking Potential – Sensory-motor Programme
WRAT Wide Range Achievement Test
ZPD Zone of Proximal Development

xiii
 Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Why Research Retained Primitive Reflexes?
A typical New Zealand classroom of 2017 has a full curriculum and expectations from the
Ministry of Education that teachers will provide children with the best learning opportunities
available (as cited in Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 87). Teachers assess the value and benefit
of each activity they engage in, and they assess the children’s progress both academically and
behaviourally. When there are achievement or behavioural challenges, schools are expected to
work to meet the needs of the child and where possible, resolve the challenges (Ministry of
Education, 2018). It is common in education for schools and government agencies to use
evidence-based practices (EBP) to address learning and behavioural issues (Braden & Shernoff,
2008). Interventions considered EBPs have been assessed using research based on systematic
evaluation to determine efficacy, or have undergone assessments in their typical settings, e.g.
school or home, in an attempt to determine effectiveness (Braden & Shernoff, 2008). Finally,
transportability is considered an important factor: Can the intervention move from the
‘laboratory’ to a classroom setting? How will the training work and what supervision is required?
The role of a researcher interested in EBPs is to continue to search for interventions that pass
efficacy, effectiveness and transportability tests.

The range of EBPs in Mather and Morris’ (2008) book Evidence-based interventions for students
with learning and behavioural challenges focus on assessment and then remedial intervention
based on skill deficit. This is accepted as best-practice in educational settings (Braden &
Shernoff, 2008; Dehn, 2008; Fahey, 2008; Mather & Urso, 2008; Schoenfield & Morris, 2008).
In New Zealand, the widely used Reading Recovery programme (Ministry of Education, 2014) is
based on skill deficit, with individualised reading tuition provided during the school day. While
these programmes are EBPs, they require funding and take time out of the child’s normal
curriculum programme. This deficit model is being contested as the most effective model for
intervention, with the Australian government changing their focus to teacher education and
effective teaching strategies for all children rather than a focus on identifying ‘discrepant
achievement’ (Graham & Bailey, 2007).

1
Another approach to learning and behavioural challenges puts underlying causes in focus. It may
be parenting skills that are the target such as in the Triple P Programme (National Registry of
Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), 2013; Sanders, Markie-Dadds, & Tully,
2000), or nutritional deficits (Rucklidge et al., 2012) that are addressed. However, in this
research, the possibility that a child’s neurological health, in particular any retained primitive
reflexes, may be the basis for some skill immaturities is in focus. What are primitive reflexes?
What is their typical progression and what interrupts the process? What happens to skill
acquisition when a reflex-integration intervention is used? And how transportable is that
intervention? These are some of the questions that are explored in this research thesis.

If retained primitive reflexes are associated with a range of learning and behavioural challenges
as is presented in Chapter 2, and the intervention used in this research changes student outcomes
as presented in Chapters 4 and 5, there are important implications. The self-worth of children can
be compromised when they are struggling with achievement and behavioural expectations. They
may take more time to make progress or need to practise tasks longer than others to achieve
similar outcomes. For some children the appropriate intervention may increase their self-worth;
it could reduce the time they take to achieve goals and improve their school experience. Another
flow-on effect is the possibility that teachers may find more students make progress easily, thus
improving their professional goals and possibly their job satisfaction. This research has been
designed to assess student outcomes while acknowledging the important role of the teacher when
the intervention is used in a classroom.

1.2 General Aim of this Research

The general aim of this research was to explore the use of a primitive reflex integration
programme, Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT), in classrooms while assessing a range of
measurable student outcomes. The group of participants came from typical mixed-ability New
Zealand classrooms. Developing understanding relating to the use of RMT in a classroom setting
was of interest because it was viewed as an easy intervention that may benefit children who
would not normally receive individualised remediation. Many children do not reach the threshold
of skill deficit to qualify for state-funded intervention (Graham & Bailey, 2007) and the generic
use of RMT in this research is viewed as a cost-effective strategy based on teacher education
2
rather than individualised sessions for the child. Data was gathered from teachers and parents to
extend the understanding of ‘lived experiences’ in relation to RMT. This research is primarily
about the experience of using RMT, however, an understanding of primitive reflexes and the
processes involved in their integration is important when assessing the value of this research. A
brief explanation of the primitive reflexes, their retention and RMT follows.

1.3 Reflexes Defined: Background Information

This brief description of primitive reflexes and the possibility their typical process can be
interrupted is provided to enhance understanding relating to the basis of methodological
decisions made, as described in Chapter 3. This research does not ask if there is a primitive
reflex integration issue, thus the following information is useful for the reading of the literature
review, where studies focused on primitive reflex integration are discussed.

1.3.1 Primitive Reflexes.

Primitive reflexes (also known as infant reflexes or primary reflexes) develop in the womb. They
are considered to be part of a child’s neurophysiological development. Neurophysiology relates
to the physiology of the central nervous system, which includes the brain (Blomberg, 2015).
Primitive reflexes are activated during the birthing process and are useful early in the child’s life.
They are considered to be fundamental developmental processes and their involuntary reactions
originate in the brainstem (Capute et al., 1984; Desorbay, 2013; El-Dib, Massaro, Glass, & Aly,
2012; Goddard, 1996; Sassé, 2009; Zafeiriou, 2004). As examples, a frightened infant displays a
Moro/startle reflex, and the immature bladder is emptied by the Spinal Galant reflex. Through
the typical maturation process, the child’s reflexes integrate, and as a result, intellectual
processes and movement are controlled by cognition or postural reflexes instead of primitive
reflexes (Goddard-Blythe, 2008).

1.3.2 Retained Primitive Reflexes

When the primitive reflex/cognition integration process is interrupted, the result is described as
retained primitive reflexes (Goddard, 1996). In typically-developing children, the primitive
reflexes become integrated or are transformed within the first 12 months of life (McPhillips &

3
Sheehy, 2004). Maternal, environmental and birthing process stress have been identified as
reflex integration interrupters (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard-Blythe, 2008; Holley,
2010; Hsieh et al., 2011; Thomson, 2007). Learning and behavioural issues have been associated
with retained primitive reflexes (Konicarova & Bob, 2012; McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b).
Balance problems later in a child’s life can indicate retention of the Moro reflex and bedwetting
in children over the age of 5 years may be attributed to a retained Spinal Galant reflex (Berne,
2006). It is possible that some of the children who do not respond well to conventional school-
based intervention may have retained primitive reflexes (McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007a).
Research in this area is limited and needs extending. The individual nature of the retained reflex
issue has not been addressed in research completed to-date, and while there appear to be clusters
of reflexes and commonalities, each child’s reflex story is an individual one.

1.3.3 Testing Primitive Reflexes

The presence of primitive reflexes is tested as part of newborn screening tests, but they are not
routinely tested as the child matures. The tests commonly used by researchers or occupational
therapists involve asking a child, older than five years, to perform a simple physical task while
the practitioner observes any associated involuntary movements. An example of one of these
tests is asking the child to stretch their arms out at shoulder height and then turn their head to one
side. The tester observes the out-stretched arms and the whole body, noting any movement
(Goddard, 1996). A child with a retained reflex will find it challenging to keep the arms still with
the position maintained while turning the head. The specific tests used in this research are
detailed in Chapter 3 as part of the Methodology.

1.3.4 Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) as an Intervention

The Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) programme is a series of movements designed by

Blomberg and Dempsey using the work of Linde (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). The movements
are based on the spontaneous movements of typically-developing infants following their birth
(Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Thelen, 1981). The rhythmic aspect of RMT differentiates this
programme from other movement-based programmes where exercises are completed without
incorporating rhythm. Physical tests are used when assessing the presence or absence of a child’s
reflexes (Goddard, 1996). Observable differences in movements can be seen. Children with
4
observable retained reflexes are then given individualised RMT movements to complete daily.
The movements take approximately five to ten minutes to complete each day (Blomberg &
Dempsey, 2011). RMT appears to be “easy for families to use within their daily routine and it
was a cost effective, low-impact intervention” (Grigg, Fox-Turnbull, & Culpan, 2018, p. 11).
Further details pertaining to the movements used in this research are provided in Chapter 3
(Appendices P and Q).

Primitive reflex integration programmes have been described by Brown (2010) as a ‘bottom-up’
intervention, rather than a ‘top-down’ or skill deficit-based interventions as supported by Mather
and Morris (2008). RMT aligns with the ‘bottom-up’ approach where the underlying cause of
challenges is assessed through the investigation of a child’s primitive reflex profile. Researchers
of reflex integration programmes believe that it is essential to address the underlying cause of a
skill deficit through movement interventions (Goddard-Blythe, 2005; Goddard, 1996;
McPhillips, Hepper, & Mulhern, 2000; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004) which are detailed in
Section 2.3.

1.4 Theoretical perspective: An Intellectual

Autobiography
As a qualitative researcher, positioning myself and my experience provides context and
orientation of the research known as ontological assumptions (Creswell, 2013; Creswell & Plano
Clark, 2011). Crotty (1998) believes that the term ‘theoretical perspective’ more accurately
labels what are often termed ontological assumptions because ontology in it’s purest form
describes the nature of reality (or ‘what is’). A theoretical perspective describes the researcher’s
perspective or view of the ‘world’ that is being researched, in other words, in this research how I
have arrived at the assumptions I have made around children’s neurophysiological organisation,
in particular, primitive reflexes and the impact they have on children’s development. Much of
this research is based in the area of physiology and neurology, however the intervention used,
RMT, is a constructed set of movements and as such, the use of them becomes part of
discovering the nature of reality. I am pragmatic and am interested in what is useful, what
‘works’ and what is practical. The theories surrounding pragmatism are discussed in the second

5
part of Chapter 2. Having positioned the theoretical perspective, epistemological assumptions or
how we know what we know, what is the most effective method for obtaining that knowledge
legitimately and comprehensively (Crotty, 1998). This aspect of the theoretical framework are
covered in Part 2 of the Literature review. This section is written in the first person to convey
the personal nature of the material presented. I am a registered teacher and my interest in
children’s learning processes, especially from a neurophysiological perspective was established
very early in my teacher training. As a student at Christchurch Teachers’ College during the late
1970’s, a sensory-motor integration course with Pru Kernahan instigated my interest with the
link between physical activity and learning. Kernahan had returned from an American
conference with information from movement specialists Capon (1975) and Doman, Doman and
Hagy (1988). Glen Doman was focused on movement-based interventions in his work with
brain-injured children at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia.
The positive results from this intense movement programme sparked my interest and thus began
a fascination with children’s neurology and physiology of the brain/body for the last 40 years.

My interest in movement programmes grew and expanded once I began teaching. Through a
range of teaching positions with adult students, as well as primary and pre-school children, the
likelihood that there were links between moving and learning became reinforced in my mind. My
fascination with brain development, movement and music intensified with the purchase of a
GymbaROO franchise in 1995. In 1996 I was introduced to the concept of primitive reflexes and
the ramifications of an interrupted reflex process when I attended a GymbaROO conference in
Melbourne, Australia. Jane Williams (Programme Director for Toddler Kindy GymbaROO)
described a range of immaturities that were noticed in children with retained primitive reflexes.
For me, this information offered insight into issues I had encountered with adults and children
through my educational work: for example, behavioural immaturity, classroom struggles,
hypersensitivities and bed-wetting. During this time, I had added Kinesiology skills (Registered
Natural Therapies Practitioner) to my registered teacher skills (music and movement specialist)
and was working with approximately 130 children each week. I often reflected on struggling
children with many protective factors. It is well established (Cicchetti, Toth, & Maughan, 2000)
that protective factors such as: the family being in a middle to high-income bracket, the child
having child-focused parents and a stable home life, the family having well-functioning support

6
systems and the child having high functioning siblings, point to success for children in both
academic and behavioural outcomes. The retained reflex work completed by Goddard (1996)
offered insight into some of these issues. Through her testing, Goddard found a link between
children with retained reflexes and behavioural and learning challenges. The intervention
approach she developed was a movement-based programme.

This new information about primitive reflexes improved my insights into the children I was in
contact with. When clients first visit my kinesiology practice I gather a history of each adult or
child. One question relates to stress associated pre- and post-birth. Although the reasons for
engaging a Kinesiologist varied, there were common themes from both children and adults
relating to the time associated with their birth. Stories recounting birth process intervention or
trauma, or maternal stress before or after birth was common. The examples included: moving to
a new house, a physical accident, loss of a baby or a death in the family. I noticed a link; the
people seeking the skills of a Kinesiologist to address aspects that were not working in their lives
often described stress associated close to or during their birth. I used this information as I
continued to develop reflex integration through Kinesiology.

As my understanding of the retained reflex issues increased there began a realisation that there
were similarities in my own life path. My own delivery was described as a something akin to a
‘motorbike accident’. My mother was under a general anaesthetic and I was not in great shape,
very battered, with a paralysed arm. Fortunately, my mother is a fighter and the suggestion that
the arm should be amputated sent her into an ‘I need to fix this’ mode. She did very well – I have
two arms, and one of them is just a bit ‘special’. I have often wondered, while focused on
completing my PhD, if my delivery contributed to the fact that I really like the RMT movements,
they make me feel good, and I notice changes in myself when I use them, particularly when I
first started. This is my ‘constructed reality’ of what it means to use the RMT movements. My
own delivery may well have contributed to my passion to help others in a similar situation, and
my PhD has given me ‘permission’ to explore the whole phenomenon. My research seems to
have a focus on circles, in particular, hermeneutic circles, that will be described in detail in
Chapter 3. In writing this section it has become clear that what I thought was the ‘whole’ that I

7
was exploring through the ‘parts’ has, in fact, brought me back to understanding not only a
bigger ‘whole’ that is RMT, but also the ‘whole’ that is me.

The final personal aspect of this research was the insights gained through my own child. Harry
was delivered by forceps in 2000, and his developmental path was of great interest to me. I
recognised some markers of retained primitive reflexes, for example, he was slow to crawl, he
made unusual arm movements and he was hypersensitive in many situations. My husband and I
provided a sensory-motor rich environment and he participated in a range of activities. While the
progression of many developmental aspects was typical of a child his age, we noticed some gaps;
he struggled socially at school, found it hard to focus and had multiple sensitivities to food and
chemicals. I sold my GymbaROO franchise in 2003 and this allowed an increased focus on
kinesiology, music and Harry. At this time I also encountered Dalziell’s work with Dobie’s
Bilateral Integration programme (Dobie, Brown, & Dalziell, 2002) at another GymbaROO
conference in Melbourne. I have since used some of these activities with children and adults.
Again, I was encouraged by positive results particularly with my own son, but there still seemed
to be pieces missing from what I knew and understood.

In 2013 I encountered Blomberg and Dempsey’s book Movements that Heal (2011). I was
fascinated by the description of the Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) process, and the case
histories. I learned one of the movements at a conference I attended and then spent time using
that movement myself. I was very interested in the positive change I noticed in my teaching
skills: improved sensitivity towards student needs and an increased ability to confidently
embrace a ‘teachable moment’. I often caught myself thinking in a lesson “Gosh that was great,
where did I get that from?” The next step was to encourage Harry to use them and quite quickly
my husband and I noticed positive changes such as his increased confidence and social skills. We
could not be certain that the RMT had made the changes, all we knew was the change happened
while he was using the movements. Completing further study in RMT and becoming a
practitioner enabled me to use the programme in my Kinesiology practice. The experience I
gained using the movements then encouraged me to learn about families experiences with RMT,
and I completed a Master of Education Degree. The focus of this master’s research was the
perceptions of parents who had already used RMT with their children. Parent perceptions have

8
always interested me in relation to the use of interventions as they are important partners in the
process (Koh, Shin, & Yeo, 2010; Williams, 2005; Worcester, Nesman, Mendez, & Keller,
2008). The families in the study reported positive outcomes in their use of RMT (Grigg, 2016)
and their experiences matched my own. The logical progression was to explore RMT in the
classroom using an academic research process. I have made ontological assumptions that
children’s neurological wellbeing and readiness for learning needs to be considered before
concerns relating to how children learn effectively or viewpoints on learning theory are of
interest. Neurological challenges will have an impact on the child’s progression, regardless of a
person’s view on theories of learning or which environment promotes optimal learning
opportunities. While I have used the programme and have completed the training I have no
financial or managerial affiliation with any RMT organisation.

In summary, I have positioned myself as a pragmatic researcher interested in the child’s

neurological wellbeing and physiology. This interest has led me to focus on primitive reflexes
and their relationship to the development of learning and behaviour. Chapter 2: Literature
Review, expands the ontological assumptions described in this chapter as well as focusing on
epistemology: what is known about brain development in relation to reflex information,
primitive reflexes and classroom-based movement programmes. The second section reviews
literature associated with the theoretical framework and the educational theories used to underpin
this research.

1.5 Overview of the Thesis Chapters

This section gives an overview of the chapters and the general focus contained within each
chapter.

Chapter 2. Part 1: A review of the current literature establishes the extent and focus of
the research into primitive reflexes. Current brain research is reviewed to gain an understanding
of reflex retention issues in relation to neurological health and research focusing on school-based
movement programmes is reviewed to position the approach of this current research. The
associated problems when the primitive reflex process is interrupted are reported on in relation to
student achievement and behavioural outcomes. This leads to a review of current interventions

9
that purport to remediate issues associated with retained reflexes. Some programmes have peer-
reviewed research to support efficacy while others appear to be lacking this scholarly tradition.

Part 2: Literature relating to the theoretical framework follows, namely the pragmatic paradigm,
as it relates to this research. When the theoretical positioning is combined with reflex
information this chapter provides the epistemological positioning of the research. The research
uses a pragmatic paradigm to uncover issues surrounding the use of a primitive reflex integration
programme in the classroom. The theories of Thelen and Hughlings-Jackson focus on aspects of
children’s neurological development while the theories of Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky are
reviewed as they relate to the placement of RMT in the sociocultural environment of the current
classroom environment.

Chapter 3. A description of mixed methods, as part of the methodology used in this

research is discussed in this chapter. The justification for choosing a convergent design is
explained, as is the reason for choosing to include quantitative data alongside hermeneutic
phenomenological qualitative data. Primitive reflex integration is a complex process for a child,
and the development of skills is not an evenly timed linear process (Ayres, 1995; Sassé, 2009).
Qualitative data was included with the intention of enabling the richness of the process and the
complexity of primitive reflex integration to be gathered, through the experiences of the parents
and teachers.

Chapter 4. The following two chapters are structured around the three main qualitative
themes that emerged from the analysis of data: RMT in the classroom, possible influences in
student achievement and student behaviour. In Chapter 4, the ‘classroom’ is in focus. There is an
explanation of the structure of the two findings/results/discussion chapters and the rationale for
the decisions made regarding the structure of reporting. The findings, results and discussion are
then presented relating to demographics of the participant group and their levels of retained
reflexes. This section also includes results relating to the number of days RMT was used, the
frequency the movements were completed each week and the integration of reflexes.

Secondly, the perceptions of teachers who used RMT in the classroom are presented. How were
the movements managed in the classroom? How did the children feel about the movements, how

10
did they enhance curriculum goals and how did they fit within the physical classroom space? The
parent voice is also heard in relation to their child’s response to using the movements at school.

Chapter 5. Student achievement and behavioural outcomes are the focus of Chapter 5.
Qualitative findings are followed by quantitative results. Reading, writing, mathematics and
neurological development through the Draw-A-Person test are presented, each with a discussion.
The findings, results and discussion from a social and emotional questionnaire are then presented
with comments from teachers and parents.

Chapter 6. A summary of the findings and results are presented, and the limitations of this
research are provided in Chapter 6. Possible next steps are identified in relation to further
retained primitive reflex research. Establishing understanding of how retained primitive reflexes
interact with student achievement and behavioural outcomes would be of interest. This may
support development of cost-effective interventions designed to enhance the learning experience.
Finally, conclusions and recommendations relating to the findings and results are presented.

1.6 Summary of Chapter 1

This chapter has identified retained primitive reflexes as the topic of research. The research
focuses on a specific reflex integration intervention (RMT) within the classroom. The brief
description of retained primitive reflexes, the tests used to assess these, and the intervention are
intended to aid understanding of the following chapters. There have been suggestions made that
a child’s neurological readiness for learning has far-reaching implications on both behaviour and
achievement. The personal positioning of the researcher, informed by the literature, set the scene
for the research decisions and discussions that follow. Chapter 2 reviews the current literature
pertaining to primitive reflexes, their retention, programmes used and the theoretical positioning
of the research as it will be used to address these issues.

11
 Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Part 1: The Development of Primitive Reflex
Knowledge over Time
Awareness of retained primitive reflexes is not new (Konicarova & Bob, 2013b) with early
discussions documented by Hughlings-Jackson in the 1850’s. However, over time, the
knowledge and scope relating to the effect retained primitive reflexes can have on children has
developed down two pathways: psychopathology and educational outcomes. This chapter
focuses on what is known about reflexes in relation to development; an assumption is made that
primitive reflexes are part of physical development rather than being socially constructed.
However, to progress children’s development it is assumed that movement programmes provide
an effective opportunity for change through reflex integration. The epistemological positioning
of the research is found in Part 2 of this chapter. Theories relating to child development,
behaviour, physical movement and retained primitive reflexes are reviewed in this first section of
the chapter with two main areas addressed:

1:  Current brain development research, the underlying theories it is based on

and its relationship with movement programmes, primitive reflex retention
and integration.
 School-based exercise programme studies, methodology and findings: giving
a rationale for the methodology chosen for the research.

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 2:  Retained primitive reflex information as it has developed, and the influence
retained primitive reflexes have on academic and behavioural outcomes:
providing an explanation for the relevance of retained primitive reflexes in
education and the need for associated research.
 Primitive reflexes integration programmes: current movement programmes
that have attracted peer-reviewed studies.

2.1.1 Review Methods

The following literature review was based on multiple searches of databases and library material
over 36 months. The three main methods used to identify relevant research articles are detailed
below. The University of Canterbury electronic databases were the main sources of information.
ERIC (Educational Resource Information Centre), PsycINFO (Psychological Literature) and
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) provided many articles,
with Google Scholar sometimes used as a starting point. The range of material increased when
multiple subject areas were interrogated, namely Health Sciences, Education and Psychology. An
Elton B. Stephens Co (EBSCO) information alert was also put in place. Keywords such as
primitive reflexes, primary reflexes, infant reflexes, reflex integration, reflex development,
movement programmes, Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR), Spinal Galant, Tonic Neck
Labyrinthine reflex (TLR) and Moro reflex produced results. For most general searches the date
parameter was set to post-2000, although this parameter was removed when gathering historical
information about primitive reflexes. To ensure the credibility of the research, all articles were
required to be peer-reviewed. References on collected articles provided further relevant research
literature and bibliographies of books read during the research were another source of relevant
scholarly texts.

Research into retained primitive reflexes and the associated educational and behavioural
outcomes was of primary focus for this literature review (Brown, 2010; Callcott, 2012;
Gieysztor, Choińska, & Paprocka-Borowicz, 2018; Goddard-Blythe, 2012; McPhillips & Jordan-
Black, 2007a; Reynolds, Nicolson, & Hambly, 2003). The participants in the studies considered
relevant were all primary school-aged children, and in many cases standardised school-based
testing was used to identify learning challenges. The search failed to uncover any research on

13
adolescents with retained primitive reflexes and this area may be worth exploring in future. It
could be possible that some immature decisions made by teenagers have a retained primitive
reflex element.

Several research articles with a focus on primitive reflexes at varying stages in human
development were found. These included the elderly (Hobo et al., 2014), adults (Bruijn et al.,
2013; Damasceno et al., 2005; Parfrey, Gibbons, Drinkwater, & Behm, 2014), infants and
environmental factors research (Hsieh et al., 2011). While the area of retained reflexes is clearly
multi-faceted, a decision was made to limit the scope of this literature review to educational
achievement and behavioural outcomes for primary school-aged children. However, before
primitive reflex research can be discussed meaningfully, a brief discussion relating to the current
theories around early brain development will provide a framework for the retained reflex
information.

2.2 Current Understanding of Brain Development and

Movement
A review of current brain development knowledge is useful when exploring the issues relating to
primitive reflexes. For centuries, scientists, educationalists, psychologists and medics have been
intrigued by how the brain develops and functions. Prior to neuroimaging, autopsy and
observation were used by researchers to develop theories as to what they believed was happening
in the developing brain. One such researcher was MacLean (1982), an American scientist who
studied brain development in reptiles, mammals and humans (MacLean, 1982). He described the
brain metaphorically in evolutionary terms, with three layers surrounding the brain stem
(MacLean, 1982). He termed the spinal cord, brain stem and cerebellum as the neural chassis,
and likened them to the brains of creatures such as fish. He believed that primitive reflexes
originated here. Next to the brain stem was the mid-brain or basal ganglia (he termed this the
reptilian brain because of his belief that it originated from reptiles). He theorised that basal
ganglia were responsible for inhibiting the primitive reflexes, and that this inhibition was
achieved through movement. The next layer of the brain according to MacLean was the limbic
system or mammalian brain. It was this system that housed emotions, memory and learning.

14
Finally, in this ‘onion’ style brain model, was the neocortex or human brain, and he concluded
that it was this layer that controlled our human abilities of judgement, control of impulses,
attention and initiative. Sensory processing happens in this part of the brain, especially in the
occipital, parietal and temporal lobes. This “triune brain” theory was also popularized by Carl
Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden (1977). He described the evolutionary process of human
development using fish, reptiles and mammals to describe the different parts of the brain.
Blomberg (2015) also uses the description of the Triune Brain in his explanation of how this
system of movements works. In his book The Rhythmic Movement Method (2015) he aligns his
theory with explanations based on MacLean’s work, as to how primitive reflexes impact each
‘layer’ of the brain. However, he does not go so far as to use the images of the three layers as
MacLean did and he talks more about systems within the brain: brain stem, limbic system and
neocortex. During an interview with Blomberg (personal communication, January 5, 2018), he
stated that he viewed the ‘triune brain’ theory as a metaphor for the stages that a brain progresses
through as it matures rather than physical layers within the brain. The stages of brain
development have been observed by scientists, educationalists and parents over time and
Blomberg sees the MacLean theory as a way of explaining the stages.

Another model of brain maturation processes, the Pyramid of Learning, was formulated by
occupational therapists Shellenberger and Williams (1996). This is shown in Figure 2.1.

15
Figure 2.1. Pyramid of learning.

Again, they see the brain developing in steps with different focuses at different stages. According
to Shellenberger and Williams, a young baby’s brain operates from the central nervous system
and then progresses to the sensory system and on up the pyramid as they develop. They did not
associate ages with each stage, acknowledging that each child develops at a different rate, but
that all children needed to develop these blocks for learning. If their approach was taken literally
it would assume that no academic learning takes place until all the other blocks in the pyramid
are in place. These models have been used as a way of explaining the stages a child’s brain
progresses through as it matures.

Advances in neuroscience have added to brain development understanding. Access to functional

magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalograms (EEG) have contributed to
greater understanding of how different areas of the brain interact (Barrett, 2017). As a critic of
MacLean’s model, Barrett states that the brain is not a “layer cake” with ancient circuits of the
reptilian brain, inside a fully baked ‘limbic system’ cake, with the icing on the top representing
the outer cortex. Research by Finlay, Hinz and Darlington (2011) points to all vertebrates having
divisions in their brains, and that in mammals, length of gestation and time of brain growth
16
relates to the size of the brain. In humans, there is a small but significant link between the size of
the brain and its fitness, namely intelligence (B. L. Finlay et al., 2011). Barrett contrasts the two
standpoints, nature versus nurture, in brain development which she says opponents often view in
“caricature”; a classical view which has Darwinism and evolution at the core, and a construction
view which focuses on the environment and, more recently, culture. She explains:
Modern neuroscience, however, has burned down both caricatures. We are not
blank slates, and our children not ‘Silly Putty” to be shaped this way and that, but
neither is biology destiny. When we peer into the workings of a functioning brain,
we don’t see mental modules. We see core systems that interact continuously in
complex ways to produce many sorts of minds depending on culture. The human
brain is itself a cultural artefact because it is wired by experience”. (Barrett, 2017, p.
170)
This view is also supported by Cusack, Ball, Smyser and Dehaene-Lambert (2016), who discuss
the leaps in what is understood about brain development through the tools of neuroscience.
When it comes to what is believed about the emergence of abilities, there are ever-changing time
frames. For example, ‘Theory of Mind’ that was thought to develop at approximately four years,
is now believed to start developing at six months (Cusack et al., 2016, p. 77). The process of
developing the brain circuitry begins in-utero (Ball et al., 2014), with regional specialisation in
the brain detectable at 27 weeks gestation and the infant brain showing more complex patterns of
connectivity at birth, and being much closer to the adult patterns than earlier thought (Ball et al.,
2014).

Neuroimaging shows researchers the cognitive structures in place for the learning infant to
expand their abilities. This new information then poses the question that if an infant has high
levels of brain function, why does it take them so long to learn skills? Cusack et al. (2016)
suggest that this is tied to the large number of cognitive tasks that are presented to the infant at
birth and their need to focus on what is important to their survival. Maturation of the brain
circuitry was discussed in relation to pre-term infants with a note made that early disturbances of
the neural system appear to have long-term effects. However, the role primitive reflexes play in
this process was not mentioned by Cusack and the power of movement was not linked to the
development of the infant. Hannaford (2005) used electrodes on the heads of children to assess
brain activation during reading, maths and physical activity. She found that similar areas lit up in
the brain when children were engaged in these activities and concluded that movement and
cognition were linked and that physical activity could enhance learning.
17
Cusack et al. (2016) collated brain neuroimaging studies from the last ten years and described the
processes of the developing brain through emerging research. Prior to neuroimaging, post-
mortems were the main source of information used by neuroscientists to study patterns of brain
development. However, neuroimaging allows these patterns of development for one child to be
followed and then compared with others. This has confirmed some theories and has given insight
into new areas. Initially, the growth of the cortex was in focus for the developing infant, with the
primary sensory cortex developing early in the gestation process, before 27 weeks, and the
frontal, parietal and temporal cortices showing greater rates of change in the third trimester. The
formation of regions with apparently specialised functions and architecture has been shown
through neuroimaging. The formation of sulci (grooves in the brain surface) and gyri (the bumps
on the brain surface) creates a process called gyrification which is considered an indicator of
regional specialisation. Gyrification is the process where the brain increases its surface area,
through increasing bumps and folds (grey matter). There is a fourfold increase in grey matter
during the last 10 weeks gestation (Cusack et al., 2016). At birth, the brain appears more mature
than originally thought and the gyrification process slows dramatically after birth (16% increase
in brain surface in the first year of life and 6% increase in the second year) (Cusack et al., 2016).

Another process within the developing brain is the formation of white matter. At 10 weeks
gestation, the process of developing white matter begins and the associated connecting of the
regions of the brain, and the brain connecting with the brain stem. The process of creating a
series of connective lines, described as functional connectivity, enables the human infant to
develop the potential for higher-order cognitive functions. The brain can be described as a series
of fibres that create a network of connections, and mature connections are apparent before birth
(Cusack et al., 2016). After birth, the connective tracts continue to mature. To assess this
process, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs - fMRI) can be used to capture
regional brain activity when stimulation and goal-directed activity are absent. The findings of
such research in young infants highlights the development of the primary motor and sensory
cortices. Development of the networks differs for each infant and the differences are linked to
genetics, anatomy, movement, and external experiences (Cusack et al., 2016).

18
Functional organisation of the brain has been observed pre-birth with strong similarities to the
adult brain’s network structure and that of the infant. This is contrary to previously held views of
brain development where it was assumed that the structures had to be progressively developed as
in Shellenberger and Williams’ model (1996). The other surprising result from neuroimaging is
the observation of high-level regions of the infant brain involved in cognition soon after birth.
Previously it had been assumed that areas such as the frontal cortex were immature and therefore
not available to the developing infant (Cusack et al., 2016). However, when Cusack et al.
provided stimulation for the infant, the nature of the stimulus appeared to determine which area
of the frontal cortex was activated. This information challenges the belief that specialisation of
the brain begins in low-level regions and moves to higher levels through a developmental
process.

If a baby has access to the full working structures of its brain, then why can’t they read at birth?
Cusack et al. (2016) discuss the need for microcircuitry refinement, a process involving the
formation of the synapse (junctions that allow information to flow from neuron to neuron) and
then the pruning of those synapses along with myelination (putting a fatty coating on the neuron)
which accelerates the transfer of information. This process increases the speed of function in the
infant's brain and then helps the older child maintain that speed as the brain becomes larger and
the processes more complex. Although neuroimaging has provided new insights there are still
unanswered questions as to how the infant brain, with its seemingly complex structures and
functioning, develops into a high-functioning adult brain. It appears that lack of experience and
the need to deal with multiple new and complex sets of information makes the infant focus on
what is of greatest importance to their survival as they piece their world together (Cusack et al.,
2016). Babies move and their drive to move is of great importance to them in their first year of
life (Einspieler & Prechtl, 2005; Marquis, Ruiz, Lundy, & Dillard, 1984; Thelen & Smith, 1994).
A European study (Butcher et al., 2009) measured the quality of early spontaneous movement of
children at 11–16 weeks post-term and then their intelligence as seven to 11-year-olds. They
found that the quality of the movements the children made as infants were linked to their level of
intelligence as middle-school children.

19
Movement skills have been shown to be underdeveloped in children on the autistic spectrum
(Green et al., 2009; Leisman, Braun-Benjamin, & Melillo, 2014). A British study (Green et al.,
2009) assessed the data from a general population group of 56,456 nine to ten-year-old children.
Through a range of testing, a subset of 158 children was identified as having possible Autistic
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Autism. One hundred and one children completed all the elements
of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) required for inclusion in the study.
This requirement ensured that each child had a completed total impairment score. None of the
children in the study had neurologically-based motor dysfunction. The selection of participants
from a general population was seen as a strength of the research as many studies use children
from hospital clinics where neurodevelopment may have been the focus rather than motor
development. It was noted that to gain access to the clinics children’s dysfunction levels were
often more complex in their presentation, thus having the possibility of over-representing the
problem. Of the 101 children, n = 80 (79.2%) were assessed as having significant motor
problems, n = 10 (9.9%) had minor motor problems and n = 11 (10.9%) had no motor problems
identified. Intelligence quotient (IQ) testing was completed for 101 children and a strong
correlation was noticed between motor dysfunction and an IQ lower than 70 (n = 35, 97.1%
p = 0.001). Nearly all the children within the study who had ASD or Autism and an IQ below 70
had motor problems, while only two-thirds of the children with an IQ over 70 showed motor
problems. The researchers concluded that the higher rates of motor dysfunction in children with
lower IQs could be linked to a higher level of neurological dysfunction. This research supports
the notion that movement ability can be linked with neurological function and as will be shown
further on in this review, there is research that shows clear links with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and reflex retention. Is it possible that autism may have a
primitive reflex retention element as well? Blomberg and Dempsey believe there is a link (2011).

The plasticity of the brain has also been in focus over recent years (Vértes & Bullmore, 2015).
This ability to make changes in the brain, especially in infancy, has been the source of promoting
the importance of parenting in the early years and early childhood education (Sanders, 2010).
Current theories seem to focus on a belief that if there are opportunities to improve the
functioning of the brain it is beneficial to start early. This could also apply to reflex integration
issues in relation to the plasticity of the brain. Early intervention, in relation to reflex integration

20
programmes, does not appear to have been the subject of research, but with increasing use of
neuroimaging, the possibility of researching the best time to address the issue has improved.
Williams (2005; Williams & Holmes, 2004) supports the need for early intervention noting that
many challenges faced by children are not identified until the child is at school. She considers
this to be too late and a missed opportunity for effective early intervention.

Stress and brain development have been linked by researchers (Perego, Caputi, & Ogliari, 2016;
Teicher et al., 2003; Teicher, Samson, Tomoda, Ashy, & Andersen, 2006). Perego et al.
completed a review of 34 studies where neurobiological outcomes were assessed in children who
were cared for in institutional settings from birth. The research revealed that the children in
institutional care and those subsequently adopted showed reduced brain volume and lower levels
of cortical activity. The activity in the limbic and frontal areas was altered, and Perego et al.
(2016) found some studies reporting abnormality in white matter, particularly connections
between the amygdala and frontal regions and limbic and paralimbic areas. Traumatised
children, either from institutional care or a traumatic event were found to have an increase in the
right amygdala volume and increases in cortisol levels. This appeared to be linked to an increase
in psychopathology. The limitations in the research were focused on the narrow range of children
in the studies. Most children were from Eastern European institutions and this was seen as a
limitation due to extreme levels of poverty in those countries. Teicher et al. (2003) also discuss
the link between postnatal stress and developmental processes in the brain with some adaptations
at highly sensitive stages having an increased effect. They describe a “stress-responsive
pathway” where exposure to stress in the brain can create significant medical problems (heart
conditions and type-II diabetes) and psychopathology. There have been indications that reflex
retention is also a response to stress (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard-Blythe, 2008;
Goddard, 1996).

2.2.1 School-based Exercise Programme Research

Movement programmes are included in New Zealand school curricula through physical
education programmes (Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), 2014). Culpan (2017), who has been involved in
the development of the NZ Physical Education Curriculum, sees movement as the key
contributor to the development of physical skills, as well as social, cultural and emotional

21
learning. However, the inclusion of movement-based programmes to address student
achievement in schools has attracted criticism over the last ten years (Dehn, 2008; Stephenson,
Carter, & Wheldall, 2007). In 2007, Australian research (Stephenson et al.) focused on
Perceptual Motor Programmes (PMP) and found no evidence to link participation in a movement
programme with improved academic abilities in children. The weekly duration of the
programmes was provided by 11 of the 117 school websites searched, with variations between
once and three times a week found. It is possible that the regularity of the movement
programmes may play a role in the success of the programme. Dehn (2008) is also a critic of the
perceptual-motor programmes from the 1970’s. His support lies with the cognitive training of the
brain through a range of media that include computer training.

In contrast to the movement/learning critics cited above, several studies have reported positive
relationships between movement-based programmes and cognitive development (Alesi, Bianco,
Luppina, Palma, & Pepi, 2016; Esteban-Cornejo et al., 2014; Haapala, 2013; Hillman, Erickson,
& Kramer, 2008; Mullender-Wijnsma et al., 2016; Sibley & Etnier, 2003; van der Niet et al.,
2016; Williams, 2015). Williams (2015) completed a longitudinal study on the Australian
Toddler Kindy GymbaROO’s school-based neurodevelopmental movement programme,
Unlocking Potential (UP), with 400 children aged five to eight years. She used the Draw-A-
Person (DAP) test to assess neurological age development against chronological age. She also
collected academic data to measure progress made. Schools in the study approached GymbaROO
with a view to implementing the UP programme in their school. All teachers completed the
training after which several teachers decided not to implement the programme in their classroom.
The children in these classrooms (n = 86) became the control group. Williams noted that the
classes were evenly balanced in relation to academic ability, ensuring that high numbers of low
or high performers could not influence the results. The intervention group (n = 314) completed a
30-minute exercise programme, three to five times a week for 10 to 12 months. The scores of the
UP students and non-UP students were also compared with a larger comparable group (n = 594)
of mean standardized scores of the DAP test. Neurological development within the exercise
group showed a ‘maturing’ of 22 months in the 10 to 12 months. When compared with the
control group, where the neurological development was six months during the same timeframe,
the results of the exercise intervention were encouraging. Pre-intervention, both groups showed

22
that their chronological age and neurological age were within a month of each other. Children are
expected to increase their chronological age and neurological age at a similar rate. Williams
believes that the UP movement programme was responsible for these differences. The results
highlighted statistically significant improvements in the curriculum areas of writing, reading,
spelling and mathematics (p = 0.05). Teacher comments took account of the academic
improvements, as well as increases in social and emotional development, particularly in the areas
of social skills, behaviour and general happiness of children. Williams has acknowledged her
personal involvement in the development of UP, but she encourages independent research of the
programme so that the efficacy can be tested and an expansion of knowledge in the area gained.

Studies linking physical movement and executive functioning have been reviewed (Hillman et
al., 2008; van der Niet et al., 2016). After evaluating a range of programmes, Hillman et al.
(2008) commented on the duration and timing of the activity in relation to the success of the
programme. They suggested that increased frequency leads to an increase in cognitive skills. In
the Williams’ research (2015) the exercises were completed three to five times a week and the
success of the programme was in part attributed to this level of frequency.

Several other studies have made connections between physical activity and increased cognitive
skills (Alesi et al., 2016; Esteban-Cornejo et al., 2014; Haapala, 2013; Mullender-Wijnsma et al.,
2016; Sibley & Etnier, 2003). In South Africa, researchers assessed an exercise intervention
using perceptual motor skills as the measures (Erasmus, Janse van Rensburg, Pienaar, & Ellis,
2016). Forty-eight children with low Socio-Economic Status (SES) were divided into two
groups, 21 participated in the intervention and 27 were the control group. The Draw-A-Person
(DAP) test was used to assess neurological development, alongside perceptual-motor skill
testing. Children participated in a perceptual motor programme (PMP) three to five times a week,
a similar frequency to the Williams’ study. After 10 weeks, school readiness was assessed, with
33% of the intervention group showing improvements in skills development compared with
14.8% for the control group. This mixed-methods research also asked teachers about changes
they had noticed in the children’s skills and behaviour. The themes that emerged were: longer
and better concentration, improved ability to execute tasks and improved motor coordination.

23
This study did not focus on retained primitive reflexes although the programme does have some
‘neurological-based’ exercises included.

2.2.2 Interventions: Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

The placement of any intervention in a classroom relies on successful implementation. While this
current research is not focused on teacher education or teachers’ beliefs and practices, it is
important to acknowledge that through the research process teacher perspectives were sought on
the use of the RMT programme and its ‘ease-of-use’ within the classroom. Teacher beliefs and
practices also directly affect the learning and behavioural outcomes for students in a classroom
(Rideout & Koot, 2009) and this is influenced by teacher education. Reflective practices are
encouraged in New Zealand (Ministry of Education, 2007) so that teachers can meet the key
competencies of the curriculum. Rideout and Koot found that the effectiveness of reflective
teaching practices was determined by the focus of the pre-service teaching. Research assessing
teacher beliefs in relation to their Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) intervention
preferences was conducted with teachers from New Zealand and United States (Curtis, Hamilton,
Moore, & Pisecco, 2014). Curtis et al. gathered questionnaire information from 159 teachers in
the United States and 261 New Zealand teachers. They found that the teachers in New Zealand
preferred strategies that were delivered to the whole class where children with ADHD were
identified, whereas the teachers from the United States preferred individual interventions. The
ecologically-based classroom in New Zealand, with less focus on labelling disability and greater
emphasis on classroom management strategies, was seen to be the explanation for these
preferences. This is useful information when matched with RMT because, as will be reviewed in
Section 2.3, this is an intervention that could be used individually or as a classroom activity.

Research relating to teacher perceptions of reflex integration programmes was not found, though
teachers’ perceptions about physical education (PE) in the curriculum has attracted research.
Morgan and Hansen’s (2008) mixed-methods research completed in Australian primary schools
found that teachers believed physical activity was of value because of the health benefits, the
positive effect on classroom learning and behaviour and the opportunity to improve social skills.
However, in relation to the success of their PE programme there were mixed perceptions. They
believed they were able to improve basic motor skills, but in areas of self-esteem, increased

24
physical activity, attitudes to activity, and social skills they were less confident about achieving
the PE goals. Attitudes of the teachers towards PE determined the amount of classroom time
engaged in physical activity and their perceptions of the success of the programme, however the
research did not determine whether successful PE programmes increased the positive attitude to
PE, or a positive attitude to PE was the reason for the successful programme.

Similar New Zealand based research asked for teacher perceptions relating to PE (Dyson,
Cowan, Gordon, Powell, & Shulruf, 2018). Teachers believed that physical education was of
value, there was a focus on fitness and they preferred the children to be active. A lack of
confidence to teach PE was noted in the qualitative interviews, although the survey results
indicated high levels of confidence (61% felt confident or very confident to teach PE). Dyson et
al. believe that one of the factors influencing this lower level of confidence was the time
allocated to health and PE in pre-service education.

Teacher education would appear to be influential in the success of movement-based programmes

in early childhood settings. American research (Gehris, Gooze, & Whitaker, 2015) found that
while teachers believed that movement opportunities for children were important, they were less
confident that they were able to provide good quality activities for children that promoted both
cognitive and social development. Similar results were found in a New Zealand study of teacher
knowledge and ability to implement physical activity in an early childhood setting (McLachlan
et al., 2017). A movement programme was provided by movement specialists within the early
childhood setting and teachers participated in continuing education sessions. As a result of the
increased knowledge there was an increase in teacher awareness of the needed to promote
physical activity, but this did not translate into the confidence to continue to provide challenging
physical activities. The teachers also believed that a lack of resources reduced their ability to
provide the activities demonstrated during the research. While this current research was not
focused on teacher education in relation to the implementation of RMT, these studies indicate
that it could be an important consideration in future research.

25
 2.3 Retained Primitive Reflexes
This section focuses on the progression of understanding over time of primitive reflexes and their
retention. Current literature on motor development, cognitive development and behavioural
issues in relation to the retention of primitive reflexes are also reviewed. Finally, programmes
designed to aid the integration of primitive reflexes are highlighted, with a view to positioning
RMT.

2.3.1 Pre-2000

The phenomena of retained primitive reflexes and their effect on a child’s later development has
been of interest to psychologists and educationalists (Callcott, 2012; Goddard-Blythe, 2005;
Konicarova & Bob, 2012; Livingstone & McPhillips, 2014; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004; Taylor,
Houghton, & Chapman, 2004). John Hughlings-Jackson, a doctor and neurology pioneer, began
his work in the 1850’s, and his theory is reviewed in section 2.6. Research between 1930 and
1990 appeared to be focused on further understanding Hughling-Jackson’s theories and the role
primitive reflexes play in human development. Primitive reflexes as an indication of neurological
disorganisation was the subject of early research by Furfey, Bonham and Sargent (1930). They
tested 17 early reflexes of 62 new-born infants in an attempt to determine mental ability. The
conclusion was that the newborn had no mental ability, rather that a maturation process
happened after birth. These conclusions were made purely through observation of the infants,
lacking the sophistication of the fMRIs and EEGs now used to assess brain functioning. As
already discussed above, the infant's brain is more advanced than was thought at the time of
Furfey et al.’s research (Cusack et al., 2016).

Further research in the 1980’s (Capute, 1982; Capute et al., 1984) focused on the retention of
primitive reflexes when diagnosing neurological and developmental progression. Normal
functioning of the reflexes was assessed in 381 typically developing infants over a 24 month
period. Infants with known stresses such as prematurity and postmaturity were excluded from the
research. Nine readily-observable reflexes (ATNR, Symetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR),
Positive Support, TLR (forwards and backwards), Segmental Rolling (head-on-body and body-
on-body), Spinal Galant and Moro reflex) thought to have been related to motor function were

26
observed. From these observations, typical movement patterns were established and a reflex
grading system developed suitable for inclusion in neurological examinations. In tests such as the
Touwen Infant Neurological Examination (TINE), newborn movement patterns are observed and
primitive reflexes assessed. Variations from the norm are noted as possible indicators of
developmental delay. These tests can also be the basis for recommending newborn early
interventions (Hadders-Algra, Heineman, Bos, & Middelburg, 2010). Primitive reflexes such as
the ATNR, Moro, Palmer grasp (baby will hold a finger placed in the palm) and Spinal Galant
are still tested in newborns (Nursing Editor, 2007) as part of a neurological assessment
(Zafeiriou, 2004).

Using retained reflexes as a diagnostic indicator was documented pre-2000. A study by

Friedlander, Pothier, Morrison and Herman (1982) of 60 Californian children aged 39–121
months (mean age 6 years 10 months) tested the children for the presence of “soft signs of
neurologic impairment and psychopathology” (Friedlander et al., 1982, p. 103). The range of
participants tested included n = 20 attending mainstream classrooms with no diagnosis of
psychopathology or developmental delay, n = 20 attending remedial schools with a diagnosis of
developmental delay and n = 20 attending remedial schools with a diagnosis of emotional
disturbance. The Primitive Reflex and Postural Adjustment (PRPA) scale included tests for five
primitive reflexes, seven equilibrium reactions and ten righting reactions. The results showed a
marked difference between typical children’s scores and children showing developmental delays
and psychopathology. The researchers concluded that the PRPA test provided useful information
in identifying neurological delays and psychopathology, although the test was not able to
distinguish between the two. In 1994, Blasco encouraged the use of retained primitive reflex
testing in medical settings to aid motor delay diagnosis. Movement programmes were
recommended but the lack of research attesting to the effectiveness of such programmes was
highlighted. He concluded that in the absence of an EBP, a movement programme would be the
most appropriate course of action (Blasco, 1994).

Hughlings-Jackson’s (as cited in Konicarova & Bob, 2013b) theory linked ‘persistent’ primitive
reflexes with a range of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses. Brain dysfunction was
associated with the re-emergence of reflexes in disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s

27
disease, dementia and bipolar disorder (Konicarova & Bob, 2013b). This aspect of the primitive
reflexes is only mentioned to illustrate the far-reaching effects of primitive reflex retention; it is
not being considered in this research as it does not fit within the research question. Melillo’s
(2011) review of primitive reflex literature wanted to explore the view that disorders such as
ADHD have their basis in maturation delays of the brain’s cortex rather than “deviant
development” (Melillo, 2011, p. 279). With ADHD being cited as the most prevalent mental
health condition in the USA (10% of children have this diagnosis), Melillo believed that treating
ADHD as a maturity issue had a likelihood of improved outcomes for the child. He demonstrated
that the literature supported his belief. He found a strong link between delayed motor
development and ADHD, noting that motor skills were often used to predict or diagnose
neurobehavioural disorders. Melillo also found literature linking primitive reflexes with
cognitive and motor delays in young children. The research articles in his review ranged from the
early 1980’s through to 2010. He commented that movement programmes were the intervention
used by most therapists although he could find no evidence as to how and why they worked. He
speculated that the movements increased the sensory feedback to the brain via the nervous
system. The movements encouraged reflex integration and the result was increased cortical
maturity (2011).

In the 1970’s, occupational therapist Rider (1972a, 1972b) collated research relating to reflex
integration and it’s usefulness in early diagnosis in an occupational therapy setting. Studies from
the 1960’s described the presence of primitive reflexes in children who were considered to be
developing typically (Rider, 1972b). Also of interest to Rider was the relationship between
learning delays and the presence of primitive reflexes (Rider, 1972a). In a research project, she
tested the reflexes of 38 typically developing seven and eight year-olds, as well as using a
standardised test: the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) to assess spelling, reading,
writing and mathematics. The second group of six to 13 year-olds were participating in a
perceptual motor programme and had been identified as having learning delays. Similar tests
were completed on the second group. She found that the children in the second group had
noticeably higher levels of primitive reflex retention than the typically developing group. There
was also a higher level of primitive reflex retention in the boys (𝛘² = 5.074, p = <.05). In the
curriculum areas, spelling (r =.68, p = <.01) showed significant correlation with retained reflexes

28
for both groups. Reading (r = .29, p = <.10) and mathematics (r = .23, p = ns) were considered to
be in the expected direction but did not correlate significantly. These findings have been
corroborated by McPhillip, Hepper and Mulhern’s research (2000) and McPhillips and Jordan-
Black’s research (2007b) and these are discussed in more detail later in this thesis.

Movement away from medical settings for children with significant psychopathology and
developmental delays in relation to retained primitive reflexes started gaining momentum in the
1980’s. Blythe, an early pioneer of reflex integration, was initially interested in brain dysfunction
(severe depression, anxiety and phobic states) in adults (Blythe, 1979). However, he expanded
his interest to include neurological disorganisation in children, which he believed was something
that could be remedied. He began work with Goddard-Blythe and they developed an interest in
learning and the link to retained primitive reflexes. Goddard’s (1996) book, A Teacher’s Window
into the Child’s Mind, is considered an early description of neurodevelopment and its
relationship to learning difficulties. She described the reflexes in detail and linked the associated
indications with motor development and cognitive development. Tests were provided for
teachers to use, some of which have been used in this research (Appendix S). Goddard also
suggested physical classroom changes to aid learning for children with identified retained
primitive reflexes. In 1975, Goddard and Blythe established the UK-based Institute of Neuro-
Physiological Psychology (INPP) and offered the INPP programme as a solution for retained
primitive reflex issues (Goddard, 1996). In the following section of this review, post-2000,
research on the efficacy of the INPP movements is reported.

2.3.2 Post-2000

Key researchers of retained primitive reflexes post-2000 have included Goddard-Blythe,

McPhillips, Konicarova, Bob and Jordan-Black. Research based in Irish primary schools
(McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007a, 2007b; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004) linked lower academic
outcomes and a retained Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR). Children diagnosed with
ADHD (in accordance with the DSM-IV criteria) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) were
found to have retained Moro and Spinal Galant reflexes (Konicarova & Bob, 2012). These
studies indicate that children with educational and behavioural difficulties may have retained

29
primitive reflexes and that their cognitive and physical outcomes may be influenced by
addressing the reflex issues.

No studies were found where neuroimaging was used to compare the brain of a child operating
with multiple primitive reflexes still in place and the brain of a child with integrated primitive
reflexes. Such research would be useful to help understand how the brain, with retained reflexes,
functions in a range of situations. Reflexes can be observed in children through a series of tests
(Goddard, 1996) which are used by educationalists and medical professionals. As described in
Section 2.2 (Cusack et al., 2016), neuroimaging has provided greater understanding of the
processes within the brain, but no research linking atypical processing and retention of primitive
reflexes through neuroimaging was found in the literature search.

The presence of a hierarchy in relation to the integration of primitive reflexes was the focus for
some researchers. Futagi, Toribe and Suzuki (2012) promote the view that primitive reflexes
have a hierarchy and that the integration of a higher reflex is dependent on the integration of a
more primitive reflex. They focused on the Palmer grasp reflex (the vice-like grip of the infant's
hand – thought to be left over from a time when hanging on was crucial to survival) and the
Moro reflex, due to their usefulness in medical diagnostic situations. While the review in this
section focused on retention or integration of primitive reflexes, it is also possible for children to
present with one or more primitive reflexes missing. As Futagi et al. (2012) found, children with
a weak or absent Palmer grasp during early infancy may also have nerve or spinal cord damage,
seen as an indication of Cerebral Palsy. The Palmer grasp is a reflex that develops in early
gestation (Futagi et al., 2012). Children with an absence of the Moro reflex are often diagnosed
with multiple delays and Futagi et al. (2012) suggest that this reflex is centred in the lower pons
or medulla of the brain and thus slightly later in the development hierarchy. This implies that the
hierarchy of primitive reflex possibilities starts with an absence of primitive reflexes, moves to
present primitive reflexes being integrated and finally present primitive reflexes that are retained.
Hughlings-Jackson (Franz & Gillett, 2011) supported the model that reflexes progress in a
hierarchy as do Blomberg and Dempsey (2011). Figure 2.2 shows the typical progression of the
primitive reflexes (Goddard, 1996) but it is possible for there to be an absence of a reflex or for it
to be retained beyond what is expected in typical development. Birth is calculated at 41 weeks,

30
93 weeks is the 1st birthday, 145 weeks is the 2nd birthday and 180 weeks is 17 weeks before the
3rd birthday.

Reflex presence progression from conception to

Number of weeks after conception

180 weeks
250 3rd
200 birthday

150

100

50 Birth
0
FPR Moro TLR fwds ATNR SG STNR TLR Bwds
Primitive Reflexes

Reflex not present yet Reflex present Reflex integrated

Figure 2.2. Reflex presence progression from conception to 180 weeks. The blue line indicates time of
birth and the orange line indicates the third birthday (Collated from information in Movements that Heal,
Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011).

2.3.3 Motor Development, Cognitive Development and Retained Reflexes

Studies linking cognitive and motor development in children continue to be produced post-2000
(Callcott, 2012; Desorbay, 2013; Goddard-Blythe, 2005; Holley, 2010; McPhillips, 2003; Sassé,
2009; Sibley & Etnier, 2003; Taylor et al., 2004; Tomporowski, Davis, Miller, & Naglieri,
2008). The fundamental interrelatedness of cognition and motor development is supported by
Diamond (2000, 2007). Diamond was interested in the links between genetic-based human
development and physical, social and cultural environments. The interaction between genes and
the environment led her to recommend a wide-ranging approach to intervention covering
multiple aspects of development but maintaining a strong focus on movement-based activities.

Motor development problems, reading delays and the persistence of primary reflexes was the
focus of research completed by McPhillips and Sheehy (2004). This Irish study initially assessed
the reading levels of 409 nine and 10-year old children. A group representing 10% of the top,
middle and bottom readers (n = 41 in each group) from the total sample population were assessed

31
further for motor development delays and the persistence of the ATNR. Additional variables, sex
of the child, verbal IQ, free meal entitlement (a measure of SES) and month of birth were
gathered. The researchers reported that verbal IQ and SES were strong predictors of the child’s
reading ability. The ATNR persistence was high in children with poor reading skills, low verbal
IQ and low SES. When motor skill and reading delays were matched they proved to be a poorer
predictor than the presence of the ATNR. Boys showed a slightly higher, but not statistically
significant level of ATNR retention. The research showed that in the bottom reader group (n
=41), 30% had a dyslexia diagnosis and concluded that some reading issues were not dyslexia-
based. While the levels of ATNR were high in the group with dyslexia, it was stressed that it
would be unwise to use the ATNR as a determinant of dyslexia because there were children who
had been identified as having dyslexia that did not have the ATNR present. An
acknowledgement was made that the assessment of only one reflex was a limitation of the study.
The interrelatedness of the reflex process could mean that important data was not gathered
(Goddard, 1996) although earlier research showed that the presence of the ATNR had a
relationship with lower educational outcomes (McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004; Rider, 1972b).

A more recent study (Livingstone & McPhillips, 2014) links motor development and literacy
skills with retained primitive reflexes. The study focused on 25 Irish children aged six – 12
years, identified with partial hearing loss. These children were tested for retained ATNR and the
results linked hearing loss, high levels of retained ATNR and deficits in core literacy skills when
compared with a control group. The researchers concluded that more research was needed into
the influence of a retained ATNR and the emergence of early motor development and literacy
skills in children with partial hearing loss. While there has been research linking motor
development and literacy skills (Diamond, 2000; Erasmus et al., 2016; Goddard-Blythe, 2012;
Piek, Dawson, Smith, & Gasson, 2008), it is possible that the delayed literacy skills could be
solely related to the loss of hearing.

A Polish study assessed the level of retained primitive reflexes in young children (Gieysztor et
al., 2018). Thirty-five healthy four to six year-olds were tested for the presence of ATNR, STNR
and TLR as well as their psychomotor abilities. Goddard’s reflex testing was used and Motor
Proficiency 4-6 assessment protocol. The statistical analysis showed that 11% of the children had

32
their reflexes fully integrated, with 89% having at least one primitive reflex still present at this
pre-school age. The researchers considered that 65% of the children displayed low levels of
reflex integration (scoring one or more primitive reflexes at a level 1-2) and 25% of the children
were displaying a level of reflex retention (one or more primitive reflexes at level 3-4) that could
impact typical development. The ATNR was most commonly retained (23%) across all the
participants. Motor Proficiency testing showed that 62% of the children scored at a level typical
of very good development, and 29% scored at a level that indicated developmental delay with
9% scoring in the identified delayed development category. They found that children with high
levels of reflex retention scored at the lower end in the motor proficiency tests (p < 0.05)
(Gieysztor et al., 2018). These researchers state that their study of the reflex retention within a
group of pre-school children considered to be developing within the typical range is important,
as it highlights the possibility of a generalised issue and points to the need for large scale testing
and early intervention. They support the need for training in this area for health professionals and
teachers and believe that this information, combined with intervention programmes could reduce
social and achievement delays in older children. Focusing on the cause of the developmental
issue was concluded by Gieysztor et al. as more important initially than treating the skill deficit.

2.3.4 Behavioural Issues and Their Relationship to Retained Primitive

Reflexes

Behavioural issues and the retention of primitive reflexes have been investigated by several
researchers (Callcott, 2012; Konicarova & Bob, 2012; Taylor et al., 2004). Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been the most common focus for researchers. They all
found that children with an ADHD diagnosis are more likely to have some retained primitive
reflexes. It is possible that the retained primitive reflexes and their link with immature
development cause frustrations for these children (Callcott, 2012), which can lead to their
behavioural issues. Konicarova and Bob’s (2012) research assessed two primitive reflexes in 40
European children: 20 with an ADHD diagnosis and 20 typically functioning children without
the diagnosis. The Moro Reflex and the Spinal Galant were selected due to their association with
behaviour indicators. The children with ADHD (n = 20) had a mean score of 0.85 (SD 0.81) for
the Moro and 0.70 (SD 0.92) for the Spinal Galant. The control group (n = 20) had mean scores
of 0.05 (SD 0.22) and 0.10 (SD 0.44) respectively (Z = 3.68 for Moro and Z = 2.56 for the Spinal

33
Galant and p = 0.0002 and p = 0.0103 respectively). This showed that children with ADHD had
higher levels of retained Moro and Spinal Galant reflexes when compared with a control group.
While this study only tested two reflexes and had a small number of participants, Konicarova and
Bob suggested that further research in the area would be useful.

Callcot (2012) also linked retained primitive reflexes (ATNR) and behavioural issues. The
possibility of retained reflexes impacting skill development and thus creating additional
frustrations for the child in relation to school readiness was a focus for Callcot (2012). She found
that motor skills, in particular manual dexterity, were delayed in a significant number of
participants, suggesting that exploring and interacting with the school environment, e.g. pencil
use and cutting with scissors, would be challenging for them. In this study, research participants
were Australian indigenous children, and the level of ATNR was assessed. The participants were
identified as having multiple risk factors: low parent education achievement and low socio-
economic (SES) households. Motor skills were measured, as was their retention of ATNR, with
interviews providing qualitative data on the child’s school readiness. Of the 40 children in the
study, 67.5% showed moderate to high levels of a retained ATNR. ADHD and ADD-type
behaviours were identified in children through teacher interviews, and this helped the researchers
identify a link between the presence of these behaviours and a retained ATNR. The small sample
size and identification of only one reflex were acknowledged by the author. However, the study
points to the idea of behavioural issues being linked with retained primitive reflexes.

Taylor, Houghton and Chapman’s (2004) Australian study also investigated the link between
behaviour and retained reflexes. In their study, 109 boys between seven and 10 years of mixed
SES were assessed for the presence of four primitive reflexes: ATNR, STNR, Moro and TLR.
Twenty-one children were identified as having no ADHD symptoms, 34 boys had social and
learning challenges that included some ADHD symptoms and 54 had an ADHD diagnosis. The
testing was completed in a university laboratory setting and adequate conformity was shown
through a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). A correlation between retained reflexes
and ADHD symptoms was found (V = .383, F (8,208) = 6.166, p <.001 (F = F ratio: between
group and within group variance)). Of particular interest was the relationship of a retained STNR
to impulsive, emotional and problematic behaviours, yet a retained TLR showed a strong

34
relationship to impulsive and problematic behaviours, and less for emotional behaviours.
Mathematics achievement was found to be lower when the ATNR and TLR were still present.
The researchers noted that there was no evidence that a retained Moro reflex related to ADHD or
achievement outcomes, but concluded that it was possible that the Moro operated as a ‘gateway’
in the hierarchy of reflex integration, due to the stage of development at which it emerges.

2.3.5 Retained Primitive Reflex Interventions

Movement programmes are the most common form of intervention when retained primitive
reflexes are identified (Brown, 2010; Dobie et al., 2002; Goddard, 1996; Jordan-Black, 2005).
These programmes have been shown to have a positive outcome on children’s academic
achievement and fine motor skills when used in the home and school settings. However, for
programmes such as INPP (Goddard, 1996) and the Dore Programme (Dynevor CIC, 2014), the
financial and time commitment from families can be significant. Movement programmes used in
classroom settings need to be generic for ease of use, which has the potential to dilute positive
outcomes (Brown, 2010; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004). Children do not appear to retain nor
integrate their primitive reflexes in a uniform way (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011) so a
programme that considers this could enhance the process. The following section highlights
widely-used programmes that have attracted peer-reviewed research. Several programmes in use
that have not yet attracted scholarly research are reported, as is the controversy associated with
research into one intervention programme.

2.4 Peer-Reviewed Reflex Integration Programmes

While there are many programmes that claim to integrate primitive reflexes, only two reflex
integration programmes appear to have peer-reviewed research on which to base their claims.
The Primary Movement Programme (McPhillips, 2014) and the Institute for Neuro-Physiological
Psychology Programme (INPP) (Goddard, 1996) promote exercises founded on movements
made by infants after birth and it is believed that these movements aid the integration of the
primitive reflexes. In several studies (Brown, 2010; Callcott, 2012; Goddard-Blythe, 2012;
Jordan-Black, 2005; McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b; Taylor et al., 2004), the movement
programmes were assessed in relation to academic achievement. The studies were classroom-

35
based and in most the children were assessed for their level of reflex retention, usually in relation
to one or two reflexes. These two programmes and examples of the research they have attracted
are reviewed below.

2.4.1 Primary Movement Programme

Several studies have evaluated the efficacy of the Primary Movement Programme. Information
about the retained reflexes and the programme McPhillips developed is available via their
website (McPhillips, 2014) and already-qualified classroom teachers are invited to complete the
training. The organisation has a charity status with course fees for teachers set at UK£1250.00
for an eight-day course that runs one day a week for eight weeks (Byrne, 2002). Jordan-Black’s
(2005) longitudinal, comparative study assessed the academic levels and ATNR persistence of
683 seven year-old children in Northern Ireland. She found that the presence of the ATNR was
significantly associated with achievement levels in mathematics (F (5,677) = 109.7: p < 0.001),
reading (F (5,677) = 109.5: p < 0.001) and spelling (F (5,677) = 109.5: p < 0.001) and that boys
showed significantly higher levels (F (1.1073) = 18.0: p < 0.001) of ATNR retention than girls.
On the completion of two years of the Primary Movement intervention, a reduction in the
presence of the ATNR was shown along with associated improvements in mathematics and
reading. While the study did not assess non-academic developments, it was noted that there was
anecdotal evidence of improved self-esteem, improved behaviour and increased engagement in
sport.

Primary Movement was the intervention selected by Brown (2010) in her repeated measure
design research. She assessed the fine-motor skills of 65 four to five-year old children. The
schools she used had low SES ratings and, combined with relevant research (McPhillips &
Jordan-Black, 2007b; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004) showing a correlation between low SES and a
retained ATNR, Brown assumed that her participants would also have high levels of retained
ATNR. She did not test the children’s levels of ATNR and this could be perceived as a weakness
in the study design. During the study’s five-month timeframe, the intervention group completed
Primary Movement exercises and the control group completed another set of exercises. She
found a significant improvement in fine-motor skills of the intervention group when compared
with the control group. However, two other pieces of research (Jordan-Black, 2005; McPhillips

36
& Jordan-Black, 2007b) found little or no effect on the skill development of children with
integrated primitive reflexes when exercises were completed, meaning that isolating children
with retained primitive reflexes, in particular, the ATNR, could have strengthened Brown’s
results. Goddard Blythe (2005) claims that the level of retained primitive reflexes across all
children is approximately 48%, with high levels being shown in 62% of the bottom 10% of
readers (McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b). Completing the research in the classroom increased
the reliability and meant that the control group could participate in another exercise-based
programme. This was to avoid ethical issues relating to the health benefits of exercise.
Completing exercises in a classroom also has the potential to increase consistency.

2.4.2 Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP)

The INPP programme uses exercises based on the movements made by children soon after birth.
Currently, the INPP training is a one-year post-graduate course and trainees are required to have
completed five years in their field (education, medicine or psychology). The course consists of 4
modules, each lasting three to five days (sixteen days in total) with a total cost of NZ$6447 +
GST. Courses are held in Australia as well as other parts of the world. While Goddard-Blythe
has written several books, peer-reviewed research relating to the INPP programme is limited to
an analysis (Goddard-Blythe, 2005) of research completed by independent researchers from
Ireland’s North Eastern Education Library Board (NEELB) and a Polish study published in 2017
(Grzywniak, 2017). In Goddard-Blythe’s (2005) research several unpublished research projects
were completed by independent researchers and the results collated. Three hundred and thirty
nine four to five-year olds were assessed for neurological dysfunction using INPP testing as were
205 eight to 10-year-olds. In addition, 235 eight to ten-year-olds completed an INPP-based
movement programme for one school year. Collating results was problematic as there were
differences in study design, but Goddard-Blythe concluded that students identified as ‘under
achieving’ showed reduced levels of neurological dysfunction after completing INPP
movements. The other concern about this research is that Goddard-Blythe is the developer of the
programme and directly benefits from favourable results.

Grzywniak (2017) found that the INPP Programme facilitated development for children with a
range of learning delays. The 104 children in the study, aged six, 10 and 11 years of age, were

37
attending a Psychological-Pedagogical Clinic in Kraków where the children’s learning
challenges had been diagnosed. After working with a therapist for between 12 and 24 months,
statistically significant results were obtained, (n = 50: p < 0.001) for the children using the INPP
programme. They had increased psychomotor skills when compared with the control group and
improved functioning within the school and at home.

2.5 Reflex Integration Programmes without Peer-

Reviewed Research
2.5.1 RMT

Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) (Blomberg, 2015; Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011) is an
individualised reflex integration programme that has been used with both adults and children to
address a variety of developmental delays. To date, no published peer-reviewed research has
been found relating to the efficacy of the programme. However, recent New Zealand peer-
reviewed research (Grigg, 2016; Grigg et al., 2018) investigated the perceptions of parents who
had used RMT with their children. Through an interview process, seven sets of parents were
asked about using RMT and the perceived effects of the programme. The parents believed their
children benefited from using the movements. They said they could easily manage the
movements within their family routines and RMT was considered a low-impact, cost effective
intervention. The number of participants in this study was small and the effectiveness of the
programme was not measured, but this information supports the need to investigate RMT further.

Blomberg and Dempsey (2011) claim that many developmental issues are based on the retention
of some primitive reflexes and that encouraging the integration of these reflexes can be of
benefit. During a typical RMT session, retained primitive reflexes are identified and movements
are prescribed from a range of options that are part of the programme. The reflex tests used are
the same as those commonly used by researchers and INPP (Goddard, 1996). One or two
movements are chosen by the practitioner, to be completed at home, with the time commitment
being between five and ten minutes each day (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). However, as the
child progresses they are encouraged to choose the two movements they complete each day from
the list of movements already known. The RMT process described by Blomberg and Dempsey
38
includes comments that levels of completion of the movements are high (2011), and these
comments are supported by Grigg’s (2016) research.

The RMT programme is based on observations made by Lunde (Blomberg, 2015) as she worked
with developmentally-delayed children. Although Lunde’s work is not published, Blomberg and
Dempsey used her observations and conclusions to develop the RMT programme (Blomberg &
Dempsey, 2011). Lunde noticed that the typical rhythmical movements made by babies as they
played on the floor were missing from children with delays. These observations were supported
by other researchers (Berne, 2006; Thelen, 1981; Thelen & Smith, 1994) and the association that
these observable movements play an important function in the typical development of an infant’s
brain has been established (Rider, 1972b; Thelen, 1981). The positive effects of music on brain
development has been linked in peer-reviewed current research (Fujioka, Ross, Kakigi, Pantev,
& Trainor, 2006; Hannon & Trehub, 2005; Harris, 2008; Lense & Dykens, 2013; Mathur, Duda,
& Kamat, 2008; Phillips-Silver, 2009; Phillips-Silver & Trainor, 2007; Zhao & Kuhl, 2016) and
it is the rhythmic aspect of RMT that sets it apart from other reflex integration programmes.
Phillips-Silver (2009) discussed the function of rhythm and music from an evolutionary
perspective, stating that throughout history there are examples of music being used to bond and
create a level of synchronization between individuals through physical movement and emotional
bonding. Mothers rock their babies and this is seen to increase the synchronicity between them
(Phillips-Silver, 2009). She also describes how neuroimaging can show that a baby’s brain will
notice when listening to familiar music if a downbeat is missing. She states that it appears that
babies are hardwired to detect a musical beat from an early age (possibly in-utero). Babies also
move rhythmically, as Thelen (1981) demonstrated in her extensive studies of infant movements.
RMT combines what appear to be two fundamental elements of development.

Clinical psychologists Perry and Hambrick (2008) developed the Neurosequential Model of
Therapeutics (NMT) which is used with maltreated or traumatised children. The NMT process
involves neurobiological mapping with the timing of the trauma related to the associated stage of
brain development. Interventions are recommended based on the developmental stage in the
brain at the time of the trauma. Further interventions are sequentially recommended, working to
re-approximate what would have been the child’s typical developmental pattern. Perry believes

39
that it is important to start with the earliest signs of atypical development and progress from that
point. An example is a child who may have a poorly organised brainstem, shown through
inattention, self-regulation and impulsivity. Perry (2008) advocates the use of repetitive,
patterned (possibly musical) activities to aid in brain re-organisation. RMT aligns with this
approach and for some children, RMT could be used as a tool in Perry’s NMT protocols.

2.5.2 Various Reflex Integration Programmes and their Research

A range of reflex programmes are available for teachers and parents and several of these are
briefly reviewed in this section. The purpose of this section is to highlight the range of
programmes that are being used that do not appear to have peer-reviewed research to support
their claims. It would appear that parents will do all they can to help their child and if they hear
about the positive results they will support the programme. This view was highlighted in Grigg’s
(2016) research when family perspectives about RMT were being investigated. One parent made
the following comments:
… you know as soon as someone says psychologists say or scientists say "Oh you
know, you shouldn't trust it because there is no scientific evidence" It's like I don't
care, if it works...I don't care if there's scientific evidence or not, the evidence is
those children who have done the programme, if they had had results. That's all I
need. (Virginia) (Grigg, 2016, p. 57)
Sassé (2009), the founder of Toddler Kindy GymbaROO, provides parents with a range of reflex
integration exercises in her book Smart Start (2009), some of which are based on Goddard’s
work. To-date there has been no rigorous research supporting Sassé’s exercises, other than peer-
reviewed research based on Goddard-Blythe’s (1996) INPP programme. An essay written by
Berne (2006) on primitive reflexes explains several primitive reflexes and describes An Infant
Motor Guidance Programme with claims that it is designed to integrate primitive reflexes. The
essay fails to make reference to any evidence-based research supporting the efficacy of the
programme. The Svetlana Masgutova Educational Institute, based in Russia and with
international links in Poland and Florida, USA, provides a programme of reflex integration
developed by Svetlana Masgutova in 1989, called Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex
Integration (MNRI®). While the information on the institute’s website (Masgutova, 2017)
describes research that the method is based on, a database search revealed only one article
written by Masgutova (1990) about methods she used to treat children from a railway accident.

40
Research articles based on the Masgutova method were not available through the normal peer-
reviewed database channels.

A programme that uses a cold laser to integrate primitive reflexes is offered by Quantum Reflex
Integration (QRI®). Brandes (2017) cites clinical trials of laser therapy used to treat a range of
brain and nervous system conditions and this is the basis of the programme that QRI offers to
parents. As with the other programmes mentioned above, no peer-reviewed research relating to
this method was found. The lack of evidence-based research and the US$2,990.00 price of the
laser itself would put this programme out of reach of many families.

2.5.3 Dore programme research controversy.

The Dore programme, originally called Dyslexia Dyspraxia Attention Treatment (DDAT) is a
movement-based programme. It was developed in 2000 and has been used in the United
Kingdom, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The programme is based on a series of
exercises and the organisation claims that the exercises stimulate the cerebellum which in turn
increases brain function (Reynolds et al., 2003). However, Reynolds et al.’s (2003) research
linking the movement programme and significant reading skill development attracted
controversy in the education community. Thirty-five children, a quarter of whom had been
diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD were divided into two evenly matched groups
based on age and Dyslexia Screening Test (DST) scores. Children were assessed using the DST
test along with cerebellar/vestibular and eye movement tests and these tests were repeated after
six months. The intervention group completed their normal school activities as well as a series of
prescribed home-based exercises while the control group maintained their normal school and
home activities. The National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) reading test and
National Standardised Attainment (STATS) test scores were used for both groups. The authors
reported significant improvements (equivalent to having 19 months improvement during the 12
months they were using the exercises) in all areas of reading and made claims that the movement
programme created these changes.

Critics of the Reynolds et al. (2003) research claimed that it lacked robust scientific procedures
(Bishop, 2007; McPhillips, 2003; Whiteley & Pope, 2003). The control group was highlighted as

41
a problem because the children did not partake in an additional exercise programme. Reynolds et
al. justified their design stating that it was logistically difficult and unethical to ask parents to
complete an activity that was known to have no benefit to their children’s reading development.
McPhillips (2003) and Singleton and Stuart (2003) refuted this claim and stressed the importance
of normal scientific procedures to establish credible research results. A second concern related to
the fact that the results could be used to convince parents to invest in the programme used in the
research. Another critic of Reynold’s research design and evaluation methods was Bishop
(2007). Reynolds et al.’s statistics reported a 300% improvement in reading skills and Bishop
was also concerned that these figures could be used to market the programme to parents.
McPhillips (2003) believed that teaching methods, skills and style were likely to have
contributed to the improvements. Reynolds et al. (2003) counteracted this criticism by reporting
that children who were at their chronological reading age showed six months improvement in the
year before the trial, and those same children made 19 months progress during the intervention
period. McPhillips (2003) makes the point that with access to skilled teachers, in 12 months
children should make 12 months progress and making 25 months progress in two years would be
considered typical achievement. Another criticism was that at the beginning of the research the
children were matched for dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD diagnosis, using the DST and age.
However, the results do not report on the challenges identified and tested for. They report on
reading skill development (Richards et al., 2003). Richards et al. (2003) believed that this is a
design flaw and brings the validity and the efficacy of the research into question. To solve the
problem, children with identified behavioural challenges could have been matched for reading
ability.

A follow-up paper designed to address the criticisms discussed above was produced by Reynolds
and Nicholson (2007). In this paper, it was acknowledged that the reading abilities of the two
groups were not matched prior to the data gathering and that the exercise group had a lower
reading level than the non-exercise group. A follow-up study was completed with the non-
exercise group. This created a delayed treatment design with all children being tested at six, 12
and 24 months on the STATS, NFER and DST tests. Lasting improvements were shown in
reading accuracy, verbal working memory and phonological skills, but in nonsense passage
reading, timed-based reading and spelling tests, no improvements were found. The follow-up

42
study also claimed to have ruled out a Hawthorne effect (Reynolds & Nicolson, 2007). No
further critical evaluation of the follow-up research was found during the literature review.
However, the two issues remain: that the profit-based Dore programme could market the
favourable results to parents, and that there were research design issues. ‘Business difficulties’
(Dynevor CIC, 2014) were cited as the reason for the Dore organisation re-branding to a
‘community interest group’ (not-for-profit). Dynevor Ltd purchased the intellectual property
rights in 2009 and the programme is currently still being offered to parents.

2.6 Part 2: Theoretical Framework

2.6.1 Epistemological Assumptions: A Pragmatic Paradigm

This section reviews literature relating to the theoretical basis of this research which contributed
to formulation of the research design described in Chapter 3. Epistemological assumptions; how
research knowledge can be effectively gained, are positioned in relation to the theoretical
perspective and the research focus. Creswell (2013) notes that epistemologically, a pragmatic
paradigm uses a range of tools to reflect both inductive (subjective) and deductive (objective)
evidence. High-quality research has a sound theoretical basis and educational research requires
special attention to capture the complexities and characteristics of the issues (Creswell & Plano
Clark, 2011; Klassen, Creswell, Plano Clark, Smith, & Meissner, 2012; Klingner & Boardman,
2011). Cohen et al. (2011) discuss the importance of the description of assumptions in relation to
theoretical decisions made in the research.

“...ontological assumptions (assumptions about the nature of reality and the nature
of things) give rise to epistemological assumptions (ways of researching and
enquiring into the nature of reality and the nature of things); these, in turn, give
rise to methodological considerations: and these, in turn, give rise to issues of
instrumentation and data collection. Indeed added to ontology and epistemology is
axiology (the values and beliefs we hold)” (2011, p. 33).

Ontological assumptions or the theoretical perspectives of this research have been described in
Chapter 1. The researcher has taken a pragmatic approach to the need for and use of a primitive
reflex integration programme. One of the founding philosophers of pragmatism was Dewey
(Gutek, 2014) who was a prolific writer on philosophy and education. Gutek describes Dewey’s
philosophy, known as experimentalism, as the ability of humans to use their social intelligence

43
and scientific research methods to explore perceived problems within the natural world. He
believed that natural and social interactions within the environment sustained human life. As
Gutek states Dewey’s theory supposes that “through the application of scientific intelligence and
through cooperative social activity, humans can use certain elements in nature to solve problems
with other aspects of the natural environment.” (2014, p. 85). Primitive reflexes are a
neurophysiological state within the body, and an assumption has been made that their retention
requires a problem-solving approach. RMT, is viewed as a problem-solving intervention or
activity making it worthy of exploration.

Positioning the research highlights the assumptions made, how the research design manages
those assumptions and what is considered of most value to meaning and understanding. Real-life
problems are the basis of pragmatism - “what” and “how’ can this phenomenon be understood?
Gutek (2014) states that “a ‘truth’ is a tentative assertion based on human experience” (p. 76). In
his book How We Think (1910) (as cited in Gutek, 2014, p. 87) Dewey developed his
experientialist epistemology. He argued that there is value in helping solve real-life problems
that arise through human experience using a process of reflection. He viewed the reflective
thought process as building understanding based on previous understanding and experience: it is
ongoing and cumulative. The hermeneutic approach used as part of the research methodology
(described in Chapter 3) aligns with Dewey’s experimentalist epistemology.

When a paradigm (or worldview) and its associated philosophies, values and assumptions
combines positivist and naturalist theories, it becomes what is known as a pragmatic paradigm
(Klingner & Boardman, 2011). This method mixes qualitative and quantitative data and was
uncommon until the 1980’s (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Researchers have been debating its
merits ever since. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) state that the pragmatic paradigm “rejects the
either/or choices associated with the paradigm wars, advocates for the use of mixed methods in
research and acknowledges that the values of the researcher play a large role in the interpretation
of results” (p.713).

This view resonates with this research; there are real-life problems associated with retained
primitive reflexes and the possibility that RMT may positively influence achievement and
behavioural outcomes for children is of interest to teachers and parents. The research questions
44
stated in Chapter 3, clearly ask ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions with the focus on understanding
perspectives. However, the purpose of the research is given a higher priority than any particular
research design and the researcher gained greater insights into the question through both
qualitative and quantitative data (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The next section contributes to
the epistemological assumptions of this research by reviewing components of the pragmatic
paradigm.

Positivist and naturalist approach. Positivism, developed by the French philosopher

Comte brought a scientific approach to the social science of human behaviour, using observation
and experimentation to gain knowledge. Cohen et al. (2011) describe the notion that quantitative
data analysis is expanded when the researcher combines the roles of data analyst and interpreter
of social reality. With the generalised concept of student achievement, a hypothesis could have
been developed in relation to RMT. Cohen et al. (2011, p. 1212) define a hypothesis as “a
conjectural statement of the relations between two or more variables, or an “educated guess”.
This “educated guess” is based on experience, study, observation and reflective thinking and
provides information about the relationship between the variables and the implications relating to
the testing of those relationships. For this research, a research question, with supplementary
questions, rather than a hypothesis, was viewed as a more effective way of providing useful
information for teachers and parents about RMT’s influences. Primitive reflex retention involves
a complex range of challenges (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996) and from the
researcher’s experience, it was believed that by relying solely on a hypothesis it may not be
possible to investigate the complete picture. For example, children’s positive development is not
only based on academic achievement. For some children, their reading and writing may remain
at a constant level throughout the research process, but they make three good friends during the
year, are invited on play-dates and develop basketball skills to an unexpected level. For a child
with no established friendships and poor physical skills, these changes would be important to
capture. Yet for another child, the aspects of change could be completely different. It is
acknowledged that academic outcomes are important to policymakers, teachers and parents and a
hypothesis around this topic would be easier to measure. Neurological development and
readiness for learning form the basis of this research and the challenges associated with primitive
reflexes span student achievement (Blythe & Goddard Blythe, 2012; Goddard-Blythe, 2005,

45
2008; Goddard, 1996) and behavioural outcomes (Konicarova & Bob, 2012, 2013a, 2013b).
Combining this ‘world-view’ with the placement of the intervention in the sociocultural
environment (Wertsch, 1985) of a 2017 classroom, social and emotional skills are considered
essential parts of development. Interpretation and reflection based on the issues discovered have
the potential to provide richer perspectives than those provided solely by hypothesis and
quantitative data. As Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) point out, a strong research question has
flexibility and thoroughness when it comes to investigating the complexities of educational
development in students, especially when used in the mixed methods environment. They also
support having one main research question asking an open ended “what and how” or “what and
why” question with supplementary questions that ask quantitative and qualitative questions. In
this research the main question asks “What…?” and the supplementary questions ask “How…?”
and “What…?” These open ended questions provide opportunities to delve into the meanings
and experiences of people who have used RMT and are common in hermeneutic research as
described in Section 3.3.

Klingner and Boardman (2011) note that critics of positivism suggest that human behaviour does
not always fall into quantifiable categories. There are identifiable patterns in human behaviour,
but there are also many exceptions to the pattern and often numeric data will not capture the
whole story. Cohen et al. (2011) suggest that positivism critics see science taking a reductionist
and mechanistic view of nature, believing that measurement defines the world, concepts are
concrete and that they are able to be dehumanized. However, the anti-positivist believes there are
some concepts that require description of the lived experience to gain a better understanding. In
the case of RMT, it is possible that the perceptions of parents and teachers about the children’s
development could add rich data to the information gathered as Koh, Shin and Yeo (2010) found
in their study of parents’ perceptions. While in the process of completing a quantitative study of
a programme that was being delivered to children with ADHD, they identified that the parent
perspective (qualitative data) would add strength to their findings. They were in effect
triangulating the data through two research projects, thus increasing the reliability and validity of
the study. In this research, triangulation is being used in a similar way to the Koh et al. (2010)
study and is described later in this chapter. Parent and teacher perspectives relating to their
perceptions of children’s progress, their ability to focus, the children’s social skills and the ease

46
with which the RMT programme can be used, will be reflected effectively through a qualitative
approach. This may address areas of the use of RMT that are more difficult to quantify such as
behaviour and social skill changes observed by parents.

Creswell (2013) views qualitative research as having a naturalistic approach, rejecting the belief
that universal laws and regularity govern human behaviour. The research avoids the laboratory
and is more likely based within the environment of the participant. This is essential when the
individual’s perspective is being investigated and they are viewed as autonomous rather than
plastic replications with similar properties as is preferred in quantitative research (L. Cohen et
al., 2011). The naturalistic researcher rejects the need to be detached and objective during the
research process, and favours sharing the experience of the participant where possible and
working to understand the individual’s world from the ‘inside’ rather than an ‘outside’ positivist
viewpoint. It is acceptable for naturalistic research to be a subjective undertaking that works to
understand or explain social reality through the perspectives of the participants. It allows the
participant to be viewed as a ‘whole’ in a world where they construct their own reality and
fluidity and change are expected rather than a static, rigid normality. Each participant is
considered unique, generalisations are minimal and the individual’s interpretation of an
experience is valued as it adds understanding to the multi-layered complexity of social reality.

The investigative methodology appears to sit well with the complexities of teacher experiences
and parent interpretations of the child’s development (Snape & Spencer, 2003). Descriptives,
interpretations and perceptions are used, rather than statistical numerical analysis associated with
quantitative research (Snape & Spencer, 2003). This applies to the research question used in this
research. According to Snape and Spencer (2003), there is “no single, accepted way of doing
qualitative research” (2003, p. 11). Observation rather than experimentation is the focus within
the environment of the participants. Time involved interpreting the data, discovering rich
perspectives and meanings are valued more than in quantitative research (Bogdan & Biklen,
2007), and the ability to be immersed in the data with a goal of interpretation is particularly
appropriate for this research. Answering the research questions requires acknowledgement of the
complexities associated with child development along with careful consideration of expectations
placed on teachers within current classroom environments.

47
Retained primitive reflexes have a complex range of challenges associated with them, both
educational and behavioural (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996; Konicarova & Bob,
2012, 2013a). The pragmatic paradigm proposes compatibility between the subjectivity of
qualitative data and the objectivity of quantitative data, allowing for greater interpretation of both
(L. Cohen et al., 2011). Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004) support mixed methods research as it
bridges the divide between qualitative and quantitative research and as they propose, in many
cases is actually closer to what is used in practice. They support the use of the terms
‘exploratory’ (associated with qualitative research) and ‘confirmatory’ (associated with
quantitative research) as more accurate descriptors of the research methodology and these are
described in the next section. Limited research associated with retained primitive reflexes and
reflex integration programmes means that this research is both exploratory and confirmatory.
The pragmatic paradigm allows a broader range of research questions and does not confine the
researcher to a single methodology. This may provide stronger evidence for conclusions made
through the research. However, this approach does have some limitations. Pragmatism may
produce fewer immediate and practical results, it may not produce revolutionary or fundamental
change in society and the research questions may not have clear ‘answers’ (Johnson &
Onwuegbuzie, 2004).

Exploratory Data Analysis. A scientific approach to research assumes that there is a

‘truth’ that can be explained using effective controls (Haig, 2018). A hypothesis is developed
based on existing theory, a statistical model established to test the hypothesis and analysis
performed on the collected data; confirmatory in its approach it is also referred to as a
hypothetico-deductive method. Haig states:
Scientific realism comes in many forms. Most versions of scientific realism display
a commitment to at least two doctrines: (1) that there is a real world of which we are
part and (2) that both the observable and unobservable features of that world can be
known by the proper use of scientific methods. Some versions of scientific realism
incorporate additional theses (e.g., the claims that truth is the primary aim of
science, and that successive theories more closely approximate the truth), and some
will also nominate optional doctrines that may, but need not, be used by scientific
realists (e.g., the claim that causal relations are relations of natural necessity) (Haig,
2018, p. 44).

Scientific realism is deductive, it takes a small sample of a population, with a view to

establishing correlations or relationships and then make generalisations. The variables are

48
established when the model is decided upon before the data is gathered. It relies on a wealth of
literature from which the researcher develops a choice of “designated features of interest” (Haig,
2018, p. 14) and the statistical model that best explains the set of data to be gathered. Haig
acknowledges the importance of confirmatory methods of data analysis within his field of
psychology, but he also supports the more inductive approach of Tukey (2018). In the 1960’s,
Tukey’s exploratory data analysis (EDA) approach, ‘detective’ work alongside commonly used
confirmatory statistical analysis, was encouraged. According to Haig, Tukey viewed data
analysis as more than purely mathematical statistics, he introduced an artistic element which put
an emphasis on researcher judgement and an acceptance of satisfactory solutions to problems.
Haig describes a two-step process in EDA where patterns in a data set are suggested and then
tested using confirmatory data analytic procedures. Recognising patterns is valued, as is
performing multiple analyses as a way to understand what the data is revealing and to make sure
that unexpected features are not overlooked. Although this approach was largely ignored before
the 2000’s, there appears to be growing acceptance within the fields of Education and
Psychology where inductive approaches to research accept the need for exploratory data analysis
(Haig, 2018).

Within EDA, Haig highlights four themes that distinguish this approach from inferential
statistics: resistance, residuals, re-expression and revelation (Haig, 2018). Resistance accounts
for unusual data where outlying results may make the results misleading. Using median values
removes the effect of outliers and provides more resistant, robust statistics. Residuals highlight
deviations from observed values and predicted values in a regression analysis. Re-expression
allows for rescaling or transforming data, e.g. in this research mathematics and reading scores
were transformed to a linear scale. Finally, revelation uses display to expose unexpected features
(Haig, 2018). In this research, frequency was identified as a factor of using RMT within the
classroom.

Research around reflex integration programmes is limited, and to-date no classroom-based RMT
research has been found which makes this research exploratory. Limited sources of empirical
research and the ability to explore past data gave rise to the exploration of the features within the
data set and emergent patterns. This EDA approach fits with the hermeneutic approach used in

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this research, as described in Section 3.3. An educated-guess or ‘working hypothesis’ and prior
understanding of how RMT may fit within the classroom was the beginning, and through the
reflective hermeneutic circles, data were analysed: interpreted and reflected on, then re-analysed
as meaning and unexpected features were revealed.

Mixed methods research design needs to accommodate complexities from both qualitative and
quantitative methods. Qualitative research has the possibility to generate large volumes of data,
which is why sample sizes are commonly limited to ensure that the topic can still be explored
through in-depth analysis (Creswell, 2013). In this research, interviews were conducted with
seven teachers from four schools, all of whom had used RMT for one school year. Viewed as
essential, teacher perspectives relating to the management of the RMT intervention within their
curriculum expectations and the physical limitations of their classrooms informed the main
research question. Bridges and Searle’s (2011) research highlighted the increase in teacher
workloads and the complexity of teacher expectations. They compared the workloads of teachers
in New Zealand in 2010 with that of teachers in 1992 and found an increase of 9%, from 50
hours in 1992 to more than 55 hours per week in 2010. The biggest difference was the perceived
increase of 84-90% in teacher time allocation to Information Technology Courses (ITC), meeting
the special needs of children, assessment and administration, with 51% of teachers believing
their workload was unsustainable. Teachers saw prioritising tasks as the only way to manage
increased workloads. With Bridges and Searle’s (2011) research in mind, it is reasonable to
assume that teachers might be reluctant to use a complicated, and difficult-to-implement
intervention, regardless of the potential for improved student achievement and behavioural
outcomes. This makes the ‘RMT’s ease of use’ research question highly relevant and while the
sample size is small, their perspectives are valuable.

Careful planning is essential in qualitative research. However, it also acknowledges the view that
reality is considered “incomprehensible, fluid and shaped and influenced by social interaction”
(Arghode, 2012, p. 159). While the research question is developed before the data gathering
begins, it may change as the process progresses, thus acknowledging the potential emergence of
new ideas from the data. Creswell (2013, p. 45) describes the fluid nature of developing themes,
associated patterns and categories taking a “bottom-up” approach. These themes change through

50
the data gathering process as insights and interpretations emerge. In this research, the research
question was modified mid-way to reflect better the progression of the data gathered and the
resulting thinking of the researcher. The reflections and observations are a key element in
qualitative research and form part of the data (Creswell, 2013). A detailed research diary with
observations and field notes was kept throughout. Researchers using hermeneutic
phenomenology typically observe others and themselves within the relevant environment,
listening carefully to what is being said and the language being used, making observations and
encouraging participants to explain themselves to a deeper level (Creswell, 2013). There is an
element of ‘insider research’ in this research. As highlighted in Chapter 1, the researcher had
already experienced reflex integration programmes and it was this existing knowledge that
established her interest in the RMT programme and helped formulate the research questions.

Recent movement-based studies discussed in Chapter 2 resonate with this research. As described
in Chapter 2, the South African mixed methods research by Erasmus et al. (2016) gathered a
wider range of data than this research. However, they did not gather social (interactions with
peers) or emotional (self-regulation, resilience) skill data. The Australian study (Williams, 2015)
only gathered Draw-A-Person (DAP) and quantitative academic data. Both studies devoted
approximately 30 minutes of classroom time, three times a week to their interventions, with the
possibility of placing pressure on an already full school curriculum. In this research, the range of
data – academic, social and emotional, sets it apart from previous research. The RMT
intervention is a daily time commitment of five minutes, which is shorter than the other two
programmes mentioned above, although RMT does not address the full range of motor skills
targeted in those studies. Both studies focused on movement but neither focused on retained
primitive reflexes. Therefore, this research progresses information in the area of reflex
integration movement-based programmes. The theorists, particularly those with movement and
reflex integration-based theories described in the following section, provide further justification
for the design that has been chosen for this research.

2.6.2 Developmental Theories Underpinning the Research

The developmental theories of Bronfenbrenner, Thelen, Vygotsky and Hughlings-Jackson

guided this research. This section reviews literature associated with each theorist’s work and

51
describes the elements that align with the context of this research. Each theorist has been chosen
because either their theories relate directly to neurophysiology: Hughlings-Jackson and Thelen,
or their theories relate to the placement of RMT in the classroom: Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky.
Theories relating to learning processes are not reviewed as part of this research as it is believed
that neurological challenges have an impact on learning and behaviour (Goddard-Blythe, 2012;
Williams, 2015) regardless of the theory described to understand how children learn. Santrock
(2014) highlights four key educational theories:
 Behaviourist theories of Pavlov and Skinner (learning through conditioning associated
with external stimulation and/or reinforcement of the stimulus response).
 Cognitivist theories of Piaget (learning through mental activity).
 Experiential learning theories of Klob (learning through problem-solving, trial and
improvement)
 Socioemotional learning theories associated with Vygotsky (learning through social
interaction and participation in a larger group)

Although each theory differs in their approach, it is argued that neurological health is vital
for learning (Blomberg, 2015).This research takes the view that intervention relating to
neurological health is an important place to start when focusing on achievement and
behavioural outcomes (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996).

John Hughlings-Jackson (1835 – 1911). Hughlings-Jackson’s theory about the

‘dissolution’ of primitive reflexes has contributed directly to the formulation of the research. His
theory was first developed in the 1850’s and recent research completed by Konicarova and Bob
(2013b) has extended understanding by associating ADD and ADHD in children with his
principles of based on evolutionary processes within the central nervous system. Without
sophisticated brain imaging techniques, he hypothesised that a child’s sensory processes and
early movement patterns allow the integration of lower brain functioning which in turn allowed
higher functioning of the brain (Franz & Gillett, 2011). The term ‘dissolution’ was used to
describe continuous development where high-level brain processes replaced lower level
processes. He believed that if the neural organisation of the brain continued to be controlled by
retained primitive reflexes there would be an impact on the individual’s developmental
progression (Franz & Gillett, 2011; Konicarova & Bob, 2013b). Hughlings-Jackson also linked

52
epileptic seizures and aphasia with brain functioning and organisational processes; ideas that
went against the current thinking of the time. His theories have contributed significantly to
current brain research, particularly in the areas of brain organisation and neurological disease
(Franz & Gillett, 2011).

Hughling-Jackson’s theory supports investigation of reflex integration programmes that attempt

to address behavioural issues associated with retained primitive reflexes. His psychopathological
analysis of the condition was considered in the research question. While academic progress has
in recent research of retained primitive reflexes been the focus (Goddard-Blythe, 2005;
McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b), this current research has included emotional and social
development, giving them equal importance to academic skills. As described in Section 2.3,
children may develop skills not directly associated with academic achievement. Behavioural
issues may decline, such as those associated with ADHD, when the child is participating in a
primitive reflex integration programme (Konicarova & Bob, 2013a). Building on the theories of
Hughlings-Jackson, others (Konicarova & Bob, 2012, 2013b; Melillo, 2011) have also linked the
maturity issues of ADHD with retained primitive reflexes. If integrating primitive reflexes could
improve children’s behaviour, and maybe reduce the need for medication, there could be benefits
for teachers and parents.

Esther Thelen (1941 – 2004). Movement as a key component in brain development was central
to the theories Thelen developed in the 1970’s to 90’s (as cited in Spencer et al., 2006; Thelen &
Corbetta, 1996; Thelen & Smith, 1994). Initially, her interest was focused on the rhythmical
movements babies make when they are given unrestricted opportunities to move (Thelen, 1981).
She observed infants and the range of movements they made after birth, noting their duration and
intensity, thus creating a developmental progression of behaviours and functional milestones.
She also demonstrated the different paths four infants took when learning to reach for a toy. One
child appeared to reach the toy more efficiently initially than another child, but as the weeks
progressed that child became less skilled as she did not make the adaptations as quickly as the
second child (Thelen & Corbetta, 1996). However, Thelen did not link these differences to the
child’s primitive reflex profile and the fact that the reflexes may have been at different stages of
integration (Sugden & Dunford, 2007). Through her longitudinal study with infants and their

53
ability to make a stepping action, Thelen began to question the traditional view that the brain
goes through a maturation process. Her research showed that new behaviours emerge through a
self-organisation process where multiple components come together in that moment of time for
the individual (Spencer et al., 2006; Thelen & Corbetta, 1996). Her description of the complex
movement patterns humans develop became known as the Dynamic Systems approach (Thelen
& Smith, 1994) and she believed that cognitive development originated in the extensive
movement patterns made when the individual was an infant. Although she used observation
rather than neuroimaging, her theory is close to the current understanding of brain development
(Corbetta & Ulrich, 2008).

Thelen’s (1996) theories on movement and developmental progression support the

intervention (RMT) chosen in this research. Her Dynamic Systems Approach theory focused on
the importance of the progression of movement infants make during their developmental
journey. Choosing an intervention for this research based on the natural, independent movements
babies make resonated with her theory. Thelen showed that babies work in multiple ways to
achieve a goal. The RMT movements are not only based on the movements infants make, but the
programme allows children some flexibility to choose the order, or even which movements they
complete. Viewed as a strength of the RMT programme this allows for some input from the
individual doing the movements and acknowledges Thelen’s theory that the movement path of
each child needs to be allowed to differ. Giving the child some control over their movement
programme sets RMT apart from other movement programmes, which prescribe what
movements the child is to complete and the order in which they are to be completed.

Uri Bronfenbrenner (1917 – 2005). A holistic approach to the development of a child was the
basis of Bronfenbrenner’s theory (2005) . He developed his theories between 1973 and 2006, and
what started out as an ecological approach to human development, moved to a bio-ecological
approach in its third phase (Onwuegbuzie, Collins, & Frels, 2013; Rosa & Tudge, 2013) as is
shown in Figure 2.3. The first phase of Bronfenbrenner’s theory positions the child within the
context of the systems or environment that they interact with and the relationships between those
systems. The closer the system is to the child, the greater the impact, although Bronfenbrenner
highlighted the fact that external influences can still affect a child’s development. Microsystems

54
have the greatest influences on the child, for example, parents, siblings, or school. The child is in
direct contact with those microsystems (Cicchetti et al., 2000). The mesosystem is the
relationship between at least two microsystems, for example, the relationship of the parents with
the child’s school. The exosystem is described as an ecological system that has possible
influence but does not directly interact with the child. Examples of this system are the workplace
of a parent and its influence on the family or government policy that may effect the child (Rosa
& Tudge, 2013). Institutional systems of a culture such as political, economic, social,
educational, and legal systems form the macrosystem. Bronfenbrenner (1997) stated that the
functioning of lower systems, micro, meso and exo-systems was influenced by the higher
macrosystems. Belief systems and ideology also fall within the macrosystem system.

Child
Chronosystem

Microsystem
Chronosystem

Mesosystem
Exosystem
Macrosystem

Figure 2.3. Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of child development.

Having identified the systems above, Bronfenbrenner (2005) continued to refine and develop the
model. He moved to his second phase where he studied the importance of the individual within
the development process and from this, he developed his process-person-context model. In his
third phase of the theory development, Bronfenbrenner (2005) added time, which formed the
Chronosystem, as an influence on human development and relating to the historical time a
person is developing within, for example, a time of war or famine. These processes were named
as a bio-ecological theory. He described proximal processes: the drivers of development, and he
emphasised the role of the individual in their own development. These proximal processes not
only allowed for the consideration of the influence of the parent workplace, but also the beliefs
or opinions of the parent that may influence how they react to the workplaces situation, which in

55
turn may then impact on the development of the child (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). The ‘person’
aspect of the theory considered the characteristics of the person such as gender and biological
condition, but also their disposition, resourcefulness and temperament. Bronfenbrenner identified
the importance of the interaction between the individuals and the processes they had direct
contact with, along with the context of the interactions (Rosa & Tudge, 2013).

Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory (2005) positioned a child’s development within the

community and its complexity of relationships. His process-person-context-time (PPCT) theory
fits well with this research question, forming the basis of some of the questions asked in the
semi-formal interviews. The processes involved in a child’s birth, the level of maternal stress and
the time of the birth (close to an earthquake) have all been suggested as possible causes in the
interruption of the primitive reflex integration process (Goddard-Blythe, 2008; Goddard, 1996).
The effectiveness of RMT relies on support for the child from teachers, parents and caregivers
and it is important to explore how the adults have found the process (Koh et al., 2010). This
relates to the context aspect of Bronfenbrenner’s theory. Paige-Smith and Rix (2006) emphasise
the importance of the parent’s perspective in interventions, and a qualitative process allows their
experiences to be explored. Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) theory highlights the multiple influences on
development and informs the approach taken to formulating the research question and
supplementary questions in this research. Qualitative research also supports a holistic approach,
allowing the social and cultural context to be an important consideration in defining the research
and making the findings context-specific (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007).

Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934). Vygotsky’s theories were written in the 1920’s in Russia,
although his child development and education theories were not published in the Western world
until the 1960 and 70’s. As one of the key socio-cultural theorists, Vygotsky’s theories were
shaped by his interest in psychology and his experience as a special education teacher (Smidt,
2009). He examined society and history which led him to examine how children develop and
learn. Through his observations and research he developed a theory based on the belief that all
learning was social, human activities were grounded in cultural contexts and they were mediated
by tools such as language (Daniels, 2017; Vygotsky, 1987). Three themes formed the core of
Vygotsky’s work: a focus on biological or genetic processes which he referred to as ‘lower

56
processes’(Smidt, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978), a belief that higher intellectual processes have their
origin in social interactions and in order to understand intellectual processes, an understanding of
the mediators (for example, language) is needed (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985). Vygotsky’s
views on the construction of knowledge are viewed as constructivist theories (Phillips, 1995). He
believed that the learner actively participated in the learning within a social setting, although as
Phillips (1995) concludes, the genetic/nature aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is of equal importance.

Vygotsky believed that the mind used tools to engage with and make sense of the world. While
he considered language was the most commonly used tool, Vygotsky identified three categories
of mediators: material tools, psychological or cultural tools and other humans (Schneider &
Watkins, 1996; Smidt, 2009; Vygotsky, 1987). The material tools used by our predecessors’ to
interact or master nature (Daniels, 2017; Vygotsky, 1978) may have been wooden sticks; today a
lap-top is one of our material tools. Cultural or symbolic tools that allow us to abstract include:
numbers, music, art and language, which according to Vygotsky were part of higher intellectual
processing. Vygotsky believed that there was a deep connection between language (the spoken
word) and thought (inner speech) (Smidt, 2009) and these abilities of humans increased higher
intellectual processing.

In his series of lectures published in Thinking and Speech (Vygotsky, 1987), the concept that
children living in their sociocultural environment (home or school) gathered information from
those around them who may have greater knowledge or experience was proposed. This person
was termed the ‘more knowledgeable other’ (MKO) (Vygotsky, 1987) and included parents,
teachers, older adults and peers. This places an importance on the social context of learning and
the community the child is within (Smidt, 2009) as they develop knowledge. Vygotsky also
placed emphasis on cognitive development being shaped by culture, the MKO in one culture will
have a different knowledge base to that of an MKO in another (Daniels, 2017; Vygotsky, 1978).

Vygotsky also identified the Zone of Proximal Development (Kozulin, 2004; Vygotsky, 1978;
Wertsch, 1985) where the child benefits by having others with greater knowledge guide and
assist with challenging tasks. Vygotsky sees this place as the optimal zone for cognitive
development (Kozulin, 2004). Daniels’ states:

57
 Firstly, Vygotsky defines the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as
the distance between the child’s ‘actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving’ and the higher level of ‘potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with
more capable peers’ (Vygotsky 1978, p.86) (Daniels, 2017, p. 4)

Due to Vygotsky’s death at a young age in 1934, the ZPD was not explored extensively, but
according to Edwards (2017), the concept has been useful for educators as they explore the
nature of relationships in the classroom and the processes involved in taking a learner from one
point to another.

Vygotsky’s theories on development align with the design and theoretical framework of this
research. The classrooms that RMT was placed into were socio-cultural environments where
children participated in their learning and the MKO (teacher) was asked to present the RMT
movements. Children with retained reflexes often display behavioural immaturity (Konicarova &
Bob, 2012) resulting in a reduced ability to interact with peers. This lowered level of social
interaction may have the capacity to impact cognitive development. With Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theories in mind, data relating to behaviour and social and emotional development
was gathered in this research (Vygotsky, 1978). If RMT can improve behaviour and the resulting
improved behaviour leads to improved social skills, then Vygotsky’s theory suggests that this
will improve cognitive development. The behavioural aspects of this research are based on this
theory.

2.7 Summary of Chapter 2

Neuroimaging has confirmed and expanded the knowledge surrounding brain development.
Neural networks are being established in the infant's brain before birth and experiences help the
brain develop at increased rates after birth. It has long been accepted that primitive reflexes play
an integral part in a child’s early development. The primitive reflexes are expected to integrate
within the first year of life, and when this process is interrupted, educational and behavioural
delays have been observed. Programmes to encourage primitive reflex integration have been
developed, usually based on observed movements made by new-borns.

58
While extensive searches were made, there appears to have been no research using brain imaging
to compare brain functioning of children with multiple retained primitive reflexes and children
with integrated primitive reflexes. Do their brains work the same as children without retained
primitive reflexes or differently? This question is not being answered by this research. Peer-
reviewed literature relating to the effectiveness of RMT could not be found, neither could the
voice of teachers in relation to reflex integration programmes and how such programmes can be
integrated into the classroom setting. This current research has focused on these two aspects:
does RMT encourage improved student achievement and behavioural outcomes, and is it easy to
use within the classroom setting?

The following chapter outlines the methodology used in this research. Assessment of outcomes
relating to the use of a primitive reflex integration programme are described, along with the
theoretical basis on which the methodological decisions were made.

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 Chapter 3 Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the methodology used in this research and the methods used to gather and
make sense of the data. The theoretical framework, reviewed in Chapter 2, has provided the base
for methodological decisions described in this chapter. These processes increase the transparency
of the research and the possibility for replication. The theoretical positioning has given
information as to how the main research question was developed and then addressed. This
chapter provides detailed information about qualitative and quantitative data gathering as well as
analysis strategies. Discussed in the final section are ethical issues and Education Research
Human Ethics Committee (ERHEC) approval.

3.1.1 Research Questions

This research investigated the RMT programme in relation to its influences on student
achievement and behavioural outcomes.

The main research question for this research was:

What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have in a classroom?

To assist in answering the main research question the following supplementary questions were
asked:
 From a teacher’s perspective, how does RMT facilitate the achievement of curriculum
goals?
 From a teacher’s perspective, how can RMT be managed within the physical classroom
space?
 What influence does participation in an RMT programme have on student achievement:
reading, writing and mathematics?
 What influence does participation in an RMT programme have on student behaviour:
social and emotional?

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 3.2 Research Overview
This section gives an overview of the methodology used in this research shown diagrammatically
in Figure 3.1. A theoretical framework, like an umbrella, is an over-riding cover that protects and
supports the material beneath. However, in this research, the theory (pragmatic paradigm –
focused on “What” and “How”) (L. Cohen et al., 2011) has been positioned within a rainbow
structure and defines the mixed methods design selected. The image of the rainbow and how it
relates to the research is described.

Investigated using a mixed methods approach, the research questions in this research deployed a
phenomenological framework. A convergent design was used – similar to the methodology used
by Klinger and Boardman (2011). Using this approach, the research questions remained in focus
as data were collected. The process can be confirmatory or exploratory. Teddlie and Tashakkori
(2008) define qualitative data gathering as predominantly exploratory, where a theory is being
developed, and quantitative data gathering as confirmatory, where a theory is verified. Mixed
methods design uses narrative and numbers to support each other. The convergent design used in
this research allowed two strands of data, qualitative and quantitative, to be collected alongside
each other, as well as sequentially timed interviews. Insights about the impact of RMT on
behavioural and academic progress, and the ease with which it can be used in the classroom were
explored through the two processes.

Figure 3.1 contains symbolism that positions this research. The lines and structure of the rainbow
represent the scientific approach in the design, namely positivism (an approach of gaining
knowledge through observation and experimentation – looking from outside to inside), as
identified by Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2011). The lines of the rainbow also represent
numeric quantitative data and the structure of the rainbow provides a framework to assist
understanding of the results gathered. The colours of the rainbow are used in the order they are
found in nature and are symbolic of the naturalistic approach (understanding and interpreting
individuals in order to make sense of the world – looking from the inside to the outside) found in
qualitative data as described by Creswell (2013). The colours inside the structure support each
other, thus influencing the appearance. It is the colour that defines the rainbow – with no colour
the lines have less meaning. For the naturalist, the perceptions of the individual, the words they
61
 say and the way they say those words give meaning to whatever is in focus. In a similar way,
educational research needs the theoretical framework to shape the design and the design to shape
the methodology. Quantitative data gives structured results and qualitative data adds depth,
meaning, richness, interpretation and perspective. At the bottom of the rainbow, the research is
supported by four theorists: Bronfenbrenner (1997), Thelen (1996), Hughlings-Jackson (Franz &
Gillett, 2011) and Vygotsky (1978). These developmental theorists added meaning to the way
the research question, findings and results were formulated. Finally, the phenomenon in focus is
RMT and as white reflects all the colours in the light spectrum, so will the findings and results
relating to the use of RMT reflect all the aspects of the research design.

Ontology: Theoretical Perspective

Epistemology: Pragmatic Paradigm

Methodology:
Qualitative Mixed Methods- Convergent Design Quantitative
Hermaneutics Quasi-experimental
Phenomenology Longitudinal Panel Research
Methods:
Data Gathering
Semi-formal Interviews NZNS, SDQ, DAP, Reflex Tests

Methods: Data Analysis

Theme-based Analysis Statistics

Data from Teacher/Parent

Child

Theories of
RMT
Theories of Hughlings-
Bronfenbrenner and
Vygotsky Jackson and Thelen

Figure 3.1. Research overview: Theoretical framework

62
On rare occasions, it is possible to see a rainbow make a complete circle. The symbolism of the
missing section of the rainbow circle fits with the hermeneutic circles described below, and the
whole-part-whole theory. Rather than research that takes linear steps in understanding, the
researcher views the primitive reflex process in a more circular, interpretive way, along with the
understanding of RMT and its use in the classroom. The diagram began as a simple rainbow with
a few descriptives, but as the research process developed, additional components were added.
The final diagram has a degree of messiness within the structure. This messiness represents the
complexity of a hermeneutic approach as described by van Manen (1997), where there is a
‘whole’ and within that are the ‘parts’ which create greater understanding, through interpretation
of the ‘whole’. With the overall structure of the research design in place, each component will
now be described in detail, to provide transparency of the processes used and thus increase the
reliability and validity of the research.

3.3 Research Design: Mixed Methods

This section describes the mixed methods research design used in this research and gives
explanations as to why the design draws qualitative and quantitative research traditions together.
The presentation of the material in this chapter is the basis for the structure of the findings and
results in Chapters 4 and 5. Qualitative perspectives and understandings are presented first,
followed by the quantitative aspects of the research.

3.3.1 Mixed Methods: Convergent Design

A convergent mixed methods design was used in this research. Within mixed methods research,
the order in which the data is gathered determines the design (Klingner & Boardman, 2011). A
convergent design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) allows both the qualitative and quantitative
data to be collected concurrently and sequentially, thus allowing comparison and relationships
within the data to be interpreted as is shown in Figure 3.3. Using quantitative data gathering
allowed for a larger sample size (n = 98) and this is considered statistically useful (L. Cohen et
al., 2011). Cohen et al. suggest 30 individuals as a minimum sample size in each group, and as is
shown in Section 3.4, the make-up of the groups in this research exceeded that number.

63
Data analysis within a convergent design is completed separately but the results are merged to
create an overall interpretation. This approach is considered appropriate when deeper
understanding of an issue is being explored, and qualitative data can strengthen the quantitative
results or vice versa (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). A convergent design is often viewed as part
of a triangulation process. The data are collected independently and used to complement each
other, thus increasing the validity and trustworthiness of the results (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011). During this research, the data was collected concurrently and sequentially as the
quantitative information was independent of the information given by teachers and parents. As
shown in Figure 3.5, field notes and observation were made during the testing and movement
phases. The testing took place at three time points and the interviewing took place near the end
of the intervention phase.

Sequential Data Gathering

End tests
Beginning
Mid-tests and
Tests interviews

Concurrent Data gathering

Figure 3.2. Sequential and concurrent data gathering points of RMT research.

The qualitative interview data described in Section 3.4, gave additional meaning to the
quantitative results. The approach was intended to give a deeper understanding of the use of

64
RMT within the classroom setting. In this case, the quantitative results tell part of the story and
the qualitative findings tell another part. RMT may achieve results, but if it is difficult for a
teacher to use then this is important information. Conversely, RMT may be easy to implement
within the classroom, but if results show minimal progress then the time may be better spent
completing another activity.

Several approaches can be used in mixed-methods research when combining qualitative and
quantitative data. Researchers can merge both data in some form by, for example, connecting the
data through counting of themes and giving the qualitative data quantitative treatment (Creswell,
2009). This approach was not used in this research. The qualitative data were reported using
descriptives and the quantitative data were placed alongside those narratives. The strength of the
research is seen in weaving both with opportunities to provide additional meaning and insight to
the results. As described above, in this converging process: there were two strands of data, and
they support each other’s findings (Creswell, 2009). It is possible in mixed-methods research to
give one data strand greater weighting, but in this research, the two strands have been given
equal weighting to ensure a deeper understanding of the use of RMT in the classroom.

Qualitative data
collection and
analysis (NVivo 11)
Relate results and Interpretation
findings through discussion
Quantitative data
collection and
analysis (R, 2015)

Figure 3.3. Convergent design process.

3.3.2 Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Panel Research

Experimentation using pre-existing groups such as a school-based class is common in

educational research (Drew, Hardman, & Hosp, 2008). These studies are known as quasi-
experimental design studies, where the participants have not been randomly selected and the

65
researcher is not able to fully manipulate the variables (L. Cohen et al., 2011). Developmental
research in education often uses quasi-experimental design because comparisons are made across
groups that have pre-existing differences, such as those found in a class (Drew et al., 2008).
Multiple baseline designs allow for a control to provide a comparison to an intervention group.
In this research, the children were divided into two evenly matched groups and group 1 (n = 52)
participated in the intervention, while group 2 (n = 46) was the control. The New Zealand
Association for Research in Education (NZARE) wrote ethical guidelines in 2010. Under their
general principles 2.6 “The rights and welfare of learners, research participants and the public
should take precedence over the self-interest of members of the Association (i.e. researchers)”
(New Zealand Association for Research in Education, 2010, p. 55). With this in mind, after five
months the control children joined the intervention so that every child had an opportunity to
experience the movements as outlined in Figure 3.4.

Phase 1 Phase 2
Intervention Movements 5 Test
Movements 5 minutes per school
Group 1 Test minutes per school Test
day
day

Control Movements 5 minutes per school Test

Test Normal programme Test
Group 2 day

Month Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 3.4. Intervention activity during phases.

The overall structure of the research was a longitudinal panel research design. Cohen (2011)
describes a panel study as one that collates quantitative data from a group of participants where
information is gathered over an extended period. The participant group is the same throughout
the research and the same data gathered several times. The longitudinal aspect (time) can range
from several weeks or months to many years. This research design is useful when an
investigation of possible causal patterns or inferences is undertaken (L. Cohen et al., 2011).
There can be problems associated with participant response rates as is discussed by Laurie and
Scott (1999) who suggest strategies to reduce the drop-out of participants such as maintaining
accurate contact details. This research used the same participants for the data gathering period

66
(10 months) and the same data was gathered multiple times in relation to primitive reflex
retention scores, Draw-A-Person (DAP) (neurological development) scores and academic
achievement scores.

3.3.3 Qualitative Data: Hermeneutic Phenomenology

Traditions vary within the qualitative approach to research described in Section 3.1 (Creswell,
2013; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Yin, 2011). Examples include:

 storytelling in narrative research where life histories can be recounted

 ethnographic research which attempts to make sense of behaviours and patterns through
descriptions and interpretations of an entire group of people
 grounded theory research which develops a theory based on an individual
 case study research which explores a ‘case’ (single case or multiple cases) within its
normal setting
 phenomenological research, used in this research, which examines through interpretation
of description, a specific phenomenon (Creswell, 2013, pp. 104 - 105).

Phenomenology as a Methodology. Phenomenology, used as the basis of the qualitative data

gathering process in this research, is considered to have first developed as a philosophy. The
word phenomenology is derived from the Greek word phenomenon which means “to show
itself”, to shine a light on something so that it becomes visible (Ray, 1994). From the
philosophical movement came the phenomenological method or approach to research (M. Cohen
& Omery, 1994). The philosopher Husserl first used phenomenological research at the beginning
of the 1900’s (L. Cohen et al., 2011). The basis of the methodology was to question assumptions
and common sense associated with everyday life. The resulting data facilitated the investigation
of experiences of the participants, namely perceptions and attitudes of their lives. Taking a group
of individuals and exploring a phenomenon through the meaning of a common set of experiences
differentiates phenomenological studies and other forms of qualitative research. A lived
experience such as childbirth may be the phenomenon in focus or it may be something that all
humans can experience (Creswell, 2013) such as happiness or the experience children using
RMT movements gain as is the case in this research. However, it recognises that it is difficult to

67
generalise or “prove” that one method is more effective than another (van Manen, 1997) and it
does not set out to solve a problem. The data analysis maintains a focus on the chosen
phenomenon, with developing themes emerging (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007).

The two phenomenological approaches considered for this research were: hermeneutic
phenomenology (van Manen, 1997), (interpretive), and transcendental psychological or empirical
phenomenology (Moustakas, 1994) (descriptive). The approach best suited to this research was
hermeneutic phenomenology as described in the next section.

Hermeneutic phenomenology. The specific characteristics of hermeneutic

phenomenology and its approach to the research process align with the complexities of primitive
reflex integration and the use of intervention programmes. Malpas and Gander (2015) describe
hermeneutic phenomenology as the ‘art’ of interpretation while van Manen describes it as “a
human science which studies persons’ (1997, p. 66). The latter highlights that it is the uniqueness
of the person that is being studied rather than a generalised version of people. The word
hermeneutics was used as early as the 17th century as a method of interpretation for biblical and
classical text. Humans use language or text to make sense of their world, thus increasing
knowledge and understanding (Dowling, 2004). Heidegger is credited as the developer of
hermeneutic phenomenology (Malpas & Gander, 2015). He insisted that hermeneutics is a mode
of interpreting, with emphasis on inquiry through self-reflective, interpretation from within the
nature of being (ontological). Heidegger described a sense of “being in the world’ which he
termed Dasein, subsequently guiding and interpreting research questions from this position (Ray,
1994). The key difference is that the researcher is ‘in’ the world instead of being ‘of’ the world.
Gadamer built on Heidegger’s philosophy through his text Truth and Method (Gadamer, 1975b).
He believed that ‘being there’ was essential to understanding and interpretation relies on self-
understanding. Questions arise for a researcher and an understanding is developed through a
systematic interpretation of the question, using language to discover and convey the
understandings (Malpas & Gander, 2015). Hermeneutics is also considered to have a circular
aspect to the reflexivity – a ‘whole’ is broken into ‘parts’ and through exploration of the ‘parts’
the understanding of the ‘whole’ then changes (Kinsella, 2006). This process is revised over time
to increase the opportunities for understanding and greater interpretation (Malpas & Gander,

68
2015). By applying this circular aspect of hermeneutics to this research, a clearer picture
developed as illustrated in Figure 3.5.

Whole – Researcher’s Understanding

following the research experience

Part - theories,
researcher
experience.
Reflexion,
reinterpretation,
understanding
Part - the
Part - hermeneutic
children circles; raising
Part - analysis of questions.
conversations
and developing
understanding.
Engagement,
challenging
understanding Part -
Part - conversations
researcher/ and text, tests
teachers/ and results.
parents
Whole
Researchers initial
understanding of
primitive reflexes

Figure 3.5. The Hermeneutic Circle as it applies to RMT.

In hermeneutic phenomenology the researcher starts with what they know, their ‘prejudices’ (as
Gadamer (1977) describes the previously known meanings and pre-judgements) as well as their
way of being and understanding. Through the hermeneutic process, what the researcher knows
69
and questions is then investigated through a series of ‘parts’ that includes the researcher
engaging themselves within the context (participants, phenomenon) and the processes (text – via
interviews, transcriptions, observation, insights) to arrive at a different understanding. There is a
‘fusion of horizons’ where past experiences are merged with the present understanding resulting
in new meaning of the lived experience (Gadamer, 1977). This relates well to the rainbows in the
theoretical framework described at the beginning of this chapter. Figure 3.5 illustrates that what
started as some knowledge about something (white), through a series of processes ‘parts’
(different colours) then became the whole again but a different colour from the start. The grey
colour in the big circle (Figure 3.5) represents the circular process, where it is possible to gain
more understanding, but to understand everything the outside circle would need to be black. The
arrows within the grey circle represent the repetitions of the researcher moving from the ‘whole’
to the ‘parts’ and then to the ‘whole’ again. Multiple opportunities to engage with the parts
increases the depth of the understanding. The ‘whole’, in the hermeneutic circle, is looked at
through the ‘parts’ and the ‘parts’ are looked at through the ‘whole’. The texture in the ‘parts’
(Figure 3.5) indicates that within the parts there are also additional parts that make up that
‘whole part’, which become part of the bigger ‘whole part”. Van Manen (1997) discusses the
importance of the ‘whole’ and states:
Much of educational research tends to pulverize life into minute abstracted
fragments and particles that are of little use to practitioners. So it is perhaps not
surprising that a human science that tries to avoid this fragmentation would be
gaining more attention (1997, p. 77).

This research utilised the hermeneutic circle to gain greater insights into the experience of RMT
(Figure 3.5). There were shifts in thinking through the interpretation of the parts (a comment,
some literature or an observation may have been the trigger) and then the ‘whole’ was revisited
to reassess the researcher’s own experience or understanding. In other words, a process of
cycling through the connections between research, observations and conversations.

Gadamer’s (Gadamer, 1975a, 1975b, 1977; Kerdeman, 1998) hermeneutic focus was on self-
development. Acknowledgement of this within this research was recognised in Chapter 1 with
the researcher’s Intellectual Autobiography. Transcendental phenomenology as described by
Moustaka (1994) has a focus on descriptions of participant experiences, with minimal researcher
interpretation. Husserl’s (Creswell, 2013) concept of epoche involves bracketing – a situation

70
where the researcher examines the perspectives of the participants, although to obtain a fresh
perspective their own views and experiences are set to one side, thus likened to a ‘bird’s eye’
view. For the researcher involved in this research, it was considered unrealistic to attempt to
bracket herself as in Moustakas’ (1994) approach, after acknowledging her breadth and depth of
experience with RMT.

Hermeneutic phenomenology described by van Manen (1997) gathers data about participant’s
lived experience (phenomenology) and interprets the texts/language (data) of life (hermeneutics).
He views this approach as “fundamentally a writing activity” (van Manen, 1997, p. 77).
Understanding the experience through the eyes of the participant, the language they use to
describe the phenomenon and the interactions between all involved are valued. The perceptions
of the participants form a socially constructed reality. The phenomenon is described, but there is
an emphasis on emergent themes and the interpretive process that subsequently offers greater
meaning of a lived experience (van Manen, 1997). Intentions of the ‘actors’ in a situation are
recovered and reconstructed and the interactions help recapture meanings. Merleau-Ponty
(Boden & Eatough, 2014; Merleau-Ponty, 2004) has contributed to the thinking around
phenomenology, with Macann (1993) describing his approach as “reflective interrogation” and
the ability to “reflect on the unreflected” (p. 162). The importance of using language as a tool for
expressing an experience was also highlighted by Merleau-Ponty (van Manen, 1997). The
researcher needs to separate the essence from the experience through a structured analysis of the
language used to describe the experience. Boden and Eatough (2014) state that within
hermeneutic phenomenology, subscribing to a ‘bird’s eye’ view is not possible because the
researcher and the participants are enmeshed in their world and therefore have perspectives about
the phenomenon in focus. Interpretation is inevitable and as the phenomenon is described to the
researcher, the interpretation may differ, based on previous experience, to that of the participant.
The participant has interpreted their experience, but two participants could possibly interpret the
experience differently. Such is the human condition.

Within hermeneutic phenomenology, it is possible that multiple voices co-exist. These voices
may be in relation to shared experiences and both voices can have equal value as the meaning is
investigated. Lindseth and Norberg (2004) state that in order to understand text the researcher

71
needs to move “from what it says - to what it talks about” (p. 146). The researcher is not looking
for external objects to obtain meaning, rather they are working to discover the meaning itself
through participant experience and reflective insight. Gadamer (1975b) places importance on the
question being opened up and remaining open while the possibilities are explored. According to
van Manen (1997), the researcher needs to be an active participant in this process.

Hermeneutic research also acknowledges that all interpretation has a perspective. The role of the
interpreter is seen as critical in hermeneutic interpretation, including their prejudices and history
that shapes their range of experiences (Kinsella, 2006). Acknowledged in this research is the
researcher’s experience with retained primitive reflexes in both personal and professional
capacities. This has shaped the ‘worldview’ that this researcher brought to the research.

Following consideration of the different phenomenological approaches, there is acceptance of a

focus on the experience of the participants and interpretation of their experiences. The parents
have lived with children who have used RMT and their perceptions are of value when attempting
to understand their children’s involvement with RMT and the outcomes parents experienced. The
teachers ‘experienced’ RMT in the classroom and they ‘experienced’ having children in their
classrooms who had used the programme. Their lived experience is valued as part of the process
of understanding RMT within a classroom setting. As naturalism is part of this research’s
theoretical framework, hermeneutic phenomenology fits well within the methodology. The
design of this research enabled the gathering of information from parents and teachers through
semi-formal interviews. The information was analysed and the themes that emerged provided
rich descriptives of their experiences. The process of data analysis is described in Section 3.2.
Using her previous experience with children’s development and RMT, data from parents and
teachers was interpreted by the researcher. However, challenges within the approach are
highlighted in the next section.

Challenges within hermeneutic phenomenology. Hermeneutic phenomenology has

attracted criticism from within the scientific community (Gadamer, 1975a). Kinsella (2006)
notes that although there is an elusive nature to the method it is the ambiguity of the process that
allows for greater understanding. Language is central to hermeneutics and according to Cohen
and Omery (1994), the language of phenomenologists can be viewed as unclear, messy or vague.
72
They note that when researchers attempt to fit into scientific or academic norms such as step-
based processes or space constraints, the essence of the phenomenology will be diluted. Gadamer
(1975a) acknowledges that science prefers to eliminate uncontrollable or unobjectifiable
elements in research. However, as Gadamer discusses, Aristotle alluded to the need for a method
of dealing with social research that acknowledged the researcher’s part in the society they were
researching. Within the hermeneutic approach, the focus is on understanding the data rather than
explaining it, being reflective so that the insights are determined by the interpretations of the
person doing the reflection and their experiences. The range and previous experience of the
researcher has an impact on the depth of reflection. Because this is a personal journey, that
would not be viewed as a limitation. Would another researcher with different experiences arrive
at different interpretations? In hermeneutic phenomenology this would be viewed as a different
part of the whole, however, within the scientific community, this may be interpreted as a dilution
of the results because they are different.

Philosophical concerns have been highlighted by Ray (1994). She states that understanding the
philosophical basis of phenomenology determines the success of the research and she highlights
the notion that not all qualitative research is phenomenological in the approach – a mistake she
believes is made by some researchers. The sections above describing phenomenology and
hermeneutics are intended to provide a clear philosophical and methodical positioning of this
research.

Another area of concern in hermeneutic phenomenology is within the methodology of the

research. A transformative experience is often at the centre of the research with the researcher’s
interest lying within the experiences of the participants (Ray, 1994; van Manen, 1997). The
interview questions seek to gain meaning about the experience and the data analysis needs to be
a reflexive process with thematic interpretation and insight in focus. It is important that the
researcher retains the interpretive nature of hermeneutics in data gathering and the discussion of
results. Van Manen states that:
Phenomenology is not an empirical analytic science. It does not describe actual
states of affairs; in other words, it is not a science of empirical facts and scientific
generalisations, asking who did what? When? Where? How many? To what extent?
Under what conditions? And so forth (van Manen, 1997, pp. 21 - 22).

73
He also states that the method does not make sense of the world through speculative inquiry and
it does not solve problems. The aim is to highlight the lived experience of the person involved
through gathering history, understanding and descriptives. Value is placed on the subjective
human behaviours gathered through text. There is no need to generalise or categorise the
experience within a population (Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Ray, 1994).

Within this research, the challenges of hermeneutic phenomenology have been carefully
considered. The thematic interpretation of the text has been used as the basis for the results and
discussion so that the reader is aware of the importance placed on the perspectives of the teachers
and parents. Children’s developmental processes can appear unclear as they don’t all follow a
pre-determined pattern, and although there are similarities, one child’s reaction to a situation
may differ markedly to another’s. In a similar way, teachers within a classroom will have very
different experiences and a classroom does not stand in isolation from the participants or its
community. For these reasons the ability to capture a range of perceptions with an ability to
interpret these was viewed as an important as part of the RMT experience. The following section
describes and justifies the method of hermeneutic data collection used in this research.

Data collection: Semi-formal interviews. Interviews are widely used in qualitative research as
an effective data collection method. A commonly used process in hermeneutic research is a
semi-formal interview where questions are formulated, but digression is permitted to follow-on
from comments made by the participant. Boden and Eatough (2014) explored multidimensional
approaches to data gathering in their research, using bodily, visual and verbal data collection.
Their research, involving perceptions around feeling guilty, asked participants to make drawings
of the experience which they were then asked to interpret, they performed a fantasy enactment
and they were involved in a semi-formal interview where the drawings and the dramatic
enactment were reflected upon. While this is appropriate for an emotionally charged focus such
as ‘guilt’ it was felt that a simple semi-structured interview with parents and teachers would be
appropriate for the investigation of the RMT movements.

Obtaining accurate data is important in hermeneutic research-based interviews. There are several
factors that a researcher must consider to ensure reliability and avoid bias. Developing rapport
with the interviewee, asking questions in an acceptable manner and responding appropriately to
74
the answers given (L. Cohen et al., 2011) are critical in successful interviewing. The bias of the
interviewer can be problematic and ideally there would be a range of interviewers with differing
biases. In this research, the researcher completed all interviewing. Understanding and
recognising bias or prejudices is important and having a range of pre-prepared questions may
help reduce obvious bias (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Within qualitative data gathering, it is
expected the researcher will actively withhold personal opinions and viewpoints, so as not to
sway the participant's view. The interview is a social construct where there is sharing of aspects
of everyday life, and within that social encounter, there are perceptions, understandings and bias.
Even though a researcher may work to remain objective and systematic, every interview will be
influenced by the everyday life of both the participant and the interviewer (Bogdan & Biklen,
2007; L. Cohen et al., 2011). Within the hermeneutic interview, the researcher’s understanding
can be utilised through the questions that are asked. This is to facilitate the gathering of a greater
depth of information from the interviewee (van Manen, 1997).

Semi-structured interviews as described by Bogdan and Biklen (2007) were used with the
participants in this research. A set of pre-prescribed questions were developed, and these were
emailed to the participant before the interview, allowing time for interviewee preparation.
However, as part of the semi-structured nature of the process, the interviewer was permitted to
follow a line of comments through additional questioning. This type of interview is not
standardised, but the questions provide the ability to compare some data. Having a hermeneutic
approach as part of the methodology, the need to be able to explore the perceptions of the
participants was given greater value (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). With the individualised
perceptions of children’s development and the use of RMT, semi-formal interviews had the
ability to gather a range of material that may have been missed through questionnaires. Probing
questions, and taking opportunities for clarifying information provided opportunities for richer
data to be gathered and increased opportunities for interpretation (L. Cohen et al., 2011). When
participants talked about one topic it often triggered another related thought and it was important
for them to be given time to relay their perceptions. The questions for teachers and parents
related to the children. A starter question asked about their general perceptions of the year. The
questions became more focused on academic skills, and sporting skills, followed by a question
about socialisation. Then perceptions about the RMT programme were asked. Parents were

75
finally asked about their child’s delivery/birth. This question was asked at the end of the
interview when there had been time to build rapport and was focused on the child rather than the
state of the mother. Parents could then choose how much personal information they gave.
Appendices I and J have the full list of starter questions.

As the interviews were part of an embedded mixed methods design (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011), their purpose was to provide information from a ‘lived’ experience (hermeneutics). The
quantitative data described in Section 3.3 was then discussed alongside the comments from
teachers and parents.

Field notes and research diary. Field notes and a research diary were used in this
research. The experiences a researcher has while conducting interviews or visits to participants
are collated in what are commonly termed ‘field notes’ (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). The written
notes are made from memory as soon as possible after the experience and contain perspectives
gained, observations made (things experienced, seen and heard) and reflections that are the result
of the data collection process. They typically contain descriptions of the people, the environment,
activities and conversations and are reviewed when analysing qualitative data and discussing the
findings. A research diary documents timing in relation to the research as well as ideas,
reflections, insights and strategies that have surfaced through the research process (Nadin &
Cassell, 2006). Nadin and Cassell describe how diaries are usually associated with sociology or
ethnography, but their usefulness has been extended to other disciplines, including business
management. A diary completed on a regular basis allows the researcher to reflect on
interpretations and then repeat that process by reflecting further on interpretations of the
interpretations. This is an important part of the hermeneutic approach where ideas are taken apart
and the hermeneutic circle encourages interpretation of the parts in order to gain a greater
understanding of the ‘whole’(Gadamer, 1977). In this research, the field notes were written in the
research diary so that the observations could be reviewed alongside the larger reflections and
interpretations over the time of the research from inception to completion. The diary also
contained useful information such as webpage information or contact details, where there was a
possibility that the information may need to be revisited.

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 3.3.4 Quantitative Data

Quantitative data was gathered as part of this research. The data gathered using this method is
considered to be part of a science-based experiment and gives scientific measurements and
percentages of change, in this case, value added to student achievement. As a science-based
method of gathering data, it is considered to provide reliable information on the efficacy of an
intervention (L. Cohen et al., 2011). This section describes in detail the numerically based tests
that were used in this research and the rationale behind their inclusion.

New Zealand National Standards testing: Reading, writing and mathematics.

Academic results in this research were based on testing completed by classroom teachers. The
New Zealand National Standards (NZNS) were the system of assessment used in all New
Zealand schools in 2017 when this research was conducted. The standards were launched in
2009 (Ministry of Education, 2009b) as a way of communicating student progress to parents and
whānau (extended family) as well as providing standardised information for the New Zealand
Government about achievement levels within schools. Schools were encouraged to use a range of
testing to gather data. With schools slow to implement the system, the Government made their
use compulsory in 2014. NZNS were based on guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education,
with moderation being an important component of the process (Ministry of Education, 2011).
There is debate as to the appropriateness of these standards for a country with such cultural
diversity (Özerk & Whitehead, 2012) and in December 2017 the NZ Prime Minister announced
that NZNS would be discontinued. However, for the purpose of this research, they were the
assessments used in New Zealand schools at the time and the academic results in this research
are based on the NZNS assessments completed by the teachers. This decision was made due to
the extensive testing schedule within all schools as required by the NZNS, and it was believed
that adding additional maths, reading and writing tests, three times during the year, when
children were already being tested was not promoting well-being (Lazarín, 2014).

At the Year 3 level as part of the NZNS, Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ) is used extensively in
assessments. This means that the Ministry of Education is not able to provide statistical levels of
reliability and validity. OTJ is based on teachers conversing with students, observing the
processes the student uses and gathering results from formal assessments, including some

77
standardised tools (Ministry of Education, 2011). Moderation is an important part of the process;
schools moderate within their own teams and between schools. The formal testing used by each
school in this research is summarised in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1. Specific Tests Used in Each School

School Nikau Kauri Pōhutukawa

Subject
Reading PM Benchmark PM Benchmark Running PM Benchmark
Running Records, Star Records up to gold (L20 8yr Running Records
and Overall Teacher reading level)) then Hilton and OTJ.
Judgement (OTJ). Ayrey Prose Test from Gold
L21 8yrs reading age and up
and OTJ.

Writing Schoolwide records of e-asTTle marking scale and e-asTTle marking

work aligned with OTJ. scale and OTJ.
National Standards,
Team moderation and
OTJ.

Maths IKAN, Numeracy JAM (junior assessment JAM, IKAN, and

Project snapshots and maths), GloSS and OTJ. OTJ.
OTJ.

General information about each test is summarised in Table 3.2. All the tests used were on the
Ministry of Education’s list of recommended tests to assess NZNS. Ministry of Education
Assessment Resources Maps showing where each test lies on the NZNS framework are in
Appendices Tm, Tr and Tw.

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 Table 3.2. Details of Testing Used in Schools

Test PM Benchmark e-asTTle IKAN JAM GloSS

Running Records

Subject area Reading Writing Maths Maths Maths

NZ Origin No, texts are trialled Yes Yes Yes Yes
and levelled in
Australia.
Standardised No but texts have Yes No, but No No, but
been levelled in national national
Australia. performance performance
data is data is
available. available.
Availability $485 for one level. Free from Min Free from NZ Free from NZ Free from NZ
of ED website Maths website Maths website Maths website
Recommended Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
by Ministry of
Education
Developed by Price Milburn 2008 NZCER for Numeracy Ministry of Numeracy
the Min of Project, Education Project,
ED, 2011 Ministry of 2011, updates Ministry of
Education 2014 and Education
2002, 2015. 2002, revised
2013.

Scoring of tests was done in the following way:

Reading: There are Levels 1 – 30 and all children’s scores were within this range. Within
the first two years a child is at school there are nine reading levels for each year. Within the third
and fourth years, there are four reading levels for each year. This structure was not statistically
comparable. To enable the statistical model to work effectively the reading levels were allocated
linear steps, 4 for each year of schooling. The scoring is shown in Table 3.3.

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 Table 3.3. Reading Scores Adjusted for Statistical Analysis

Stats Reading Stats reading Reading Stats reading

Reading
reading level score level score
level
score
1-2 1 15 - 16 8 25 15
3-4 2 17 - 18 9 26 16
5-6 3 19 - 20 10 27 17
7-8 4 21 11 28 18
9-10 5 22 12 29 19
11-12 6 23 13 30 20
13 – 14 7 24 14

Writing: As is shown in Appendix Tw, children in Years 2 – 4 are expected to be working

at levels 1 and 2 of the New Zealand Curriculum Writing with some children possibly beginning
level 3. There are three stages within each level, B = Basic, P = Proficient and A = Advanced
and the range of scores was, 1B, 1P, 1A, 2B, 2P, 2A, 3B, 3P and 3A. For statistical analysis, the
scores were assigned a numerical value from 1 – 9 as is shown in Table 3.4.

Table 3.4. Possible Writing Scores

Raw
Writing Pre-writing 1B 1P 1A 2B 2P 2A 3B 3P 3A
Score
Statistical
Writing 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
score

Mathematics: As shown in Appendix Tm, children in Years 2 – 4 are expected to be

working at levels 1 and 2 of the New Zealand Mathematics Curriculum. There may be some
children working at levels 3 and 4. There are also Numeracy Strategy Stages that sit alongside
each Curriculum level (Appendix Tm). Children in Year 2 – 4 are expected to be working at
stages 4 to 5, although it is possible to have children working from Stage 1 through to Stage 7.
The range of scores within the participant group was from Level 1/Stage 1 through to Level

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4/Stage 6/7. As with the reading scores, each level was assigned a numerical score for statistical
purposes. The range of scores is listed in Table 3.5.

Table 3.5. Possible Mathematics Scores

Level Stage Statistical Level Stage Statistical

Score Score
Pre-mathematics 0 Level 2 Stage 4/5 9
Level 1 Stage 1 1 Level 2 Stage 5 10
Level 1 Stage 2 2 Level 2 Stage 5/6 11
Level 1 Stage 2/3 3 Level 2 Stage 6 12
Level 1 Stage 3 4 Level 2 Stage 6/7 13
Level 1 Stage 3/4 5 Level 3 Stage 6 14
Level 1 Stage 4 6 Level 3 Stage 6/7 15
Level 1 Stage 4/5 7 Level 3 Stage 7 16
Level 1 Stage 5 8 Level 4 Stage 6/7 17

Reflex tests. Three reflexes, TLR, ATNR and Spinal Galant, were chosen for testing in this
research. All three primitive reflexes have been used in other research and they appeared to assist
in the answering of the research questions in this research:

 The TLR has been used by Goddard-Blythe (2005) and Grzywniak (2017) and is
associated with the vestibular (balance) system, visual and auditory processing. While
physical skills were not assessed in this research, the participants were in a classroom
setting where visual and auditory skills were in constant use.
 The ATNR was used by McPhillips et al. (2000; 2004), Jordan-Black (2005), Goddard-
Blythe (2005) and Grzywniak (2017) and has been associated by these researchers with
academic outcomes, in particular reading. As reading, writing, and mathematics were
tested, value was placed on aligning this research with work already completed.
 The Spinal Galant was used in research completed by Konicarova and Bob (2012). It is
also associated with the vestibular system, as well as hyperactivity and inattention. As
this research included the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (Goodman &
Goodman, 2009; Ministry of Health, 2015b) where behaviours were assessed, value was
placed on this reflex.

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 The reflex tests performed by the children described below are simple tests that require a
round-ended stick or pencil to complete. Along with the relationship to the research
questions, ease of testing was a consideration when choosing which primitive reflexes to test.
As parents were not present during the testing, tests requiring the tester to touch the child
were excluded. All tests were able to be demonstrated by the tester, and the child was then
asked to imitate the action. The Spinal Galant test required the tester to run the pencil down
the child’s back, but only the pencil touched the child. Tests also needed to be able to be
performed in the classroom. These factors were taken into account to ensure child safety.
Reliability statistics were not able to be found, but in a review article, Zafeiriou (2004) says
that primitive reflex tests “comprise one of the earliest, simplest and most frequently used
tools among child neurologists to assess the central nervous system integrity of infants and
young children” (2004, p. 11). The tests are used in medical settings when screening for
cerebral palsy. As similar studies testing primitive reflex retention used the same tests chosen
for this research, they were deemed to be the most appropriate tests available. The individual
tests used in this research are described below.

Tonic Labyrinthine Neck Reflex (TLR) Test. The TLR test has been used in two studies
(Goddard-Blythe, 2005; Grzywniak, 2017) although there are no reliability or validity scores.
However, as with other studies, the test used by Goddard-Blythe (1996), her experience and
expert standing in the field give it the credibility necessary in the absence of reliability or validity
scores relating to the test (Appendix S).
 Test (Goddard, 1996): The child stands with their feet together and hands by their sides.
The tester demonstrates the head slowly bending forward and then slowly bending back.
The child is asked to complete this. The child is then asked to close their eyes and repeat
the same movement. The tester is noticing any wobbling, disorientation, movement in the
toes, tension in shoulders or neck and any involvement of the legs to aid stability.
Scoring: 0 = No movement other than the head, 1 = Slight balance adjustment when the
head moves, 2 = Balance disturbed and/or muscles at the back of knee involved, 3 =
Alteration of leg muscles and/or near loss of balance, 4 = Loss of balance.

Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR). The Schilder test for ATNR has been used in several
studies completed by researchers considered to be experts in this field (Brown, 2010; Gieysztor

82
et al., 2018; Goddard-Blythe, 2012; Jordan-Black, 2005; Konicarova & Bob, 2012; McPhillips &
Jordan-Black, 2007a; McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004; Taylor et al., 2004). No reliability statistics
were found for this test, but it has been used since 1985 with school-aged children and is the
commonly recognised procedure for testing the presence of the ATNR (Livingstone &
McPhillips, 2014). McPhillips believes that this ATNR test is a good indicator that other reflexes
may be present (McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b) and gives this as the reason for using only
one test in his research (Appendix S).
 Test (Goddard, 1996): The child stands with feet together and hands by their sides. The
tester demonstrates, arms straight out in front at 90 degrees to the body, eyes closed and
then turn the head slowly to one side and then turn the head slowly to the other side while
keeping arms still. The tester is looking for movement in the arms when the head is
turning, and the child’s ability to keep their balance. Scoring is as follows: 0 = no
movement in arms when the head is turned, 1= slight movement of arms, 2 = arms move
45 degrees in direction of where the face is pointed, 3 = arms move 60 degrees towards
where the face is pointed, and 4 = loss of balance and/or arms rotated 90 degrees.

Spinal Galant Test. The Spinal Galant test has been used by Konicarova and Bob (2012) in
their study relating to ADHD and the retention of reflexes, but again the test used is from
Goddard’s testing regime (1996). This study used Goddard’s test in the absence of research
relating to the reliability and validity of the test (Appendix S).
 Test (Goddard, 1996): The child kneels with hands and knees touching the ground. The
tester shows the child the rounded end of a pen and tells them that they will feel the pen
being run down their back. The pen is then run down the back, either side of the spine.
The tester is looking for hip and shoulder movement. Scoring: 0 = no movement, 1 = hip
movement or undulation of 15 degrees, 2 = hip movement or undulation of 30 degrees, 3
= hip movement or undulation of 45 degrees, and 4 = hip movement or undulation of
more than 45 degrees with some loss of balance.

Draw-A-Person Test (DAP). The Goodenough Draw-A-Person test was used in this
research. Goodenough (1931) developed this test in the 1920’s and she provided examples of
children’s drawings noting that their construction aligned with the child’s cognitive

83
development. This method of data gathering is used by psychologists and has been used in other
educational based studies with children (Lange-Küttner, Küttner, & Chromekova, 2014;
Merriman & Guerin, 2006; Williams, 2015) while Sisto (2000) also found a positive correlation
(0.86) between the drawing of human figures and cognitive development. The original test was
designed to be used with children under the age of 12 years (Prewett, Bardos, & Naglieri, 1988).
Criticism has been raised by researchers when this test is used to indicate levels of IQ
(Kamphaus & Pleiss, 1991; Lange-Küttner et al., 2014; Merriman & Guerin, 2006). However, in
this study Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was not measured, just cognitive changes. Merriman and
Guerin (2006) describe the DAP as a useful tool in this situation. The test-retest reliability has
been measured at 0.74 (Kamphaus & Pleiss, 1991; Prewett et al., 1988) when the quantitative
scoring system is used (Appendix R).

 Test: Children were provided with an A4 sheet of white paper. The paper had their name,
their ID number and their School at the top of the paper and their ID at the bottom. The
IDs and names were matched manually as the children’s names were removed at the
completion of the task. This ensured that names and IDs were matched correctly.
Children were given the paper with their name on it and they were asked to check the
name. The instruction was given “I want you to draw a picture of a person. Make the very
best picture you can. Take your time and work carefully” (Goodenough, 1931). There
was no time limit placed on the children and they took between 3 minutes and 20 minutes
to complete their drawings. They were not asked to add body parts that were missing
when they had finished their drawing. They were given pens and lead pencils and were
asked not to colour their pictures. This was a time factor as once they started colouring
there were more decisions to make about colour and this was not included in the scoring.

The scoring system devised by Goodenough was used (Porteous, 1996). Each drawing was given
a mark for items included. For example: if the arms and legs are attached to the trunk, one point
was given. Another point was given if a neck was present. These points were then translated into
Goodenough’s neurological age using the table associated with the test. For example, a score of
16 equated to a neurological age of 7 years on the scoring table. For further details see Appendix
R. Table 3.6 groups the questions into the types of scoring used for each question, adding
additional information as to how the judgement was made for the ‘Judgement’ questions.

84
Table 3.6. Draw-A-Person Test Scoring Based on Question Type

Area Question Q Type

Number
Description Interpretation
A 2 Arms and legs attached to the trunk at The correct point was established as
correct points. being close to the shoulders at the top
section of the trunk.

A 4 Outline of neck continuous with that of

the head, trunk, or both.
C 2 Two articles of clothing non-transparent
(ex. Hat, trousers).
C 3 Entire drawing free from transparencies
– sleeves and trousers must be shown.
C 4 Four articles of clothing indicated.
*should include 4 – hat, shoes, coat,
shirt, necktie, belt, trousers.
FH 2 Ears present in correct position and Top of ears needed to be in line
proportion. with the eyes to score 1.
FH 6 Chin and forehead shown. Examples of chin were the change
in shape. The forehead was shown
through the placement of hair.

Judgement
GD 6 Shoulders are indicated (abrupt
broadening of the trunk below the neck).
HAN 4 The opposition of thumb clearly defined.
HAN 5 Hand shown distinct from fingers and The fingers had to stop, and the
arm. arms start in a different place,
leaving room for the hand.
HED 4 Nose and mouth in two dimensions, two
lips shown.
HED 7 Hair on more than the circumference of
the head and non-transparent – better
than a scribble.
J 1 Arm joint is shown – elbow, shoulder, or The elbow needed to be bent, or
both. the arms were hanging close to
the side of the body. Arms
coming straight out from the body
scored 0.
J 2 Leg joint is shown – knee, hip, or both.
MC 1 Lines firm without a marked tendency to If most of the lines fitted this
cross, gap, or overlap. description the drawing scored 1.
MC 2 All lines firm with correct joining. There could be no overlapping to
score 1 for this question.
MC 3 Outline of the head without obvious There needed to be deliberate
irregularities. Develop beyond the first intent shown with the shape of the
crude circle. Conscious control apparent. head to score 1.
MC 4 Trunk outline. Score same as #3.
MC 5 Arms and legs without irregularities. 2
dimensions and no tendency to narrow at
the point of junction with the trunk.

85
 MC 6 Features symmetrical (more likely to Any irregularities in the features
credit in profile drawings). scored a 0.
FH 5 Eye detail – proportion. Length greater
than width.

Measurement
GD 5 Length of trunk greater than breadth.
HAN 3 Fingers in two dimensions - length
greater than breadth, angle subtended not For these questions, a small
greater than 180 degrees. flexible ruler was used to
P 1 Head not more than ½ or less than 1/10 measure the drawings to
of the trunk.
ensure proportions were
P 2 Arms equal to trunk but not reaching
accurate.
knee.
P 3 Legs not less than trunk not more than
twice trunk size.
P 4 Feet in 2 dimensions – not more than 1/3
or less than 1/10 of the leg.
A 1 Both arms and legs attached to the trunk.
A 3 Neck present.
C 1 Clothing present (any clear
representation of clothing).
FH 1 Ears present (2 in full face, 1 in profile).
FH 3 Eye details – brow or lashes is shown.
FH 4 Eye detail – pupil is shown.
For these questions, a yes/no
GD 1 Head present. Yes/No approach was taken. The
GD 2 Legs present. quality of the offering was not
GD 3 Arms present. judged. As examples, a
GD 4 Trunk present. representation of ears was
given a 1, fingers were
HAN 1 Fingers present (any indication).
counted, and any mark
HAN 2 Correct number of fingers shown. indicating hair was given a 1.
HED 1 Eyes present (one or two).
HED 2 Nose present.
HED 3 Mouth present.
HED 5 Nostril shown.
HED 6 Hair shown.
P 5 Both arms and legs in two dimensions.

Qualitative data from the drawings included noticing the size of the drawing in relation to the
size of the paper, unusual techniques used, specific body parts that are missing, or maybe
comments the child made to the teacher while completing the drawing e.g.: “I can’t draw hands,
will you draw them for me?” and the general appearance of the drawing was noted. This
technique has been used in a therapeutic way with children’s drawings by Oaklander (1978) and
the purpose was to add information about the drawing to the quantitative score given.

86
 Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The SDQ was completed by
teachers and some parents about the participating children. This child development screening
questionnaire is recommended by the New Zealand Ministry of Health as a reliable, valid and
sensitive method of gathering information about social and emotional development (Ministry of
Health, 2014, 2015b). They recommend it as a preliminary information gathering exercise, to aid
in the judgement of the need for further, more detailed assessment. Psychologists sometimes use
the SDQ to establish if or what further investigation is appropriate in relation to the difficulties a
child or family are experiencing. In this research, the questionnaire was not used in a diagnostic
manner, rather as a way to gather additional information about children’s development.
Psychosocial attributes are the focus of the questionnaire, with both positive and negative
behaviours, emotional maturity, peer relationships, conduct and levels of hyperactivity contained
in the mix of questions (Goodman & Goodman, 2009). The test-retest reliability score for the test
is 0.73 and although there are critics of the lowered reliability particularly when parents answer
questions about younger children (below 0.70) (Stone, Otten, Engels, Vermulst, & Janssens,
2010), the reliability score increased (above 0.70) when teachers answered questions about
children. The questionnaire information allows additional qualitative data to be gathered and
using this approach with the SDQ is recommended by Stone et al. (2010). Ease of use for parents
and teachers was an important consideration in this research, as the questionnaire needed to be
completed twice, pre- and post-intervention. All teachers completed the SDQ using a class-
specific excel spreadsheet constructed by the researcher. Parents were offered an emailed paper
version of the questionnaire, or a link to the same online version of the questionnaire through the
Qualtrics website. One parent used paper and all others used the online version.

Once completed the test results were placed in a database and assessed using a linear mixed
effect model of analysis as described below. Appendix N shows the five areas of emotional
symptoms assessed: emotional problem scale, conduct problem scale, hyperactivity scale, peer
problems scale and prosocial scale. Teachers did not provide comments about the children, but
some parents did.

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Having described the research design, including data gathering descriptions and justifications,
the next section focuses on the research participants and the processes used to gather the data.
The details in the next section give other researchers the opportunity to replicate this research.

3.4 Methods and Tools of the Research

Run RMT
intervention in
schools Interview parents
Select participants
•Group 1 - Intervention and teachers
•Group 2 - control

Figure 3.6. Research process overview.

This section explains the methods used to gain further understanding about the influences that
RMT has on student achievement and behavioural outcomes when used in a classroom. During
this research, the researcher facilitated the use of the RMT programme as an intervention, with
six classes in three schools. Figure 3.6 shows the basic flow of the research: from selecting the
participants, to running the intervention and then interviewing parents and teachers. Further
details of the tools used to carry out the research: from ethics approval, participant selection, data
analysis to ethical considerations, are detailed in Figure 3.7. Selection processes were followed
before data collection commenced. Data gathering began in February of 2017 and ceased in
December 2017 – one school year in New Zealand.

88
 Proposal and
ERHEC •Following approval.
application

•Schools from deciles

2,5,9 identified.
Select schools
•Information letter
sent to principals.

•Information
School letter and
consent form consent form
received sent to teachers.

•Information letter and

Teacher consent form sent to
consent form parents.
received •Information session
offered to parents.

Parent •Explanation
consent forms given to
received students.

Figure 3.7. Processes used pre-data collection.

3.4.1 Participant Selection

Figure 3.7 details the processes followed for participant selection. These steps were followed in
the order listed, with each step being completed before the next step began. Once ethics approval
was gained, possible schools were identified from the Ministry of Education’s list of schools. At
the commencement of this research, New Zealand had a system of rating schools based on the
value of the houses in the area zoned for the school. This meant that schools in areas with high
property values were given a high decile rating, nine or ten, whereas schools in areas where the
property values were low were given a low decile rating, one, two or three. School funding was
then matched to the decile rating, and schools with a higher decile rating received less funding,
and schools with a lower decile rating received higher levels of funding to manage the greater
needs of their community. This rating system has been recently discontinued, but the schools in
this research were chosen on their decile rating that was still in place at the time of selection.

89
 •Possible schools from Deciles 2, 5 and 9 in Christchurch identified.
•Information letter sent to these schools.
•Three schools selected, one from each decile group.
3 Schools •Principal and Board Of Trustees consent forms sent and collected when completed.

•Information letter sent to interested Year 3 teachers. One from each classroom - 2
schools had Modern Learning Environments and all the teachers in each class wanted
to be included.
6 Teachers •Consent forms sent and collected.

•Information letters and consent forms sent to parents of the children in the
1 per selected Year 3 classes.
•Consent forms collected from School Office or classroom when completed.
child Parents

•Researcher presented the research to the children in the classroom. The

teachers were present.
• Consented children completed consent form in class after presentation.
98 Children • 102 children were consented , 3 left their respective school and one reduced
his hours significantly, 98 took part in the research for the full year.

• All consented children completed testing.

• Consented children within each class divided into two evenly matched
groups. Groups matched for gender, DAP and reflex profile.
•Group 1 (Intervention n = 52) began intervention in March and continued until
November.
2 Groups •Group 2 (control n = 46) began intervention in July and continued until
November.

Figure 3.8. Participant selection.

Low socio-economic status (SES) has been the focus of previous studies (Brown, 2010;
McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007a; Taylor et al., 2004) relating to retained primitive reflexes.
Using the hermeneutic circles and an interpretive approach, having a range of background of
children was seen to increase the possibilities for rich data and provide additional interpretative
opportunities. Having participants from across a range of SES backgrounds is another point of

90
difference in this research to that of others (Brown, 2010; McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007a;
Taylor et al., 2004).

Approaching schools was undertaken using information gathered from the publically available
New Zealand Ministry of Education school list (Education Counts, 2017). All of the schools
were in Canterbury urban areas and were all NZ government-run schools with mixed ability
classes. The urban schools were chosen because the research was not comparing the skills of
rural and urban children, and the researcher did not want an additional variable to consider.
Canterbury has a population of 539,434 (Stats NZ, 2013) and was the second largest of New
Zealand’s 16 regions with 12.7% of New Zealand’s population living in Canterbury. Ninety
percent of Cantabrians lived in urban areas or towns with populations over 4,000. This area
provided a potentially useful group to draw a sample from and was considered large enough to
maintain anonymity and confidentiality. The use of mainstream mixed-ability classes provided a
range of participants. For example, children with two working parents, single parents, non-New
Zealand European families and families with more than one child were included. This ensured
that the ‘parent voice’ included a range of families, both economic and cultural (Klingner &
Boardman, 2011). All three schools had children with identified ‘special needs’ and these
children were mainstreamed in the selected classrooms, often with additional support staff to
meet their identified needs. Three schools with a decile rating of 9 or 10 were approached and
information letters were sent (Appendices A and B). Two schools declined to be part of the
research, one due to inexperienced teachers in a new team, and the other because of a building
project that was already adding additional stress to staff. The third school, decile 9, was
approached through a known contact and consent from the principal and teacher were gained
(Appendices E and F). A decile 5 school was approached through a known contact who had
expressed an interest in the research. Information was sent and consent was granted. A decile 1
school was approached and declined because of a major building project and relocation of the
school. A decile 2 school was approached, information sent and consent granted. The principal
chose an experienced teacher in a Year 3 class. This teacher was willing to be part of the
research but return of parent consents was slow, and the principal suggested another group who
were also interested. The New Zealand Ministry of Education (n.d.) has adopted Innovative
Learning Environments (ILE) within schools and this means there are clusters of teachers

91
working collaboratively with larger groups of children in shared spaces. In the planning of the
research it was intended to have three teachers in three schools, however, when teachers in a 69-
child class (3 teachers), and a 40-child class (2 teachers) indicated interest in the research it was
decided to allow them to be included.

A teacher from an additional school where RMT had been used for over 18 months was also
interviewed. The teacher had been working collaboratively with the researcher and together they
had developed the RMT programme with known children. The knowledge gained through this
process informed the programme used in the three schools described below. Consent was gained
from the school and the teacher to conduct an interview about the process of introducing RMT
and the general perceptions of the progress made by the children. The children in this class were
five years of age and did not match the age-range chosen for this research.

The schools were given pseudonyms for ease of identification and there were no schools in New
Zealand with these names. The decile 9 school was called Nikau School, the decile 5 school was
called Kauri School and the decile 2 school was called Pōhutukawa School. These names are
drawn from the native trees in New Zealand, and a tree is often used as a symbol in education
and learning.

The schools chosen to be part of the research had similarities and differences described below.
At Kauri School (decile five) there were three teachers and a 69-child class. Pōhutukawa School
(decile two) had two teachers in their 40-child class and the decile 9 school, Nikau School was a
single teacher classroom with 26 students. This meant that of the 102 consented children 74.51%
of them were in ILEs, although this research does not compare learning environments. In all
three schools the teachers, selected by the principals, were experienced teachers with more than
five years of teaching experience. Initially, all six teachers were female, but at the end of Term 1,
one teacher was replaced with a male teacher. As is common in most classrooms, all three
schools had adjusted their classroom programmes for the year based on experience from
previous years, and to meet current student needs. The Nikau School teacher was using a new
phonics programme and trialled the use of animals to encourage language and speech in some
children. Kauri School teachers were using the Sunshine Circles programme (Theraplay Institute,

92
2017) to increase socialisation skills and Pōhutukawa School teachers had established ‘inquiry-
based learning’, with an emphasis on project-based work.

For this research, the participant children were aged between six and nine years. This was an age
in New Zealand when formal testing is used to assess stages of academic achievement. At the
beginning of the research, the children were all in a Year 2 - Year 4 class although most of the
children were Year 3. At the beginning of the research Year 3 teachers were targeted, but the
classrooms at Pōhutukawa and Kauri had composite classes with most children in Year 3, and a
few in Year 2 or Year 4. As the research questions asked about changes for students, it was
decided this age range would still be able to supply useful data. Most children had been at school
for at least two years, therefore removing newness as a possible limiting factor in the results.
Several purposes were identified for limiting the age of the children from six to nine-year-olds. It
was anticipated that children in this age range:
 can manage the movements
 can follow the instructions
 are familiar with schooling
 have reliable testing available
 receive school reports that parents could use to support comments made about their
child’s development

Also, of consideration is that previous research focusing on reflex integration programmes have
used children within this age range (Brown, 2010; Goddard-Blythe, 2012; McPhillips & Sheehy,
2004).

The consent process in the research involved several steps. Once consent from principals and the
Year 2-4 teachers involved in the research was gained, information letters and consent forms
were sent via email to parents in the associated classrooms (Appendices C and G) via the school
communication systems, and photocopies sent home with children. Consent form returns were
slow. One parent commented that there was so much information at the beginning of the year
that needed reading and sorting. Parents also did not seem clear about what they were consenting
to and this may have been a result of the University’s content requirements for information
letters. It was not obvious to parents that the teacher had decided to use the movements as part of

93
the class routine, and that consent only related to the children’s data being gathered. A simplified
information letter was drafted, ERHEC approval gained and then sent out, attached to the initial
letters (Appendix Ca). The response rate improved. Other techniques that improved response
rates were named reminders from teachers and a personal approach from the researcher. One
parent declined because of custody issues, and another parent said that she had not consented
because she thought her daughter, with special needs, would hinder the results. When it was
explained that the focus of the research was the rate of change in development, she agreed to
give consent. During this phase of participant selection, all schools and classes were offered
information sessions where the researcher was available to talk with parents or teachers and
answer questions about the research. All teachers spent time with the researcher asking
questions. One to two parents from each school came to these information sessions.

Child participation consent rates from parents posed some issues that needed consideration.
Response rates in the decile 9 school were n = 22 (84.62%) students from a possible n = 26, from
the decile 5 school n = 50 (72.46%) from a possible n = 69 and from the decile 2 school, it was n
= 8 (32%) students from a possible n = 25. As the percentage of return in the decile 2 school was
considered too low to be a useful sample, the school offered to change classrooms and teachers.
Information and consent forms were sent to the new parents. In the second classroom, a Year 2 –
4 composite class, from a possible n = 40 students, n = 26 (65.00%) were consented. The total
number of participants was n = 102. However, three children moved from their school, and one
child reduced his hours significantly during the year making their datasets incomplete leaving a
total of 98.

Figure 3.9 shows the percentage of children in each decile group. The participants in the research
are compared to the general population of New Zealand primary school children (Education
Counts, 2017). The graph shows that while the spread of the participants is: low decile at 25%,
middle decile 50% and high decile 25%, the general NZ population is spread is: low decile
25.24%, middle decile 35.53% and high decile 39.23 %.

94
 60

50

Percentage of children in each decile

40

30

20

10

0
Decile 1 -3 Decile 4 - 7 Decile 8 - 10
Children

Participants NZ Primary Children

Figure 3.9. SES distribution of participants compared to general NZ population of primary

school-aged children.
Note. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/directories/list-of-nz-schools
Copyright 2017 by Ministry of Education, NZ. Reprinted with permission.

Table 3.7 (Education Counts, 2017) shows the number of participants in each decile group, and
the number of children in New Zealand primary schools in the same decile.

Table 3.7. Comparison of Research Participant SES with General NZ Primary School Population in 2017

Group Decile 1 to 3 Decile 4 to 7 Decile 8 to 10 Total

NZ Primary Children 129,646 182,515 201,496 513,657
RMT Research
26 50 22 98
participants
Total 129,672 182,565 201,518 513,755

Note. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/directories/list-of-nz-schools Copyright

2017 by Ministry of Education, NZ. Reprinted with permission.

Table 3.8 (Education Counts, 2017) shows what the SES grouping would be if it matched the
population for SES, low decile n = 24.7, middle decile n = 34.8 and high decile n = 38.3.
Statistical analysis of these figures was performed using a chi-squared test (𝜒 2 ). This test

95
assesses sampling distribution when a null hypothesis is true. The test showed that 𝜒 2 =
13.7272 and 𝑝 =0.0010. This indicates that the data does not completely represent the New
Zealand population in relation to SES, with higher numbers in decile 4 -7 and lower numbers in
decile 8 – 10 although the numbers in decile 1 -3 were comparative.

Table 3.8. Expected Number of Participants if Participant SES was Matched to the NZ Primary
School Population in 2017

Expected to match
Decile 1 to 3 Decile 4 to 7 Decile 8 to 10 Total
population
NZ Primary Children 129,657 182,530 201,480 513,667
RMT Research
(the totals that would
24.73996 34.83136 38.44738 98
match the primary
school population)
Total 129,672 182,565 201,518 513,755

Note. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/directories/list-of-nz-

schools. Copyright 2017 by Ministry of Education, NZ. Reprinted with permission.

As low SES has been indicated as a factor in primitive reflex retention (Callcott, 2012;
McPhillips & Sheehy, 2004) the participant group does not have an over-representation of low
SES children. The implication from Callcott, McPhillips and Sheehy’s research is that middle to
high income groups have lower rates of retained reflexes. When the two groups are combined (n
= 72) it compares to the n = 73.27 that is the expected match to the New Zealand primary school
population in 2017. This then implies that the sample in this research could be viewed as a
representative sample of the general population.

Following the return of parent consent forms, the children were asked for their consent. The
researcher made a visit to each class, explained to the children about the research (Appendix D)
and then asked them if they were willing to give their consent (Appendix H). The Educational
Research Human Ethics Committee (ERHEC) did not consider this an essential requirement, but
as is explained below, this researcher believes along with others (Dockett, Einarsdóttir, & Perry,

96
2012; Harcourt & Conroy, 2005; Mortari & Harcourt, 2012; Neill, 2005) that children have a
right to be consulted and given an age-appropriate explanation about research they are involved
in. It was explained to them that their parents had said it was OK for them to participate. All
children willingly signed consent forms although having to have a signature was stressful for
some. The signing of the forms provided a useful learning opportunity.

Participant requirements. This section describes the requirements of participants and

range of data gathered before the intervention started, the mid-point and post-intervention. Figure
3.10 lists the commitments from teachers, parents and students. The teacher commitment was
based on testing normally completed within their classrooms, the Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire was the only additional test they were required to complete. They were also
required to implement five minutes of RMT in their classroom each day. Reflex tests and DAP
tests were organised and completed by the researcher. Parent commitment focused on the SDQ
questionnaire and an invitation to a 10 – 15-minute interview. The children completed normal
school-based testing, as well as the reflex tests and DAP tests and they completed five minutes of
RMT each day.

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 • No further requirements
Schools
•Completed normal NZ National Standards testing for mathematics, writing
and reading three times during the year.
•Completed Strengths and Weaknesses Questionnaire for each child - twice
during the year pre-intervention and post- intervention. Approximately five
minutes per child (it is recommended that this test is not repeated too many
times within the timeframe of a study).
•Children completed the Draw-A-Person exercise three times during the year
- pre-interventiion, mid-way and post-intervention. Approximately 10 - 15
minutes for the children to complete their drawing.
Teachers •Participated in one 15 - 30-minute semi-formal interview with the
researcher during the last month of the intervention phase of the research.
•Children in the intervention group completed the RMT movements for five
minutes each school day.

• Invited to complete SDQ twice during the year - pre-intervention and post-
intervention . Approximately 10 minutes to complete.
•Invited to participate in a 10 minute semi-formal interview. 26 parents took
Parents up the offer, 23 interviews, and 3 sent email answers to the questions.

•Completed NZ National Standards testing three times during the year: pre-
intervention, mid-way and post-intervention.
•Completed the Draw-a-person test three times during the year: pre-
intervention, mid-way and post-intervention.
•Completed five minutes of RMT 3 - 5 times a week. Start date dependent on
which group the child was in.
Children •Group One intervention began in March - April.
•Group Two intervention began in July.
•Intervention stopped between November - December.

Figure 3.10. Participant requirements during the research.

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 School Visits. All three schools were visited on a regular basis throughout the data-
gathering phase. Security clearance was gained through the University of Canterbury (UC) and
included police vetting. A UC identity card attached to a security clearance lanyard was worn by
the researcher during all school visits. The researcher followed the sign-in/sign-out procedures of
each school for every visit. A Health and Safety plan was developed prior to the visits (Appendix
W) and the researcher was mindful of safety throughout the research. During the collection
phase, no Health or Safety issues arose.

Teacher commitment throughout the research was a constant consideration. To compensate for
the time teachers needed to spend gathering data for the research, all schools were offered four
hours of music teaching per classroom throughout the year. The researcher took these sessions.
Nikau and Kauri took up four hours for each classroom and Pōhutukawa used one hour. Music,
drama and dance sessions were provided for the children and two teachers used part of the time
to complete the SDQ. Otherwise, they were free to use the time to test children or complete
administration. At Pōhutukawa the researcher helped with group projects while the teacher
completed the SDQ. At the completion of the research, all teachers were given two movie
vouchers each as a token of appreciation for time spent taking part in the research.

Formation of groups. The participants in the research were divided into two groups –
control and intervention. Group formation in quantitative research is seen as pivotal in issues of
reliability and credibility. The common method in quasi-experimental research is to use two
classrooms, matching for age, academic range, socio-economic status and experience of teachers.
The criticism associated with this method of group selection is that the results can be linked to
the effectiveness of the teacher. To address this issue, each classroom was divided into two
evenly matched groups, based on gender, reflex test scores and neurological age (DAP test). The
two groups within each classroom were then randomly assigned as group 1 – intervention or
group 2 – control. The exception to this was Kauri School. With three classes within their ILE,
the teachers decided from a management perspective it would be easier to have one whole class
in group 1, another whole class in group 2 and the third class randomly divided based on gender,
reflex tests and neurological age. When the whole group of participants at Kauri were analysed,

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the two groups were still evenly matched. All the children were taught by all teachers within the
ILE.

3.4.2 Intervention: Rhythmic Movement Training:

The intervention for this research was the Rhythmic Movement Training programme
implemented in the participant classrooms with participating students. The programme targets
retained primitive reflexes in the child that have not integrated normally as described in Sections
1.2.1 and 1.2.2. The movements were easy for children and teachers to learn, they did not require
the use of any equipment and once learned, the children could choose which movement they
preferred to complete. They could change their movement daily or repeat the same movement
each day. This element of choice for children is an important aspect of the programme. It fits
well with student-centred models of teaching (Martell, 2015) and the movements are not
compromised by the student having control of what they perform. The teachers also had some
control over which movements were completed. They were able to have days when there was a
free choice and other days when the teacher chose the movements. This enabled the teachers to
ensure that children did not completely avoid a particular movement, but the children could
focus on movements they liked. Teachers were encouraged to use the movements daily for
approximately 5 minutes in total. This aligns with distributed practise theory (Donovan &
Radosevich, 1999) for skill development: small amounts of practice, often. However, it is noted
that only four of a possible 17 movements were used. This was to minimise teacher loading of
new information for the research process. Another point to note is that progressions can be made
when children are using individualised programmes; they learn a movement and then visual
skills may be added. In this research, no progressions were made, to ensure that replicability was
possible. The four movements were chosen, and these were completed by the children for the
duration of the research.

Teachers were given training by the researcher, so they could ensure that children completed the
movements accurately. However, to minimise their pre-conceived ideas or bias as to the possible
outcomes, minimal information was given about reflexes and the range of challenges associated
with retained reflexes. They understood that the RMT movements were designed to help

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development, but none of them read extensively on the subject or completed more detailed
training. This added to the rigour of the process as described further in section 3.2.3.

The four movements chosen are described below. Sliding on the back, bottom/hip rolling,
windscreen wipers and STNR knee rock movements were taught in the first four weeks, one
movement each week. All these movements have a passive and an active version which allows
for teacher assistance if needed. When the students had learned the four movements, they were
able to choose the movement or movements they would prefer to complete each day. Children
could decide to complete the movements at home during the weekend as the difference between
five and seven sessions per week was not expected to change the outcomes notably.

These movements were chosen as they related to the reflexes tested. However, they also related
to other reflexes, giving them a generic nature (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). After four months,
group 1 (intervention group) was taught one additional movement: chest thumping. Group 2
(control group) learned the four original movements as well as the last one. The researcher taught
the movements over several weeks, although the control group learned them very quickly as they
could observe the intervention group during the teaching sessions.

The movements were taught to the six teachers by the researcher. Permission from Moira
Dempsey (Rhythmic Movement Training International organisation) was gained (Appendix Za)
to teach the teachers the specified movements. The researcher is a registered practitioner with
experience in the use of the movements and classrooms were monitored through weekly visits
for the first four weeks, checking that the movements were being performed correctly and to
answer any arising questions. Williams (2015) found that completing movements daily improved
academic outcomes. This research adds to the information she found. The movements are
described below. All movements had a passive option, where an adult could make the
movement. This was viewed as useful for children with special needs and meant that they could
participate in the activity. It was also useful to have a passive option so that a struggling child,
could be helped. For all the movements it is preferable that the child sets the speed of the rhythm.

Windscreen Wipers: Children lie flat on the ground with their backs on the ground, legs
stretched out. The feet are together. They are asked to move their feet in a windscreen wiper

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fashion, both in and then both out. They are encouraged to involve the whole leg, and to check
they are doing that, they put their hands on their hip bones and they should feel movement.
Children are checked to make sure they are moving their legs evenly and rhythmically.

Hip/Bottom Rolling: Children lie on their fronts, stretched out. They are asked to move their
hips from side to side. The feet and shoulders need to remain still. To achieve this the movement
will be very small. Children are checked for evenness of movement and stillness of feet and
shoulders. The movement should be rhythmically even.

STNR Rock: Children kneel and sit back, (Figure 3.11), hands are placed on
the ground in front. Children make a rocking action, similar to the
backwards and forwards rocking action a pre-crawling child makes.
Children are checked for feet flat on the ground, hands flat on the ground
and even rocking. The rocking needs to be rhythmically even.
Figure 3.11. STNR
Rock starting
Sliding on the back: Children lie on their backs, knees bent. Using their
position.
legs and feet, they make small sliding movements. The movement is small
and essentially they are moving backwards and forwards inside their skin. The head needs to
nod, and the fingers will move up and down a little when the movement is fluid and the rocking
is rhythmically even. This is the most challenging of the movements and is best taught after the
first three are established.

Chest Thumping: The child uses the flat part of the knuckles to tap the chest, on the sternum at
the level of the second and third ribs. Similar to a gorilla thumping its chest.

Pictorial representations and further descriptions of the movements are in Appendices P and Q.

3.4.3 Qualitative Data Gathering

Qualitative data-gathering took place throughout the research. Field notes were made, and a
research diary was kept, but this section details the considerations around interviewing and

102
analysing the data gathered. As has been discussed in Section 3.2, the spoken word is paramount
in hermeneutic phenomenology and the careful management of data is described in this section.
The interviewing process, along with the keeping of field notes and a research diary are
described first, followed by measures to keep the data reliable and safe (Figure 3.12). Finally,
there is a description of the data analysis process undertaken in this research.

• NZ National Standards
Testing •DAP and reflex testing
•SDQ - Teacher and Parents

Intervention •Group One - RMT

•Group Two- control
Field notes and Research Diary

And control

•NZ National Standards

Testing •DAP and reflex testing

Intervention •Group One and Two - RMT

for all • 26 Parent - semi-formal interviews
• 7 Teacher - semi-formal interviews
participants

• National Standards
Testing • DAP and reflex test
• SDQ teacher and
parent

Figure 3.12. Data gathering overview.

Semi-formal interviews. In this research, qualitative data was gathered through semi-
formal interviews with teachers and parents. As described in Section 3.1, hermeneutic
phenomenology places importance on the lived experience of the participants in relation to a
phenomenon, in this case, RMT (Friesen, Henriksson, & Saevi, 2012). Henriksson (2012)
describes hermeneutic phenomenology as the “missing link between theory and practise” (p.
134). RMT appears to be an easy set of movements to include in a daily routine, but is that the
‘lived experience’ of the teachers who have been part of the research programme? The interview
process and the field notes attempt to capture that information. Approximately 15 minutes was
advertised and allocated for the interviews with parents although some lasted longer than this.

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There was no time limit for teachers, although 15 to 30 minutes was suggested in the information
provided.

The structure of the written/spoken data analysis is central to hermeneutic phenomenology.

Gadamer (1975b) places importance on the conversation that takes place between people, with
the translation and interpretation of the language used in the conversation determining the level
of understanding gained. It is suggested by Finlay (2012) that the interview data is analysed in a
spiral, first the researcher focuses on the story, with an importance placed on the language used
as the participant recounts their perceptions of the phenomenon: RMT and the child’s
development. Then the common themes are established through an analysis process which
investigates the essence of what the participant has offered. Finally, the researcher needs to go
beyond the obvious and essentially read between the lines. This stage offers the meaning of the
‘lived experience’ that has been reflected on. Finlay (2012) emphasises the importance of
moving between the experience and the themes to create an ‘uncertainty’ and thus offer an
interpretation of the ‘lived experience”.

Figure 3.12 gives a summary of the process for the data gathering used in this research. In the
initial research planning, focus-group interviews were prepared for parents (Appendix I). In line
with concerns raised by ERHEC, and as the research progressed, discussions with colleagues
highlighted that fact that semi-formal individual interviews with parents would be more
appropriate. The ability to maintain confidentiality was higher, and emotional safety of the
parents was more able to be maintained. The questions were not changed, just the method of
collecting the data. All parents with children consented in the research were invited to attend an
interview. Along with the invitation to participate, the interview questions were sent. A booking
system for interviews was used through the online appointment system Acuity (Acuity
Scheduling, 2017). It was anticipated that 24 parents would be randomly selected to be
interviewed. Twenty-six parents replied and either booked an interview time or sent an email
response to the questions. This meant that the interviewees were self-selected. Twenty-two face-
to-face interviews were completed, two telephone interviews and two email responses were
received. The interviews were recorded for transcription purposes only, and participants were
made aware of this. The questions asked in the parent interview by the researcher were about

104
aspects of the child’s development while they were participating in the RMT programme and an
additional question about the child’s birth, with reference made to the delivery in relation to the
Canterbury earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011 (Appendix I). All parents
willingly answered all questions. Eighteen mothers and six fathers were interviewed lasting
between 5.05 and 15.49 minutes.

Following each interview, field notes, as described in Section 3.2, were written with perceptions
and observations recorded by the researcher. The recorded interviews were transcribed, word-
for-word by the researcher. Transcriptions were emailed to parents to ensure that an accurate
record had been produced. An explanation of the normal way transcribed speech appears with all
the disfluencies such as umms, and repetitions of words, was given and parents were assured that
all identifying words and comments, e.g. street names, professions, and medical history would be
removed if quoted. They were also asked to reply to the researcher if there was any aspect of the
interview they would prefer was not quoted. Two parents sent replies that affirmed the
transcripts. No other comments were received, and no parents asked that information be withheld
from being quoted. This process of member checking transcribed data is part of the rigour and
trustworthiness described below and as recommended by Creswell (2013).

It was suggested that parents could bring reports from educational and health professionals
involved with the child if they wished to support the comments made. For example, parents may
have wanted to use school reports or occupational therapy reports to support their description of
their child and the issues they have experienced. However, professionals were not approached
independently by the researcher. One parent supplied a report from a child psychologist to
support her comments.

Following the interviews all data, both written and verbal, were transcribed by the researcher.
This was viewed as an important aspect of the data analysis and enabled the researcher to be very
familiar with the material. All interviews were checked twice to ensure the accuracy of
transcribing. All words were transcribed, including disfluencies such as: umms, word repetitions
and gap fillers. To enhance understanding and readability, disfluencies have been removed from
quoted material in this thesis. Care was taken to maintain the normal speech patterns of the
interviewee and the meaning they were conveying.
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 Teacher Interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each teacher in the
10th month of the research. The teacher’s perceptions relating to the use of the programme in the
classroom and the general impressions the teacher has about perceived changes in the children
within the class were discussed (Appendix J). The teacher interviews lasted between five and 18
minutes. Having made multiple visits to the school throughout the year, the interviews became a
summary of what had happened. These interviews were conducted in December, at the end of the
school year. All teacher interviews were recorded and transcribed. Copies of the transcripts were
sent to the teachers and they were invited to comment. Similar information given to parents
about the structure of transcribed spoken speech and the removal of identifiers was given to
teachers. They were also given the opportunity to withhold information from quotes. There were
no comments from teachers and no information was withheld. This process of providing
interviewees with their transcripts was also was part of ensuring trustworthiness of the data. This
data was put alongside journal notes that were made after each visit to the school. After each
visit, the researcher made comments about the movements or changes noticed.

3.4.4 Qualitative Data Analysis

The qualitative data analysis process used in this research used a layered process. As is suggested
by several authors (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Coffey & Atkinson, 1996), a coding system was
used on the analytical memos and the transcribed parent and teacher semi-formal interviews to
gather themes. Codes or Nodes as NVivo 11 (QRS International, 2015) describes them, were
given to categories which enabled the describing and classifying of data. This process facilitated
the interpretation of the data so that meaningful themes could be commented on. The data was
evaluated several times in a spiral manner, with broad themes being identified initially and then
those themes classified to a greater depth into sub-themes (Creswell, 2013). Interpreting the data
involved looking beyond the themes to the greater meaning of the data and its links to the
research literature of others. The data is presented in written report format. This section details
the coding process.

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 Transcription and Coding with NVivo 11. Following the collection of data from parents
and teachers, the analysis was carried out in the following manner: field notes were written, and
all interviews were transcribed by the researcher with transcriptions checked twice to ensure
accuracy. Gadamer (1975b) views this level of detail as an essential part of the hermeneutic
conversation which attempts to gain a greater understanding of the meaning of the language used
by the participants. Parents and teachers were then emailed a copy of the completed transcription
and it was noted that it was possible that some comments would be quoted in the final thesis. The
participants were invited to comment or request to withhold parts of their interview from being
quoted. The data analysis was completed using NVivo 11 software (QRS International, 2015).
Nodes were allocated initially and then added to as the process progressed (Table 3.9), and
comments were coded to each related node. Some comments were coded to more than one node.
This process of coding was reviewed three times, checking that comments were coded to the
correct nodes. Additional nodes were added on the second review. Reading the transcripts
multiple times as part of the analysis is consistent with the hermeneutic phenomenological
process described in Section 3.1 where data is reviewed to deeper levels as meaning from the
‘lived experiences’ is uncovered (Lindseth & Norberg, 2004).

Table 3.9. NVivo 11 Nodes Used for Coding

Nodes
1 Age when quake struck 9 Positive reading comments
2 Birth comments 10 RMT in the classroom
3 Developmental changes 11 Social – Teacher
4 Earthquake general 12 Social changes
5 Earthquake/Birth comments 13 Social relationships
6 Exercises (RMT) comments 14 Sport comments
7 Expected change comments 15 Tricky Year
8 Good year 16 Unexpected change comments

Three themes emerged from the coded material. The themes related to the classroom, student
achievement and student behaviour as shown in Figure 3.13. Within the ‘RMT in the classroom’
theme, comments from participants relating to the Canterbury Earthquakes were placed as this
was part of their ‘lived experience’. The comments about the use of RMT in the classroom and

107
the student engagement were within this theme. The ‘Perceptions of student achievement’ had
comments from both parent and teachers relating to academic and sporting progress, and in the
‘Perceptions of student behaviour’ theme comments relating to behaviour and socialisation were
placed. The findings in relation to these themes are discussed in Chapters 4 - 5.

RMT in the
classroom

Perception of Perceptions
student of student
achievement behaviour

Figure 3.13. Theme structure.

3.4.5 Quantitative Data Gathering

The quantitative data in this research was based on achievement of students and reflex retention.
The results from the testing used in New Zealand schools (Ministry of Education, 2011) for the
purpose of NZ National Standards assessment in reading, writing and mathematics were used
pre- and post-intervention, as well as at the mid-point when the control group began the
movements. This provided three data-gathering points over the 10 months of the research. The
tests have been described in Section 3.3. Table 3.10 gives an overview of the data collection and
the associated time points. It also shows the intervention time points for each group.

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Table 3.10. Data Collection Timeline

Date Testing/data gathering Who Group 1 Group 2

intervention control
NZ National standards- Teacher
reading, writing,
mathematics
Draw-A-Picture Teacher/Researcher
2017 No No
Feb Reflex testing Researcher in intervention intervention
classroom
SDQ – paper or online Parents and teacher

Two evenly matched Researcher

groups formulated

RMT started
2017
Normal
Mar – No testing – Phase 1
1 movement Programme
Jun added each
week
NZ National standards-
reading, writing, Teacher
mathematics RMT
2017 RMT begins
Draw-A-Picture Teacher/Researcher continues for
Jun with Group 2
Group 1
Reflex testing Researcher in
classroom
2017 No testing – Phase 2
Jul-
Dec 4
Semi-formal Interview Parents movements
2017 1 new plus new
Nov movement movement
Semi-formal interview Teacher added added.

NZ National standards-
reading, writing, Teacher
2017 mathematics
Draw-A-Picture Teacher/Researcher RMT
Late RMT stopped
Nov/Dec stopped at
at the end of
Reflex testing Researcher in the end of
November
classroom November
SDQ – paper or online Parents and teacher

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 Reflex tests. Reflex testing was completed three times during the 10 months of the
research: pre-intervention, mid-way and post-intervention. The tests were completed in the
classroom with the teacher present but engaged in other activities. The three tests have been
outlined in Section 3.3. They are simple individually-administered tests, which take
approximately five minutes to complete for each child. All tests were video-recorded to check
for reliability of testing. On completion of the testing, the researcher viewed all video material to
check that the score given matched what was seen on the screen. Minor adjustments to the
scoring were made, usually under-reporting initially, but most of the 909 tests were considered
an accurate assessment of the presence or absence of the reflex. Video recordings of 45 tests in
the first round of testing were sent to Australia to be moderated by an experienced reflex tester,
Dempsey (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). Dempsey has had over 10 years of experience using
reflex tests with children and is one of the developers of the RMT programme. She viewed all 45
tests and gave a score for each test. When the tests were returned there was disagreement with
three of the 45 tests: in two tests the reflexes were under-reported and in one test the reflex was
over-reported, or 6.67% disagreement and 93.33% agreement.

Children’s drawings: Draw-A-Person. The Draw-A-Person (DAP) test has been used in
similar studies (Erasmus et al., 2016; Williams, 2015) as a way of measuring neurological
changes. The children drew a picture of themselves pre-intervention, mid-intervention and post-
intervention (Porteous, 1996) as described in Section 3.3. The drawings were given a score to
measure developmental changes, but qualitative information was also gathered from this exercise
to triangulate quantitative data. The tests were performed in the classroom setting and children
could see other children’s drawings although they were encouraged to focus on their own work.
Pre-printed, numbered A4 sheets of paper were given to each child and they were instructed to
use a pen or pencil for their drawing. They were asked not to colour the drawing. They were
instructed to draw the best drawing they could of themselves, from head to toe. They were not
given reminders about body parts that they may have missed, and they were not sent back to add
missing parts. All children took between two and 20 minutes to do their drawings. A time limit
was not set as it was felt that this was an unnecessary pressure to put on the children.

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Once the drawings were completed the names were removed. This meant that only the Student
ID number was visible to the researcher as the scoring was completed. This ensured that the
scores had a high level of trustworthiness because the person scoring could not be swayed by the
name of the child or information they may already have had on the child. The researcher was
present for the tests at Nikau and Pōhutukawa, but the teachers at Kauri completed the test at
times that suited their programme. With 98 drawings to score, the likelihood of remembering
who drew which picture was small but to further ensure this, drawings were left for several
weeks before the scoring was undertaken. A scoring sheet was used (Appendix R) and a point
given for each identifiable body part on the drawing. The researcher was the only person to
complete scoring thus maintaining a good level of consistency. Blind scoring was repeated for
the first round to ensure the reliability of the data. Of the 98 drawings, 10 scores differed by 1
point and three differed by 2 points. At the mid-point and post-intervention, the DAP was
repeated. The same process was used, and the scoring completed. Once the scores were
completed they were also assessed against the visual look of the previous drawing to ensure
changes were reflected in the scoring.

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Parents were asked to complete the
two-page Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Appendix K). All children had the
SDQ completed by their teacher. Parent return rate was lower. 40 parents from a possible 102
(39.22%) for the first request for the questionnaire to be completed and from a possible 98, 28
parents (28.57%) for the second request. Both teacher and parent responses were used as data in
the SDQ analysis.

3.4.6 Quantitative Data Analysis

Variables. Research variables are the measurable attributes or characteristics of an

organisation or individual (Creswell, 2009). The quantitative data in this research provides
variables relating to the measurable achievements of the students who have used RMT (Table
3.11). The questions being asked are: does the use of RMT make changes to children’s
achievement and/or behavioural outcomes, and are there differences when gender, SES or reflex
profiles are factored in? (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).

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 Table 3.11. Variables Used to Answer Research Questions

Research Questions Items used to answer the

Variables research questions
Independent Variables RMT Exercise group/control
–fixed effects group
Or RMT Exercise frequency
explanatory variables
control Variables Gender
Or SES
Additional Explanatory (groups matched for these
Variables variables)
Dependent Variable 1 What influence does Reflex Profile
Or participation in an RMT Reading, writing and maths
Response Variable 1 programme have on student tests
achievement: reading, Draw-a-person
writing and mathematics?

Dependent Variable 2 What influence does SDQ questionnaire completed

Or participation in an RMT by parents and teachers
Response Variable 2 programme have on student Draw-a-person
behaviour: social and
emotional?

These questions in Table 3.11 were analysed statistically using two models (Figure 3.14). It is
important to note here that age was not used as a control variable and the results apply to the
children in the research group, not the general population. While the frequency of RMT was part
of the qualitative data, it was not initially factored in as an important predictor of outcome.
However, as is discussed in Chapter 5 and Section 3.2, while using exploratory data analysis, it
became clear through the qualitative interview process that this aspect of the RMT programme
was a statistically significant predictor. When comparing frequency as a factor, the participants
were allocated a frequency level, <4/week (less than four times per week) and >=4/week (four or
more times per week). Children in the control were excluded at Time 0 as they were not using
the movements and this calculation was to measure the RMT frequency effect. The next section
describes the statistical model used to answer the research questions (Table 3.11).

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Statistical Model – Linear Mixed-effects. When two or more variables are examined using
statistics, a mathematical expression is developed to explain the relationship. This is called a
statistical model and in this research R Statistical Software (R Core Team, 2018; Zuur, Ineno,
Walker, Saveliev, & Smith, 2009) was used. There are a range of models used in statistics but
the best fit for this study was a linear mixed-effects model (Price, 2016). Correlation measures
the extent, or magnitude of the relationship between two or more variables based on estimates or
predictions gained through the knowledge of one of the variables (L. Cohen et al., 2011). In this
study, the dependent variables (response variables) were the range of tests used (reflex tests,
DAP, academic tests and SDQ). The independent variables (explanatory variables) were: time
completing RMT (accounting for the group to which the child was allocated: intervention or
control) and frequency per week of the movements, with control variables such as gender and
SES considered. A simple linear regression predicts the outcome of one variable and in relation
to another variable (Coolican, 2014). However, as indicated above, there were several
independent variables and control variables in this research. Time was a factor and individuals
were tested multiple times, indicating that the linear mixed-effects model was the best fit for
examination of the relationships between multiple variables.

Statistical analysis is based on assumptions being made (L. Cohen et al., 2011). The assumptions
are determined by the type of test used, in this study a linear mixed-effect model, and they ensure
that the results are reliable and meaningful. The assumptions include: linearity, the absence of
collinearity, homoskedasticity of residuals, normality of residuals and independence. These
assumptions were met for all tests through checking a scatter plot of predicted and residual
values and a Q-Q plot ensuring the data fell along a straight line (Appendix U) (R Core Team,
2018; Winter, 2013).

Statistical significance indicates that chance is an unlikely explanation for the results (L. Cohen
et al., 2011). For this research, statistical significance was set at < 0.05 and the reporting in
Chapters 4 and 5 reflect this. The linear mixed-effects model that accounts for random effects
and the multiple time points, along with a robust statistical significance level gives the results in
this research increased credibility and reliability.

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 Two statistical models were used (Figure 3.14). Model 1: group was based on the interaction
between the control and the intervention group as described in Section 3.4. Model 2: Frequency
was based on the interaction between the children completing RMT four or more times each
week and children completing RMT less than four times each week. The expected responses,
differences or effect (Figure 3.14) indicate that not all children in the control group will have
exactly the same response, but as an example, if 100 children were tested for reflexes and the
average score calculated, the number would be close to α (alpha) in the formula. Results from
both models are reported in Chapters 4 and 5.

Is the response of a child predicted by time and group when completing the RMT
intervention?
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 = 𝛼 + 𝛽 × 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 + 𝛾 × 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 + 𝛿 × ( 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝)
0 = control
1 = intervention
Model 1: 𝛼 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
Group 𝛽 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
𝛾 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝
𝛿 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠
Group = control group or intervention group
Response variables: Reflex profile, DAP scores, reading scores, writing scores, mathematics scores,
SDQ scores.

Is the response of a child predicted by time and frequency when completing the RMT
intervention?
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 = 𝛼 + 𝛽 × 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 + 𝛾 × 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 + 𝛿 × ( 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦)
0 = >=4/per week
1 = <4/ week
4
𝛼 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ≥ 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
Model 2: 𝛽 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 <
4
𝑎𝑛𝑑 ≥
4
𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
Frequency 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘

4
𝛾 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ≥ 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
4 4
𝛿 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 < 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ≥ 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
Frequency = >=4 repetitions per week or <4 repetitions per week
Response variables: Reflex profile, DAP scores, reading scores, writing scores, mathematics scores,
SDQ scores.

Both models had gender added as a control variable when reflex profile was the
response variable.

Figure 3.14. Linear mixed-effect statistical model used in this research.

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 3.4.7 Integration: Mixed Methods, Convergent Design

The merging of qualitative and quantitative data is a strength of a mixed methods design
according to Creswell and Plano-Clark (2011). The results are strengthened by the range of
material provided. For this research, the qualitative data were analysed first while waiting for
final quantitative academic results to arrive. This gave an indication of RMT’s influence in the
classroom and overall student achievement and behavioural outcomes. As discussed in Section
3.4 the qualitative data were analysed with themes emerging. Following that process, the
quantitative results were woven into the qualitative themes, providing further information and
insight into the explanations given by teachers and parents. The following section is further
discussion regarding processes used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

3.4.8 Validity and Reliability, Rigour and Trustworthiness

Validity, reliability, rigour and trustworthiness are essential aspects of credible research.
According to Cox and Ros (2008), time is an essential component in relation to establishing the
trustworthiness of research. “Prolonged engagement” was the focus for Guba and Lincoln, with
the inclusion of “persistent observation” and “peer debriefing” (1989, p. 237). Time spent
building rapport with participants is valued within the research and adds to the reliability. This
needs to combine with time spent discovering relevant elements and time with peers working
through the processes (Guba & Lincoln, 1989). Member checks (parents and teachers were able
to read transcriptions) and asking participants and supervisors to read preliminary findings,
added rigour to the research. The design has considered the points highlighted in the following
discussion to ensure qualitative and quantitative data reliability, validity, rigour and
trustworthiness within this research. The assumptions associated with quantitative data have been
discussed in Section 3.4.4.

Rigour and trustworthiness in qualitative research. Four broad areas are related to
trustworthiness and rigour in qualitative research. These are credibility, transferability,
dependability and confirmability (Guba & Lincoln, 1989). The processes described below aim to
make decisions transparent and therefore allow for open critique and clarification from other
researchers.

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 Credibility in qualitative research refers to the ability to determine if the results are
believable and/or credible (Creswell, 2013). The participant’s perspective is essential in
this process as they are best able to determine the credibility of the presented findings.
Detailed field notes are important in determining credibility as is good quality sound
recording equipment. When combined, both elements allow for accurate transcriptions to
be made from interviews. Documenting as much as possible from the recordings aids the
analysis process. Disfluencies, pauses and expressions add an important dimension to the
transcripts so that strong feelings are captured. The focus on language is an important
aspect of hermeneutical phenomenology and attention to detail in this area enhances the
credibility. Reliability and credibility associated with the data are increased when adult
participants are given an opportunity to read transcripts or have discussions about the
findings before the research is published. Adult participants were emailed a copy of the
results and discussion chapters and invited to make comments before the writing phase of
the research was completed.
 Transferability in qualitative research and external validity in quantitative have parallels
(Guba & Lincoln, 1989). External validity relates to the randomising of the sample in
order to achieve generalisation of the results to a population. Transferability requires
extensive descriptions of the participants, the context, place and culture in which the
research was completed. However, in some situations, transferability will not be able to
be achieved due to the conditions of the research, for example gathering the lived
experience of one person in a case study. In this research, the use of mixed-ability classes
from a range of SES areas enhanced randomisation of the participants and the clear
descriptions in Sections 3.4 and 4.2 ensure that transferability of the research to another
similar group would be possible.
 Dependability in qualitative research requires rigorous documentation of changes to the
methodology and environment. It is accepted that changes may occur as the inquiry
matures, and provided they are thoroughly documented, the changes can be viewed as
strengths (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Within this research, detailed, methodical data
collection facilitated documentation of changes and these have been noted above. The
main change was the way the parent interviews were formatted, from focus-group
interviews to individual semi-structured interviews.

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  Confirmability is the final component of trustworthiness (Mutch, 2005). There needs to
be a clear trail showing that the data collected does belong to the participants of the
research and is not fabricated by the researcher. A successful audit should be able to
locate copies of recorded material, transcripts with coding available, observer comments
within the transcripts or field notes and a research diary. Dates (including time), places,
participant names and context increase the confirmability and show the auditor a degree
of order in the documentation. Interviews, being the main data collection method in the
qualitative area of this research, could provide additional challenges. However, the
researcher had robust systems in place. Tolich and Davidson (1999) remind researchers
that participants may refuse to answer questions they consider too personal, or they may
not divulge the truth. This can mean that the hermeneutical process, which relies on what
is said and how it is said, may have data missing. It may be possible to assess and address
the possibility of missing data in situations of extended interviews, however, this was not
as easily achieved with the parents in this research due to the high number interviewed (n
= 26). However, with multiple opportunities to interact with teachers, a greater depth of
information was gathered over a longer time (11 months). Consideration also needs to be
given to issues relating to power within relationships or the possible perceptions a
participant may have that they need to act or behave in a certain way and it is possible
that this could influence data. The challenge for the researcher is to build a positive
relationship with the participants so that rich, truthful descriptives can be gathered
(Tolich & Davidson, 1999). The initial questions in both teacher and parent interviews
were designed to allow rapport building to take place. For example, “What are your
general perceptions about your child’s year at school?” The parent was free to choose
what aspect they wanted to talk about from the start of the interview. Reliable data is
more likely to be gathered when researchers are mindful of such challenges.

Validity and reliability in quantitative research. A range of factors relating to validity and
reliability were considered when gathering the quantitative data in this research. These are
discussed below.

 Internal validity relates to the ability to demonstrate that data gathered from the
intervention can be replicated, thus providing credible, dependable interpretations (L.

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 Cohen et al., 2011). Accuracy is an issue that is addressed through clear, detailed
descriptions of the processes used. Descriptions of the reflex testing (Appendix S) and the
DAP tests (Appendix R) have been included in this thesis. NZNS reporting was publicly
available through the NZ Ministry of Education website (Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), 2009)
and written descriptions of the movements were provided to teachers and parents
(Appendix P, Appendix Q). The components that ensure the research provides reliable
evidence are discussed below.
 History requires the consideration of events other than the intervention that may occur
between the pre-test and the post-test, particularly in longitudinal research such as this (L.
Cohen et al., 2011). The use of other interventions as part of normal classroom activity
need to be declared and accounted for in the results.
 Maturation relates to the changes, such as the growth of the child, that can influence the
outcomes, independent of the intervention (L. Cohen et al., 2011).
 Statistical regression describes the process common in education research where it is
likely that the child who scores highly on the pre-test will score lower on the post-test.
The interval between pre- and post-tests along with the unreliability of measuring tools
can increase the likelihood of results that mislead researchers (L. Cohen et al., 2011). In
this research, the process lasted over one school year, February to December, so
maturation issues needed to be considered and is why the statistical linear mixed-effect
model was used.
 Testing, particularly using a pre-test/post-test design can sensitise children so that they
know what to expect thus inflating the post-test scores. It is also important to use tests
that are considered reliable and to be mindful of the human element involved in the
testing process. To minimise the ‘human’ element in this research, reflex testing was
video-taped so that scoring could be cross-checked as suggested by Cohen et al. (2011).
The SDQ is considered a reliable questionnaire and appropriate for the intended use.
National standards testing is used in all New Zealand schools and is considered a reliable
measure (Ministry of Education, 2011). The time between tests (four months) was
expected to minimise children’s sensitivity to the reflex test and DAP.
 Selection bias needs to be considered when forming treatment groups and control groups
(Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Children were assigned individual ID numbers and their

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 names were removed from the base data (gender, reflex profile and DAP scores) before
they were divided into groups. As described in Section 3.2.1.2 the groups were matched
for gender, DAP and reflex scores.
 External validity relates to the ability of the research outcomes to be generalised to a
wider population. The main considerations for this research are highlighted below.
 Descriptions of the independent variables used: give a clear understanding of the
intervention used (Appendices P and Q). If the variables are not clearly described, the
ability to replicate the research is problematic (L. Cohen et al., 2011).
 Having a strong representation of the population within the participant group helps with
generalisation (L. Cohen et al., 2011). Using mainstream classrooms from a range of
locations and socio-economic areas as part of the research design strengthened this
research and ensured a stronger and wider representation of the New Zealand population.
 The Hawthorne effect is common in medical and educational research (L. Cohen et al.,
2011). It was not possible to separate the groups as one group completed the movements
and the other group continued with normal programming. Where possible the children
completed the movements in a separate area, Kauri and Pōhutukawa had separate areas.
However, at Nikau as there was not a separate space, the children went to the back of the
classroom, behind the desks, while the control group sat at the front of the classroom
completing a teacher-directed whiteboard activity. The control group was encouraged to
focus on the activity and not watch the children doing the movements.
 State reliability scores. Dependent variables need to be to the highest level of validity
possible (L. Cohen et al., 2011). The NZ National Standards testing did not have
reliability and validity scores due to the use of Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ),
however the DAP test has been used in several similar studies and has strong reliability
scores and the SDQ for parents and teachers is recommended by the NZ Ministry of
Health as a reliable screening tool. The reflex tests do not have reliability scores, but they
are used by other experienced researchers in this field.
 Sensitivity to the intervention and the tests can also impact the external validity giving a
false picture of the influence of RMT (L. Cohen et al., 2011). Children may dislike the
movements, and in this case, the fact that the class was divided into two groups
(intervention/control). This is discussed in Chapter 4.

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  Ecological validity questions the ability to transfer the results from the experimental
setting to an every-day setting (L. Cohen et al., 2011). By completing this quasi-
experiment in the classroom this problem is minimised. However, by doing this there
were some children who were engaged in school remedial programmes meaning that they
will be subjected to multiple treatments (L. Cohen et al., 2011), thus making it difficult to
be sure as to which treatment influenced the outcomes. In this research, ethically it was
not possible to remove children from their existing programmes. Removing them from
the participant groups could mean that children with learning challenges would not be
part of the research. This would decrease the external validity.

Attending to the issues discussed above increased the validity and reliability of the quantitative
data. The next section describes rigour and trustworthiness considerations relating to the
qualitative data in this research.

Triangulation. Within qualitative research, triangulation aims to increase data validity

and reduce bias. Providing robust data increases confidence in the reported results (Creswell,
2013). Triangulation is a technique where multiple data sources and methods of data gathering
are used to match the fixed points of a triangle (Atkinson & Delamont, 2008). Creswell (2013)
believes that the variety of data gathered, including the range of theories used to underpin the
methodological decisions, enables greater corroboration of evidence. This process also could
expose themes or perspectives that may not have emerged through a linear process. This research
has assessed the influence of RMT within the classroom as an intervention on student
achievement and behavioural outcomes. Data gathered from different sources, NZ National
Standards testing, Draw-A-Person, SDQ and reflex tests have been triangulated with the teacher
and parent questionnaires and semi-formal interviews. The range of data gathered is a strength of
this research. The triangles in Figure 3.15 show where the various strands of data fit in the
triangulation process. The first triangle focuses on the overriding research question: What
influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have in a classroom? and the
first two supplementary questions relating to the use of RMT in the classroom. The second and
third triangles relate to the supplementary questions focusing on student achievement and
behavioural outcome findings and results.

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 Teacher
perspectives
of the process
of using the
exercises

RMT in
the
Classroom
Parent Academic
perspective of results, SDQ,
reflex tests and
their child's
DAP scores used
feelings to support the
towards using time invested in
RMT RMT

Teacher Teacher
perspectives of perspectives of
the academic the behavioural
results achieved outcomes for
for the students students

RMT and RMT and

student behavioural
achievement outcomes

Parent Academic Parent

perspectives of results, DAP perspectives of
the academic scores and SDQ used to
the social and
and physical reflex tests used support the use
emotional
development of to support the of RMT
development of
their child use of RMT their child

Figure 3.15. Triangulation model for RMT research.

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 3.4.9 Ethical Issues

Honouring and respecting research participants is essential. Ethical issues also need
consideration in relation to the safety of participants and the safety of their data storage at UC.
Confidentiality and anonymity are challenges in qualitative research, particularly in smaller
communities such as New Zealand (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Snook, 2003). The interviewing
process may include gathering personal, identifiable information which if quoted in the findings
would expose the participant. To maintain anonymity, neither the location of the research nor
names have been used. Identifiable events such as the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011
were generalised as much as possible when written about (Snook, 2003).

The voluntary nature of any research needs to be communicated clearly to participants through
the informed consent process. This includes the participant’s ability to decide to leave the
research at any time (Cullen, 2005; Snook, 2003). Schools, teachers and parents were informed
that they or their children were able to withdraw from the research and have information
withdrawn until January 2018 when results were being formulated. Written consent was obtained
from school principals, participant teachers, parents and children (Dockett et al., 2012; Harcourt
& Conroy, 2005) and the information about withdrawing was included on the consent form
(Appendix E, F, G and H). No participants withdrew during the research, although 3 children
moved to different schools and one child reduced his hours at school.

There is a debate about the need to gain consent from younger children. In the past children have
not been involved in the consent process with the emphasis being placed on gaining parental
approval (Harcourt & Conroy, 2005). However, there is a move towards allowing children to be
part of the process (Cullen, 2005; Harcourt & Conroy, 2005). Neill (2005) supports the theory
that children, where possible should be given information and consent gained. She believes, as
does Cullen (2005), that this is particularly important when qualitative information is gathered.
Informing children that confidentiality will be maintained at a high level, but it cannot be
guaranteed, is seen as necessary. As Neill comments, research on children’s issues has the
possibility to benefit all children and this makes it important. However, they are entitled to have
ethical standards apply to them, similar to the way adult needs are considered. This goes beyond
the notion of doing no harm. In this research, the emotional well-being of the children who were

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non-consented was also considered. These children completed the DAPs and the reflex tests as
part of their school day. However, the researcher did not follow-up with non-consented children
if they missed a testing session. Teachers asked that the non-consented children were not made to
feel different or excluded in any way. However, their results were discarded.

Data storage and security are considered essential in ethical research. The quantitative test
results, reading, writing and mathematics scores, reflex test scores, SDQ from parents and
teachers, and DAP scores collected have been stored securely. All participants were given an ID
number. This allowed scores to be disassociated from the names of the participants during the
coding and recording processes, thus maintaining a higher level of anonymity and
confidentiality.

To ensure anonymity and confidentiality within the qualitative data, pseudonyms have been used
(Snook, 2003). Any identifying information has been stored securely and was destroyed at the
completion of the research. All data gathered has been securely stored in password-protected
facilities in locked storage at the University of Canterbury (UC) and will continue to be stored
for ten years following the research. It will then be destroyed. If the results of the research are
published, identifiable information will not be used. The location of participants will not be
published other than to say that the research was completed in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Transparency about the purpose of the research was considered by the researcher. Parents were
informed that this research is being carried out to fulfil the requirements for a PhD thesis under
the supervision of Prof Ian Culpan and Dr Wendy Fox-Turnbull from the School of Education,
Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury. Contact details for the
University and the Ethics committee were provided in the information letter and consent form.

Participants’ rights, particularly those of children, need to be considered when undertaking

research. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations,
1989) offers children an ethical, moral and legal mandate for protection, provision and
participation rights” (Mortari & Harcourt, 2012, p. 234). This may be referred to as the need to
‘do no harm’. The term ‘harm’ needs to encompass physical, psychological (Neill, 2005; Snook,
2003) and spiritual aspects of children and their community (New Zealand Association for

123
Research in Education, 2010). This means that teacher and parent perspectives and observations
were supported without judgement.

Safety of the movements was considered. A safety warning was written in the RMT material
regarding the use of a small number of neck movements with children who either have neck
injuries or unstable vertebrae (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). Teachers and parents were given
this information, although none of the movements identified as risky were used with the children
in this research.

An application was made to the UC Educational Research Human Ethics Committee for ethics
approval (ERHEC, 2009). The committee made recommendations regarding the clarity of
information storage, communication as to the risks of doing the movements for children, concern
about parents in the focus-group interviews and details on the parent information sheets and
minor procedural matters regarding the end of research reporting and self-addressed envelopes.
All issues were addressed and communicated to ERHEC (Appendices Ya to Yd). Approval was
granted one month before the school consent process began (Appendix Z). This was due to the
timing of the Christmas holidays.

Communication about the research process is essential for reliable trustworthy research. Detailed
information containing research questions and processes was provided to all research participants
prior to the commencement of the research (Appendices A - D). This information was provided
in written form and an opportunity to have a verbal explanation was offered to all potential
participants. Parents were asked to provide written informed consent to allow their child to
participate in the research (Appendix G). It is important that parents are well informed about the
research purpose, processes and commitment as participants (Mutch, 2005). Although children
were not directly interviewed, their written consent was gained to ensure they understood their
involvement in the programme and that their parent knew they are participating in the research.
As already discussed it is important to gain consent from children where possible (Dockett et al.,
2012) and these six to eight-year-olds are of an age where they could give limited consent.

The bi-cultural nature of the New Zealand community was acknowledged in this research.
Honouring the Treaty of Waitangi issues of partnership, participation and protection were

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considered during interviews, data analysis and findings presentation. Retained primitive reflexes
is not a problem specifically related to Māori. However, there were some Māori children in the
participant classrooms. Protection included respecting the information given by participants and
it was planned that Māori families would be offered consultation on issues of importance to
Māori. This situation did not arise through the data gathering process. An application to the Ngāi
Tahu Consultation and Engagement group (NTCEG) was made (Appendix Xa) and a letter of
support for the research was received (Appendix Xb). Throughout the data gathering phase,
cultural protocols and issues regarding the respect of giving and receiving of information were
considered, particularly when visiting schools.

3.5 Summary of Chapter 3

A mixed methods research design has been described in this chapter. Increasing the
understanding associated with using the intervention RMT and the complexities of retained
primitive reflexes required both qualitative and quantitative information. The quantitative
information provides a range of results, but the qualitative data provides a depth of meaning and
richness to understanding issues around the use of a reflex integration programme. Decisions
made about the possibility of over-testing children may have impacted some results, however of
highest importance throughout the research was child and teacher wellbeing.

The findings, results and discussion are found in the next two chapters. Chapter 4 relates to RMT
in the classroom, Chapter 5 focuses on the academic achievement of students and behavioural
changes discussed by parents and teachers. In both chapters, the findings are presented first,
along with any relevant quantitative results and these are followed by a discussion. The structure
was developed this way to ensure relevant material stayed together and to minimise the need for
repetition.

3.6 Overview of Chapters 4 and 5

Chapter 4 is the first of two presenting the findings, results and discussion of this research.
Qualitative research presents ‘findings’ using dialogue while quantitative research presents
‘results’ using numbers, percentages and graphs. As this research used a mixed methods

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convergent design, data analysis of the two data sets was conducted separately and then woven
together for presentation in a style associated with hermeneutic phenomenology. The
hermeneutic process involves the ‘whole’ being broken into ‘parts’ to make greater sense of the
‘whole’ as described in Chapter 3. Although phenomenology is known to be ‘messy’ (van
Manen, 1997), separating the qualitative and quantitative data and discussion has the potential to
increase messiness and make reading these chapters more difficult. The structure of each chapter
is illustrated below in Figure 3.16. Chapter 4 reports on RMT in the classroom and Chapter 5
reports on student achievement and behavioural outcomes.

•Participant descriptions
•What influences does the
Chapter 5
Chapter 4

use of RMT have in a •What influence •What influence

classroom? does participation does participation
in an RMT in an RMT
•From a teacher’s
programme have programme have
perspective, how does RMT
on student
facilitate the achievement of on student behaviour: social
curriculum goals? achievement: and emotional?
•From a teacher’s reading, writing
perspective, how can RMT and mathematics?
be managed within the
physical classroom space?

In each chapter the findings/results are followed by discussion

Figure 3.16. Findings, results and discussion structure.

As previously highlighted in Chapter 3, the research design reflects the structure of the reporting
and discussion. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis process: RMT in the
classroom, changes in student achievement and changes in student behaviour (Figure 3.17). Both
qualitative and quantitative data are reported and discussed in relation to these themes. Again, to
enhance the clarity and ease for the reader, all data relating to each theme are collated and woven
together so that the qualitative meanings of the lived experience have quantitative results as part
of the interpretation. The three large circles in Figure 3.17 represent the three main themes, and
the small circle represents the voices from which the themes emerged. The very small circle
represents a theme that emerged: parent Canterbury ‘quake’ stories as noted in Section 3.4.

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Whilst the researcher believed it was important to acknowledge these stories, the research was
not designed to document ‘quake’ experiences. The colours in Figure 3.17, green for the themes
and blue for the voices, where chosen as they relate to the sections the themes and voices are
placed within the methodological rainbow (Figure 3.1) used at the beginning of Chapter 3. The
themes were found through the data analysis section of the rainbow and the voices came from the
parent/teacher section.

RMT in the
classroom Parent
earthquake
stories
Teacher and
parent voices

Perceptions Perceptions
of student of student
achievement behaviour

Figure 3.17. Emergent themes and Figure 3.1. Research Overview (repeated).

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 Chapter 4 The Classroom: Findings,
Results and Discussion

4.1 Introduction:
Chapter 4 focuses on the classroom, its participants and how the teachers managed RMT within
their programme. The first section extends the participant descriptions described in Chapter 3,
focusing on the independent (control) variables such as gender, SES status, retained primitive
reflex profile and the matching of group 1 (intervention/movement) and group 2 (control).
Another factor noted is the effect of the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. These
children were young (in utero – 18 months) when the earthquakes occurred making this event
part of their chronosystem as described in Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory
(Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Guhn & Goelman, 2011).

Secondly, data relating to the research question: What influences does the use of Rhythmic
Movement Training (RMT) have in a classroom? will be addressed. Teacher comments and
perceptions relating to the ease with which RMT was used within the classroom are presented
and discussed. Two supplementary questions will also be covered:
 1: From a teacher’s perspective, how does RMT enhance curriculum goals?
 2: From a teacher’s perspective, how can RMT be managed within the physical
classroom space?

Recorded in this section is the number of days each group completed the movements and the
frequency per week of the movements. This data is useful if the research is to be replicated or
compared. Bronfenbrenner’s process-person-context-time theories (Guhn & Goelman, 2011) will
be analysed in relation to all three questions in the discussion section.

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 4.2 Participant Group Descriptions
This section describes the matching of the two groups, accounting for participant SES and
gender in relation to their reflex profile and DAP scores as described in Chapter 3. The RMT
intervention was a multiple baseline, longitudinal panel design. There were two evenly matched
groups, group 1 (intervention, n = 52) and group 2 (control, n = 46). Within each classroom, half
the children were assigned to group 1 and the other half were assigned to group 2. Draw-A-
Person scores and reflex scores were used, along with gender to ensure the groups included a
mix of high and low scores on both tests. The graphs and tables in this section show the levels at
which the groups were matched. Table 4.1 shows the number and percentage of children in each
group.

Table 4.1. Number of Children in Each Group

School Total number Number of Non-consented Number of Number of

of children in consented children and children consented consented
the class children in the who left the school children in children in
class for the group 1 – group 2 –
whole year Intervention Control
Nikau: 26 22 (22.45%) 2 children left the 12 10 (21.74%)
Decile 9 (19.26%) school, 1 child was (23.07%)
High SES new, and 1 child was
not consented. N = 4
(10.81%)

Kauri: 69 50 (50.02%) 2 left the school and 1 25 25 (54.35%)

Decile 5 (51.11%) reduced his hours, 16 (48.08%)
not consented. N = 19
Mid SES (51.35%)

Pōhutukawa: 40 26 (26.53%) 1 left the school, 2 new 15 11 (23.91%)

Decile 2 (29.63%) children. 11 not (28.85%)
consented. N = 14.
Low SES (37.84%)

Total number 135 (100%) 98 (100%) 37 (100%) 52 (100%) 46 (100%)

of children

Care was taken to ensure that the control and intervention groups were evenly matched, but to
confirm this the beginning scores of all participants were statistically analysed. The p-values for

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all tests are > 0.0500 and do not detect statistically significant difference between the control and
intervention group at Day 0 (Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. Statistical Group (Intervention and control) Matching Tests at the Beginning of the
Research

Test test stat (t) p-value

Reflex -0.56 0.5763
Draw-A-Person -1.04 0.2973
Reading -1.75 0.0824
Writing -1.40 0.1637
Mathematics -0.92 0.3583

4.2.1 Reflex Profiles of Participants

All participants were tested for the presence of three primitive reflexes: TLR, ATNR and Spinal
Galant. The reasons for choosing these three reflexes and scoring system has been described in
Section 3.3. Each reflex test had a possible score between 0 and 4. When all scores were added
together the single score was called the reflex profile with a possible maximum score of 12.
Figure 4.1 shows the spread of reflex profile scores of these six to eight-year-olds with 3.06% (n
= 3) scoring 0 and 96.94% (n = 95) scoring between 1 and 9. A low score is beneficial for the
child, with full integration (a score of 0) optimal. The results in this research are higher than the
scores recorded in Gieysztor’s (2018) study where she found 11% of four to six-year-olds had
fully integrated primitive reflexes and 89% had some level of retained primitive reflex. This
difference is one of the reasons that the Canterbury earthquakes became of interest.

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 Primitive reflex scores for all children at
beginning of research
20
18
Number of children 16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Combined Primitive Reflex score (TLR, ATNR, Spinal Galant)

Figure 4.1. Primitive reflex profile scores for individuals.

The graph in Figure 4.2 shows that from the total number of children in the control (n = 52),
21.15% (n = 11) of children scored between 0 and 2, and 78.85% (n = 41) scored between 3 and
9. In the intervention group, from the total number of children (n = 46), 28.26% (n = 13) of them
scored between 0 and 2, and 71.74% (n = 33) scored between 3 and 9. This shows that there were

Primitive reflex profile by group

12

10
Number of children

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Combined primitive reflex score (TRL, ATNR, Spinal Galant)
Group 1 Intervention Group 2 Control

Figure 4.2. Primitive reflex profile scores for each group.

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slightly more low-scoring children in the control group and slightly more high-scoring children
in the intervention group and it could be argued that these children in the intervention group had
higher levels of reflex retention.

Table 4.3 shows that the TLR and ATNR were more likely to be present in the participants at the
beginning of the research. The Spinal Galant reflex was the least likely to be present.

Table 4.3. Primitive Reflex Test Scores for Each Reflex

Score TLR TLR ATNR ATNR Spinal Spinal

>1 >1 Galant Galant
>1
0 9 9 19 19 33 33
1 30 45 31
2 42 29 19
89 79 65
3 14 4 15
4 3 1 0
Total 98 98 98 98 98 98

The results presented in Table 4.3 shows that at the beginning of the research 90.82% (n = 89)
children received a score of 1 or more for the TLR, 80.61% (n = 79) received a score of 1 or
above for the ATNR and 66.33% (n = 65) of children received a score of 1 or above for the
presence of the Spinal Galant. This indicates that this group of children are more likely to have a
retained TLR and ATNR rather than a retained Spinal Galant. Scores at the high end ( a score of
3 and 4) were Spinal Galant 15.31% (n = 15), ATNR 5.10% (n = 5) and TLR 17.35% (n = 17)
and these are lower than the 25% found in Gieysztor’s (2018) research using the same reflexes.

Table 4.4 shows the mean scores for the control and intervention groups as well as the levels of
frequency (four or more times per week or less than four times per week) per week with which
the movements were completed at the three test points during the research. Male and female
mean scores are reported. Overall the mean reflex profile scores reduced over the 216 days, the
intervention group reducing 4.08 (2.04) to 1.63 (1.58) more than the control group 4.11 (2.27) to

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2.24 (2.02). However, the greatest reduction in reflex profile scores was in the four or more times
per week children 4.37 (1.93) to 0.90 (1.52).

Table 4.4. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile using Model 1: Group

Reflex Profile Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the control 4.17 0.28 14.63 <0.0001
group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.23 0.39 -0.58 0.5569

of the Intervention and control
group at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to -1.88 0.28 -6.58 <0.0001

the control group

Expected difference in the effect -0.52 0.39 -1.33 0.1844

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

Table 4.5 Mean Reflex Profile Scores

Reflex Profile Scores at Time Reflex Profile Scores at Time 1 Reflex Profile Scores at Time
0 (Day 1) (Mid-point Day 94) 2 (Completion Day 216)
Group Overall Males Females Overall Males Females Overall Males Females
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Control 4.11 4.29 3.91 3.48 3.63 3.32 2.24 2.38 2.09
(2.27) (2.03) (2.54) (1.94) (1.74) (2.17) (2.02) (1.74) (2.33)
Intervention 4.08 4.42 3.08 2.67 2.69 2.56 1.63 2.23 1.04
(2.04) (2.23) (1.80) (1.64) (1.52) (1.79) (1.58) (1.66) (1.28)
<4/week 3.99 4.34 3.64 3.32 3.57 3.08 2.50 3.18 1.96
(2.21) (2.09) (2.29) (1.94) (1.67) (2.17) (1.87) (1.40) (2.03)
>=4/week 4.37 4.40 4.33 2.33 2.13 2.58 1.31 1.61 0.90
(1.93) (2.26) (1.61) (1.24) (1.25) (1.24) (1.57) (1.43) (1.52)

Note. M = Mean SD = Standard Deviation

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Table 4.5 shows that the control group’s reflex profile drops 1.88 during the research (5 months)
the intervention group drops 2.40. A statistically significant effect was not detected (p = 0.1844).
When the frequency of the movements was considered (Table 4.6) the four or more times per
week dropped 2.81 and the less than four times per week dropped 1.71 over the research period.

Table 4.6. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile using Model 2: Frequency

Reflex Profile Estimate Std - error t p-value

Expected response for the 4.21 0.33 12.42 <0.0001
>=4/week group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.21 0.41 -.51 0.6040

of the <4/week and >=4/week
groups at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to -2.81 0.33 -8.36 <0.0001

the >=4/week group

Expected difference in the effect 1.10 0.46 2.39 0.018*

of adding days for <4/week and
>=4/week groups

A statistically significant effect was detected (p = 0.0180). This indicates that reflex profile
scores were affected when the RMT movements were used four or more times per week in the
generic manner of the classroom setting. This is reported on in Section 4.4. It is not clear why the
control group scores reduced as maturation implications at this age would not be considered a
strong influencing factor. It is possible that other sport based activities included movement that
aided the reflex profile reduction due to the fact that the children continued to participate in their
normal sport activities during the research.

4.2.2 Earthquakes and the Child’s Birth

During the research process, a question arose about the high levels of retained reflexes within
this group of participant children from Canterbury. The children were chosen because they were
in a Year 3 class as has been described in Section 3.4. Following the completion of the first set of
reflex profile tests at the beginning of the research, it was noted that three children out of 98

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consented children tested had a score of 0, meaning their reflexes were fully integrated and ten
children scored a total of 1. The researcher did not initially collect date-of-birth data to reduce
testing bias and the high reflex scores were puzzling until the realisation that many of these
children were of the age when they would have been infants at the time of the Canterbury
earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011. Mutch (2017) found that the impact of the
Canterbury quake on school communities and teachers was extensive and in particular for
schools that were closed. A study in 2017 (Thornley, Ball, Signal, Lawson-Te Aho, & Rawson)
highlighted the stress associated with the Canterbury earthquakes and the need to build
community resilience. With stress implicated in primitive reflex retention (Goddard-Blythe,
2008; Goddard, 1996), it is one possible explanation for the high levels in the children’s reflex
profiles. To assess this finding, a group of children were tested in a North Island town chosen
because of its low levels of community wide stress events; the area had not experienced
geological events such as earthquakes, or weather events such as flooding (The ERHEC
committee was notified of the slight change in focus for this testing (Appendix V)). The aim was
to compare reflex test results and to check the researcher’s theory about the ‘quake’ effect.
Differences in the two groups were noticed, the North Island children had lower reflex profiles
overall than the Canterbury children but it was decided to keep the focus of this research on the
original intention, and not change it to ‘earthquake’ research. This may be of interest in the
future. Approximately half of the Canterbury participants (n = 56) were between six months and
three years old, 26 were under six months old and 15 were in utero when the September
earthquake struck (Figure 4.3).

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 Participant birthdates in relation to Canterbury
Earthquakes - Sep 2010 and Feb 2011
60

Number of children 50
40
30
20
10
0
Before March 2010. Over 6 March to Sep 2010. Under After Sep 2010. In utero
months of age at first 6 months of age at first during the first quake
quake quake
Age of children in September 2010

Figure 4.3. Percentage of birthdates in relation to Canterbury earthquakes.

Having discovered the ‘earthquake’ aspect of the participant group, parents were asked about this
during the interviews. One child was born just after the September quake:
His birth, he was a caesarean, he was born during the earthquakes, so his birthday is
the XX September, and the earthquake was the 4th. So, we were still in hospital, it
was really weird, ‘cos he never ever sleeps with me, and that night he was in my
bed. So, I just woke up and his bassinet went backwards and forwards, but he was
with me, and because I had had the caesarean I had only just started walking that
Friday. So, he wasn't too bad, but when he first started crawling he used to tap
everything twice. And he has just grown up with it, so he doesn't know anything
different (Mary).
Another child was also born just before the quakes:
I hate to say it, but it was, he was born just before the earthquakes, my first day
home was just when the earthquakes hit. So, I feel like it was a bit of a blur, you
know, besides being sleep deprived and all that…. but I feel bad for him, I don't
remember his first six months, as much as I did with the others. It is just a bit of a
blur, you know dealing with the power cuts, and the stuff going on. And we weren't
even in a house that was damaged, I do think often "Oh that period is just a bit of a
blur" (Miranda).
A mother who was heavily pregnant at the time of the earthquakes had this to say:
Yep, that was an interesting time. Looking back on it I was probably very shell-
shocked, I guess you could say. I never liked earthquakes, and then, just having to
deal with that and being pregnant, and my midwife was like, "Prepare for a home-
birth because I don't even know if we can get up to the hospital”. So, it was actually
quite lucky cos we had prepared with extra towels (Anne).

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As discussed in Chapter 2.2, maternal stress is identified as a factor in interrupting the reflex
integration process and it is possible that the Canterbury earthquakes had an impact on this group
of children (Goddard-Blythe, 2008; Goddard, 1996; Mutch, 2017; Thornley et al., 2015).

4.2.3 SES and Retained Primitive Reflexes

The spread of SES for the research showed that the majority, 50.02% of the consented children,
came from the decile 5 school – middle SES, with 22.45% from the high decile school and

Table 4.7. Pairwise Comparisons using t-tests with Pooled SD

Decile 2 Decile 5
Decile 5 p = 0.0096
Decile 9 p = > .9999 p = 0.0760

26.53% from the low decile school (Table 4.1). There were more (37.84%) non-consented
children and children who left the school in the low SES group and fewer (10.81%) non-
consented children and children who left the school in the higher SES group. In Chapter 3 (Table
3.7 and Table 3.8) it was noted that when compared to the New Zealand population, the
participant group had more children in the middle SES group and fewer children in the higher
SES group, and the lower SES group was at a similar level. An analysis of variance (ANOVA)
test was performed using reflex profile across the decile rating of each child’s school. Using a
Bonferroni correction adjusting for completing multiple tests, the p-values in Table 4.7 detect a
statistically significant difference between the reflex profiles in decile 2 and 5 (p = 0.0096) but
not between decile 9 and 2 (p = > .9999) or decile 5 and 9 (p = 0.0760).

The boxplot in Figure 4.4 shows that the children in the decile 5 school had higher reflex scores
at the beginning of the research than the children in the decile 2 and decile 9 schools. This is
contrary to findings by McPhillips et al. (2007a), Brown (2010) and Callcott (2012), where low
SES was identified as a factor in retained primitive reflexes. As already reported the Canterbury
earthquakes may be a factor in these scores, but that was not fully assessed in this research.

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 4.2.4 Gender and Primitive Reflex Retention

Comparing levels of motor development with gender has been noted in primitive reflex
integration research by McPhillips, Jordan-Black (2007b), Brown (2010) and Callcott (2012).
They found that higher levels of learning challenges and primitive reflex retention present in
males when compared to females. Table 4.8 shows the gender spread within the schools. The
spread of males and females within the participants of this research was even: males (n = 50) and
females (n = 48) within the total (n = 98).

Table 4.8. Participant Gender Proportions

School Consented Males Consented Females Total

Nikau 11 (50%) 11 (50%) 22 (100%)

Kauri 22 (44%) 28 (56%) 50 (100%)

Pōhutukawa 17 (65.38%) 9 (34.62%) 26 (100%)

Total 50 (51.02%) 48 (48.98%) 98 (100%)

Figure 4.4. Boxplot showing reflex profile scores in relation to school decile rating.

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The results in Table 4.9 show that male students had a higher reflex profile than female students
at the beginning of the research. The mean score for female students at Day 0 was 3.90 and the
mean score for males was 4.35. Table 4.9 shows the statistical difference between males and
females is 0.52 but the analysis did not detect a statistically significant level (p = 0.1844). This
research tested three reflexes which may have influenced the results, but when McPhillips and
Jordan-Black (2005; 2007b) tested for ATNR persistence they found higher rates for males than
females (F (1, 737) = 15.21, p < 0.001).
Table 4.9. Coefficient Estimates for Reflex Profile and Gender using Model 1: Group

Reflex Profile Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the control 3.90 0.32 11.85 <0.0001
group females at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.21 0.39 -0.56 0.5763

of the Intervention females and
Control group females at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to -1.88 0.28 -6.58 <0.0001

the control group females

Expected effect of adding days to 0.52 0.31 1.65 0.1013

the control group males

Expected difference in the effect -0.52 0.39 -1.33 0.1844

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

4.2.5 Discussion

This discussion focuses on the description of student participants, their reflex profile scores as a
dependent variable and the explanatory variables of gender and SES. The effect of the RMT
intervention in relation to reflex profiles is also discussed. Theories from Hughlings-Jackson
(Konicarova & Bob, 2013b), Bronfenbrenner (2005) and are highlighted in relation to these
participants and the retention of primitive reflexes, with a particular interest in the child’s ability
to participate within their environment and their development.

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 Participant Group and Reflex Profiles. Retained primitive reflexes have been shown to
have a link to student achievement and behavioural outcomes. Hughlings-Jackson’s theory
regarding the retention of primitive reflexes was discussed in Chapter 2. He linked human
psychopathology and the ‘dissolution’ of the primitive reflexes. Gieysztor (2018), Goddard
(1996) and McPhillips (2004), also discussed in Chapter 2, have linked achievement in
educational settings with the retention of primitive reflexes. The group of participants in this
research showed higher than expected levels of retained primitive reflexes as presented in
Section 4.2. Testing of three primitive reflexes showed that this group were more likely to have
retained their TLR and/or ATNR reflexes than Spinal Galant. Whilst it is not fully understood
how reflexes integrate, both the TLR and ATNR reflexes are postural based, relying on
opportunities to complete their integration through movement. It is possible that this group of
participants did not have as many movement opportunities available to them after the
earthquakes. Playgrounds were damaged, parents were anxious about children being close, sports
facilities were closed, and parents were coping with the stress of damaged houses so less-able to
spend time seeking movement opportunities for their children. Another possibility to consider is
that current lifestyle and culture may have an impact, as children generally have fewer
opportunities to move and engage in physical activity than earlier generations. They are
transported by car from place to place (45% of children in NZ used active transport to school in
2016, e.g., biking or walking (Ministry of Health, 2018)), they spend hours in front of screens,
(50% of children watched two or more hours of television each day in 2016 (Ministry of Health,
2018), locking their eyes and bodies into stressed positions.

The third reflex tested, Spinal Galant, is triggered and partially integrated, by touch. It is possible
that as a result of the earthquake the children, as infants, were held closer, tighter and more often,
by their parents than may have been the case if the earthquake had not occurred, which may have
assisted the Spinal Galant to integrate more fully than either the TLR or ATNR. The complexity
of the retained primitive reflex issue has been considered in the design of the research, giving
high value to capturing data relating to both achievement and behaviour. The results show that
the reflex profile of the children reduced when RMT movements were used four or more times
per week showing greater levels of integration.

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Also, previously mentioned, the participant children in this research were either in utero or
young when the Canterbury earthquakes struck (Figure 4.3). This sets them apart from other
New Zealand children, making their chronosystem, as described by Bronfenbrenner
(Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Guhn & Goelman, 2011), relevant to their developmental path. There
were changes to the range of activities these children had available to them, swimming pools
were closed and playgrounds damaged. Parents were focused on home repairs and it is possible
that they devoted less time to the play and sport of their children. Thelen’s (Spencer et al., 2006)
theories place importance on the early movements children make, but for many of these children,
the movement opportunities may have been reduced due to the timing of their birth or their time
as toddlers. The quality of the microsystems and mesosystems were disrupted for some children
and as Bronfenbrenner believes, the quality of the interactions within a child’s ‘systems’
influence development.

SES and Reflex Retention. Previous studies (Brown, 2010; McPhillips & Jordan-Black,
2007a) relating to retained primitive reflexes and student achievement have focused on children
from low SES groups. These researchers observed the prevalence of retained primitive reflexes
to be higher in these groups. However, there are also children in higher SES groups with reflex
issues and having these children represented in this research was considered valuable. Maternal
stress and birth stress have the potential to affect all children and the RMT intervention was
viewed in this way. With research showing higher levels of primitive reflex retention in children
from low SES backgrounds due to increased levels of maternal stress and lack of resources to
mediate the stress, the effect on this section of the population could be higher. The results for this
group of participants showed that overall there was no statistically significant difference between
the reflex profiles of children with different SES although the children in the middle SES group
showed statistically higher levels of retained reflexes than the lower SES group. The possible
explanation for this is that the Canterbury earthquakes affected the whole area, and many of the
children in the research had experienced that event. The low decile area was particularly affected
and it is possible that more families moved away from the area, and the high decile area was not
so severely affected. However, this research did not set out to answer questions surrounding the
trauma of an earthquake and the relationship to retained reflexes. What is highlighted is that
children from all backgrounds have the potential to experience retained primitive reflexes.

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 Gender and Reflex Retention. Males have been over-represented in studies of learning
and behaviour challenges (Kerneža & Košir, 2016; Venkata & Panicker, 2013). They have also
been identified as having higher retained primitive reflex profiles when compared with females
(Callcott, 2012; Jordan-Black, 2005). Table 4.9 showed male students with higher levels of
reflex retention and this is similar to results found by Callcott (2012). However, statistically
significant levels were not detected between male and female students. It is unclear why this
research does not support the findings of others (Jordan-Black, 2005; McPhillips & Jordan-
Black, 2007b) who only tested the ATNR. Grzywniak (2017) and Goddard-Blythe (2005) tested
multiple primitive reflexes but neither researcher reported on gender as a variable. Gender
variability is an area where greater understanding would be gained through further research. Do
males retain reflexes other than the ATNR at higher levels than females? Within a school setting,
it is possible that male students could receive additional targeted assistance, but the levels of
primitive reflex retention shown in this research were such that female students could also
benefit. Hughlings-Jackson’s (Konicarova & Bob, 2013b) theory linking psychopathology and
retained primitive reflexes provides an additional approach to diagnoses such as ADHD.
Alongside established treatment procedures, the consideration of retained primitive reflexes as a
possible maturity inhibitor would be worth considering as in Perry and Hambrick’s (2008)
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (Section 2.3).

4.3 RMT in the Classroom

This section reports on the perceptions of teachers and parents in relation to the use of RMT in
the classroom and the length of time the movements were used. The relationship between using
RMT in the classroom and the NZ Curriculum is also highlighted (Ministry of Education, 2007).
Seven teachers were interviewed for this research using a semi-formal interview process
described in Chapter 3. Agatha had been using RMT with her class for 18 months, and the other
six teachers had been using RMT for 10 months at the time of the interview. All teachers had
between five and 25 years of classroom teaching experience giving them the ability to compare
classes of a similar age from different years.

The teacher comments in Section 4.3 reflect the use of the movements in two situations. As
described in Chapter 3, four teachers used the movements where they had a control group and an
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intervention/movement group within their class. Nikau was a single teacher class, Pōhutukawa
was a 40-child class with two teachers and Kauri was a 69-child class with three teachers. Two
teachers at Kauri did not directly experience the control/intervention experience, Betty used the
movements all year with her group and Stanley used them for five weeks with his group.
However, all children in the 69-child class were taught by all three teachers. Agatha was not part
of the data-gathering group of schools and so did not experience the intervention/control
situation.

Six of the seven teachers commented that the movements were easy to use within their
classroom. These six teachers all answered this question quickly and with an enthusiastic tone
(observations November, December 2017). When asked what it was like to use RMT in their
classroom they made the following comments:
It has been good. Iris has been very good at finding wee moments during the day
that we can do that (Mildred).
It was certainly was a big commitment that I wanted to focus on and get right, so we
did spend a lot longer doing them initially, getting the right movements and getting
the children to do them the correct way (Agatha.)
Oh, good, easy. We do it normally after lunch and they'll know, and they'll find a
find a space for "Tessa's exercises" and L (child) comes, gets my phone and they
run it themselves. They all know what they are doing. It's lovely. So, it is great.
They know what they are doing. They've got it down to a fine art, they (the
movements) are working really well. They (the children) are comfortable with them
(Iris).
Without prompting, the teachers also commented that as well as being easy to use they wanted to
carry on with the movements next year.
It has been very easy. Once the children knew the exercises, I just set them to it
every morning…. Nothing was hard. It was so easy to do every day and there were
never any issues. So simple that we ... I'd like to carry on next year... (laughs)
(Gwen).
Good. Yep, Good. I think I was probably the most consistent because I started off.
And it is something I am going to do next year, carry it on (Betty).
Fine, it was quick and easy. Once we got into a little routine, it got a bit easier. And
they yeah, it was a lot easier when we could just do the whole class, rather than the
core group (Edith).
Edith had a group where half of the children were completing the movements and the other half
were in the control group. Edith’s teaching space was next to Betty (her group completed the
movements all year). Several teachers made similar comments about managing the divided

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group. At the completion of the data gathering, five of the seven teachers started the following
year using the movements with their class. They commented that it was so much easier with the
whole group doing the movements from the start of the year.

The teacher who found the movements challenging to establish was Stanley in Kauri 3. His
group of children had been assigned as the control for the 69-child class and as already stated
there were challenges in establishing the routine.
Yeah, they knew what to do because I think they had seen others and had a little bit
of exposure. But I think for this class it was hard to get the consistency with it,
because I am away one day of the week, and then if (the relief teacher) doesn't pick
it up, or if I am away because of appointments and stuff, it's hard to get it consistent
(Stanley).

During visits to each school, the accuracy with which the children were completing the
movements was checked. Individual children were helped by a teacher or the researcher when
needed, but mostly they appeared to willingly start their movements. It was evident that many
children enjoyed the movements when the researcher returned the following year to help them
get started. Many children gave encouraging exclamations such as “Yeah” and “I like those”.
One child was asked why he liked the movements and he said: “‘cos they make me feel nice”.
The ability to engage children and teachers is an important aspect in the implementation of a
programme that uses classroom time. However, additions to a classroom must also add value to
the curriculum and these are highlighted in the next section.

4.3.1 The New Zealand Curriculum and RMT.

The NZ Curriculum is the document used in New Zealand as the basis for programme
development and learning within classrooms (Ministry of Education, 2007). General Key
Competencies are provided in the document and each learning area has more specific
competencies detailed for each level. Curriculum areas are integrated and the Key Competencies
are also woven through all curriculum areas. Figure 4.5 shows the five key competencies as
documented in the NZ Curriculum: thinking, using language, symbols and texts, managing self,
relating to others and participating and contributing. Aspects of RMT as they relate to the
competencies are reported and expanded upon within the sections of this Chapter. Using

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language, symbols and texts are competencies not directly targeted in the completion of the
movements, but in Chapter 5 the results of achievement tests show changes in children’s
relationship with language and text while they were using RMT. The complexity of the RMT
movements also falls within the health and physical education competencies of the NZ
Curriculum. Practising the RMT movements can increase children’s physical abilities and well
as increasing muscle tone. Physical abilities were not tested as part of this research but reflex
integration has been reported to improve gross motor skills (Grzywniak, 2017) and fine motor
skills (Brown, 2010). In two classrooms children were counting in their heads the number of
repetitions of each movement and this is aligned with one of the mathematics competencies –
counting forwards and backwards. There is an opportunity for the teacher to choose the place the
children start counting from and in which direction they count. For example: “Start counting at
50 and stop at 80” or “Count backwards from 30”.

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 •Deciding which RMT •Deciding which RMT
exercise feels right for exercise feels right.
their body.
•Deciding which order to
•Counting the repetitions complete the exercises.
in their heads.

Thinking Managing
self

Using language, symbols and text

Participating
Relating to
and
others
contributing •Having an opportunity to
•Negotiating space in the be the timer of the
classroom to complete exercises.
the exercises. •Offering suggestions to
children that help them
•Being mindul of others
complete the exercises
and their need to successfully.
complete the exercises. •Teaching the exercises to
new children in the class.

Figure 4.5. RMT in relation to NZ Curriculum key competencies.

4.3.2 Number of days completing RMT movements

How long do children need to complete RMT and when will changes start to be noticed? This
question is partially answered in this section, as without supporting evidence for RMT use, it was
an aspect that needed further investigation. The time it takes to integrate primitive reflexes has
many variables such as environment and nutrition (Blomberg, 2015) and these issues are not
included in this thesis. When integration of the primitive reflexes takes place, cognition is the
basis of action and development rather than reflexes. In the same way that a medical doctor taps
under the patient’s knee to assess the presence of a knee-jerk or patella reflex, primitive reflex
integration can be assessed through the physical tests described in Section 3.4. Fully integrated

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primitive reflexes will allow cognition to control execution of the demonstrated movement.
However, movement has been shown (Section 2.3) to assist the integration process and the
studies cited used their integration programme for one school year or more (Brown, 2010;
Goddard-Blythe, 2005; Grzywniak, 2017; McPhillips et al., 2000). This research does not answer
‘how’ the reflexes are integrated. Are there patterns in the order that reflexes integrate, and what
levels of individualisation are there? These are questions for further research. This research was
focused on the use of generic RMT movements, and recorded the changes in reflex profiles,
achievement and behavioural outcomes.

The number of days each group completed the RMT are shown in Figure 4.6. Holiday weeks,
when children were not at school, were excluded as the first phase (intervention/control) had two
weeks and the second phase (all using intervention) had four weeks’ holiday. While every effort
was made to make the intervention weeks the same, using different schools to increase the
diversity of the groups made this a challenging task. Within the first phase, the number of days
using RMT ranged from 52 to 88. During the second phase, when all the children were
completing RMT, the number of days ranged from 101 to 119. One group completed 35 days of
RMT due to teacher illness and a death in the researcher’s whānau (extended family). With the
movements not established within the classroom routine, it was difficult for the teacher in this
classroom to maintain RMT.

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 Number of days RMT completed throughout the
school year
250
Days completing RMT

200
35
150 106 107
100 187 195 195 101
160 153
50 81 88 52
0 0 0 0 0

School Groups

No Intervention Intervention

Figure 4.6. Number of days RMT used during the school year.

An educated estimate, based on researcher experience and in consultation with experienced RMT
users, was made as to the number of weeks the children would need to complete the movements
so differences would be noticeable. Table 4.9 shows that no statistical difference (p = 0.1844)
was detected when the reflex profiles of the two groups were compared over the year the
research was completed. This implies that duration alone, completing the movements, was not
the only factor that needed to be considered. The generic nature of the use of the movements is
presented in the next section: the frequency with which the movements are completed determines
the level of difference between the two groups in relation to the integration of primitive reflexes.

4.3.3 Frequency

Differing rates of the frequency with which the movements were completed each week in the
classroom was noted during the qualitative data gathering. The statistical analysis reported in
Section 4.2 showed that frequency was a factor in the reduction of the reflex profiles with
children using the movements four or more times per week showing greater levels of primitive
reflex integration (p = 0.018). The structure of the classroom and the demands of the daily
programme appeared to be determining factors. During the first phase, it was challenging for
Kauri to complete the movements as the participants were divided across teacher ‘home groups’
and additional teacher negotiation was required. The timing of assemblies and other large group

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activities also impacted on the completion of the movements. The ease with which the
programme was able to be integrated into the programme reflected the teacher engagement with
RMT. The teachers who managed to complete the movements four or five days a week noticed
greater changes in their children and this is reflected in the quantitative results for reflex profile
scores. As far as frequency of the completion of the movements, Agatha managed to complete
them five days, but Kauri 1 and 2 averaged three days per week and Pōhutukawa and Nikau
averaged four days per week.
Gwen found that RMT worked best for her if it was attached to the morning routine.
I would just set them to it every morning straight after roll call, they were all into
doing it (Gwen).
Agatha also completed the movements in the morning on most days. She adapted the movements
to fit the school programme but gave RMT a high priority. Most mornings she did them after the
roll call, similarly to Gwen.
Five, we definitely do it every day. Sometimes it might depend on (whole school
activity) and things, we might just do one, backslides and one other (Agatha).
Term 2 was good, we would have done them three or four times a week at least,
probably the same for Term 3. And then this term (Term 4) we have done them
pretty much every day. So, it's, well they kind of expect it now (Iris).
The time required to complete the movements was approximately five minutes and the teachers
were able to find that amount of time in their day. No additional equipment was required, and the
teachers had set their classroom spaces so there was enough room for the children to lie down on
the floor. The teachers saw this ‘ease of set-up’ as a positive of the programme. They commented
that they liked not having to use or find additional equipment and this allowed flexibility in
relation to timing.

As reported in Section 4.2 (Table 4.6) a statistically significant difference (p = 0.018) was
detected between the group that completed the movements four or more times per week and the
group that completed the movements less than four times per week in relation to their reduction
in reflex profile scores. Table 4.4 showed a greater reduction in the mean scores of the
intervention group and the four or more times per week group at the mid-point of the research
when only half the children were completing RMT. However, the reduction in reflex profile was
greater at the end of the year: control went from 4.11 (2.27) to 2.24 (2.02) and the children
completing RMT for four or more times per week went from 4.37 (1.93) to 1.13 (1.57). This

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implies that the reduction in reflex profiles scores increases with an extended time completing
RMT and with a higher frequency. Frequency and RMT issues are also reported in Chapter 5 in
relation to student achievement.

4.3.4 Motivation

Motivating children to do something that is too challenging or something they don’t like for
some reason adds stress for a busy teacher (Farmer, 2018; Rideout & Koot, 2009). For this
reason, the level of motivation towards RMT was of interest to the researcher. When asked about
motivation to do the movements teachers said that they found the children were easy to motivate.
No, like they all wanted to do it. So, some of the children who joined later on in the
year, they just picked them up from the other children and they just joined in
(Gwen).
Really good and I just cannot believe how quickly the children have picked it up
and are doing it properly, it's just amazing (Agatha).
At Pōhutukawa they had different children leading the movements, and it was viewed as a quiet
moment in the day.
The children like leading that, you saw that (by) using the timer and having
different children lead it. Yea, it's very normal for them to do that and it is, you talk
about mindfulness and being able to just have a moment to stop, and so something
that is sort of thoughtful and that has been that for us, which has been nice this year.
So, I liken it to a mindful moment each day (Mildred).
Betty also used children to run the movements and a timer helped them know when to change.
I have got that wee timer and I stick it on and they do that (Betty).
Edith felt that by the end of the year the children were tired, and they needed additional
monitoring.
You've still got to go around and make sure, you know at the end they were just
getting a bit lazy. So, it was just more hands on. But it is very quick. Super quick
(Edith).

Another aspect of motivation that was considered was that the children were given a choice as to
which movement they completed. This aspect of RMT fits with the NZ Curriculum key
competency of thinking (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 12). Children have an opportunity to be
creative, critical thinkers based on their experience and feedback about the movements from their
bodies. As has been mentioned in Section 3.2, giving children choices is an aspect of the
programme that sets it apart from other programmes. There is a belief (Dempsey, personal
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communication, January 14, 2016) that children will choose what they need and begin where
they are capable and confident. With increased skills, more challenging movements may be
undertaken. Several teachers felt they wanted the class to complete all five movements,
especially when there were children who could not accurately complete all the movements. At
Kauri, children were able to choose the two movements they wanted to complete. However,
Edith’s concern was that the children were only doing the movements that they could manage
easily. She made the following comments:
I don't know about (the children choosing their exercises) ‘cos they were all
choosing very similar ones. And it was the easy ones, the rocking, the feet, very
rarely, that really hard one, the back sliding. But that would probably have been the
area I thought (needed because) they couldn't do it properly. But they never picked
it because it was the hardest (Edith).
Another teacher was concerned that children with lower levels of physical skills would find the
movements hard.
I think the only other thing that comes across is that, in terms of kid’s motor skills,
or their actual ability to successfully, or accurately do the movement. Like some
kids, they are not so limber, so they can't get their knees to the floor to do the
window wiper thing, or especially the one where they are laying on the back with
our feet up (back slides). That in itself is a technique that they just need to, you
almost need to take a group aside and say, “Ok we are going to just practise”
(Stanley).
Stanley’s children were in the class that completed the movements for the shortest time. They did
not reach a stage where they had learned all the movements and were then able to choose their
preferred movement.

Parent comments about motivation. Parent perspectives have been valued as part of this
research as they may see aspects of their children’s development that a teacher may not be aware
of. Parents were asked if their children had said anything about the movements at home. Of the
26 parents interviewed, 25 parents made comments that their children liked the movements or
they said the children had not commented. The parents felt that the lack of comment was positive
as they would have been told if the movements were “really horrible”. They felt that their
children just viewed RMT as a normal part of the programme. Kelly asked her daughter about
her thoughts on the movements on the morning of the interview:
I actually asked her about that this morning and she sort of told me that she's been
doing stuff, exercises and that she had been enjoying them (Kelly).

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Kelly also said that her daughter did not really like the test where the pen ran down her back, but
otherwise, she enjoyed them. Sally’s daughter liked the process of the implementation of the
movements, as she felt she was able to achieve something with minimal pressure.
She likes the movements, I think it is something that is reachable for her and it is in
an environment, or I think the aspect of wanting her to achieve or accomplish it, I
think that is not as heavily weighed on, it is more of the environment of how it is
presented as well. Although it is not as demanding – “we have to do it”. So that in
itself, I think she enjoys. She doesn't have that pressure on her to be able to conform
and do what everyone else does (Sally).
Alex’s son liked the movements so much that he did them at home as well. He had also picked
up some reasons why he was doing the movements. He was very interested in improving his
sporting ability.
He does them at home. This is what we do. He lies down, "this helps with my
hips” and "this helps with this". Yeah. He is quite a fit, active boy (Alex).
Another child completed the movements at home once. Jane made the following observation:
I was doing some yoga at home, and you know I got out a mat for her, and I said
"Oh you can join in" and she said, "I can do my exercises from school”. So, she had
a wee go at them (Jane).
Kay’s son was in the single classroom where half the children were completing the movements
and the others were not. He could not understand why some children were doing the movements
and some were not, and he complained about them. This was the only negative comment about
the movements from the 26 parents interviewed.
At the start, he complained a few times (after having to do the movements) and
asked why he had to do it. It seemed to be a problem that some students did and
some didn't have to participate - it was hard to explain to him the concept of opting
out etc. But he must have become so used to it that this wore off after the first few
times! (Kay).

4.3.5 Timing

Teachers managed the timing of the movements within the existing routine of the classroom.
They were all shown the movements and then they were left to establish their own routine.
Teachers experimented with various times and ways of completing the movements to establish
what was most beneficial for them and their children. Betty and Edith at Kauri were in a 69-child
class and they tried different approaches but settled on doing them as individual groups during
the second phase.

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 You know for a while we got together, and it was crazy. Even tried it outside, but it
is not very comfortable (Betty).
They also worked out that for their children, first thing in the morning did not work as well.
Most of them are pretty good, especially when you go and praise them. But there
are always a few that are a bit non-compliant because if you do it first thing in the
morning they are a bit ratty. You know they have come in from issues at home and
yeah, so sometimes it is not the best time to do it (Betty).
Iris and Mildred at Pōhutukawa also tried different times of the day. They also found that first
thing in the morning did not suit their children:
At some stages, it was a particular time of the day, and then other times we have
just fitted it around the programme (Mildred).
Towards the end of the year, they had established that after lunch was the best time for the
children and the teachers. The children completed their movements and then went straight on to
their mathematics. It was interesting to note that the daily routine at Pōhutukawa was different
from traditional school routines in New Zealand. The lower decile school made a conscious
effort to meet the needs of the children. Children were sent to play after being in class, and then
they sat down to eat – traditionally in New Zealand children eat and then play. This research was
not focused on school routines, but Pōhutukawa’s approach was noted as it aligned with their
approach to finding the best time for the RMT movements. Other teachers timed the movements
with the roll or an activity at the beginning of the day, but Pōhutukawa, through experimentation,
established their ‘after lunch’ routine. This progresses the idea that placement of RMT is flexible
and can meet the needs of the group.

4.3.6 Focus

The ability of children to maintain attention or focus is known to improve their academic
outcomes (Ogg, Volpe, & Rogers, 2016). When children are focused they learn more effectively
and the teachers commented on this in relation to the use of RMT in the classroom. Agatha
noticed the difference in days when she had not completed the movements with her five-year-
olds.
The focus changed for the children having started the movements. I noticed when
we hadn't done them sometimes, I certainly noticed a difference straight away, that
they just could not concentrate, rolling around on the floor but as soon as I thought
“Oh, right let's do our exercises”, there would be a completely different tone. The
children were very engaged in their learning and were able to hold their focus for
longer periods of time (Agatha).

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Iris also noticed that the movements were able to settle the children after lunch.
It does settle them a lot, so after the exercises, they settle down and they are ready
to learn which is lovely (Iris).
This noticing of an increase in the children’s ability to focus has potential to change the rate of
skill development in areas that are not considered in this research.

The researcher noticed that children were not able to maintain the rhythm of the movements
initially. This may have been an indication of an inability to focus on both the movements and
keeping the rhythm. Rhythm has been identified as an important aspect of development (Hannon
& Trehub, 2005; Phillips-Silver, 2009; Thelen, 1981) and it was noticed over the year that the
children’s ability to maintain the rhythm improved. Children’s musical skills were not assessed,
but it is an area that would be interesting for further research. Collins (2014) completed research
into music education and brain development. Positive development was observed in musicians
who had weekly instrument lessons for two or more years. Did these musicians have any retained
primitive reflexes and how would their music experience change if the reflex issues were
addressed? This would have implications for music teachers when they have children who are
challenged by the physical skills associated with learning an instrument, as well as children who
do not have the ability to maintain a beat.

4.3.7 Discussion

The findings and results in this research, in relation to RMT in the classroom, support
Bronfenbrenner’s (2005; Rosa & Tudge, 2013) bio-ecological theory. His process-person-
context-time (PPCT) theory can be applied to primitive reflexes and RMT, with links to
proximal processes, as the regular progression of interactions between the individual and the
objects and symbols within their immediate environment (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). A child’s
primitive reflexes progress typically when the environment is conducive to such progression and
within Bronfenbrenner’s model, they would be considered a proximal process. The level of
primitive reflex integration was tested in this research. The child’s trip or lack of it down the
birth canal and the child’s movement opportunities after birth are considered part of the
processes that allow the primitive reflexes to integrate. However, as described previously, a

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child’s exposure to stress factors before and after birth can lead to an interruption of the primitive
reflex integration process, thus viewed as part of a proximal process.

The ‘person’ aspect of the model relates to the child’s characteristics that influence how they
interact with the proximal processes. In drawing on the hermeneutic tradition, several questions
can be raised: does the child engage in and initiate physical activity that facilitates primitive
reflex integration, or do they lie passively? Are they distracted easily, or do they become
frustrated? These ‘person’ characteristics could determine the developmental outcomes and
provide some explanation as to why two children with similar environments might have different
developmental outcomes.

The ‘context’ aspect of Bronfenbrenner’s theory relates to the interactions of the microsystems
(termed mesosystem), the exosystem (systems that influence the child but there is no direct
contact) and the macrosystem (culture and values) (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). In relation to primitive
reflex integration, the context can be seen as the stress in a family that may impact the child, the
amount of time and space given to the child to move (Thelen, 1981) and the importance placed
on recognising the issue of retained primitive reflexes in underachieving, behaviourally
challenged children. Based on further research, RMT could be viewed as an opportunity to
change the developmental path of children with retained reflexes. Finally, the ‘time’ aspect of
Bronfenbrenner’s theory relates to the historical period in which the child lives (Bronfenbrenner,
2005). Accepted styles of parenting and access to resources would fit this aspect, but as already
discussed, the Canterbury earthquakes and their impact on families made this a significant ‘time’
in these children’s lives. Bronfenbrenner believed that development was influenced by the child
and its interaction with the environment, with a secure, higher socio-economic background
providing greater opportunity for the proximal processes to support development.

A pragmatic approach enables Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT theory to be explored more extensively.

While quantitative data would give an indication as to how the child/person achieved within the
school/context in relation to primitive reflex integration and the use of RMT, it is the qualitative
findings that add additional meaning and depth of understanding to the theory. Quantitatively,
the results show a reduction in reflex profiles when RMT is used in this generic approach four or
more times per week, but these results do not indicate that the programme was easy for teachers
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to use nor that the children engaged willingly. If, as Bronfenbrenner implies (Rosa & Tudge,
2013), children can influence their developmental pathway, then engagement within
microsystems is important and has the opportunity to influence outcomes.

RMT was placed into the sociocultural environment of the classroom according to Vygotsky’s
theories (Edwards, 2017; Kozulin, 2004; Vygotsky, 1978). The programme’s success depended
on its ability to accommodate this style of learning and acquisition of knowledge, while being
supported by Vygotsky’s theory that children need to actively participate in their learning
(Edwards, 2017; Vygotsky, 1978). It has been assumed that seven and eight-year-olds are
unlikely to discover movements that integrate retained primitive reflexes the way an infant does
(Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). This places an importance on Vygotsky’s theories around the
MKO (teacher) and their knowledge about RMT and the ZPD where the teacher assists in the
learning of the movements, taking children from the place where they can complete a version of
the movements, to being able to complete the movements accurately. It is also possible that
children learned to complete the movements more accurately from the children around them.
Teachers found the movements easy to learn and they were able to pass on their knowledge to
the children. The teachers were able to adapt RMT to the sociocultural learning environment.

RMT and its affinity with the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) were presented
(Figure 4.5). It is important that if New Zealand teachers are to consider using RMT, it needs to
align with and support key competencies within the curriculum. In the literature review it was
reported that teachers support the need for movement based activities in the curriculum (Dyson
et al., 2018; Gehris et al., 2015; McLachlan et al., 2017; Morgan & Hansen, 2008). However
teachers identified a lack of resources and confidence as reasons it was challenging for them to
provide physical activity. RMT required minimal resourcing and teachers reported it was ‘easy to
use’. The possibility that the movements can be self-directed is an important factor in this
programme. Having students take greater control of their learning is a focus of the curriculum
document and RMT may be able to be used to support student learning in mathematics, health
and physical education. The original aim of the research was intended to focus on the child and
their outcomes. However, as data were gathered additional benefits became apparent such as
supporting curriculum goals.

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 Number of days completing RMT. The amount of time engaged in the movements was
considered as part of the research design. Through discussion with Dempsey (personal
communication, January 14, 2016) it was decided that five months was a reasonable length of
time to be able to see differences in children’s behaviour and achievement. As no research
focused on the effectiveness of RMT was found this was an estimate. The results show there was
an improvement in mean scores of the reflex profiles after 94 days, but greater improvements
were observed after 216 days. Similar research in this area was conducted for nine months
(Grzywniak, 2017), one year (Brown, 2010; Goddard-Blythe, 2012; McPhillips et al., 2000) and
two years (Jordan-Black, 2005) with participants completing the movements five times each
week. The results in this research support their findings that there were significant differences
between intervention and control groups after one year. In this research, a statistically significant
difference between the groups after 94 days was not detected but statistically significant
difference was detected between the four or more times per week and less than four times per
week groups at the end of the research. This indicates that when using RMT in a generic way,
one year using the movements is associated with greater change. It is acknowledged that having
the control group begin the movements after 94 days may have in fact reduced the differences
between the groups. However, this advances knowledge around frequency and length of time
needed to complete the generic use of RMT.

The differences between the structures of the classrooms presented challenges for teachers in
implementing RMT with the divided groups. Dividing the groups was viewed as essential to
ensure the reliability of the results. In studies where different classrooms were compared
(Brown, 2010; Reynolds et al., 2003) there has been criticism that the positive results could be
attributed to different teaching quality and styles (McPhillips, 2003; Richards et al., 2003;
Singleton & Stuart, 2003; Whiteley & Pope, 2003). The classrooms in this research were divided
into two groups, control and intervention, and the possible ‘teacher effect’ was reduced.
However, as will be shown in the next section, this approach was challenging for teachers,
especially in the 69-child classroom. Negotiating times with other teachers had to be managed,
and there was an increased waiting time for groups to join together. This is a factor associated
with the New Zealand Government’s move towards Innovative Learning Environments (ILE)
(Ministry of Education, n.d.) (described in Section 3.4) and the challenges associated with these

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classrooms. The teachers worked around the issues knowing the divided groups were required
for a finite time and increased the validity of the research.

Frequency and Motivation. Using RMT within a classroom setting is the focus of this
section. It addresses aspects of the over-riding research question relating to the influence RMT
has in the classroom and how it fits within the curriculum and the physical constraints of the
classroom. As noted in Chapter 2 and above, Bronfenbrenner’s (1997; Rosa & Tudge, 2013)
process-person-context-time theory discusses the influences the child and the immediate
environment have on their development. Giving a child an opportunity to change the level of
retained primitive reflexes they are experiencing could be seen to change the child’s
developmental path by increasing their levels of maturation through primitive reflex integration.
Using Bronfenbrenner’s theory that links the environment and a child’s development (Rosa &
Tudge, 2013), this research places a high value on the ease with which RMT can be placed in the
child’s environment: their microsystem. The importance of the teacher’s role is also highlighted
when the context includes the school. In this research, the teacher’s relationship with RMT and
the implementation of the programme for the child becomes part of the child’s mesosystem: two
microsystems interacting with each other. If RMT was challenging to implement within the
classroom then the opportunity for the children to affect their development might be lost.
Teacher engagement with the programme was reflected in the reflex profile results, again
reinforcing the link between microsystems and mesosystems and their impact on the child’s
development. When applying Vygotskian theory (Kozulin, 2004; Schneider & Watkins, 1996;
Vygotsky, 1978) to teacher involvement, the teacher is assessing the ‘zone of proximal
development’ determining the level at which the child can solve the RMT decision of which
movement they use and in what order, while providing adult support. Vygotsky believed that the
child could achieve greater success with the right level of adult guidance, peer collaboration and
independence. RMT offers opportunities for independent decision-making thus supporting social
and emotional skills.

In this research, teachers found RMT easy to use. They set their classrooms so there was space
for the children to complete the movements and the amount of time required each day was
manageable within the curriculum. These aspects are crucial when teachers are considering using

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movement programmes. However, the space in all classrooms was limited and children needed
to negotiate their space in relation to others, be considerate of others and understand that there
was no competitive element in these movements. In the New Zealand (NZ) Curriculum (Ministry
of Education, 2007) the key competency being addressed is relating to others. Students also saw
teachers testing alternatives, such as completing the movements outside and acting on the
feedback which is a component of this competency. When equipment and additional resources
are required for daily movements, the set-up time and pack-up time needs to be factored in.

Many schools offer PMP programmes as described in Chapter 2, but they are often only offered
in the winter terms. Like eating vegetables and doing music practices, a daily dose of RMT is
more likely to be effective than spasmodic programmes run at certain times of the year (e.g. for
two winter terms) (Klomp, 2012). The Australian UP programme (Williams, 2015) described in
Section 2.2, completed on a daily basis, was one programme that showed positive student
achievement results. As is shown in this research, with a small amount of time required, once a
day, it is possible that RMT would have a higher chance of being completed daily. One teacher,
Agatha, managed to complete some RMT each school day, while three others managed four to
five days a week and two teachers managed three to four times per week. This frequency of the
movements would seem to be an essential part of the success and the statistically significant
difference between the groups that reportedly completed the movement four to five times per
week when compared to those that reported completing them three to four times per week was
noticed. A meta-analysis of massed versus distributed practise as described by Donovan and
Radosevich (1999), found that distributed practise achieved statistically higher levels of motor
skill acquisition and retention, with an overall effect size of 0.46. They stressed that the type and
complexity of the activity determined how far apart the practices should be spaced. Küpper-
Tetzel’s (2014) analysis of distributed practise research found multiple, distributed practices a
useful approach within the classroom, especially for cognitive tasks such as mathematics and
science, although she stressed that there is not a full understanding of how and why this practice
method is successful. When the children in this research used RMT for distributed practices of
five minutes per day, four to five times per week it was associated with lowered reflex profiles
thus indicating that regular, distributed practice of RMT is associated with increased primitive
reflex integration. This research has not assessed how or why this happens but it supports

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research conducted by McPhillips et.al. (2000) and Goddard-Blythe (2012) using primitive reflex
integration programmes for five days a week.

While the feedback from teachers obtained about the programme was mostly positive, setting the
programme up within the classroom routine did take some time and it is possible that this could
have impacted the results of the first phase, control/intervention. Previous experience to guide
teachers was minimal and they had to establish the routine of using RMT themselves. This
appears to have taken some time, and it became clear that during the second part of the year
RMT management was easier. Another factor was that teachers had minimal training in the
information underlying the use of RMT and the issue of primitive reflex integration. This was a
deliberate action so that their knowledge would be less likely to influence their use of the
movements and what they said to the children. Gazca’s research (2012) found that with a greater
understanding of the reflex integration issues and the implications, teachers had increased
commitment to the movements. Agatha had expressed interest in RMT and had asked to use the
movements in her class. She engaged the researcher in conversations about how the movements
worked and how to manage them with the group. The number of times she used the movements
each week (four or more) showed a high level of commitment to the programme. Her perception
was that the student results were higher when RMT was used. This has implications for teacher
education in relation to the use of RMT. If teachers understand the reflex processes and the signs
of reflex integration as well as knowing about possible solutions it is more likely that they may
engage in the programme.

The engagement of children completing RMT was observed by teachers and the researcher.
Teachers commented that children were generally easy to motivate to complete the movements.
Bronfenbrenner believes that a child can influence their development (Rosa & Tudge, 2013)
through his person-process-context-time (PPCT) theory and this will be more likely to happen if
the child is easily engaged in a process that may facilitate development. If teachers see the
engagement of the ‘person with the process’ then they are more likely to provide ‘context’ by
allocating classroom time. The researcher noticed a few children who physically struggled to
complete the movements, but with help from an adult and some adaptation, success was achieved
within the child’s ability range. This flexibility of the ‘process’ and the lack of a competitive

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element in the movements were seen by the teachers as strengths. There are many opportunities
at school for children to compete (e.g., sports competitions) and competition adds additional
stress and changes how the child completes an activity. The teachers liked the fact that each child
was able to complete the movements as an individual in a relaxed manner. Having each child
work at their own level and with an element of choice, fits with the child-centred learning
philosophy of the New Zealand Curriculum; life-long learners who are actively involved in their
learning (Ministry of Education, 2007). The parents’ comments about motivation also support
the high levels of engagement. RMT fits within Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT theory when the
motivation of the learner within their environment is considered. Goddard-Blythe (2012)
believes that retained reflexes can be integrated through movement and she has shown a
reduction in learning difficulties through this process. When Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT theory is
combined with Goddard’s findings, the RMT programme gives rise to the possibility that
children with retained reflexes may be able to alter their developmental path.

In relation to children’s motivation and engagement, Vygotsky’s theories (as discussed in

Section 2.6) relating to the MKO and ZPD were evident (Daniels, 2017; Vygotsky, 1978;
Wertsch, 1985). Children needed the skills of the MKO to learn and manage the task, and they
were able to participate in their learning of the movements as well as observing others
completing the movements. Vygotsky viewed the social context of learning as paramount and
RMT was shown to be used successfully in the sociocultural environment.

The generic implementation of the RMT movements within the classroom for this research is a
possible limitation. For some children, the chosen movements will have enabled greater
integration and for others, there may be limited or no benefit. Choosing four movements from a
possible 17 was problematic and it is possible that for some children the correct movements were
not offered. Teacher workloads and the unproven nature of RMT were the basis for limiting the
movements offered. This is something future research could investigate. The RMT programme is
typically used in individualised therapeutic settings that can respond to individual needs
(personal communication, Blomberg, Dempsey, July 2018), however, this research was focused
on the effect of generalising the programme to a wider group. Another factor for consideration
was differences between approaches; allowing children to choose their movements and the

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teacher prescribing movements was not measured but is another area for possible research. It
may be possible that to meet teacher desire to choose the movements, along with children being
allowed to choose their preferred movement by mixing teacher and child chosen movements.
This approach would ensure children had opportunities to experience all the movements on offer,
but also have time to engage in their preferred movement.

Timing. Another strength of the RMT programme observed in this research was the
flexibility with which it could be completed. Teachers could fit RMT around their programme
and what they believed worked best for their children. Two teachers in high SES schools
completed the movements at the beginning of the day after the roll had been called. The middle
SES school completed the movements during the morning and the low SES school completed
them in the afternoon. It seemed that the lower SES children needed more time to settle into the
day before the teachers believed it was beneficial to complete the RMT. This could relate to the
complexities of their lives outside the classroom, and the stresses at home, although this was not
investigated, and neither was it a focus of this research.

Involving the children in the management of the movements was viewed positively by teachers.
Agatha, Betty and Mildred all used children to manage the timing. This aligns with the key
competencies in the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) relating to participating,
contributing and managing self. RMT could be an additional opportunity for children to
experience leadership opportunities when engaged in this classroom activity. Gwen allowed her
children to choose two movements every day while Agatha, Betty and Mildred allowed a degree
of choice; sometimes they chose and sometimes the children chose. This flexibility is seen as a
strength when child-centred learning is a focus and allows teachers to meet the needs of their
children, while also giving the children some ownership relating to the movements they choose.
It also aligns with the key competency managing self (Ministry of Education, 2007), children
being offered an opportunity to manage their own movements and make plans as to which
movements they will complete: “Do I feel like challenging myself with a harder movement? Or
“Today I need to take it easy!” Dempsey (personal communication, January 14, 2016) believes
that children will choose the movement they need and will complete the amounts they need. This
approach aligns with constructivist theories as described by Hmelo-Silver, Duncan and Chinn

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(2007), where children construct their own knowledge. With RMT, children can adjust the
movements based on preferences. RMT also allows for inquiry-learning (IL). Students engage in
experiences to increase their understanding and there is some form of scaffolding provided by
adults. Scaffolding involves making learning accessible to learners by presenting manageable
tasks appropriate to the student’s stage of skill development. Hmelo-Silver et al. (2007) believe
that this approach to learning has greater opportunities for student engagement. Vygotsky also
believed that children constructed their own knowledge through social interaction (Vygotsky,
1978) and with assistance from more-skilled individuals. RMT can be taught and experienced
one movement at a time and there is no prescribed order or form. Agatha and Edith commented
that they preferred to choose the movements as they felt that the children were choosing easy
movements and avoiding the harder ones, and possibly the ones they needed most. The teachers
would be able to make this approach work as well. However, Dempsey (personal
communication, January 14, 2016) believes that it is acceptable for the children to complete the
easy ones if that is what they feel like doing. Further research comparing children who
completed a chosen set of movements and children who were free to choose would be needed to
verify these comments and perceptions.

Focus. Research focused on children’s ability to maintain attention in their learning environment
links engagement, motivation and interpersonal skills, known as academic enablers, with student
achievement (Ogg et al., 2016). Ogg et al. found that children who were inattentive were more
likely to have lower levels of achievement in literacy than children who were motivated and
engaged in their learning. Children with ADD and ADHD inattention can display a lack of
motivation and engagement as noticed by teachers (Mather & Morris, 2008; Ogg et al., 2016).
The teachers in this research noticed that when the children were using RMT there was an
increase in the children’s level of focus and attention. Agatha noticed a marked difference in
focus levels between days when the movements were completed and days when they were not.
Iris also noticed that the movements calmed the children and enabled them to be ready for
learning. When children are able to focus on tasks there was higher engagement and greater
progress achieved (Dehn, 2008) which could apply across all areas of the curriculum. It is
possible that some of the improved results described in Chapter 5 are due to the increase in
children’s ability to focus on the task. Taking time to relax, as in mindfulness, has been shown to

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increase children’s ability to focus and reduce their stress (Costello & Lawler, 2014). The
quietness associated with completing the movements along with their repetitive nature may be
part of the reason why teachers reported increased focus and calm in the children. If RMT can
aid children’s focus and attention there is value spending five minutes each day completing the
movements.

4.4 Summary of Chapter 4

The pragmatic paradigm used in this research has allowed the ‘whole child’ to remain in focus
for the reporting of the findings and results. This approach progresses information about the
possible outcomes of reflex integration programmes. The results show that reflexes integrated
while children were using RMT, but rich insights were gained through exploration of how the
programme was managed in the physical classroom, which areas of the curriculum it facilitated
and how teachers and student’s engaged with the movements. The convergent design of the
research allowed the data to be gathered throughout the year, with insights gained through the
teaching of the movements, the testing of the children and the monitoring phase of movement
usage in the classroom. RMT has been considered a phenomenon and exploring it’s usage within
its natural environment means these findings and results have practical implications for teachers.
There was a researcher expectation that RMT was manageable with a group of children, but each
teacher made different observations, thus progressing what is known about implementing RMT
in a classroom. There was a mix of approaches in relation to child-directed choosing of
movements. The hermeneutic circles allowed the data to be revisited and greater insight gained.

The findings and results progress the idea that RMT is easy to use in the classroom and is
flexible within the school programme. This has the possibility of increasing the likelihood that
teachers may incorporate the movements into their programme. Reflex profiles of the children
using RMT four or more times each week were significantly lower than children using RMT
fewer than four times each week indicating that a higher engagement with RMT increased the
integration of the retained primitive reflexes. The qualitative data supports the ease with which
RMT can be used and the quantitative data provides reflex profile results that show greater
primitive reflex integration after using RMT. However, these results were obtained by using four
of a possible 17 movements, and without using possible progressions such as vision training. It
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has been noted that this reduced selection may have influenced the results because some children
may not have had access to the movements they required.

The outcomes of RMT aligns with key competencies in the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of
Education, 2007) namely managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing. This
extends existing information. RMT also fitted within physical education and mathematics
competencies of the NZ Curriculum. While the time spent each day on RMT was relatively
small, it seems that regularity is an important factor. This aligns RMT with what is known about
distributed practise theory (Donovan & Radosevich, 1999; Küpper-Tetzel, 2014). Boys are
slightly more likely to have retained primitive reflexes, and for this research, the SES of a child
did not correlate with reflex retention. In line with Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT theory suggesting
that the child and their surrounding systems influence development, it is possible that reducing
the child’s reflex profile may affect their developmental pathway. Linking Bronfenbrenner’s
theories and RMT progresses the idea that RMT could be positioned within a microsystem thus
having the ability to influence development. The self-management aspect of RMT and links to
Vygotsky’s theories progress the notion that it is possible to allow children some self-direction in
a reflex integration programme. This element is not documented in other reflex integration
research and advances understanding in areas associated with self-management and reflex
integration programmes.

Chapter 5 focuses on achievement and behavioural outcomes of the research participants. Is it

possible that using RMT can affect reading, writing, mathematics scores as well neurological
development as measured by the Draw-A-Person and behaviour as measured by the Strengths
and Difficulties questionnaire? New Zealand teachers have indicated that they prefer ‘whole-
class’ interventions for the management of behaviour (Rideout & Koot, 2009) and the next
section adds to this information.

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 Chapter 5 Student Achievement and
Behaviour: Findings, Results and
Discussion
This is the second chapter combining findings, results and discussion. The first part of the
chapter focuses on student achievement. As described in Section 3.3, reading, writing and
mathematics assessments were collated and the Draw-A-Person test was used as an indicator of
neurological change. Parents also made comments about changes they noticed at home in
relation to the academic and sporting achievement of their children.

The research question addressed by the first section is:

 What influence does participation in an RMT programme have on student achievement:
reading, writing and mathematics?

Qualitative data are recorded first, followed by the quantitative results. Finally, a discussion on
student achievement draws the findings and results together in each section.

The second part of the chapter focuses on the social and emotional changes of the participants.
Vygotsky believed that social and emotional development are key components in the progression
of a child’s overall development (Vygotsky, 1978). This second section examines the research
question:
 What influence does participation in an RMT programme have on student behaviour:
social and emotional?

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 5.1 Student Achievement: Findings and Results
Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered throughout the research process relating to
student achievement. The range of tests and data gathered were intended to reflect the
complexity of retained primitive reflexes, assuming that children’s rates and area of change are
highly individualised. Integrating primitive reflexes in one child may influence their reading
development (McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b). For a second child, where the same
movements were completed, it is possible their reading was already progressing, but social
interactions were challenging. Establishing friendships for the second child might be a
significant development (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011). However, in schools, teachers and
policymakers are interested in student achievement thus this section addresses this aspect of
development. Student achievement is reported first followed by student behaviour. In both
sections the findings and results are reported separately with a combined discussion following.
As already discussed in Sections 3.3 and 3.4, the discussions follow a hermeneutic tradition.

5.1.1 Findings

Qualitative data for this research was gathered over 11 months. The researcher was in contact
with all participant teachers throughout the research process using field notes and interviews to
gather insights into student achievement. Parents provided additional perspectives. As described
in Chapter 3, this data was analysed with NVivo 11 (QRS International, 2015). Field notes
document teachers being enthusiastic about the commencement of the movements. At the mid-
point, there were guarded positive comments about student progress after completing testing in
preparation for parent-teacher interviews. The only teacher who was enthusiastic about her
children’s progress was Betty from Kauri School. She commented that at the mid-year
parent/teacher interviews she believed she had said to more than the normal number of parents
that “Your child has discovered that he/she is a learner”. Her impression was that this was not
something she said very often in the middle of the year, but it was more common at the end of
the school year. She also noted that there had been a marked improvement in the writing of the
children. Betty’s children were in the 69-child class, and her whole class had been completing
the movements. The other two teachers at Kauri said that things were “OK”, but they did not
give specific examples of improvements they had noticed the way Betty had. Gwen, from Nikau,

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was observed in the middle of the year talking with a child as she marked his work. She made the
following comment:
Now (child) we need to spend some time working on your focus so that your work
is easier for you to do. Are you doing Tessa’s exercises? (Child replied “No”).
Hmm, that is interesting. (Teacher looked at me with an expression of puzzlement
and interest, and then smiled) (Gwen).
It appeared that Gwen had connected an increase in children’s focus with the children who were
doing the movements and this child, who needed to focus more, was not in the intervention
group.

The tone of the teachers’ comments was noticeably different at the end of the year. Some noted
that there had been some challenges within their classes. Betty made comments about the year
and how it had been for the teachers, but her general feeling was that she was pleased with the
results, although she acknowledged the high emotional and social needs of her group.
We have got quite a few toileting issues and I have, (in my class) got behaviour and
learning issues and we have got another boy that had time at a children's home ‘cos
he's got family relationship issues. But the collaboration has worked really well. It
has been a long year. This term has been crazy. I have never had a term like it. We
seem to have been testing furiously. So, but you know, you look back at their
testing and we have done a lot of good teaching and learning, and the results have
really spoken for themselves (Betty).
Mildred acknowledged that the group of children were doing well at the start of the year, but she
noted some observable changes in individual children.
I can see the key competencies have increased, amazingly. Across the curriculum,
we started out within (the class) two-thirds of the children, at and above in all
subjects, so they were higher than a standard mix of children. But they are on track
and continuing with that…They are just really confident in the things that they like
to do. Which is lovely. I mean this child (pointing to video of a child dancing) was
completely shut down at the beginning of the year, quiet, and very anxious all the
time when she first started school and now, this year, because she's able to be
herself in the thing that she is extremely good at, and that confidence filters into
other areas of the curriculum and she's just happy (Mildred).
Iris commented on the improved confidence that children had displayed, and she believed this
increase impacted their academic achievement.
Just their confidence in themselves and being around other people. There were a lot
of children that were not like that at the start of the year. So, we are writing reports
for all of our Year 4’s and anniversary and interims for all the other children. From
where we started we have got one child that was reading a level 4 at the start of the
year who has shot up to level 14 reading. Maths we started at stage 2 and now the

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 lowest we have got is stage 4. What they are doing is amazing. Mildred takes the
high readers, she's got more at level 29 and 30 than we have below that which is
wonderful, everyone has improved out of this world, it is just wonderful to see the
results, and it is just lovely.
Researcher: And how does that compare to other years?
I have not seen such big jumps in children's achievement until this year. So yeah it
is lovely, lovely to see. (Iris)
Iris’s comment about the comparison of years was also of interest, but it needs to be
acknowledged that the programme they were offering was different to last year; more child-
centred learning and flexibility within the environment. However, Gwen had not had such
dramatic changes to her programme and her comments were similar to Iris’s. When asked about
the children’s results in general Gwen had this to say:
Very well academically, yes, they have all made some large gains. My special needs
student, in particular, has made astounding progress. But they have all made some
gains. Even kids, with behavioural needs. They have still managed to make some
gains. Some children have jumped three stanines (Gwen).
Gwen’s reference to ‘stanines’ is part of the Progressive Achievement Tests that are used in New
Zealand schools (New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER), 2018). Test scores are
converted to a scaled score and these scores are divided into nine levels of achievement within
the year group. Moving three stanines in a year would be considered an excellent achievement
result.

Stanley’s completion of the movements with his group was limited. As reported in Section 4.4,
Stanley’s group was initially in the control and then due to ill health and a death, his group only
established the movement routine for five weeks. His response to their achievement over the year
was guarded and spoken in a cautious, carefully worded manner.
Everything, ok (pause), I think when I came into this room the kids seemed very
unsettled. And now they seem a lot surer of themselves, both academically and
socially. Although they are not exactly where I would want them to be, they have
improved. There seems to be, particularly kids that don't know how to manage
themselves or socially know how best to interact with others (Stanley).

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 Parent comments. Parents made favourable comments about their children’s progress.
Two parents commented that their child had not had a very good year. One child was the
youngest in the class and the other was struggling socially. The parent believed her child’s
dislike of school was impacting on her academic work. However, other parents had noticed good
gains in their children’s academic progress, particularly in reading. Specific comments from
parents are presented in the reading observations in Section 5.1.4

5.1.2 Assessment - Results

Assessing student achievement is used in quantitative research. Standardised testing is preferred

as it provides the most reliable statistical information on which to establish evidence-based
interventions (Braden & Shernoff, 2008). In this research, information relating to four areas of
achievement were gathered: 1: neurological change, 2: reading, 3: writing, and 4: mathematics.
The researcher was mindful of the testing regime within the New Zealand school system
(children are tested at least three times each year for reading, writing, mathematics and spelling),
and to ensure the children were not ‘over tested’, achievement results from the teachers were
used. An assumption was made that because all the schools were part of the NZ National
Standards assessment system, as described in Chapter 3, the results would be able to be analysed
statistically. The schools were all able to report their results in a uniform way, reading levels,
mathematics levels and stages, and writing levels. However, two difficulties arose: firstly, the
assessments were standards-based with Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ) as a key component
and this means that what is being assessed changes as the child progresses; and secondly, the
steps indicated in the reading and mathematics levels were not linear. Writing was an area where
there appeared to be a linear progression of three steps each year.

As reported in Section 3.4 participants were assigned an average level of frequency as reported
by teachers. At time 0 control participants were excluded so that frequency scores reflected the
RMT effect. Control participants were given a frequency score when they began the movements.

5.1.3 Draw-A-Person (DAP)

The DAP test was used in this research to assess neurological change. The test has been
described in detail in Chapter 3. An established understanding of their body occurs alongside

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improved motor skills, which according to Thelen (1981; Thelen & Corbetta, 1996) and
Williams (2015) prepares children for academic learning. Neurological change can be expected
to happen when there are achievement changes. This test was viewed as part of the triangulation
of results.

DAP: Findings. Parents and teachers were not asked to comment on the DAP pictures,
but the researcher made some observations. The first time the test was taken the children were
very excited and keen to participate, the second time they were also willing to draw. However, it
was noticed that for the third test some children were tired, and it was more of an effort. This
final test was taken during the last few weeks of the school year when the classroom routines
were replaced with outings and end-of-year activities. This may have influenced some results
and it is possible that this test should have been completed one month earlier. Some children
made comments like “Oh not this again”. It appeared that there was some ‘test fatigue’ with the
third repetition.

Changes were noticed in the drawings. Some increased in size while others decreased. With
many of the drawings that decreased, there was an increase in detail and maturity in the drawing.
Figures 5.1 to 5.4 show examples of changes noticed in children’s drawings. Of interest were
drawings that were almost identical throughout the year. Two of these are in Figure 5.1. Both
children were in Kauri 3 where RMT was used for a short time and for less than four days per
week. The drawings remained the same size and the details included were similar. Student 90’s
drawings changed very little. There was one addition to the clothing, fingers were similar, but the
feet had shoelaces by the third drawing. Student 86 added fingers to the last drawing and
changed the positioning of the legs, but again the drawings are very similar.

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 Beginning Drawing Student 90. Middle Drawing Student 90. End Drawing Student 90.
group. Control group. Control group – movements
completed for 5 weeks 3 times
per week.

Beginning Drawing Student 86. Middle Drawing Student 86. End Drawing Student 86.
Control group. Control group. Control group – movements
completed for 5 weeks 3 times
per week.
Figure 5.1. Student drawings from the <4 times per week group.

Another child, Student 167, who was in the control group drew an almost identical drawing from
the first assessment to the second as is shown in Figure 5.2. The child then began the RMT
movements four or more times each week and the drawing changed noticeably: hands, feet and
items of clothing were added; and proportions were more accurate indicating an increased
awareness and perception of his body. However, the size of the drawings remained similar
throughout the year.

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 Beginning Drawing Student Middle Drawing Student 167. End Drawing Student 167.
167. Control group. Control group – movements
Control group. completed for 20 weeks 4-5
times per week.
Figure 5.2. Student 167's progression of drawings from beginning to end.

Student 31 was an example where extensive changes in her drawings were observed (Figure 5.3).
The first drawing is a very immature stick figure drawing, and the final drawing has two-
dimensional arms and legs, with a neck and waist. The mother of this child was one of the
parents interviewed and she commented on the many changes her daughter had made in reading,
writing, sports endeavours and social connectedness.

Beginning Drawing Student 31. Middle Drawing Student 31. End Drawing Student 31.
Intervention group. Intervention group. She was in a group that
completed the movements 4 –
5 times per week.
Figure 5.3. Student 31's drawings: beginning, middle and end.

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The final examples of drawings are Orla’s (Figure 5.4). She was a student with identified
learning challenges at Nikau School. She had been allocated some learning support, but not a full
school day. Orla was in the intervention group and appeared to like individualised contact with
the researcher. She would do the movements when the researcher was in the room which was
eight times during the first 94 days, but she would not do them when the researcher was not
there. She preferred to stay with the control children. The first drawing was completed
reluctantly and she refused to draw herself. Instead, she chose to draw the teacher’s dog. When
the time came for the second drawing, she refused. Another attempt was made a few days later
with the same response. At the end of the year she was willingly completing the movements as it
was a ‘whole class’ activity. When asked to complete the drawing she said “Sure” and then
quickly drew the drawing in Figure 5.4. She drew an even better one the following day but
would not allow it to be used. While it is not clear what made these changes for Orla, she was
completing RMT when there was a noticeable change in her academic skills, her social skills and
her behaviour. Her writing changes are illustrated in the Section 5.1.

Refused to draw at the mid-

point

Beginning Drawing Orla. Middle Drawing Orla. End Drawing Orla.

Intervention group although Intervention group. She started She was in a group that
she refused to do the the movements when the completed the movements 4
movements. whole class was involved. – 5 times per week.

Figure 5.4. Orla DAP drawings.

DAP: Results. DAP assessment procedures were described in Chapter 3. The mean scores in
Table 5.1 show overall increases in the DAP scores across the control (19.93 (5.70) to 25.00
(6.04)) and the intervention group (18.87 (6.82) to 26.04 (8.03)) indicating greater improvements

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for the intervention group. Scores were similar when the frequency was factored in. The group
using RMT less than four times per week went from 19.08 (4.14) to 24.72 (7.21) and the group
using RMT more than four times per week went from 21.11 (6.85) to 26.42 (7.06).

Table 5.1. Mean DAP Scores

DAP DAP Scores at Time 0 DAP Scores at Time 1 DAP Scores at Time 2
(Day 1) (Mid-point Day 94) (Completion Day 216)
Group Overall Males Females Overall Males Females Overall Males Females
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Control 19.93 19.17 20.77 23.33 21.63 25.18 25.00 23.54 26.95
(5.70) (4.82) (6.53) (7.61) (5.57) (9.13) (6.04) (6.09) (5.70)
Intervention
18.87 19.19 23.81 22.48 20.62 24.35 26.04 23.58 28.50
(6.82) (7.56) (6.13) (6.53) (5.94) (6.66) (8.03) (8.50) (7.36)
<4/week 19.08 19.11 19.06 21.99 20.09 23.83 24.72 23.32 25.82
(4.14) (5.17) (6.9) (7.56) (5.87) (8.58) (7.21) (7.50) (6.91)
>=4/week 20.11 19.33 21.08 25.22 23.47 27.42 26.42 23.75 30.15
(6.85) (8.69) (4.14) (4.79) (4.75) (4.01) (7.06) (8.04) (5.50)

Note. M = Mean SD = Standard Deviation

The scores of 18.87, 19.93 and 20.11 at the beginning equates to the mental age of 7 yrs 8 mths,
7 yrs 11 mths and 8 yrs respectively. The children’s chronological mean age was 6 yrs 11 months
at the beginning of the year (Table 5.2). The scores of 25.00, 26.04, 24.72 and 26.42 at the end of
the
Table 5.2. DAP Scores with Age in Years and Months

DAP with Age Time 0 Time 1 Time 2

Control 19.93 23.33 25.00
(7 yrs, 11 mths) (8 yrs, 9 mths) (9 yrs, 3 mths)

Intervention 18.87 22.48 26.04

(7 yrs, 8 mths) (8 yrs, 7 mths) (9 yrs, 6 mths)

Frequency<4/week 19.08 21.99 24.72

(7 yrs, 9 mths) (8 yrs, 6 mths) (9 yrs, 2 mths)

Frequency 20.11 25.22 26.42

>=4/week (8 yrs) (9 yrs, 3 mths) (9 yrs, 7 mths.)

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research equate to 9 yrs, 3 mths, 9yrs, 6 mths, 9yrs, and 9 yrs, 7mths (Appendix R). All groups
began the year at least nine months above their chronological age and in one year the control
group improved 16 months and the intervention group improved 22 months, whereas both the
less than four times per week and the four or more times per week groups improved 17 months.

However, the linear mixed-effect statistical Model 1: group was performed on the DAP scores
and detected no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p=0.0603) (Table
5.3). Age was not factored in the calculation as the change was of more interest to this researcher
than the scores relative to children of a similar age.

Table 5.3. Coefficient Estimates for DAP Using Model 1: Group

DAP Estimate Std - error t p-value

Expected response for the control 20.39 0.92 22.10 <0.0001
group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -1.32 1.26 -1.04 0.2973

of the Intervention and control
group at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to 4.95 0.83 5.91 <0.0001

the control group

Expected difference in the effect 2.17 1.14 1.88 0.0603

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

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Statistical significance was not detected when Model 2: Frequency was used (p = 0. 6523) as is
shown in Table 5.4.

Table 5.4. Coefficient Estimates for DAP Using Model 2: Frequency

DAP Estimate Std - error t p-value

Expected response for the 20.00 1.11 18.01 <0.0001
>=4/week group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.67 1.32 -.51 0.6099

of the <4/week and >=4/week
groups at day 0

Expected effect of adding days to 5.83 1.04 5.60 <0.0001

the >=4/week group

Expected difference in the effect .65 1.44 0.45 0.6523

of adding days for <4/week and
>=4/week groups

DAP: Discussion. Thelen (Spencer et al., 2006; Thelen, 1981; Thelen & Corbetta, 1996)
attributed the neurological change in a baby, in part, to the movements they make after birth. She
believed movement continued to be important in enabling children to mature both physically and
neurologically. Goddard (2005, 2008, 2012; 1996), McPhillips (2014; 2000) and Blomberg and
Dempsey (2011) also believe that early movements are crucial in infant development, but that
these movements can be used as an intervention when retained primitive reflexes are identified in
a child.

No statistically significant neurological change was observed, as measured by the DAP when the
groups or frequency of the movements were factored in. However, the children in the
intervention group made slightly higher gains throughout the year than the control and there was
no difference between the frequency groups. Results from individual children were reported
illustrating noticeable changes in some children’s illustrations which were confirmed by parent
comments. Physical activity has been linked with neurological development (Leisman et al.,
2014; Melillo, 2011; Williams, 2015) however this research did not support that link. All
teachers in the research included at least a small amount of physical activity in their daily

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routine: a run around the field, or Jump Jam (Fairweather, 2018) as well as RMT. The physical
activity used daily was not based on developmental needs nor was it targeting skill deficit. The
aim appeared to be encouraging children move a little, and gain some fitness. While this is
useful, it is not developmentally targeted movement such as RMT or Unlocking Potential
programmes (Williams, 2015). The DAP test requires fine-motor skills and as will be discussed
in Section 5.1.4 and 5.1.5, for some children the test may indicate their level of fine motor
development rather than their neurological development. It was expected that after five months
change in fine-motor skills would be evident, but it is possible that the range of movements
offered in this research did not address fine-motor development for these children or it could be
that these skills take longer to develop. It is possible that these children were developing gross-
motor skills which were not assessed in this research.

The generic use of the RMT movements may have been a factor in the results, as well as the
mixed ability of children, the SES groups and the selection of movements. In Grzywniak’s
(2017) research, all children had identified learning difficulties and McPhillips et al. (2000;
2007a) used participants with identified reading difficulties and low SES. Using mixed ability
children in this research may have diluted the results, but the ability to have all children
participate without identifying the children with difficulties is a strength of the generic approach
that can be used with RMT. Also, as reported in Section 4.4, the length of time completing
generic RMT movements may have been a factor. It would appear that 94 days is not long
enough to see statistical differences between the groups and their DAP scores. The mean scores
of the children show that many of them were functioning neurologically above their
chronological age at the beginning of the research. This may have meant that there was not as
much room for improvement as there may have been if the participants were selected based on
learning challenges and thus immature neurological functioning.

The timing of the final test at the end of the school year may have had an impact on the results.
The children were tired and there was some ‘test fatigue’. The research design attempted to
remove the teacher effect and necessitated the third test. This was a challenge for some children
when combined with the end of year timing. These DAP results raise more questions than they
answer. If an individualised programme was given to children, would DAP scores change

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significantly? Also, if children with identified learning challenges and thus DAP scores lower
than their chronological age were compared, would a difference be detected between the control
group and the intervention group? Would extending phase one with the control and intervention
groups separated have resulted in results similar to William’s (2015) research in her year-long
intervention? However, this change would have required a different research design. Expecting
the groups to be separated for a year could have placed additional stress on teachers, making
them unwilling to participate in the research and making ERHEC approval more challenging to
obtain. This research progresses the understanding that when using generic RMT movements the
neurological changes associated with the DAP test take longer than 94 days to show statistical
significance. However, for some individuals changes were noticed implying that the set of
movements chosen was appropriate for their combination or stage of reflex integration. Reading,
writing and mathematics skills are the focus of the next sections.

5.1.4 Reading

Teacher and parent perceptions of reading progress are captured in this section. Comments
focused on the ‘feel’ they had for changes and specific skill development noticed within the
group of children are followed by reading score assessments.

Reading findings: Teacher comments. When teachers were asked about changes in the
reading of their group of children, four teachers spoke enthusiastically about perceived changes
their children had made. Betty and Edith spoke positively, and Stanley’s comments were
reflective of the changes he would have liked to have seen with his group of children. Mildred
talked about opportunities the children had to increase vocabulary:
We have had the oral and interactive type part of literacy improve as they have
more voice, and more opportunities to interact as opposed to just necessarily
listening to a teacher all the time. So that has increased vocabulary really and that
all plays out in literacy. I think they are doing really well. They are continuing to
track above and continuing above, there is no plateauing that we are seeing at all,
apart from maybe two that have learning difficulties (Mildred).
Betty noticed that many children in her group were above their expected level, particularly in
reading.
We've been really good actually. The reading, in particular, I think it was about out
of 70 children at least 40 (are at) gold+ which is where they need to be for Year 3
but a lot of these children are Year 2s (Betty).

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Agatha was asked if she had noticed a difference in the reading progress of the children now,
compared to several years in the past:
Yes, more than I am used to. I think a few years ago we started the Early Words
programme, and so that's been going now for four years, running alongside our
programme, but even so, I think the exercises have certainly increased their (the
children’s) ability to focus for longer or the way that it is all clicking, I don't know, I
can't explain it, but I certainly feel there is a noticeable difference (Agatha).
She also described a graph where the progress line compared current children’s reading with
children from previous years.
When they came to school, sometimes they were in magenta for most of a term, but
now I am finding that they are going into reds and yellows quite quickly, and they
are making huge jumps. So, for instance, (this year) the range is better than the past,
the range is turquoise and orange whereas here it is lots of children in the (blue and
green) 20s like A (child), he went up to level 23 (Agatha).
She commented that one child went “from magenta to blue in six months” (Agatha) (Appendix
Tr). This is a jump of five levels that would typically take 18 months to two years.

The overall feeling was that the reading had improved more rapidly than in other years, but all
the teachers believed that it was a combination of factors that contributed to the gains. As
reported in Section 3.4, one school was using a new phonics programme and another school was
using inquiry-based learning. In all four school, the factors differed, with RMT being the
common factor. The quantitative results are discussed below.

Reading findings: Parent comments. Parents were asked to comment on their children’s
reading. Reading is an activity parents often participate in at home with the three schools still
sending home reading books as homework. Most of the comments talked about positive trends in
reading and parents appeared to have a clear understanding of their child’s reading progress.
Peter, Mary and Anne’s children were in the control group.
He was a little bit behind in his reading last year and he's come a long way with that
this year (Mary).
J's been good, she's definitely engaged with reading and she enjoys it, I mean it's a
bit of a struggle sometimes at home to consistently keep it up, but that's Ok (Peter).
I think he is a little bit below standard in some of his things, but his teacher is really
happy with how his reading is going, his reading is coming up really well (Anne,
child 2).

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Their comments were not as enthusiastic as those from parents with children in the intervention
group. The parents in the next group had children in the intervention group:
Yeah, he's definitely come up with his reading. I think he has gone up a level, in the
last month or so (Jasmine).
The main thing really is his independent reading. He's doing more independent
reading which is nice to see. …. Now he’s pulling books out of his bookcase and
doing his own reading (Anne, child 1)
The parents noticed changes in reading levels and an increase in independent reading as ways
they measured progress. Celia described how her daughter was able to express her frustrations
and say what was not working for her. “At the beginning of the year, she would just melt”
(Celia). However, Celia noticed that her child’s reading and spelling had improved. Felicity also
noticed changes she was not expecting, and her daughter was in the intervention group:
Well, I personally believe that her reading improved about three to four months ago,
whether that's due to a good relationship with (teacher) and just part of her natural
development, she is definitely now absorbing even more complex words when she
reads them, you can see she gets them. So, it is definitely a good transition which I
am not sure I was expecting this year (Felicity).
The general feeling from the 26 parents (seven parents with children in the control group and 19
with children in the intervention group) interviewed was that their children’s reading had
improved.

Reading: Results. Reading tests were completed by the teachers at three points during the
year: beginning, middle and end. Running-records and Overall Teacher Judgement (Section 3.3)
were used to assess children’s reading. As already outlined in Chapter 3, the reading scores did
not follow a linear progression and they were adjusted to ensure meaningful statistical analysis.

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Table 5.5 shows the mean scores for reading at the three time points. The beginning score for the
control group (9.65 (3.86)) increased to 12.70 (4.53) and the intervention group increased from
8.27 (3.43) to 11.31 (3.45). When the frequency was factored in the group using RMT more than
four times per week went from 8.80 (3.60) to 10.46 (2.17) and the group using RMT four or less
times per week started at 9.22 (3.56) and moved to 13.96 (4.59).

Table 5.5. Mean Reading Scores

Reading Scores at Time 0 Reading Scores at Time 1 Reading Scores at Time 2

(Day 1) (Mid-point Day 94) (Completion Day 216)
Group Overall Males Females Overall Males Females Overall Males Females
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Control 9.65 10.46 8.77 10.80 11.58 9.95 12.70 13.71 11.59
(3.68) (3.48) (3.77 (3.37) (3.67) (3.68) (4.53) (4.72) (4.12)

Intervention 8.27 8.23 7.89 9.87 10.04 9.69 11.71 12.12 11.31
(3.43) (3.67) (3.25) (4.06) (4.54) (3.60) (4.02) (4.55) (3.45)

<4/week 8.80 9.40 8.22 9.92 10.51 9.33 10.46 10.77 10.21
(3.60) (3.62) (3.54) (3.67) (3.67) (3.62) (2.17) (1.85) (2.39)

>=4/week 9.22 9.07 9.42 11.33 11.40 11.25 13.96 14.54 13.15
(3.56) (4.04) (3.20) (4.41) (5.26) (3.28) (5.14) (5.50) (4.59)

Note. M = Mean SD = Standard Deviation

Table 5.6 shows that during the research, reading scores increased on average by 3.05 for the
control group and 3.42 for the intervention group over the research period. A statistically
significant difference between the groups was not detected (p = 0.3763)

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 Table 5.6. Coefficient Estimates for Reading Using Model 1: Group

Reading Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the control 9.59 0.53 18.05 <0.0001
group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -1.28 0.72 -1.75 0.0824

of the Intervention and control
group at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to 3.05 0.30 9.96 <0.0001

the control group

Expected difference in the effect 0.37 0.42 0.88 0.3763

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

However, Table 5.7 shows that when the frequency of the movements was factored in, a
statistically significant difference in the two groups (p = 0.0020) was detected. There was no
statistically significant difference detected between the two groups (p = 0.9588). The group
completing RMT for four or more times per week increased their reading score by 4.04 units
whereas the group completing RMT for fewer than four times per week increased their reading
scores by 2.52 units.

Table 5.7. Coefficient Estimates for Reading Using Model 2: Frequency

Reading Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the 8.93 0.49 17.89 <0.0001
>=4/week group at Day 0

Expected difference in response 0.02 0.47 0.05 0.9588

of the <4/week and >=4/week
groups at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to 4.04 0.36 11.14 <0.0001

the >=4/week group

Expected difference in the effect -1.52 0.48 -3.14 0.0020**

of adding days for <4/week and
>=4/week groups

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Reading: Discussion. Reading involves a range of physical skills (Ayres, 1995; Sassé, 2009) as
well as neurological skills. Children need to be able to sit still and focus their eyes on the page,
and if there are retained primitive reflexes both these skills can be challenging (Goddard, 1996).
As has been mentioned in the DAP discussion, Thelen (2006; 1981; 1996) believes that
movement and brain development are linked. Williams (2015) demonstrated that the movement
based UP programme improved reading for children engaged in the programme. This research,
using RMT, has shown that when the children were using the movements four or more time a
week, their reading scores improved significantly. Teacher comments also reflected this:
unexpected levels of change were noticed by four teachers where RMT was being used four or
more times a week. As has been reported in Chapter 4, the children in these classes showed
higher levels of retained primitive reflexes. While Hughlings-Jackson (Franz & Gillett, 2011)
believes that ‘dissolution’, or immaturity in the brain is the basis of some psychopathology,
Goddard (1996) believes that when the brain is more ‘mature’ not only does behaviour change,
but the level of academic achievement increases. Teacher comments about vocabulary
improvements support the theories of Vygotsky (Kozulin, 2004; Schneider & Watkins, 1996;
Vygotsky, 1987). He linked social context with development, and with increased vocabulary
comes improved communication and social skills. This concept is expanded in Section 5.2. The
children in this research were using the RMT movement-based programme at the time their
reading scores and vocabulary improved. It would also appear that this generic approach to the
use of RMT and the limited range of movements was successful in improving reading scores
when RMT was used four or more times per week. This advances knowledge around reading and
reflex integration and it would appear that this may be an area where change is noticed earlier
(94 days) once reflex integration levels begin to increase.

In relation to the increased reading scores, two important factors can be highlighted: cost-
effectiveness and student access to intervention. In New Zealand, a common reading intervention
is Reading Recovery (Ministry of Education, 2014). This programme is considered an EBP with
results showing increased reading skills after children had participated in the programme
(Schwartz, 2005). However it has costs associated with the individualised sessions provided and
access to this programme is limited by available funding. Another option parents use is self-
funded programmes such as Kip McGrath, where children have sessions after school. In both

184
cases, children are withdrawn from other activities to participate in the individualised sessions.
This has the possibility of creating perceptions of difference for the child and for some children
this may negatively influence their self-worth (Brooks & Goldstein, 2008). The way RMT was
established in the classroom during this research, as a generic programme, greater numbers of
children had access to the intervention within the normal school routine. This has the advantage
of providing additional support to children who would not normally access it but who may have
minor reading challenges. As reported in Section 1.3, RMT is considered a ‘bottom-up’
intervention, targeting underlying difficulties, rather than skill deficits. Hellend, Tjus, Hovden,
Ofe and Heimann’s (2011) research comparing ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ reading
interventions found that both approaches were necessary with five to eight-year-olds as they
appeared to target different skills. The ‘bottom-up’ approach was useful for emergent literacy
skills, and the ‘top-down’ approach was useful for literacy skills. While individualised RMT
movements would be ideal, when this generic approach was used, statistically significant
differences in reading scores were detected. RMT could be used in conjunction with skill
deficit-based programmes such as Reading Recovery. It may be possible that children need less
individualised support, either reducing funding needed for such interventions or giving wider
access. It may also be possible to have a mixture of generic and individualised use of RMT.
Children with identified needs could have an extended range of movements available to them or
an extra movement time could be part of specialised tuition sessions. Training specialist
education teachers in RMT may be an additional tool that could be used in reading skill
development. Children with reading difficulties often have corresponding muscle tone issues
(Ayres, 1995) and increasing their physical movement opportunities could benefit these children.

Finally, reading scores were shown to increase while children were using RMT four on more
times per week, and Bronfenbrenner’s (2005; Rosa & Tudge, 2013) PPCT theory where the
child’s development is positioned within processes, people, context and time and the
strengthening of microsystems supports the importance of these results. If five minutes of
engagement in RMT movements can make reading easier for children, their perceptions of
reading may change and their connectedness with school may improve. Reading is the basis of
much learning; study in all subject areas at school relies on reading as an information gathering
tool, and resources are allocated to ensure children are confident readers (Stanovich, 1986). RMT

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and Bronfenbrenner view the child as a ‘whole’ and importance is placed on comprehensive
development, rather than a single aspect. When children are engaged in a specific reading
intervention, it is obvious to them that they are working to address deficits. However when they
are using RMT it is not obvious what skills are being targeted, and in the generic use of RMT
each child is able to complete the movements for their own reason. They may believe they are
increasing physical skills, they may enjoy the quiet moment, they may need to improve their
reading and the strength of RMT is that they can engage in the process at their own level.

5.1.5 Writing

This section focuses on the writing skills of the children. Teacher observations, in particular,
those of Orla, are presented first and then the results from the writing testing. Reading and
writing scores were correlated using R (R Core Team, 2018) and the test showed a 0.756
correlation (A correlation score less than + or - 0.70 indicates the conditions are not well
correlated). This adds a level of dependability to the results as it could be expected that reading
and writing scores would be similar.

Writing: Findings. Teachers in all the schools commented that there had been pleasing
gains in the children’s writing over the year as Betty’s comments reflect:
The writing, I think we did a lot of really good things and as a team of teachers we
did a lot of reflective discussions and I think we learnt a lot just in this last term
(Betty).
Gwen noticed unexpected changes in some of her children. One child (Orla) made remarkable
changes. While her writing scores did not change, she went from very early stage marks on the
paper to fully formed words in the letter to her mother in one year. Orla was in the intervention
group at the beginning of the year, but as noted in Section 5.1, her participation was spasmodic.
She would participate when the researcher was in the room, otherwise, she joined the control
group. When the second phase of the research commenced, and all the children in the class were
completing the movements she participated more regularly. By the end of the year, she was
completing four of the five movements accurately. Her writing results are illustrated in Figures
5.3 to 5.5 with exemplars from the Ministry of Education to indicate expected levels of
achievement (Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), 2009).

186
 This is a writing exemplar of the writing expected
from a child after two years of schooling (Te Kete
Ipurangi (TKI), 2009). The NZ Curriculum
assessment system uses Levels 1 -8 to ascertain
student progress. Further information can be
sourced at: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-
Standards/Reading-and-writing-standards.

An adult has written the letter K and a story that

was dictated by Orla. Her writing attempts
include scribble to colour in the letter ‘k’ and
attempts at the words I, is and the. This sample
was taken 6 months prior to the commencement
of the research. Orla had been at school for 2
years.

Figure 5.5. Orla’s writing sample at the beginning of the research.

This is a writing exemplar of a level 1.1 student,

An adult has meaning the child has been at school for one year
written the (Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), 2009).
beginning of the
story which Orla
has copied. Orla
has then written
some additional
words. The
teacher has added
some words above
words that are not
easily distinguished. This sample was taken
mid-way through the research when Orla had
been at school for 3 years.

Figure 5.6. Orla’s writing sample after 3 years at school – mid-point of the research.

This is a writing exemplar of a level 1.3 student,

meaning the child has been at school for one year (Te
Kete Ipurangi (TKI), 2009).

187
 “Dear mum merry christmas. Let me sing
you a song about christmas. I love you.
Love from Orla.”

Figure 5.7. Orla’s writing sample at the end of the research.

The three figures show the three testing points during the year. The teacher and specialist
teachers working with Orla were surprised by her accelerated results. It is not possible to say that
the RMT was responsible for the changes in Orla’s writing, but it is acceptable to say that she
was completing RMT when the changes were noticed. Her DAP scores were discussed in
Section 5.1, but the general feeling was that her progress rate had increased during the second
half of the year. However, Orla’s results did not show statistically, she began the year on Level 1
and remained at that level for the year, despite the significant changes illustrated. This is due to
the set standards assessing the progress that would be expected of typically developing children
and Orla, while making gains, was not making them at the assessment steps.

Writing: Results. Writing tests were administered by the classroom teachers. All three
schools used OTJ and either school-wide records aligned with NZ National Standards or the e-
asTTle marking scale. There appeared to be a linear progression with three levels each year.

Table 5.8 shows the Mean writing scores at each test point. Overall the control writing scores
improved from 1.96 (1.03) to 3.63 (1.42) and the intervention increased from 1.69 (0.98) to 2.96
(1.27). However, the mean scores of the group that used RMT for four or more times per week
went from 1.77 (0.94) to 3.02 (0.91 and the group that used RMT for less than four repetitions
per week moved from a score of 1.93 (1.15) to 3.54 (1.70).

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 Table 5.8. Mean Writing Scores

Writing Scores at Time 0 (Day Writing Scores at Time 1 (Mid- Writing Scores at Time 2
1) point Day 94) (Completion Day 216)
Group Overall Males Females Overall Males Females Overall Males Females
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Control 1.96 2.22 1.91 3.24 3.29 3.18 3.63 3.88 3.36
(1.03) (1.10) (0.97) (1.29) (1.23) (1.37) (1.42) (1.48) (1.33)

Intervention 1.69 1.73 2.19 2.73 2.54 2.92 2.96 2.85 3.08
(0.98) (0.96) (1.02) (1.22) (1.27) (1.16) (1.27) (1.29) (1.26)

<4/week 1.77 1.83 1.72 2.97 2.97 2.97 3.02 3.05 3.00
(0.94) (0.98) (0.91) (1.21) (1.20) (1.23) (0.91) (0.84) (0.98)

>=4/week 1.93 1.93 1.92 2.96 2.73 3.25 3.54 3.57 3.50
(1.15) (1.16) (1.24) (1.45) (1.53) (1.36) (1.70) (0.89) (1.61)

Note. M = Mean SD = Standard Deviation

However, Table 5.9 shows that there was a statistical difference detected between the control and
intervention group with the control group improving their writing scores (Est = 1.62) at a greater
rate than the intervention group (Est = 1.23) and there was a statistically significant difference

Table 5.9. Coefficient Estimates for Writing Using Model 1: Group

Writing Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the control 2.16 0.15 14.37 <0.0001
group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.29 0.20 -1.40 0.1637

of the Intervention and control
group at Day 0

Expected effect of adding days to 1.62 0.144 11.23 <0.0001

the control group

Expected difference in the effect -0.39 0.19 -2.00 0.0459

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

detected (p = 0.0459) between the two groups. This means that there was greater improvement in
the control group’s writing rather than the intervention group.

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 Table 5.10 shows that a statistically significant difference in the writing scores was not
detected (p = 0.8345) when the frequency of RMT and writing scores were accounted for.
These results indicate that in this research RMT does not appear to influence writing scores when
used in a generic way for 94 days. While there is not a clear indication why the control group

Table 5.10. Coefficient Estimates for Writing Using Model 2: Frequency

Writing Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the 2.12 0.17 12.10 <0.0001
>=4/week group at Day 0

Expected difference in response 0.10 0.19 0.50 0.6124

of the <4/week and >=4/week
groups at Day 0

Expected effect of adding a day to 1.19 0.15 7.57 <0.0001

the >=4/week group

Expected difference in the effect 0.04 0.21 0.20 0.8345

of adding days for <4/week and
>=4/week groups

achieved greater writing scores than the intervention group, it is noted in Section 4.2 that the
intervention group’s reflex profiles were greater at the beginning of the research.

Writing: Discussion. As with reading, there are physical skills associated with writing
(Ayres, 1995; Goddard, 1996). At seven years of age children need to be able to hold their
writing tool and write within the lines provided. When primitive reflexes are present, this process
can be compromised. The child may hold the pencil very tightly or incorrectly and they may
press very hard on the page; both are indicators that primitive reflexes are still present and are
hindering skill maturation (Goddard, 1996). A retained Palmar grasp reflex is often associated
with writing difficulties (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011) and the STNR rock RMT movement was
included to encourage the integration of this particular reflex. If the physical writing process is
challenging for a child, they may also experience a lack of engagement in the activity. Requiring
a child with immature writing skills, based on primitive reflex retention, to practise more will not
achieve the desired outcome as quickly as if the reflexes were integrated (Blomberg & Dempsey,
2011). Vision skills are also associated with writing. Children need to be able to use binocular

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vision (cooperation of both eyes to achieve depth perception) to write successfully. The visual
aspect of the RMT movements was not included in the generic use of RMT and this may have
changed the writing results. Including this aspect was viewed as challenging within the
classroom environment and this group of inexperienced RMT movement users. Adding
progressions was not part of the research design as it would impact on the replicability of the
research. However, adding visual skills is a progression that could be considered when the group
is more experienced. This is another area that could be considered in future research.

As the results show, the RMT movements used for this group did not change the writing scores
significantly although the mean scores for the group completing RMT four or more times each
week were higher than the group completing RMT fewer than four times per week. Teachers
reported positive changes in the children’s writing, but as Orla’s results indicate it is possible to
make changes but these not be reflected in the statistical score. The exclusion of additional
movements associated with the palmar grasp reflex may have impacted the result. However, this
then prompts the question, if different RMT movements had been chosen would there have been
an impact on writing? These scores may have also been affected by the shorter time using RMT
(94 days). It could be possible that writing takes longer to progress once the primitive reflexes
are further integrated. This research progresses the understanding that limited time and low
frequency completing generic RMT movements does not appear to improve writing skills in
children.

5.1.6 Mathematics

This section focuses on the children’s mathematics scores and teacher comments. As reported in
Chapter 3, the mathematics testing chosen relied on OTJ and a range of unstandardized tests.
There is minimal certainty in the results due to the complex structure of testing levels and stages
within the mathematics curriculum in New Zealand (Appendix Tm). As part of the Numeracy
Project in New Zealand (Te Kete Ipurangi, n.d.), children are assessed on the level they are
working at as well as the strategies they are using. They are encouraged to use a range of
different strategies choosing the most appropriate one for the problem to be solved.

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 Mathematics: Findings. The richness of mathematics data was noticeably different in the
quantity and quality of responses. Teachers and parents made fewer comments about
mathematics than reading. Parents may be more inclined to read with their children rather than
solve mathematics problems, therefore they may have felt less able to comment on this area. All
teachers were asked about mathematics, but a fleeting “good” type of comment was made
without specific details being added. It may be possible that with the structure of the Numeracy
Project it is not as clear how children are progressing. With reading, the colours of the books
clearly indicate when children are making changes and the reading levels have been in use for
many years whereas the Numeracy Project began in 2000 and roll out to schools taking place
after 2005. Teachers may have a reading visual in their heads, whereas with maths they may
need to look at grade books to get a stronger sense of the progress their children are making.
Agatha believed her children (aged five years) had made good gains and these are reflected in
her comments made with her grade book in her hand, although she too was more interested in
talking about reading changes.
You could say maths is more natural for some children, but certainly, there were
bigger increases (this year), if I look at past results there wasn't the same change.
We had children by the end of the year that were Stage four, who would normally
be at the end of Stage 2 or Stage 3, so there certainly was a lot more starting to cross
over and use bigger numbers and deeper strategies (Agatha).
Mildred also noted that some of their children were requiring extension activities and Iris
described her ‘skyrocketing’ results. These teachers were using RMT four or five times a week.
We have children here at Stage 6 and 7 maths and they require more extension and,
so they are just continuing to track along at the same speed (Mildred)
Maths follows straight away after the exercises. And their maths results, I take the
younger ones, and their results have just skyrocketed, so it’s great (Iris)
However, the rest of the teachers did not offer specific mathematics comments.

Two groups had their children count the repetitions in their heads as they completed the
movements. As already reported in Section 4.4, this provided an opportunity to develop the
mathematics counting competency from the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007).
Teachers could vary how the children count, where they begin and which direction they count.
This increases the flexibility and usefulness of the generic use of RMT in the classroom.

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 Mathematics: Results. This section reports on the mathematics mean scores and
statistical analysis. Table 5.11 shows that mean mathematics scores improved across all groups
with the control group (5.43 (2.96) to 8.57 (2.70) showing greater gains than the intervention
group (5.04 (2.27) to 7.65 (2.34). It appears that the frequency of RMT did not impact the
mathematics mean scores.

Table 5.11. Mean Scores Mathematics

Maths Scores at Time 0 Maths Scores at Time 1 Maths cores at Time 2

(Day 1) (Mid-point Day 94) (Completion Day 216)
Group Overall Males Females Overall Males Females Overall Males Females
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
Control 5.43 6.04 4.77 7.09 7.50 6.64 8.57 9.46 7.59
(2.96) (2.90) (2.33) (2.32) (2.57) (1.97) (2.70) (2.86) (2.17)
Intervention 5.04 5.65 4.42 6.37 7.00 5.73 7.65 8.50 6.16
(2.27) (2.45) (1.92) (1.91) (1.96) (1.66) (2.34) (2.06) (2.33)
<4/week 5.28 5.55 5.07 6.79 7.23 6.36 8.14 8.97 7.33
(2.68) (3.11) (2.32) (2.27) (2.51) (1.94) (2.65) (2.77) (2.28)
>=4/week 5.17 6.07 3.90 6.48 7.27 5.50 7.93 8.93 6.67
(2.25) (2.36) (1.55) (1.74) (1.62) (1.38) (2.24 (1.79) (2.27)

Note. M = Mean SD = Standard Deviation

Table 5.12. Coefficient Estimates for Mathematics Using Model 1: Group

Mathematics Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the control 5.55 0.34 16.14 <0.0001
group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.43 0.47 -0.92 0.3583

of the Intervention and control
group at Day 0
Expected effect of adding days to 3.10 0.24 12.84 <0.0001
the control group

Expected difference in the effect -0.50 0.33 -1.52 0.1291

of adding days for the
Intervention and control groups

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 As Table 5.12 and Table 5.13 show, a statistically significant difference between the control
and intervention group (p = 0.1291) was not detected, nor was there a difference detected
between the frequency of RMT movements (p = 0.7471). It would appear that the movements
chosen for these children did not significantly change the mathematics scores.

Table 5.13. Coefficient Estimates for Mathematics Using Model 2: Frequency

Mathematics Estimate Std - error t-value p-value

Expected response for the 5.45 0.36 15.08 <0.0001
>=4/week group at Day 0

Expected difference in response -0.16 0.37 -0.44 0.6537

of the <4/week and >=4/week
groups at Day 0

Expected effect of adding a day to 2.85 0.30 9.48 <0.0001

the >=4/week group

Expected difference in the effect -0.12 0.37 -0.32 0.7471

of adding days for <4/week and
>=4/week groups

Mathematics: Discussion. Mathematics and neuroimaging were combined in research

conducted by De Smedt (2014) where information was gained relating to low-level mathematical
processes in adults. This research attempts to understand the biological processes involved in
mathematical learning that are difficult to assess through behavioural data alone. It appears that
the ability to compare symbolic numbers determines success in acquiring mathematical skills. De
Smedt also discovered that children may achieve a similar result on a simple calculation task, but
the processing strategies used in more complex tasks differ, and compensatory strategies are
highly evident in the brains of children with mathematical challenges. Within this research, the
mean scores reflect progress made within the groups, but there was no statistically significant
difference in the groups, either intervention/control or frequency. However, it is possible that
with the reduction of retained primitive reflexes as reported in Section 4.4, there may be changes
in the neurological processes and these are not yet reflected in the behavioural testing. As is
similar to the writing scores, it is possible that limiting the exercises to five, from a possible 17 is

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the reason for statistically insignificant differences in the groups. However, that is a question for
future research. It would appear that the generic approach for the use of the movements was not
effective in changing mathematics scores after 94 days. Jordan-Black (2005) found mathematic
skill improvement in her intervention group after two years. Also, the standards-based testing
using OTJ may have reduced the obvious effect of the movements. The attempt to remove the
‘teacher’ effect by dividing the classes into two groups and then beginning the movements with
all children after 94 days may have changed the results. In research where two classes are used
from the same school (one class as control and the other class as the intervention group),
moderation of OTJ results would be possible making the scores more reliable. However, the
‘teacher effect’ would still be present as a possible cause of change.

Research completed by Ziegler and Stoeger (2010) shows that fine motor skills can influence
assessment of mathematics achievement. Tests relying on fine motor skills did not assess
children’s ability accurately both for gifted and underachieving students, with only 25% of
children tested obtaining similar results on tests with a high reliance on fine motor skills and tests
with a low reliance on fine motor skills. Brown’s (2010) research demonstrated an increase in
fine motor skills when children were using a reflex integration programme for one year.
Blomberg and Dempsey (2011) and Goddard (1996) identify fine motor skill deficits as an
indicator of retained primitive reflexes. Although the results in this research do not show
significant differences between the control and intervention groups in mathematics after 94 days,
it is possible that increasing the integration of primitive reflexes, fine motor skills may improve
and there may be a flow-on effect to mathematics achievement. It appears that both writing and
mathematics take longer for change to be established. They both use hand-eye co-ordination as
part of the testing process. Children develop their gross motor skills before their fine motor skills
(Ayres, 1995) and it is possible that more than 94 days is needed for change to be established.

Teachers and parents made fewer comments about mathematics progress over the year. This may
be attributed to a feeling from parents that they do not have as much information about
mathematics progress and for teachers, the complexity of the Numeracy Project used in New
Zealand made it difficult to comment without the grade book at hand.

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 5.1.7 Parent Comments: Extra-curricular Activities

Parent comments on extra-curricular activity developments are noted in this section. Sport, in
particular, swimming, were highlighted. Parents often watched their children during lessons or
games and improvements were noticed. Changes in these areas may coincide with behavioural
and achievement changes and they illustrate the broad range of skills impacted by retained
primitive reflexes. Eight parents commented on extra-curricular skill development they had
noticed in their children and five of the parents had children in the intervention group. Charles
and Mary (intervention group) commented on the noticeable change in their daughter’s
swimming. Charles had noticed an increased maturity in his daughter’s approach to many
activities which appeared to be associated with an increased understanding of purpose.
Charles: Over the year her school work seems to be on the improve. Steady progress
and a definite change in her mood.
Mary: Last year for the whole year she was in the same (swimming) level. But this
year suddenly she just...
Charles: This year she has been more interested in it, before that she just didn't seem
to be. (pause). I don't think she understood why she had to do things. It was just,
turn up there for swimming classes and just sort of... (pause). She never really
seemed to progress. But now with a lot of things she is starting to understand why
these things are happening (Charles and Mary).
Celia (intervention group) noticed changes in her daughter’s swimming. She described the
swimming at the beginning of the year as being very uncoordinated and immature. By the end of
the year, there was a marked improvement. Celia also described her heartache when her daughter
wanted to play basketball. She said she could imagine her being the child that never received the
ball due to her lack of coordination and poor ball skills. To Celia’s delight and surprise, her
daughter really enjoyed basketball, she developed excellent skills and was a high functioning
member of the team. Student 31 highlighted in the DAP section (Figure 5.3) was Celia’s
daughter. As has already been reported, her drawings showed marked changes in maturity and
she was in the intervention group. Another child, Student 26, had the highest scores in his class
for reading and mathematics. In the middle of the year, he made comments that he really liked
the movements because they helped his soccer. When asked what it was about the soccer that
had changed for him, he replied that it was “way easier to get around the legs now”. Statistically,
this child’s gains were minimal as he was functioning at an already high level, but his perception
was that his sport was improving because of RMT. This child would not be offered an

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intervention to improve his soccer, but by being part of a group where generic RMT was being
used he was able to gain perceived benefits. Zeigler and Stoeger’s (2010) research demonstrated
that gifted and talented children’s assessment was affected when tests relied on fine-motor skills.
Children with poor fine-motor skills did not score as well on intelligence tests that relied on fine
motor skills, but they had improved scores when tests were used that did not rely on fine-motor
skills. As reported in Section 2, Brown’s (2010) research demonstrated that a reflex integration
programme improved the fine motor skills of the children in her intervention group. It could be
advantageous for gifted and talented children to have access to an intervention, such as the
generic use of RMT, which allowed them to demonstrate their skills to a higher level.
Memmert’s (2006) research found that gifted children benefited from an enriched sports
programme in relation to the development of their creativity. Again, this highlights the
importance of physical skill development for gifted and talented children. For Student 26 the
development of his soccer skills may encourage increased creativity of thought.

These comments highlight a range of areas of development, particularly extra-curricular sport,

which is important when the whole child is considered as in Bronfenbrenner’s (Rosa & Tudge,
2013) bio-ecological theory. Through confidence gained at swimming and associated
strengthening of the swimming microsystem, additional microsystems may then be strengthened
such as the basketball microsystem which in turn may strengthen the child’s confidence at
school. If completing RMT improves swimming, basketball and reading this has a greater effect
on the child than if they were only completing an intervention that focused on reading. By
building relationships in the basketball team it is possible that Celia’s child was increasing her
social skills which, as Vygotsky (Kozulin, 2004; Vygotsky, 1978, 1987) theorised, influences a
child’s development. Progressing the understanding of the range and breadth of development
when using a reflex integration programme is important when child development embodies the
‘whole child’ rather than taking segments. A higher value may be placed on increased reading
scores by policymakers, but from the child’s perspective being a high functioning member of a
basketball or soccer team may provide purpose and meaning to their lives. It is possible that
RMT may have helped develop the basketball or soccer skills and this is an important
development for these children.

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 5.2 Student Behaviour Findings/Results and
Discussion
Social and emotional maturation is another area of child development where changes were
noticed by parents and teachers. Defective or delayed development in this area reduces the
possibility for change at a typical rate (Melillo, 2011). Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as highlighted in the literature review
(Chapter 2), are commonly-used diagnoses when children are struggling to manage their
behaviour. The participants in this research with ADD or ADHD were not identified, however,
the researcher was aware that there were children in all the classes that fitted this diagnosis.

Comments relating to behaviour from both parents and teachers are reported first followed by the
results from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Finally, the discussion links
Vygotsky’s development theory with the findings and results.

Student behaviour: Findings. Teachers and parents were asked about the behaviours of
the children they were in contact with. Teachers made comments about their overall feeling of
the group of children, while parents gave more detail about their child. For many parents changes
in behaviour were noticed. Comments from this first group of parents relate to children in the
intervention group. Charles noticed his daughter’s increased maturity:
We have noticed perhaps a change in her behaviour. More grown up I suppose.
There are not the same tantrums as such, but her mood has mellowed quite a bit
(Charles).
Charles also noticed that his daughter was appearing to understand the logic behind various
activities she was engaged in, thus improving her skill level as well as her confidence. Carol also
noticed maturation in her daughter’s ability to separate from her at the school gate:
She has actually been really good. In the 2 years before this year, she was quite
anxious and quite teary. She wouldn't want me to leave and that sort of stuff. By the
second term, she was quite happy to let me leave. In the 3rd term, she would run off
at the gate while I would come in here (office). And her confidence has grown a lot.
This had been the best year so far (Carol).

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Being able to transition successfully at the school gate makes the start of the child’s day easier
and Carol could see the flow-on effect in her child’s confidence. Anne had a similar experience
with her son.
It has been good from the fact that he has actually enjoyed this year. Whereas last
year we had lots of teary mornings, he did not want to go to school. I had to quite
often go and sit with him to encourage him to stay in class. But this year he has
really enjoyed the programme (Anne – Child D).
Celia also made comments about socialisation and her daughter. She observed ‘huge’ changes in
her daughter’s social confidence as well as her ability to express herself. The ‘melting’ that the
family experienced at the beginning of the year when things did not work for her daughter had
reduced noticeably by the end of the year. However, another parent noticed that with the
increased confidence came increased resistance to following adult instructions. Sophie viewed
her daughter’s confidence to express her preferences as a positive development and this was how
she described it:
I guess she's finding herself in asserting what she wants to happen with things. Kind
of putting her foot down and it is harder get her to do what we are wanting her to do
a lot of the time. I guess finding confidence in wanting to show that she has some
say over what is happening to her now (Sophie).
Jessie noticed issues with self-regulation and her son, but there were signs of maturation
emerging:
The worst area is where he can't self-regulate the computer. I think this year we
have probably got a bit tougher than we used to be with everything. And so, we
have tried to be tougher with boundaries cos we know that they just push and push
and push. So yeah, we can see this new person emerging that is a more
compromising and listening person (Jessie).
Felicity noticed that her daughter’s skills included greater concentration in school as well as
increased social skills:
She is definitely better at concentrating for long, much longer periods of time. She
can say at times, "I'm trying to deal with my feelings", so definitely this year this is
a big development for recognising more, that she is doing it, but how can I actually
tackle it (Felicity).
Jane viewed increased engagement with her teachers as a link to her daughter’s improved
reading:
Well, it's gone really well in the last two terms. It felt like the first two terms were a
real struggle and she was just really shy, and she wasn't talking to the teachers or
anything like that and she's sort of settled in now I think, yeah, she's gone back up
to level 13 reading, so she's, that's a huge improvement over the year (Jane).

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Jane’s daughter was in the intervention group at Pōhutukawa, but as described in Section 3.4,
they began the movements later than the other schools, possibly contributing to the increase in
skills in the last two terms of the year.

However, not all children had an easy year. Tina’s daughter, was in the control group, struggled
with sports days:
It is very hard to get her to school on days when there is athletics or anything like
that. She has a fear of loud noises. So, when they use a gun, she just loses it. She
can't handle it, balloons, she can't handle it. The only thing I can click on was, she
got scared of balloons when her baby brother when he was a baby, he popped a
balloon in the Nursery when we were at Pre-school one time. She's been scared
since. Anything loud, fireworks. You can't put a balloon near her, she will just
scream (Tina).
Reactions to loud noises have been noted by Blomberg and Dempsey (2011) as a behaviour that
can be observed in children with retained reflexes. Tina had not noticed any resolution of her
daughter’s issues with loud noises. Her daughter was in the group that only completed the RMT
movements for five weeks and her reflex profile score went from 7 at the beginning of the year
to 6 by the completion of the research. This indicates minimal furthering of her primitive reflex
integration and it would not be expected that behaviours such as reaction to loud noises would
reduce in this case. Nora’s son was in the control group and she also commented that he had not
had a good year.
Educationally he has gone backwards I think. I don't think socially it has been a
good year for him either (Nora).
Maturity and heightened levels of anxiety were mentioned by Nora as possible issues. On
investigation, his reflex profile started at a score of seven and by the end of the year, it had
moved to a six. However, his DAP had moved from a mental age of 5.75 at the beginning of the
year to 8.00 at the end of the year. So, while he had made some progress on the DAP and reflex
profile, Nora’s impression was that he was not making gains that matched her expectations. She
was also comparing his progress with that of another of her children.

Parents were asked about their child’s social skills during the year. Seventeen of the parents
noticed their child building stronger friendships, maintaining friendships and extending their
friend base. They talked about confidence gained through having stronger friendships. Nine
parents felt their child was still learning to make lasting connections with other children. The

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children often knew the names of many children, but they did not play regularly with the same
children.

Teacher comments reflected friendship issues the children were having at this stage. Four
teachers talked about the time spent helping children negotiate relationships and as reported in
Section 3.4, Kauri was using Sunshine Circles (Theraplay Institute, 2017) with their group of
children to develop social skills for the children. Edith commented that girls appeared to have
greater needs when friendship skills were being developed. She observed the following:
We have many friendship issues with girls. So, it starts here (Year 3) and then it
gets worse next year. It's just that friendship group, they're just getting their feet and
they want to be the boss and that kind of stuff. So, that's been an issue, for the last
six months. And then next year it's a real problem (Edith).
Agatha also felt she was mediating children’s social challenges throughout the year and she had
not noticed changes within the group while using RMT when she compared this with the changes
she had noticed in reading.

Mildred and Iris noticed changes in their group, and they believed that these changes were in part
due to the inquiry-based learning environment, but also RMT had contributed. Iris was asked
about her perceptions of the social skills within the group:
Amazing, so we have got a mix of Year 2, 3 and 4 children in here and they have
been used to mixing with their same age group. The Year 4's will now work
comfortably with the Year 2's, help them, and they know the younger children, have
got things to offer them as well. So there's mutual benefit going on, both ways and it
is lovely to watch. I mean, children that would have no contact with a child, two
years younger than them are now playing with them, talking with them and asking
their opinions and stuff, it's lovely (Iris).
Betty made comments that related to the timing of the interview when asked about the children’s
social skills. She concluded that the changes of routine at the end of the year had impacted their
skills and the difference was noticeable:
You know if you had asked me this a month ago it would have been a different
answer. But you see we've gone off our routines. And I mean once we go off our
routines, it is really hard for the children. We have been swimming now for three
weeks, and that wears them out and that's a new routine and we are in new groups
and things and it takes a toll (Betty).
As observed in the DAP testing (Section 5.1) the children at all three school were tired and some
were out of routine at the end of the year. Teachers expect this and so do their end-of-year testing

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earlier in the term. Gwen from the 25-child class did not comment about social skill challenges
for her children. She felt her class was managing well. Although this research was not focused on
the difference in size of ILEs, it was noted that as the class size increased, the number of
relationships needing maintenance increased and the perceived social issues increased.

Student behaviour: Results. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is divided into
five sections when being scored: emotional problem scale, conduct problem scale, hyperactivity
scale, peer problem scale and prosocial scale. Table 5.14 shows the SDQ classification of scores
(Appendix N) and the scores for the participants at Time 0. The overall scores of the participants

Table 5.14. SDQ Classification Score Levels and Participant Levels

Classification Scores based on UK Community Participant Scores at

sample Time 0
Teacher Close to Slightly raised High Very Control Intervention
completed SDQ Average (slightly (low) high
lowered) (very
low)
Overall SDQ 0 – 11 12 – 15 16 – 18* 19 – 40 * 19.13 18.98
score

Emotional 0–3* 4 5-6 6 - 10 1.73 1.55

problem score

Conduct 0–2 3* 4 5 – 10 2.16 2.22

problem score

Hyperactivity 0–5* 6–7 8 9 – 10 4.25 3.91

score

Peer problems 0-2 3–4 5* 6 - 10 4.24 4.24

score

Prosocial score 6 – 10 * 5 4 0-3 7.29 7.89

Note. *Grey highlight shows where the research participant scores are within the classification
scores.

were at the high to very high level (19.13 for the control and 18.98 for the intervention group). A
score of 0 – 11 is considered average (Appendix N). Other scores noted were raised levels of
peer problem scores (4.24 with 0 – 2 considered an average score). As reported in Section 3.4,

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 Kauri had implemented the Sunshine Circles programme to address issues surrounding peer
relationships. Scores for emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity and prosocial
skills fell within the average range (Table 5.14) at Time 0 of the research.

For statistical analysis the linear mixed effects model was used even through only two measures
were taken: beginning and end of the research. Accounting for repeated testing of individuals
still needed to be considered. Both parent and teacher scores were used in the calculations. Table
5.15 shows that overall, no statistically significant difference was detected between the control
and intervention groups (p = 0.7470). When each area was scored separately, no statistically
significant difference was detected between the control and intervention group.

Table 5.15. Coefficient Estimates for SDQ Using Model 1: Group

Estimate Std error t value p value

Overall SDQ
Intercept - control 19.90 0.55 35.59 <0.0001
Intervention -0.24 0.76 -0.32 0.7470
Emotional Problem Scale
Intercept - control 2.01 0.30 6.57 <0.0001
Intervention -0.52 0.41 -1.23 0.2181
Conduct Problem Scale
Intercept - control 2.30 0.14 15.37 <0.0001
Intervention 0.07 0.20 0.34 0.7320
Hyperactivity Scale
Intercept - control 4.43 0.23 19.21 <0.0001
Intervention -0.30 0.31 -0.97 0.3306
Peer Problem Scale
Intercept - control 4.09 0.10 38.05 <0.0001
Intervention -0.04 0.14 -0.33 0.7372
Prosocial Scale
Intercept - control 7.05 0.34 20.46 <0.0001
Intervention 0.56 0.47 1.18 0.2388

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However, when the frequency was included (Table 5.16) there was a statistically significant
difference between the groups overall (p = 0.0245) with the four or more times per week group
having a higher SDQ score than the less than four times per week group (a lower score is
desirable). When the areas of the SDQ were separated there was a statistically significant
difference detected between the less than four times per week and the four or more times per
week groups for emotional problem scale (p = 0.0230) and conduct problems (p = 0.0012). This
would indicate that when using RMT four or more times each week improvements were
observed in the SDQ scores overall but in particular the emotional problem scale and the conduct
problem scale.

Table 5.16. Coefficient Estimates for SDQ Using Model 2: Frequency

Estimate Std error t value p value

Overall SDQ Frequency
Intercept - >=4 19.67 0.47 41.09 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week 1.41 0.62 2.26 0.0245*
Emotional Problem Scale
Intercept - >=4 1.25 0.29 6.25 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week 0.95 0.41 2.31 0.0230*
Conduct Problem Scale
Intercept - >=4 2.01 0.13 14.46 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week 0.64 0.19 3.33 0.0012**
Hyperactivity Scale
Intercept - >=4 4.07 0.22 18.07 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week 0.38 0.31 1.22 0.2227
Peer Problem Scale
Intercept - >=4 4.07 0.15 38.62 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week -0.00 0.14 -0.01 0.9843
Prosocial Scale
Intercept - >=4 7.63 0.33 22.61 <0.0001
Frequency <4/week -0.55 0.47 -1.17 0.2428

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 Student behaviour: Discussion. Culture, language and social interactions are essential
elements in the development of a child according to Vygotsky (Kozulin, 2004; Louis, 2009;
Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky’s insights encourage children to independently construct learning
through active engagement. Education is viewed as a process in development, rather than
development being viewed as a consequence of education. RMT has been shown to allow the
child to control aspects of the learning through the movements. Children can determine the speed
of the movement and in some classes, they were able to choose the movements they completed
using feedback from their body. However, as discussed in Section 4.4, behavioural aspects
related to the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) key competencies such as self-
management, relating to others, participating and contributing were observed during the RMT
trial process. Using a Vygotskian approach these children were actively participating in gaining
knowledge. As Kozulin (2004) notes, it can be challenging for teachers to allow children to take
greater control of their learning. This was reflected in teacher comments in Section 4.4 where
some wanted to determine which movements were completed.

Vygotsky believed that literacy was acquired through a range of interactions and reading was not
the only significant measure (Vygotsky, 1978). He saw social interactions as essential in the
development of a child as they provided feedback and simulation of ideas which are means of
developing psychological functioning. Problem-solving is also developed through social
interaction and he believed that transferring responsibility for psychological functioning from the
adult to the child enhanced development (Schneider & Watkins, 1996). The SDQ scores showed
that this group of participants had high to very high levels of social and emotional difficulties.
However, the high-frequency use of RMT group showed statistically significant differences
(improvement) at the completion of the research. Mutch (2017) and Rucklidge (2012) report on
the emotional stress for people following the Canterbury earthquakes and this may provide
insights into the high scores in the SDQ of these children. The children using RMT at a higher
frequency improved their SDQ scores and when Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory is in focus, this
change in social and emotional skills has the potential to impact the children’s development. The
parents talked about the emotional and social changes their children in the intervention group
made, and making friendships was commented on. Through increased social skills and reduced
emotional difficulties children also have the possibility of strengthening their microsystems

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(Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Rosa & Tudge, 2013). If a child has stronger connections with children
at school it is possible that being in the environment will have positive associations, which can
then enhance learning.

Maturation featured in several parent comments. Retained primitive reflexes have been identified
in Section 2. 2 and 2.3 as part of the maturity process. When primitive reflexes integrate,
maturity progresses (Goddard-Blythe, 2005) and when the lowered reflex profiles of these
participants were combined with parent comments it was shown that while these children were
completing RMT maturity changes were noticed and SDQ scores reduced.

Progressing understanding of the relationship between the use of a reflex integration programme
and changes to social and emotional competency is important when the ‘whole child’s’
development is considered. Social skills are used by the child to establish wider and more
complex microsystems: a factor of Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) bio-ecological theory. The
understanding that many of these participants had experienced the Canterbury earthquakes may
influence their social and emotional maturity. While some participants had been diagnosed with
ADD/ADHD the SDQ scores indicated that the social and emotional issues in this group of
participants were evident across the whole group. Additional support through a generic reflex
integration programme may benefit children socially and emotionally through low-cost, low
impact intervention. RMT can be used in a way where children are not singled out or and made
to feel different while effectively lessening social and emotional challenges.

This research does not report on how a reflex integration programme works. However, the
movements are repetitive, and teachers reported that they calmed children. It may be possible
that they provide a mindful moment of calm for the child when there is no pressure to perform.
When the movements have been learned it may be almost a small meditative time. Mindfulness
training has been shown to be effective in reducing perceived stress in primary school-aged
children (Costello & Lawler, 2014). It is possible that RMT could provide that time of calm in a
child’s day.

The changes in the physical structure of New Zealand schools from one teacher classrooms to
multiple-teacher ILEs has created environmental challenges for some children. Children may

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find it difficult to focus, they may become lost within the bigger group of children and for some
the increased noise levels can be problematic. One teacher commented that the children found
changes in routine and having new groups for swimming challenging at the end of the year. With
ILE’s it is possible that class relationships are not as strong as there are so many more
relationships to maintain. Many of these challenges have been associated with retained primitive
reflexes (Blomberg, 2015; Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996) and it is possible that
the changes in classroom structures are accentuating these issues for children. Challenges that
were not obvious in smaller groups are now having to be addressed within larger groups. It has
been shown that a reflex integration programme may be useful in helping children increase their
social skills and lessen their emotional challenges.

5.3 Summary of Chapter 5

Quantitative results in this chapter are combined with qualitative findings from teachers, parents
and the researcher. This mixed methods approach has allowed greater exploration of the meaning
of some results and has captured more of the ‘whole child’ in relation to achievement and
behaviour. Questions have been raised through both the findings and the results: some of them
are answered and others are not, as is common when understanding is based in hermeneutic
circles.

The findings, results and discussion in this chapter show that the seven teachers interviewed
believed that the children had made good to very good gains over the year, and for many, the
gains were greater than expected. Teachers observed noticeable changes in reading skills and
these comments were supported by statistically significant differences detected between the
children using RMT for four or more times per week and those using RMT fewer than four times
per week. The generic use of RMT would appear to be a useful tool for increasing reading skills
in children aged six to eight years. Parents noticed changes in children’s skill development
during extra-curricular activities and these changes appeared to increase the child’s confidence.
Children made some neurological gains as assessed through the DAP as well as gains in
mathematics and writing but no statistically significant difference was detected between the
control and intervention groups or the frequency groups. It has been reported that mathematics
results may be linked with fine-motor skills. The areas in this research where statistically
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significant differences were not detected all involved fine-motor skills, writing, DAP and
mathematics. It is known that children develop gross-motor skills before they develop fine motor
skills (Ayres, 1995) and these results suggest that reading skills develop before hand-eye fine
motor skills. However, children use devices and technology more as
communication/entertainment tools, and it is possible that their hand-eye skills are not as
developed as they may have been in the past when drawing and writing were more prevalent.

Statistically significant difference was detected between frequency groups in relation to social
and emotional difficulties. The children scored highly in the area of social and emotional
challenge at the beginning of the research and this may have been a result of their experiences in
the Canterbury earthquakes. When RMT was used four or more times per week SDQ scores
reduced at a greater rate than for children using RMT less than four times each week. This is
important information when Bronfenbrenner’s (2005; Rosa & Tudge, 2013) bio-ecological
model is in focus where the development of the ‘whole child’ is viewed as paramount. If using
RMT enables a child to make better connections within their microsystems through reduced
social and emotional challenges, then these strengthened microsystems encourage positive
opportunities for the child to develop further. Vygotsky placed an emphasis on language and
social interactions when development was considered (Kozulin, 2004; Schneider & Watkins,
1996; Vygotsky, 1978). The use of an intervention with the ability to improve reading skills,
increase vocabulary and develop social and emotional skills is of value within a curriculum that
promotes the wellbeing of the whole child. The key competencies from the NZ Curriculum
supported by the recorded changes using RMT are the use of language, symbols and texts, self-
management skills and relating to others. RMT also provides a calm and possibly ‘mindful
moment’ which supports research finding that mindfulness is effective in reducing stress for
children. This research advances the understanding that there are possible developments in
reading, social and emotional skills for children when they participate in a reflex integration
programme.

As reported in this chapter, these results were achieved using RMT in a generic way with access
to a limited range of movements. While the research design required this approach in order to
ensure replicability, it has been proposed that increasing the range of movements may have an

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increased effect on skill development. The research design ensured that the teacher effect was
reduced. However, this limited the time where teachers could be expected to divide their groups.
This research progresses information about the length of time required to use reflex integration
programmes in this generic way. It would appear that five months is not long enough to record
statistically significant differences between a control and an intervention group and that if
teachers are going to commit to using RMT, then a full school year could be advantageous for
the children. It has been shown that the number of times the movements were used each week
also changed the detectable differences in groups. Four to five sessions using the movements
each week made detectable differences to reading and the children’s social and emotional skills.
Strengths of the programme include the brief period each day needed to achieve these results, the
availability of the intervention to children with minor challenges and the way children are not
made to feel different or singled out in any way.

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 Chapter 6 Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
The phenomenon of retained primitive reflexes has been the focus of this research. Addressing
the retention of reflexes through reflex integration programmes has been established through the
review of literature as an effective intervention. The aim of the research was to explore the
management of RMT in the classroom and any possible influences on curriculum goals, student
achievement or behavioural outcomes. The overriding research question used to was: What
influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have in a classroom? Recent
research has identified the retained primitive reflex phenomenon as an issue for some children,
particularly those with learning and behavioural challenges. The identification of primitive reflex
retention is viewed as a ‘bottom-up’ approach where the possible underlying causes for learning
and behavioural challenges are the focus rather than remedying skill deficits as in ‘top-down’
interventions. The mixed methods approach to this research allowed the gathering of a range of
data aimed at increasing understanding of reflex integration programme use within a classroom
and the areas for possible skill development in children aged six to eight years.

The theoretical framework detailed in Chapter 3 used a rainbow to illustrate the

interconnectedness of all aspects of the research. The intervention was placed at the bottom of
the rainbow as the phenomenon in focus and all the elements of the research formed supportive
coverings, the participants and their perspectives, the test results, the methods of data gathering
and the pragmatic paradigm with both positivism and naturalistic approaches. The use of
statistical analysis and hermeneutic circles allowed a range of information to be explored.
However, what also became evident as the research progressed were complexities associated
with the retained primitive reflex phenomenon and the appropriateness of the rainbow
symbolism. The integration of primitive reflexes focuses on the whole child, and there are
multiple layers (colours of the rainbow) of possible changes in development through reflex
integration. The rainbow could also symbolise the NZ Curriculum where multiple layers have
components from other layers to form a whole, each layer supporting the layers on either side.

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Through this research it was shown that a reflex integration programme could support several
Key Competencies in the curriculum.

Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) was the reflex integration intervention used in this
research. Ninety-eight New Zealand children used the programme for between five and ten
months. While RMT movements are commonly used as an individualised programme with
children in a therapeutic situation, this research has advanced knowledge in relation to the use of
RMT in a generic approach within mixed-ability classrooms. The research has found that RMT
was easy to use in a group setting, the six to eight-year-olds engaged with the movements
willingly and the amount of time, five minutes, required daily was considered manageable by the
teachers. Distributed practise theory provided an explanation as to why not only duration, but
frequency of completing the movements was important. While using RMT in a generic way with
a group of children, this research showed that when completing the movements four or more
times each week statistically significant differences to reading, social and emotional outcomes
were detected. Engaging in the RMT programme in a generic way for five months was not long
enough when the movements were completed for less than four times per week to detect
statistically significant differences between the control and intervention groups.

While using RMT in this research, children’s reflex profile scores reduced and statistically
significant differences were detected between the frequency group using RMT four or more
times per week and those using RMT fewer than four times a week. Along with the integration of
primitive reflexes, reading scores improved and emotional and social challenges decreased by
statistically significant levels within the group using RMT four or more times each week.
Teachers reported an increase in the children’s focus while they were using RMT during the
research and parents reported improved skills in extra-curricular activities such as sport, with
gains noticed in self-confidence and social competence. Teachers also reported the calming
influence RMT had on their children, who appeared more able to engage in learning tasks after
practising the movements. Parents talked about increased maturity for their children and this was
evident in skill development both inside and outside the classroom.

The results and findings support Hughlings-Jackson’s (Franz & Gillett, 2011) theories that some
psychopathology is grounded in the retention of primitive reflexes. This was demonstrated
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through the high levels of retained primitive reflexes found through assessment of this group of
children, combined with high levels of social and emotional challenge recorded. The reflex
integration programme was being used four or more times per week when the social and
emotional challenge scores reduced. Thelen (1981) believes that movement and development are
linked and that the movements made by infants are essential to brain development. Perry (2008)
suggests that therapy targeting the associated brain development stage and the onset of
dysfunction is an effective intervention approach. RMT, using movements based on infant
movements and targeting primitive reflex retention, aligns with Thelen’s and Perry’s theories.
The maturation process of the reflexes commonly takes place in the early months of a child’s life
with birth complications or maternal stress being implicated as interrupters of typical
progression. Using an intervention that focuses on movements made by infants supports Perry
and Thelen’s theories. RMT addresses possible maturity issues by focusing on retained primitive
reflexes.

The theories of Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky were used to increase the understanding around
the use of RMT. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory of human development locates the child
and their environment at the centre of development. He believes that children are influenced by
and can influence their development through the range and quality of interactions they have
within their environment. This research about the use of RMT supports this theory; completing
the movements may change the rate of a child’s development and the child has the ability to self-
manage the movements. Bronfenbrenner’s developmental theory focuses on the ‘whole’ child
and RMT aligns with this theory. The range of documented challenges associated with retained
reflexes spans both educational and psychopatholological areas for children. An intervention that
focuses on the ‘whole’ child has the potential to address challenges in both spheres. The New
Zealand Curriculum document (Ministry of Education, 2007), while focused principally on
learning outcomes, has important goals associated with the well-being of the ‘whole’ child when
shaping life-long learners. RMT addresses retained primitive reflexes which, when integrated,
allow the ‘whole’ child to mature, with the possibility of targeting specific areas of immaturity.
This holistic approach associated with RMT is a strength of the programme. Vygotsky believed
that social interaction, culture and language play an important role in children’s social and
emotional development. He saw children constructing their knowledge and understanding

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through participation within a group. It was shown that while using RMT children’s social and
emotional challenge scores reduced. When using RMT it is not necessary to identify the skill
being targeted which reduces the need to identify children’s skill deficits and helps to maintain
their feeling of self-worth. Positioning RMT within Bronfenbrenner’s and Vygotsky’s theories
created increased understanding for the researcher in relation to the power of the individual to
influence their development, and also a shift in thinking around the use of RMT within the
group. It may be possible that children’s development is enhanced further when they use RMT
within a group, especially as was illustrated with Orla and her learning challenges. It was easier
for her to complete the movements when it was a ‘whole class’ activity.

The findings and results offer possibilities for either reduced resource needs for children with
challenges, or the ability to offer more support to children with identified needs. This puts
greater value on primitive reflex identification and integration for policymakers and teachers. As
already reported, during this research RMT not only improved the school experience for the
child, well-focused children with fewer emotional and social challenges were easier for teachers
to engage in learning. The generic use of RMT meant that individual children’s skill deficits
were not highlighted, as everyone was using the movements. This may help to preserve
children’s self-worth. The children were engaged in physical activity, and as noted by teachers, it
was completed in a quiet, mindful manner. These two components were not assessed and
represent a shift in researcher thinking, but other research (Costello & Lawler, 2014; Williams,
2015) presented the benefits of both mindfulness and physical activity.

It appeared that during this research, RMT provided a range of possible benefits for children.
The investment of time and resources was minimal and teachers observed improvements around
focus, behaviour and achievment in their groups of children that they attributed to the time RMT
was being used. However, this research was exploratory and questions have been raised as to
how the programme could be extended to meet a greater range of needs. The reflections and
limitations described in the next section begin that dialogue.

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 6.1.1 Hermeneutic Reflections and Research Limitations

It is important to acknowledge limitations in research and reflect on these limitations so as to

enhance future research. Limitations within school-based quasi-experimental research are
expected due to situations beyond the control of the researcher and the expected differences
between classes and teachers. The research questions positioned this research in the classroom,
but each classroom had an individualised approach and routine. Group size was another
limitation of this research. Fifty participants in each group offer an indication as to the effect size
of the intervention, but a larger group would provide more reliable information. Interviews with
seven teachers and 26 parents provided limited information about the group, however, the
insights gained have raised additional questions for further research (Section 6.1.2). The mixed
methods approach allowed a range of perspectives to be explored through qualitative data and a
hermeneutic approach.

Using the non-standardised NZNS testing system found in New Zealand schools was
problematic; overall teacher judgement and limited standardised tests used possibly reduced the
reliability of the results. The decision to use existing systems was made due to the extensive
testing children undergo as part of their school experience and it was viewed as important for the
wellbeing of the children not to overload them with additional academic testing.

The different styles of classrooms created additional challenges when the teachers were asked to
divide the groups in two so that there were control and intervention groups. Additional
accommodation of needs and communication were required between teachers where there was
more than one teacher in the group and time was spent waiting for groups to join back together
again. This added pressure to an already pressured class routine. Using two separate groups
within the same school might have solved this problem. The teachers in the 25-child class and
40-child class had fewer challenges with the divided groups, but all noticed it was easier when
the whole group was participating in RMT movements.

The decision to divide the groups within the class was made to remove the possibility of a
‘teacher effect’. This was to ensure that any effect noticed could be aligned with the movements
rather than teaching styles and experience. However, this approach did add challenges for the

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teachers. Limiting the intervention to one school year was done so that children were with the
same teacher for the year, again an attempt to limit the ‘teacher effect’. Ethically, in New
Zealand it is not acceptable to offer an intervention to half a class, so the multiple base-line
approach was used to ensure all children had an opportunity to participate. The study design
would need to be modified to address the ethical issues.

Limiting the number of movements to four was to ensure teachers did not have to learn too many
movements and that RMT was manageable as an activity. However, the results have left
questions about what would have happened if more movements had been on offer so that
children could address a greater range of primitive reflex retention needs. Were some reflex
issues missed because the movements chosen did not meet a child’s specific needs? Would too
many movements be challenging for teachers? Would too many choices be challenging for
children? How would the extended range be introduced? How could this increased range of
movements and flexibility regarding choice be managed from a research perspective? The
movements chosen were easy to use and could cover a range of primitive reflexes, but it was
understood that these movements would not suit all children. Also, to maintain replicability of
the research the movements were not altered according to changes in the children. This feature of
the RMT programme relies on teacher training and experience of RMT and was outside the
research parameters. RMT can be challenging to use with highly sensitive children (Blomberg &
Dempsey, 2011) who may find the movements difficult. Increases in negative behaviours in such
cases have been reported. However, with training it is possible to guide children through the
process and achieve positive results. Additional research is needed in this area to establish how
highly sensitive children could be managed within the group environment, and by whom.

Another limitation of the research was the generic use of the movements. RMT is typically used
in a therapeutic setting with an individualised menu of movements. However, this research
progresses information and understanding about what happens when a generic approach is taken
to RMT. It is possible that generic use combined with a level of individualisation of RMT could
be more effective for children with behavioural and learning challenges. Further research is
needed in this area.

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 6.1.2 Further Research

This research has raised questions that could be explored through additional research. While it
appears that five months (94 days) completing the movements three or more times a week is not
long enough to see a change in children’s academic skills and behavioural outcomes, would
these be evident after one year of completing RMT movements in a generic way? Is frequency
still a significant factor when the duration is extended? What would happen if there was a mix of
generic classroom RMT use and specialised use with children identified as having learning or
social challenges? Using this with younger children may have a greater impact on learning and
skill development, but would this be practical with a group of five-year-olds? In line with a focus
on early intervention RMT could be used in an early childhood setting but the practicalities of
this need further investigation. Small group activities, commonly found in early childhood
settings may be the vehicle for implementation of RMT. Using the ‘whole-group’ approach as
implemented in this research is unlikely to gain traction with large groups of younger children.

The reflex tests used in this research do not appear to have established reliability statistics. It
would be useful to have these statistics for further research in this area. The tests chosen were
used by experts in the field and it would be advantageous for researchers and practitioners to
have a set of tests that provide reliable, consistent results. Also, further testing of reflexes
relating to gender may be useful. Males show higher levels of ATNR retention (McPhillips et al.,
2000; McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b) but what about other reflexes?

Research focused on ‘how’ reflexes integrate, patterns of integration and length of time needed
to integrate different reflexes was not found. Do different reflexes behave differently in relation
to integration? Which, if any, reflexes are influenced by environmental or nutritional factors? If
answers to these questions had greater clarity, intervention strategies could be more effectively
targeted to the particular challenge.

A perceived strength of the RMT programme by some teachers and parents was that the child
could choose the movements they completed, and in the order that suited them. For some
teachers, this was difficult and they preferred to choose the movements and the order. Research
that evaluated the difference between the two approaches would be interesting when considering

216
the self-management aspect of the NZ Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) and the child-
centred learning objective pervades in NZ classrooms. Is it possible that the child knows what
they need when they are encouraged to complete the movements they like and that make them
feel good? Or is RMT more effective when the adult decides what is needed based on observable
challenges? Alternatively, would a mixture of teacher and child directed movement engagement
be most effective? Another possibility may be to collect data from children who have used both
approaches. How did they feel about being able to choose or being told which movements to
use? Why did they feel that way?

With the development of neuroimaging, it would be interesting to learn what changes are
occurring in the brain when completing an RMT programme. The first study would need to
establish the difference between the brains of children where there are high levels of retained
reflexes evident, and brains where the reflexes are fully integrated. A next step might be to assess
the brain of a child with high levels of retained primitive reflexes and assess any changes that
may occur over time as they participate in an RMT programme This would be useful in
understanding how or if reflex integration programmes change brain physiology.

Further research using standardised mathematics and writing tests would increase the
understanding of these subject areas. It has been acknowledged in this research (Section 3.3) that
the testing used, based on the NZ National Standards (Ministry of Education, 2009a), was not
standardised and was based on OTJ. Negotiation would need to take place with schools to
replace existing mathematics and writing testing with standardised tests so that children were not
subjected to increased testing regimes. The use of RMT would need to be undertaken for one
school year.

Another area for further research could be combining RMT with existing EBPs. It is possible that
skill deficit based reading programmes may have increased effectiveness when RMT is included
in the child’s day. Another possibility is the combination of RMT with research such as
micronutrient research (Rucklidge et al., 2012). There is evidence that some children with an
ADD/ADHD diagnosis benefit from the addition of micronutrients. Would adding RMT improve
the behavioural outcomes? For the children where micronutrients were not effective, would
including RMT be beneficial?
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Music teachers may find that RMT is a useful tool. The rhythmic element of the movements and
the effect on musical skills were not assessed during this research, but it would be interesting to
find out if RMT can influence a child’s ability to learn a musical instrument.

Stress has been implicated in the retention of primitive reflexes (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011).
Many of the children in this research were young during the Canterbury earthquakes and this was
suggested as a possible cause for the high reflex profile scores. Reflex profiles from children
from an area that had not experienced an event such as an earthquake close to the time of their
birth were gathered. Superficial data analysis indicated that their scores were different from those
of the Canterbury group, but detailed analysis would be useful to determine any statistical
differences. It would be interesting to compare those reflex profiles with those of children from
other countries where natural disasters have been experienced close to their birth, such as Japan’s
earthquakes and tsunami, California’s bush fires, or Australia’s drought.

While the current research attempted to remove the ‘teacher effect’ by containing the control and
intervention groups within each class, it has been acknowledged (Section 4.4) that this was
problematic. Further research using teachers from the same school with similar perceived
teaching abilities would further increase the understanding of using generic RMT and establish
the range of development associated with the use of RMT. Research associated with primitive
reflex integration programmes have all used this approach (Brown, 2010; Goddard-Blythe, 2005;
Jordan-Black, 2005; McPhillips et al., 2000; McPhillips & Jordan-Black, 2007b) although RMT
was not the intervention used in any of these studies.

As reported in Section 2.1, no literature focused on retained primitive reflexes and adolescents
was found. It is possible that some immaturity associated with adolescent behaviour could be
based on retained primitive reflexes and that using RMT may be useful. However, Gazca (2012)
reported comments from practitioners showing that teenagers, particularly boys, did not enjoy
the movements and the students were challenging to engage in the programme.

Finally, it would be interesting to compare the high school results of children with high reflex
profiles at six or seven with children who had high scores at the same age but had used a reflex
integration programme. What are the long-term gains, if any, and what effect does a reflex

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integration programme used between the ages of five and eight have on the teenage brain during
what are typical changes at that stage? Could children have an easier path through adolescence
with higher levels of integrated primitive reflexes? This could change the strength of the
microsystems in the adolescent’s environment and reduce the amount of possible support
required.

6.1.3 Recommendations from this research

This research has shown that Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) as an intervention was easy
to implement and could be used in a generic way within the physical confines of a classroom.
Children aged six to eight were easy to engage and willingly used the movements. Children
younger than six were not used in the research due to reliability issues. Leaving children with
their retained primitive reflexes for the first two years of schooling fails to take advantage of a
valuable opportunity to establish sound learning patterns and develop confident learners. While
children of this age may not be reliable research participants as identified in Section 3.4, due to
being in a new environment, they are well able to complete the RMT movements accurately.
Teachers and parents noticed changes in reading, social and emotional skills in the participants
and these findings were supported by quantitative results. It was noted that the areas where
statistical difference was not detected all involved the fine-motor skills of hand-eye coordination.
This may be due in part to the changing way children communicate and entertain themselves,
technology having replaced paper and pencils, with the possible decline in hand-eye skills. Does
this mean that teachers need to re-assess how they teach and/or test children, choosing testing
methods that do not rely on hand-eye skills? The possibility that children can take responsibility
for choosing preferred RMT movements adds opportunities to develop self-management skills.
However, the most important aspect of RMT is its ‘bottom-up’ approach: addressing some of the
possible underlying causes for achievement and behavioural challenges. In the same way that
ears and eyes are medically screened in NZ four-year-olds, there could be primitive reflex
screening with additional support given to those in most need. This approach would require
additional training in primitive reflex testing for B4 School (Ministry of Health, 2015a)
registered nurses who perform the tests. This could identify the children at greatest risk of having
maturity-based issues.

219
Including primitive reflex information in teacher education would also be advantageous for
children. If teachers were able to recognise that some apparent skill deficits could be related to
retained reflexes and associated immaturities, appropriate intervention could then be provided.
Post-graduate courses offering training in reflex integration programmes would be the most cost-
effective method of providing generic programmes, such as RMT. Gazca (2012) noted that with
further reflex integration education, practitioners noticed greater changes in children using RMT.
Training teachers would also enable them to be responsive to the needs of the group and to offer
a greater range of movements than were used in this research. As has been reported in the
findings of this research, RMT is easy to implement in a classroom and the engagement of
children was high.

The range of challenges addressed through RMT positions it as a cost-effective, low-impact

intervention that can be used in a generic way within a classroom. Researcher thinking has
expanded in the usefulness of RMT and the possible implication of different approaches to its
use. Could RMT be used in conjunction with other skill deficit-based programmes and is it
possible that RMT may enhance the effectiveness of these interventions? Being able to give
children with minor challenges access to an intervention is viewed as a strength of the generic
use of RMT. Using the programme gives children opportunities to move physically, thus
developing muscle strength and tone, while also having a quiet and possibly meditative moment
during what can be a busy and noisy school day. Could RMT be used to develop music skills and
how would this affect other achievement areas? This research has shown that completing the
movements in a generic way for five months did not provide statistically significant differences
between the intervention and control groups. However, when frequency of the movements was
considered differences in the groups were observed. This implies that RMT may not be a ‘quick
fix’ but that increased frequency produces positive results.

6.2 Thesis Conclusions

The New Zealand government’s National Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) has a goal to
provide the best educational opportunities available for children. Addressing achievement and
behavioural challenges contribute to the achievement of that goal and require associated
resourcing. It is possible that RMT could also contribute to the achievement of that goal as a
220
‘bottom-up’ intervention that enables the reduction of retained primitive reflexes and an increase
in children’s skills. Research shows that using reflex integration interventions in a generic
manner requires a commitment of at least one year, and the ease with which RMT can be
incorporated into the classroom setting would make engagement a realistic possibility.

Rhythmic Movement Training combines movement and rhythm, two aspects that have been
identified as important components when enhancing children’s development. It is based on the
movements infants naturally make and this naturalistic approach focuses on the ‘whole child’.
The ability to use the movements in a child-directed manner has additional benefits for the child
as they make decisions about which movements they would like to complete. RMT gains can be
achieved without highlighting children’s skill deficits which is important when the self-worth of
the child is being nurtured. The number of children able to engage in the intervention is a
strength of the generic use of RMT, meaning that children who would not qualify for state-
funded interventions may have access to this intervention.

During this research, it was found that children were easy to engage in RMT and it was
straightforward for professionals to learn the movements. It was flexible, with teachers able to
decide when and how they used it in their classrooms. RMT was shown to be a cost-effective,
low-impact intervention with potential to reduce a child’s retention of primitive reflexes. This
could in turn increase a child’s ability to mature, thus addressing learning or behavioural
challenges associated with maturity. In a world where increased specialisation is prevalent,
RMT’s generic approach to challenges was refreshing. RMT facilitated goals in the NZ
Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) and the programme was managed successfully within
the physical space of the classroom. This research identified gains in reading and social and
emotional skills while the children were using RMT four or more times each week. The
conclusion of this research is that a small investment in RMT has potential positive gains for
teachers and children.

221
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 Appendices
The following list details the supporting documents for Tessa Grigg’s PhD research.
Appendix A Information sheet – School
Appendix B Information Sheet – Teacher
Appendix C Information Sheet – Parent
Appendix Ca Additional Information for Parents
Appendix D Information talk – Children
Appendix E Informed Consent – Principal/Board of Trustees
Appendix F Informed Consent – Teacher
Appendix G Informed Consent – Parent
Appendix H Informed Consent – Child
Appendix I Interview – Semi-formal – Parent
Appendix J Interview – Semi-formal – Teacher
Appendix K SDQ – Questionnaire sheet for parents and teachers
Appendix L SDQ – Covering Letter – Parent
Appendix M SDQ – Covering Letter – Teacher
Appendix N SDQ – Scoring system
Appendix O RMT – Letter of Support
Appendix P RMT – classroom exercises –
Appendix Q RMT – classroom exercises – additional movement
Appendix R Draw-A-Person scoring system
Appendix S Reflex Tests
Appendix Tm Assessment Resources Map Mathematics
Appendix Tr Assessment Resources Map Reading
Appendix Tw Assessment Resources Map Writing
Appendix U Statistics - Scatterplots of Predicted and Residuals Values
Appendix V North Island ERHEC Approval
Appendix W Health and Safety Plan
Appendix Xa Ngāi Tahu Consultation and Engagement Group (NTCEG) application
Appendix Xb Ngāi Tahu Consultation and Engagement Group (NTCEG) reply
Appendix Ya ERHEC first email reply to Ethics approval application.
Appendix Yb Researcher’s reply to ERHEC initial email
Appendix Yc ERHEC second email reply to Ethics approval application
Appendix Yd Researcher’s reply to ERHEC second email
Appendix Z ERHEC Approval Letter

243
Appendix A

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Dear (Board of Trustees/ School Principal – school name here)

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Information Sheet for Board of Trustees/ School Principal

My name is Tessa Grigg and I am a registered teacher studying at the University of Canterbury. I
would like to invite your school to participate in my research project as part of the completion of my
PhD Thesis.

The aim of this project is to assess an intervention relating to retained infant reflexes and learning
challenges. Further information about Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) is available at
http://www.rhythmicmovement.com/

School commitment:
The study will last 8 months - February 2017 testing. March 2017 - November 2017 intervention.
I am the only researcher involved in the project and I would be seeking access to one Year 3
teacher and the children in that class.

Testing:
National Standards academic testing. I would be seeking access to the information from the tests,
academic and behavioural, about the children to be used for the purposes of this study.

Each child will be asked to draw a picture of themselves three times during the year. This activity
has been shown to highlight cognitive changes through the construction of the drawing.

Each child will be tested by me for the presence of three reflexes three times during the year.
These tests are simple; e.g. holding their hands out in front and turning their head, and having the
rounded end of a pen run down the back, either side of the spine while the child is in a crawling
position. It will take approximately 5 minutes to test each child. The completion of each test will be
video recorded so that accuracy of the testing can be checked.

On the completion of the tests, the class will be divided into two groups. One group will begin the
exercises as soon as the study begins in March 2017. The second group will carry on with normal
classroom activities for the 5 minutes that Group One is completing the exercises. After 4 months,
in June 2017, the second group will begin the exercises along with the first group.
The exercises will be completed in the classroom each day with each session lasting
approximately 3 -5 minutes. The risks associated with participating in the exercises are shown on
the exercise menu sheet (attached). The teacher will monitor children and discuss any changes

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
with parents and/or me as the researcher. If the symptoms persist the child will cease the
exercises for a short time.

The teacher will be asked to complete a simple one-page questionnaire twice during the year
(Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) attached) on each child. It will take approximately
5 minutes to complete for each child.

There will be one semi-formal interview with the teacher towards the end of the study. This will focus
on the implementation of the programme within the classroom setting. The interview will last
approximately 30 – 45 minutes. It will be recorded for transcribing purposes only.

Parent commitment:
Parents will be asked to complete a short questionnaire on-line twice during the year.
One parent group interview will be held towards the end of the study. It will last approximately 1
hour. From the group of ‘willing to participate’ parents, 8 parents will be randomly selected to
partake in the group interview.

General Information:
Participation is voluntary and your school has the right to withdraw at any stage without penalty.
You may ask for raw data to be returned to you or destroyed at any point. If your school withdraws,
I will remove information relating to your school. However, once analysis of raw data starts on 1
January 2018 it will become increasingly difficult to remove the influence of your school’s data on
the results. Data will not be collected from children with non-consenting parents.

The results of the project may be published, but you may be assured of the complete
confidentiality of data gathered in this investigation: your identity will not be made public without
your prior consent. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, pseudonyms will be used for any
interview material quoted. Children will not be interviewed or named in the study. The results of the
project may be published, but identifiable information will not be used. All raw data will be held
securely and kept for a minimum period of 10 years following completion of the project and then
destroyed. A thesis is a public document and will be available through the UC Library.

Please indicate on the consent form if you would like to receive a copy of the summary of results
of the project.

This research is being carried out to fulfil the requirements for my PhD under the supervision of:
Prof Ian Culpan (tel: 03 369 3447 ext. 93 447, email: [email protected] )
from the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury.
He will be pleased to discuss any concerns you may have about participation in the project.

This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Canterbury Human Ethics
Committee, and participants should address any complaints to The Chair, Human Ethics
Committee, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (human-
[email protected]).

If you agree to participate in the study, you are asked to complete the consent form and return it
in the stamped addressed envelope attached, or email it to [email protected]

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE
University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix B

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Dear (Teacher – name here)

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Information Sheet for Teacher

My name is Tessa Grigg and I am a registered teacher studying at the University of Canterbury. I
would like to invite you to participate in my research project as part of the completion of my PhD
Thesis.

The aim of this project is to assess an intervention relating to retained infant reflexes and learning
challenges. Further information about Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) is available at
http://www.rhythmicmovement.com/

Teacher commitment:
The study will last 8 months - February 2017 testing. March 2017 - November 2017 intervention.
I am the only researcher involved in the project and I would be seeking access to the Year 3
children in your class.

Testing:
National Standards academic testing. I would be seeking access to information from academic
testing, and any behavioural notes you have made about the children, for the purposes of this
study.

Each child will be asked to draw a picture of themselves three times during the year. This activity
has been shown to highlight cognitive changes through the construction of the drawing.

Each child will be tested by me for the presence of three reflexes three times during the year.
These tests are simple; e.g. holding their hands out in front and turning their head, and having the
rounded end of a pen run down the back, either side of the spine while the child is in a crawling
position. It will take approximately 5 minutes to test each child. The completion of each test will be
video recorded so that reliability of the testing can be checked.

On the completion of the tests, the class will be divided into two evenly matched groups. One
group will begin the exercises as soon as the study begins in March 2017. The second group will
carry on with normal classroom activities while Group One is completing the exercises. After 4
months, in June 2017, the second group will begin the exercises along with the first group.
The exercises will be completed in the classroom each day with each session lasting
approximately 3 -5 minutes. The risks associated with participating in the exercises are shown on
the exercise menu sheet (attached). You will monitor children and discuss any changes with
University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
parents and/or me as the researcher. If symptoms persist the child will stop the exercises for a
short time.

You will be asked to complete a simple one-page questionnaire twice during the year (Strengths
and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) attached) on each child. It will take approximately 5 minutes
to complete for each child.

There will be one semi-formal interview with you towards the end of the study. This will focus on the
implementation of the programme within the classroom. The interview will last approximately 30 –
45 minutes. It will be recorded for transcribing purposes only.

Parent commitment:
Parents will be asked to complete a short questionnaire on-line or paper based twice during the
year. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

One parent group interview will be held towards the end of the study. It will last approximately 1
hour. From the group of ‘willing to participate’ parents, 8 parents will be randomly selected to
partake in the group interview.

General Information:
Participation is voluntary and you have the right to withdraw at any stage without penalty. You may
ask for your raw data to be returned to you or destroyed at any point. If you withdraw, I will remove
information relating to you. However, once analysis of raw data starts on 1 January 2018 it will
become increasingly difficult to remove the influence of your data on the results. Data will not be
collected from children with non-consenting parents.

The results of the project may be published, but you may be assured of the complete
confidentiality of data gathered in this investigation: your identity will not be made public without
your prior consent. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, pseudonyms will be used for any
interview material quoted. Children will not be interviewed or named in the study. The results of the
project may be published, but identifiable information will not be used. All raw data will be held
securely and kept for a minimum period of 10 years following completion of the project and then
destroyed. A thesis is a public document and will be available through the UC Library.

Please indicate on the consent form if you would like to receive a copy of the summary of results
of the project.

This research is being carried out to fulfil the requirements for my PhD under the supervision of:
Prof Ian Culpan (tel: 03 369 3447 ext. 93 447, email: [email protected] )
from the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury.
He will be pleased to discuss any concerns you may have about participation in the project.

This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Canterbury Human Ethics
Committee, and participants should address any complaints to The Chair, Human Ethics
Committee, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (human-
[email protected]).

If you agree to participate in the study, you are asked to complete the consent form and return it
in the stamped addressed envelope attached, or email it to [email protected]

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE
University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix C

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

16 February 2017

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Information Sheet for Parents/Caregivers

My name is Tessa Grigg and I am a registered teacher studying at the University of Canterbury. I
would like to invite you to participate in my research project as part of the completion of my PhD.

The aim of this project is to assess an intervention relating to retained infant reflexes and learning
and behavioural challenges. Further information about Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) is
available at http://www.rhythmicmovement.com/

Parent commitment:
You will be asked to complete a short questionnaire on-line or on paper twice during the year. It
will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

One parent group interview will be held towards the end of the study. It will last approximately 1
hour. From the group of ‘willing to participate’ parents, 8 parents will be randomly selected to
partake in the group interview.

School commitment and data gathering:

The study will last 8 months - February 2017 testing. March 2017 - November 2017 intervention.

National Standards academic testing. I will be seeking access to information, academic and
behavioural, about your child to be used for the purposes of this study.

Each child will be asked to draw a picture of themselves three times during the year. This activity
has been shown to highlight changes in brain development through the construction of the
drawing.

Each child will be tested by me for the presence of three reflexes three times during the year.
These tests are simple; e.g. holding their hands out in front and turning their head, and having the
rounded end of a pen run down the back, either side of the spine while the child is in a crawling
position. It will take approximately 5 minutes to test each child. The completion of each test will be
video recorded so that reliability of the testing can be checked.

On the completion of the tests, the class will be divided into two evenly matched groups. One
group will begin the exercises as soon as the study begins in March 2017. The second group will

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
carry on with normal classroom while Group One is completing the exercises. After 4 months, in
June 2017, the second group will begin the exercises along with the first group.
The exercises will be completed in the classroom each day with each session lasting
approximately 3 -5 minutes. The risks associated with participating in the exercises are shown on
the exercise menu sheet (attached). The teacher will monitor children and discuss any changes
with you and/or me as the researcher. If the symptoms persist the child will cease the exercises for
a short time.

General Information:
Participation is voluntary and you have the right to withdraw at any stage without penalty. You may
ask for your raw data to be returned to you or destroyed at any point. If you withdraw, I will remove
information relating to you and your child. However, once analysis of raw data starts on 1 January
2018 it will become increasingly difficult to remove the influence of your data on the results. Data
will not be collected from children with non-consenting parents.

The results of the project may be published, but you may be assured of the complete
confidentiality of data gathered in this investigation: your identity will not be made public without
your prior consent. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, pseudonyms will be used for any
interview material quoted. Children will not be interviewed or named in the study. The results of the
project may be published, but identifiable information will not be used. All raw data will be held
securely and kept for a minimum period of 10 years following completion of the project and then
destroyed. A thesis is a public document and will be available through the UC Library.

Please indicate on the consent form if you would like to receive a copy of the summary of results
of the project.

This research is being carried out to fulfil the requirements for my PhD under the supervision of:
Prof Ian Culpan (tel: 03 369 3447 ext. 93 447, email: [email protected] )
from the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury.
He will be pleased to discuss any concerns you may have about participation in the project.

This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Canterbury Human Ethics
Committee, and participants should address any complaints to The Chair, Human Ethics
Committee, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (human-
[email protected]).

If you agree to participate in the study, you are asked to complete the consent form and return it
in the stamped addressed envelope attached, or email it to [email protected]

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix Ca

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

16 March 2017

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have on student
achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Additional Information Sheet Following parent meetings:

I have met with parents over the last few weeks and the following questions have been
asked:

Q: Why are you wanting the children to do the exercises?

A: I want to see if there is an improvement in the reading, writing and maths of children
who do the exercises. It is also possible that there could be changes in other skills, such
as having better focus, being able to sit still, improved co-ordination, or better relationships
with other children. I want to test these possibilities. This week I have been testing children
in another school and the results of these Year 3 ‘quake’ babies shows that the stress
around the time of their birth has increased the possibility that their reflexes have not gone
away as would be expected. I am hoping to help these children.

Q: Will my child be singled out?

A: No. The children do the exercises as a group. I already have a whole class doing the
exercises in a school, and it is just like a little sport or exercise time. There is no
competition as to who is the best, fastest etc.

Q: Will anyone know my child has been in the study.

A: No – unless you tell them. No child will be written about individually. They will be given
a number, and all the information about them is attached to that number.

This information is in addition to the original information sheet.

If you agree to participate in the study, you are asked to complete the consent form and return it to the school,
or you can email me directly for an electronic version of the consent form.

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix D

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Class Talk – Topics to be covered by the Teacher

My name is Tessa and I am at University studying

I am looking at what happens when children do some exercises.

You will complete some tests. You will need to draw a picture of yourself. You will also
need to do some simple exercises. I will video you doing this so that I can check that I am
doing my job correctly. The video will not be used anywhere else.

I will show you and your teacher how to do the exercises.

When you know some of the exercises you will be able to choose which ones you do.

I will not be telling anyone that you are in the study. But you can tell people that you are
part of a study if you want to.

When I write about what I found out, I will not use your names.

If you have any questions you can ask your teacher or your parent/caregiver and they will
ask me.

Does anyone have any questions now?

The teacher will read this to the children before they are asked to sign the consent forms.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix E

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Consent Form for Principal/ Board of Trustees

□ I have been given a full explanation of this project and have had the opportunity to
ask questions.
□ I understand what is required of our school if I agree to take part in the research.
□ I understand that participation is voluntary and our school may withdraw at
any time without penalty. Withdrawal of participation will also include the
withdrawal of any information we have provided should this remain practically
achievable.
□ I understand that any information or opinions provided will be kept confidential to
the researcher and her supervisors and that any published or reported results will
not identify the participants or school. I understand that a thesis is a public
document and will be available through the UC Library.
□ I understand that all data collected for the study will be kept in locked and secure
facilities and in password protected electronic form and will be destroyed after ten
years.
□ I understand the risks associated with taking part and how they will be managed.
□ I understand that if I require further information I can contact the researcher, Tessa
Grigg ([email protected] ) or her supervisor, Prof Ian Culpan (tel: 03
369 3447 ext. 93 447 email: [email protected]). If I have any complaints,
I can contact the Chair of the University of Canterbury Educational Research Human
Ethics Committee, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (human-
[email protected]).
□ I would like a summary of the results of the project.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
□ By signing below, I agree to participate in this research project.

Name: _________________________

Designation____________________

Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________

Email address: ___________________________________________

Please post this document (stamped addressed envelope included) to:

Tessa Grigg – Post Graduate Studies

C/o Professor Ian Culpan
College of Education, Health and Human Development
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8041

Or scan and email to [email protected]

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
 College of Education, Health
and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

15 December 2016

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Consent Form for Teacher – XXXXX School

□ I have been given a full explanation of this project and have had the
opportunity to ask questions.
□ I understand what is required of me if I agree to take part in the research.
□ I understand that participation is voluntary and I may withdraw at any time
without penalty. Withdrawal of participation will also include the withdrawal
of any information I have provided should this remain practically
achievable.
□ I understand that any information or opinions I provide will be kept
confidential to the researcher and her supervisors and that any published
or reported results will not identify the participants or school. I understand
that a thesis is a public document and will be available through the UC
Library.
□ I understand that all data collected for the study will be kept in locked and
secure facilities and in password protected electronic form and will be
destroyed after ten years.
□ I understand the risks associated with taking part and how they will be
managed.
□ I understand that if I require further information I can contact the researcher,
Tessa Grigg ([email protected] ) or her supervisor, Prof Ian
Culpan (tel: 03 369 3447 ext. 93 447 email: [email protected]).
If I have any complaints, I can contact the Chair of the University of
Canterbury Educational Research Human Ethics Committee, Private Bag
4800, Christchurch ([email protected]).
□ I would like a summary of the results of the project.

□ By signing below, I agree to participate in this research project.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Name: _________________________

Designation____________________

Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________

Email address: ___________________________________________

Please post this document (stamped addressed envelope included) to:

Tessa Grigg – Post Graduate Studies

C/o Professor Ian Culpan
College of Education, Health and Human Development
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8041

Or fill in this form and return by email, or print, scan and email to
[email protected]

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix G

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

Consent Form for Parents

□ I have been given a full explanation of this project and have had the opportunity to
ask questions.
□ I understand what is required of me if I agree to take part in the research.
□ I understand that participation is voluntary and I may withdraw at any time
without penalty. Withdrawal of participation will also include the withdrawal of
any information I have provided should this remain practically achievable.
□ I understand that any information or opinions I provide will be kept confidential to
the researcher and her supervisors and that any published or reported results will
not identify the participants or school. I understand that a thesis is a public
document and will be available through the UC Library.
□ I understand that all data collected for the study will be kept in locked and secure
facilities and in password protected electronic form and will be destroyed after ten
years.
□ I understand the risks associated with taking part and how they will be managed.
□ I understand that if I require further information I can contact the researcher, Tessa
Grigg ([email protected] ) or her supervisor, Prof Ian Culpan (tel: 03
369 3447 ext. 93 447 email: [email protected]). If I have any complaints,
I can contact the Chair of the University of Canterbury Educational Research Human
Ethics Committee, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch (human-
[email protected]).
□ I would like a summary of the results of the project.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
□ By signing below, I agree to participate in this research project.

Name: _________________________

Designation____________________

Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________

Email address: ___________________________________________

Please post this document (stamped addressed envelope included) to:

Tessa Grigg – Post Graduate Studies

C/o Professor Ian Culpan
College of Education, Health and Human Development
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8041

Or scan and email to [email protected]

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix H

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Research Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have
on students?

Consent Information Form for Children

I agree to be part of this study and I agree with these sentences below:

 I have had the project explained to me.

 I understand that I will do some simple tests with Tessa and that these will be videoed.
 I understand that my real name will not be used.

Name: _____________________________________

Signature: ________________________ Date: _____________

Return this form: Please give this form to your teacher to return to Tessa Grigg

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix I

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Parent Semi-Formal Interview

Research Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have
on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?

The questions below will form the basis of the semi-formal interview to be conducted with
parents. The aim of the questions is to create a starting point from which to gather
comprehensive qualitative data. Additional supplementary questions may arise through the
focus-group interview process.

Suggested topics for discussion:

How has the year been for your children as they have participated in the study?
Give examples where possible.

How has it been for your child to complete the RMT exercises at school? Give
examples of comments they have made.

What are your perceptions of changes in your child’s behaviour this year? Give
examples of specific aspects relating to self-regulation, resilience and peer-
relations you may have noticed.

What are your perceptions of your child’s the academic achievements this year?
Give specific examples you have noticed.

Have there been expected (positive or negative) outcomes for your child this year?
Give specific examples.

Have there been any unexpected (positive or negative) outcomes for your child this
year? Give specific examples.

Have you encountered any barriers to participation in the RMT intervention?

Can you provide information about your child’s delivery/birth? Was there any
relationship to the earthquakes?

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix J

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

1 November 2016

Teacher Semi-Formal Interview

Research Title:

What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have on student
achievement and behavioural outcomes?

The questions below will form the basis of the semi-formal interview to be conducted with
the teacher. The aim of the questions is to create a starting point in which to gather
comprehensive qualitative data. Additional supplementary questions may arise through the
interview process.

Suggested questions for the teacher:

How has the year been for your children as they have participated in the study?
Give examples if possible.

How has it been for the children in the class to complete the RMT exercises? Give
specific examples where possible.

What are your overall perceptions about the children’s behavioural outcomes this
year? Give examples of social and emotional changes you have noticed within the
class.

What are your overall perceptions about the academic achievements the children
have made this year? Give specific examples.

Have there been expected outcomes (negative or positive) for the class this year?
Give examples of these outcomes.

Have there been any unexpected outcomes (negative or positive) for the class this
year? Give examples.

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix L

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

17 May 2017

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire – SDQ

Thank you for agreeing to take part in my research project. I appreciate your support.

As part of my data gathering, I am at the stage where I need you to complete the attached
questionnaire. You are also able to complete this on-line at if you wish. UC Research
RMT Questionnaire- Researcher Tessa Grigg. Click here

The questionnaire will take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. Most answers are as a
check-box, but there is a place to write more about your child if you would like to.

Please return the completed paper questionnaires to the School Office and I will collect
them.

Confidentiality will be maintained. This information will not be shared with the teacher

Please complete the on-line questionnaire by 1st June or return the paper questionnaire to
the School Office by 1st June.

If you have any questions about this project, please do not hesitate to contact me:
[email protected] .

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE
University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
Appendix M

College of Education, Health

and Human Development

Tel: 027 477 4825

Email: [email protected]

15 February 2017

Dear Teacher

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire – SDQ

Thank you for agreeing to take part in my research project. I appreciate your support.

As part of my data gathering, I am at the stage where I need you to complete the attached
questionnaire for each child in your class. You are also able to complete this on-line at
www.tessa’squestionnaire.ac.nz if you wish.

The questionnaire will take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. Most answers are as a
check-box, but there is a place to write more about the child if you would like to.

Confidentiality will be maintained.

Please return the completed questionnaires to the School Office by 1st March 2017. To
ensure the reliability of the data being gathered these questionnaires need to be
completed before the intervention can begin.

If you have any questions about this project, please do not hesitate to contact me:
[email protected] .

Yours sincerely,

Tessa M Grigg,
M Ed, Dip Tch Primary and ECE

University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. www.canterbury.ac.nz
 Appendix P
Your RMT Menu
Name: Year 3 Set 1

2014 Dempsey, M. Rhythmic Movement Training International Movement Cards – reproduced here with Moira
Dempsey’s expressed written permission. Permission needs to sought and expressed in order to copy or reproduce.
 Appendix Q
Your RMT Menu
Name: Year 3 additional movement

2014 Dempsey, M. Rhythmic Movement Training International Movement Cards – reproduced here with Moira
Dempsey’s expressed written permission. Permission needs to sought and expressed in order to copy or reproduce.
 Appendix R

GOODENOUGH DRAW – A – PERSON TEST

DIRECTIONS: “I want you to make a picture of a person. Make the very best picture that you can. Take
your time and work very carefully. Try very hard and see what a good picture you can make.”

TIME: No time limit. Usually 10 minutes will suffice with young children.
This test is to be used primarily as a screening device. The drawings of bright
children more than 10 years old or those who have had drawing lessons will
result in an invalid evaluation of the child’s intellectual potential.
SCORING
CLASS A Preliminary Stage in which the drawing cannot be recognized as a human figure:
1. Aimless uncontrolled scribbling – score 0.
2. Lines somewhat controlled – approaches crude geometrical form – score 1.
CLASS B All drawings that can be recognized as attempts to represent the human figure.
Each point is scored plus or minus. One credit for each point scored plus and no
half credits given.

GROSS DETAIL 1. Head present

2. Legs present.
3. Arms present
4. Trunk present
5. Length of trunk greater than breadth.
6. Shoulders are indicated (abrupt broadening of trunk below neck)

ATTACHMENTS 1. Both arms and legs attached to trunk.

2. Arms and legs attached to trunk at correct points.
3. Neck present.
4. Outline of neck continuous with that of head, trunk, or both.

HEAD DETAIL 1. Eyes present (one or two)

2. Nose present
3. Mouth present
4. Nose and mouth in two dimensions, two lips shown.
5. Nostril shown
6. Hair shown
7. Hair on more than circumference of head and non-transparent – better than
a scribble.

CLOTHING 1. Clothing present (any clear representation of clothing)

2. Two articles of clothing non transparent (ex. Hat, trousers)
3. Entire drawing free from transparencies – sleeves and trousers must be
shown.
4. Four articles of clothing definitely indicated. *should include 4 – hat,
shoes, coat, shirt, necktie, belt, trousers*
5. Costume complete with incongruities *business suit, soldier’s costume and
hat, sleeves trousers and shoes must be shown*
HAND DETAIL 1. Fingers present (any indication)
2. Correct number of fingers shown
3. Fingers in two dimensions – length greater than breadth, angle subtended
not greater than 180 degrees
4. Opposition of thumb clearly defined
5. Hand shown distinct from fingers and arm

2017 Retrieved from: https://juffer.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/goodenough-draw-a-person-pdf.pdf

JOINTS 1. Arm joint shown – elbow, shoulder, or both
2. leg joint shown – knee, hip, or both

PROPORTION 1. Head not more than ½ or less than 1/10 of trunk

2. Arms equal to trunk but not reaching knee
3. Legs not less than trunk not more than twice trunk size
4. Feet in 2 dimensions – not more than 1/3 or less than 1/10 of leg
5. Both arms and lens in two dimensions

MOTOR COORDINATION
1. Lines firm without marked tendency to cross, gap, or overlap.
2. All lines firm with correct joining.
3. Outline of head without obvious irregularities. Develop beyond first crude
circle. Conscious control apparent.
4. Trunk outline. Score same as #3.
5. Arms and legs without irregularities. 2 dimensions and no tendency to
narrow at point of junction with trunk.
6. Features symmetrical (more likely to credit in profile drawings)

FINE HEAD DETAIL 1. Ears present (2 in full face, 1 in profile)

2. Ears present in correct position and proportion.
3. Eye details – brow or lashes shown.
4. Eye detail – pupil shown.
5. Eye detail – proportion. Length greater than width.
6. Eye detail – glance – only plus in profile.
7. Chin and forehead shown.

PROFILE 1. Projection of chin shown – usually + in profile.

2. heel clearly shown
3. Body profile – head, trunk, and feet without error.
4. Figure shown in true profile without error or transparency.

TABLE OF MENTAL AGE EQUIVALENTS OF SCORES

SCORE MA SCORE MA SCORE MA SCORE MA
1 3-3 14 6-6 27 9-9 40 13-0
2 3-6 15 6-9 28 10-0 41 13-3
3 3-9 16 7-0 29 10-3 42 13-6
4 4-0 17 7-3 30 10-6 43 13-9
5 4-3 18 7-6 31 10-9 44 14-0
6 4-6 19 7-9 32 11-0 45 14-3
7 4-9 20 8-0 33 11-3 46 14-6
8 5- 21 8-3 34 11-6 47 14-9
9 5-3 22 8-6 35 11-9 48 15-0
10 5-6 23 8-9 36 12-0 49 15-3
11 5-9 24 9-0 37 12-3 50 15-6
12 6-0 25 9-3 38 12-6 51 15-9
13 6-3 26 9-6 39 12-9
IN FINDING THE IQ OF RETARDED CHILDREN WHO ARE MORE THAN 13 YEARS OLF, THE
CHRONOLOGICAL AGE SHOULD BE TREATED AS 13 ONLY, AND THE IQ RECORDED AS “OR
BELOW.”

IT IS NOT WISE TO ATTEMPT TO USE THIS TEST WITH BRIGHT CHILDREN OF MORE THAN
12 YEARS OF AGE.

2017 Retrieved from: https://juffer.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/goodenough-draw-a-person-pdf.pdf

Appendix S

Reflex Testing Procedures – Tessa Grigg PhD Research

ATNR:
Test: The child holds their arms extended at shoulder height, feet together and eyes closed. The child is
then asked to turn their head slowly to one side and then to the other. Arm movement and balance are
assessed (Goddard, 1996; Konicarova & Bob, 2013).

Scoring:
0: No response
1: Slight movement of the arms in the direction the face is pointed
2: Movement of the arms in the direction of the head to 45 deg
3: Arm movement to 60 deg
4: 90 deg rotation of the arms and/or loss of balance (Goddard, 1996)

Spinal Galant:
Test: Child kneels on all fours. Stroke the child’s back with the blunt end of a pen from the ribs to the hip,
either side of the spine, individually and then together. Watch for hip rotation or swivel, and shoulder
movement (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996).

Scoring;
0: No response
1: Undulation or movement of the hip towards 15 deg
2: Undulation or movement of the hip towards 30 deg
3: Undulation or movement of the hip towards 45 deg
4: Movement outwards, beyond 45 deg and this may affect the
child’s balance (Goddard, 1996)

Tonic Labyrinthine Neck Reflex:

Test: Child stands with feet together. Then complete the following;
Bend head forward with eyes open, then eyes closed.
Bend head back with eyes open, then with eyes closed.
Notice any wobbling, dizziness or disorientation. Toes may be raised, or there may be tension in neck,
shoulders or legs (Blomberg & Dempsey, 2011; Goddard, 1996).

0: No response
1: Slight alteration of balance because of head position or movement
2: Disturbance of balance during test and/or alteration of muscle tone at back of knee
3: Near loss of balance, alteration of muscle tone and/or disorientation because of test
4: Loss of balance and/or massive alteration of muscle tone in an attempt to maintain balance. This
may be accompanied by dizziness or nausea (Goddard, 1996).

References:

Blomberg, H., & Dempsey, M. (2011). Movements that heal. Queensland: Book Pal.
Goddard, S. (1996). A teacher's window into the child's mind. Eugene, OR: Fern Ridge Press.
Konicarova, J., & Bob, P. (2013). Asymmetric tonic neck reflex and symptoms of attention deficit and
hyperactivity disorder in children. International Journal of Neuroscience, 123(11), 766-769.
doi:10.3109/00207454.2013.801471
Appendix U
Linear Mixed-Effects Model – Tessa Grigg PhD research
Is the response of a child predicted by time and group when completing the RMT intervention?
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 = 𝛼 + 𝛽 × 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 + 𝛾 × 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 + 𝛿 × ( 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝)
0 = Control
1 = Intervention
𝛼 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
Model 1 𝛽 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
Group 𝛾 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝
𝛿 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠
Group = Control Group or Intervention Group
Response variables: Reflex profile, DAP Scores, Reading Scores, Writing Scores, Mathematics Scores,
SDQ scores.

Is the response of a child predicted by time and frequency when completing the RMT
intervention?
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 = 𝛼 + 𝛽 × 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 + 𝛾 × 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 + 𝛿 × ( 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦)
0 = >=4/per week
1 = <4/ week
4
𝛼 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ≥ 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
Model 2 4 4
𝛽 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 < 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ≥ 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 0
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
Frequency
4
𝛾 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ≥ 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
4 4
𝛿 = 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 < 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ≥ 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑠
𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘
Frequency = >=4 repetitions per week or <4 repetitions per week
Response variables: Reflex profile, DAP Scores, Reading Scores, Writing Scores, Mathematics Scores,
SDQ scores.

Both models had gender added as a control variable when Reflex profile was the
response variable.

Scatter plots of predicted and residual values as well as Q_Q plots are presented to confirm that statistical
assumptions have been met.

Reflex Profile
Normal Q-Q Plot
3

2
2

1
Standardized residuals

Sample Quantiles

1
0

0
-1

-1
-2

-2

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
0 2 4 6 8
Theoretical Quantiles
Fitted values
Draw-A-Person
Normal Q-Q Plot

5
1
Standardized residuals

Sample Quantiles

0
0

-1

-5
-2

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
10 20 30
Theoretical Quantiles
Fitted values

Reading
Normal Q-Q Plot

4
3
Standardized residuals

2
Sample Quantiles

0
0
-1

-2
-2

0 5 10 15 20
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Fitted values Theoretical Quantiles

Writing
Normal Q-Q Plot
1.5

2
1.0

1
Standardized residuals

0.5
Sample Quantiles

0
0.0

-1
-0.5
-1.0

-2
-1.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Fitted values -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Theoretical Quantiles
Mathematics
Normal Q-Q Plot

1.5
1.0
1

0.5
Standardized residuals

Sample Quantiles

0.0
0

-0.5
-1.0
-1

-1.5
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

0 5 10 15 Theoretical Quantiles

Fitted values
 HUMAN ETHICS COMMITTEE
Secretary, Rebecca Robinson
Telephone: +64 03 369 4588, Extn 94588
Email: [email protected]

Ref: 2016/63/ERHEC Amendment 3

21 June 2017

Tessa M. Grigg
School of Health Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY

Dear Tessa

Thank you for your request for an amendment to your research proposal “What Influences
does the Use of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) have on Student Achievement and
Behavioural Outcomes?” as outlined in your email dated 7th June 2017. I am pleased to
advise that this amendment has been considered and approved by the Educational Research
Human Ethics Committee.

Please note that should circumstances relevant to this current application change you are
required to reapply for ethical approval.

If you have any questions regarding this approval, please advise.

We wish you well for your continuing research.

Yours sincerely

pp

Dr Patrick Shepherd
Chair
Educational Research Human Ethics Committee

Please note that ethical approval relates only to the ethical elements of the relationship between the researcher, research
participants and other stakeholders. The granting of approval by the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee should
not be interpreted as comment on the methodology, legality, value or any other matters relating to this research.
F E S
 Appendix W Health and Safety Guidelines - Hazard Matrix
for Tessa Grigg – PhD Research in Schools

 It is my responsibility to familiarise myself with the school safety policies, through safety notices and liaison with the teacher
regarding student safety.
 Before each focus-group interview session ensure that parents receive a safety briefing.
 Be mindful of the health and safety of the participants during the interviews.
 Keep a roll at each focus-group interview session so that if evacuation is necessary, participants can be checked off.
 I will communicate with my senior supervisor to confirm that I have read the school Health and Safety policies.
 I have a current First Aid certificate and while I have Police Clearance for school, the UC Police Clearance process is
underway and will be completed before I begin my research. I will always wear my UC name badge when in the schools.

Hazard Uncontrolled Uncontrolled Eliminate E Control Measures Controlled Controlled

Probability Outcome Isolate I Probability Outcome
Control C
1 Trips and falls Medium Minor injury C Educate through information about room Low Minor injury

2 Medical emergency Medium Major injury C Educate through information. ABC. Researcher Low
has a current First Aid Certificate. Call 111 if
medical assistance needed.
3 Aggression High Major Injury C, I Remove self and others if possible. Call police. Low
(Physical/verbal Note everything that was observed.
4 Power Outage Medium Minor injury C Educate through information. Low Minor injury
5 Earthquake Medium Injury C Educate through information, give instructions Low Minor injury
about earthquake procedures.
6 Fire High Major C Educate through information about room, Low Minor Injury
injury/death including fire exits and location of fire
extinguisher. Activate fire alarm if necessary.
Close doors. Evacuate. Call 111.
7 Flooding/storm/gale High Minor injuries C Evacuate to a safe place if possible. Switch off
electrical equipment. Move equipment and
valuables if there is time.
8 Evacuation Medium Minor injury C Remain calm, leave building through safest exit.
Check on roll that all participants have left the
building.
Appendix Xa
Researcher: Tessa M Grigg
[email protected] Tel: 0274 774 825

Date: 1 November 2016 College/Department – Health Sciences

Principal Investigator: Tessa Grigg

Associate Investigators: Nil
Cultural Advisors, if any: Nil
Please note if you have sought advice from NTRC, or other mana whenua
representatives: No

Project Title: What influences does the use of Rhythmic Movement Training
(RMT) have on student achievement and behavioural outcomes?
Concise description in lay terms of the proposed project, including brief
methodology (up to 1 page):
Purpose: Investigate the effects of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT), with the
voice of the teacher and parents being recorded.
Retained primitive reflexes (reflexes that are useful for a baby, but not helpful in a
classroom) are an issue for approximately 48% of children, with research (McPhillips
& Jordan-Black, 2007) showing rates of retention rising to 70% in groups of children
with learning challenges.
The proposed study would be classroom based, mixed methods, involving 3
classrooms from 3 schools in Christchurch. Parents would complete an on-line
questionnaire pre - and post - intervention and there will be three focus group
interviews for a randomly selected group of parents to attend. Teachers will also be
interviewed about the implementation of the programme. The children would be
assessed for their range of reflex integration, and results from their NZ National
standard testing will be accessed to measure the rate of academic development.
The children would be divided into two groups and complete an eight month, or four
month programme of exercises, ie multiple base-line study. Talking to parents of the
children in the study is new information as in all reflex integration intervention
studies completed to date the parent voice has been missing and their insights would
provide interesting information about effectiveness of RMT. RMT has not attracted
any empirical research to-date.

McPhillips, M., & Jordan-Black, J. (2007). Primary reflex persistence in children with
reading difficulties (dyslexia): A cross-sectional study. Neuropsychologia,
45(4), 748-754. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.08.005

Does the proposed research involve any of the following? Please underline.

 Significant Māori content

 Access to Māori sites
 Sampling of native flora/fauna
 Culturally sensitive material/knowledge
 Māori involvement as participants or subjects
 Research where Māori data is sought and analysed
 Research that will impact on Māori

Māori Research Kaiārahi, Nigel Harris: Email: [email protected]

 If you have underlined any of the above, please explain in more detail:
Is there a possibility that there will be Māori participants? Yes, there is a possibility
that within the school classes there will be Māori students.

How will you identify Māori participants throughout your research? Through existing
school data.
What processes and procedures will you have in place if there are Māori participants
in your research?
Parents are being asked to give informed consent prior to their children starting the
intervention exercises. An informal information evening is being offered so that
parents can talk about the implications for their child if the child participates in the
study. In selecting the exercises for the study, sensitivity towards iwi Māori was
considered.

If there are Māori students, and if those Māori students have retained reflexes, there
is a possibility that their student achievement and behavioural outcomes may
improve. This would positively impact on their future progress. This problem of
retained primitive reflexes has not been related to any specific cultural group, it is a
generalised population issue. The current study is not investigating the representation
of any particular group in the reflex statistics. Ethnicity is being identified, but only to
attempt to match the treatment groups evenly.

Māori Research Kaiārahi, Nigel Harris: Email: [email protected]

Appendix Ya – ERHEC first email reply to Ethics approval application; dated 30/11/16

Dear Tessa,

The Educational Research Human Ethics Committee has considered your research application at
their recent meeting.

Following discussion, the Committee felt that there were one or two areas in your application that
required revision and/or clarification before they could give their approval. To assist them further in
their deliberations I will be grateful if you could provide the following information:

 Where will the raw data be stored?

 The Committee felt that potential risks were not addressed sufficiently. The parents will fill
out a strengths and difficulties questionnaire about their children. Please could you discuss
what you will do if a problem is identified, and what you will do if a parent becomes upset
after filling in the form?
 Regarding the focus group – the Committee wondered if parents would be willing to share
details about their child in this kind of forum. Please note that the participants in the focus
group need to agree to confidentiality – this can be in either written or verbal form.
 Please personalise the Information Sheet for the teacher so that it reads “you” and not “your
school”.
 The Child’s Information Sheet doesn’t mention that they will be tested, nor that they will be
observed/videoed. Please can you add this information. Please remove the statement that
the “parents have agreed to the study”, as this can be seen as coercion. Rather than talking
the children through the form, please add all the information necessary to the form and
allow another person to read the information to the children.
 Please can you condense the information in the Consent Form, as it is currently too long. A
template is attached for your convenience.
 In the Information Sheet, under measures, please could you explain why the children are
asked to draw a figure? Please also omit the “jargon” from this section to make it easier to
read. Please also condense this information as it is currently too long at four pages.
 Please could you clarify whether participants will receive copy of the report or a copy of your
PhD. Please note that a summary of results will be made available, but this could be some
time later (e.g. at the end of the PhD). Perhaps a presentation of the results could be
sufficient?
 Please provide a Stamped Addressed Envelope for participants to return the form, don’t
assume that they can use/have access to a scanner.
Following amendment I would be pleased to receive your revised documentation for further review.
Please detail how you have addressed each point of the Committee’s feedback, and amend your
application and/or supporting documents accordingly. Please forward these documents to the above
email address quoting the ERHEC reference number in the subject line.

Please note that you should not begin your project until you have received a formal letter of
approval from the Chair of the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee.

Kind Regards,

Rebecca Robinson
Ethics Coordinator and Erskine Programme Administrator
Level 5 South, Matariki Building
University of Canterbury ~ Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Ph: +64 3 369 4588, Ext: 94588
Email: [email protected]
Ethics hours of work: Mon 2.30-5pm, Tues 8.30-11am, Wed 8.30-5pm, Thu 2.30-5pm, Fri 8.30-5pm

 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Appendix Yb – Researchers reply to ERHEC’s initial ethics approval email; dated 6/12/16

Hello Rebecca
I have put the explanations in red through your email. I have attached the revised documents. I have
also highlighted the changes I have made in the application form, so that the points raised have been
met.
Let me know if there is anything I have not covered.
Many thanks
Tessa

Tessa M Grigg
Post Graduate
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
email: [email protected]
mobile: 027 477 4825

From: Human Ethics [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Wednesday, 30 November 2016 9:54 AM
To: Tessa Grigg <[email protected]>
Cc: Ian Culpan <[email protected]>; Wendy Fox-Turnbull <wendy.fox-
[email protected]>
Subject: Ref: 2016/63/ERHEC Application - Grigg

Dear Tessa,

The Educational Research Human Ethics Committee has considered your research application at
their recent meeting.

Following discussion, the Committee felt that there were one or two areas in your application that
required revision and/or clarification before they could give their approval. To assist them further in
their deliberations I will be grateful if you could provide the following information:

 Where will the raw data be stored? On the secure server at the University – P Drive. I have a
university computer (thank you) and the data will be stored through that.
 The Committee felt that potential risks were not addressed sufficiently. This has been added
to each information letter. The parents will fill out a strengths and difficulties questionnaire
about their children. Please could you discuss what you will do if a problem is identified, and
 what you will do if a parent becomes upset after filling in the form? Thanks for pointing this
out, of course it is possibly a problem. I will check with each school as to what systems they
have in place to support parents. This may include an RTLB teacher, the classroom teacher,
and having a list of community based support people. This list can not be complied until I
know the area of the school and what existing systems they have in place.
 Regarding the focus group – the Committee wondered if parents would be willing to share
details about their child in this kind of forum. Please note that the participants in the focus
group need to agree to confidentiality – this can be in either written or verbal form. Thank
you – I have added the confidentiality agreement statement to the semi-formal focus-group
Interview sheet (attached). Regarding them sharing information, I believe that any sensitive
information will be put through the questionnaire. These parents know each other as each
interview will only have people from their school. From my experience parents are usually
happy to talk about their child in a group. Also participation in this focus group is voluntary
so parents who are not comfortable talking in a group setting do not need to sign up for this.
From the 24ish parents in the class only 8 will be interviewed.
 Please personalise the Information Sheet for the teacher so that it reads “you” and not “your
school”. I have fixed this – attached.
 The Child’s Information Sheet doesn’t mention that they will be tested, nor that they will be
observed/videoed. Please can you add this information. I have done this. Please remove the
statement that the “parents have agreed to the study”, as this can be seen as coercion. I
have done this. Rather than talking the children through the form, please add all the
information necessary to the form and allow another person to read the information to the
children. I have done this.
 Please can you condense the information in the Consent Form, as it is currently too long. A
template is attached for your convenience. All four consent forms amended and attached.
 In the Information Sheet, under measures, please could you explain why the children are
asked to draw a figure? Please also omit the “jargon” from this section to make it easier to
read. Please also condense this information as it is currently too long at four pages. All four
information sheets amended and attached
 Please could you clarify whether participants will receive copy of the report or a copy of your
PhD. Please note that a summary of results will be made available, but this could be some
time later (e.g. at the end of the PhD). Perhaps a presentation of the results could be
sufficient? I believe that busy parents would prefer a report – 80,000 words would be a
challenge for most. However they are welcome to read the full PhD if they choose. I have
this information on the consent forms.
 Please provide a Stamped Addressed Envelope for participants to return the form, don’t
assume that they can use/have access to a scanner. I have put this on the consent forms.

Following amendment I would be pleased to receive your revised documentation for further review.
Please detail how you have addressed each point of the Committee’s feedback, and amend your
application and/or supporting documents accordingly. Please forward these documents to the above
email address quoting the ERHEC reference number in the subject line.

Please note that you should not begin your project until you have received a formal letter of
approval from the Chair of the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee.

Kind Regards,

Rebecca Robinson
Ethics Coordinator and Erskine Programme Administrator
Level 5 South, Matariki Building
University of Canterbury ~ Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Ph: +64 3 369 4588, Ext: 94588
Email: [email protected]
Ethics hours of work: Mon 2.30-5pm, Tues 8.30-11am, Wed 8.30-5pm, Thu 2.30-5pm, Fri 8.30-5pm

 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Appendix Yc – ERHEC second email reply to Ethics approval application; dated – 9/12/16

Dear Tessa,

Many thanks for sending through your revised documents and response to the Committee’s
questions.

The Committee felt there were still a couple of things they would like you to address before they can
give approval to your project:

 Risks: the Committee felt that there were psychological risks to the children involved that
have yet to be addressed. The children are doing these movements together - some will be
more co-ordinated than others, some will quickly grasp the movements, others may
struggle. What about children that may have a physical impairment that makes these
movements difficult? How will these be managed so that children do not feel inadequate,
belittled, etc.?
 Information Sheets: please could you change the order of these so that the group that each
Information Sheet is for is in the first section, i.e. the Parents’ Sheet needs to have what
children/parents need to know first, not the school information.
o The Committee also felt that the wording of the sheets should be amended, as it is
currently too directive e.g. “you will”. The person reading the sheet has not agreed to be
a participant yet. The Committee suggest the wording be changed to “you will be asked
to….”.
o The BOT and Principal sheets state “I would need access to one…”, a better way to
request this might be “I would be seeking access to one…”. The Committee also suggest
changing the phrasing along similar lines in the statements under the “testing” heading.
o Please re-word the statement around withdrawing from the project so it is adapted
to/relates to the information for the BOT and Principal.

Following amendment I would be pleased to receive your revised documentation for further review.
Please detail how you have addressed each point of the Committee’s feedback, and amend your
application and/or supporting documents accordingly. Please forward these documents to the above
email address quoting the ERHEC reference number in the subject line.

Please note that you should not begin your project until you have received a formal letter of
approval from the Chair of the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee.
Kind Regards,

Rebecca Robinson
Ethics Coordinator and Erskine Programme Administrator
Level 5 South, Matariki Building
University of Canterbury ~ Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Ph: +64 3 369 4588, Ext: 94588
Email: [email protected]
Ethics hours of work: Mon 2.30-5pm, Tues 8.30-11am, Wed 8.30-5pm, Thu 2.30-5pm, Fri 8.30-5pm

 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Appendix Yd – Reply to second ERHEC letter

Hello Rebecca

Attached are the amended Information letters. In addition to your requests, I fixed a couple of other
things – time to fill out the questionnaire (which got dropped in the culling process) and the wording
of the testing.

I have made come comments about the first point below. I am very happy to come and show the
committee what the exercises look like if my explanation is not clear enough.

Many thanks

Tessa

Tessa M Grigg
Post Graduate

University of Canterbury, New Zealand

email: [email protected]
mobile: 027 477 4825

From: Human Ethics [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, 9 December 2016 8:43 AM
To: Tessa Grigg <[email protected]>
Cc: Ian Culpan <[email protected]>; Wendy Fox-Turnbull <wendy.fox-
[email protected]>
Subject: RE: 2016/63/ERHEC Application - Grigg

Dear Tessa,
Many thanks for sending through your revised documents and response to the Committee’s
questions.

The Committee felt there were still a couple of things they would like you to address before they can
give approval to your project:

 Risks: the Committee felt that there were psychological risks to the children involved that
have yet to be addressed. The children are doing these movements together - some will be
more co-ordinated than others, some will quickly grasp the movements, others may
struggle. The children are lying down to do most of the exercises so they can not see ‘who
can’ and ‘who can’t’ complete the exercises. All of the exercises I have chosen have a passive
option so that if a child is struggling an adult can help them to get the movement going. I
have this operating in a classroom at the moment (where I was teaching) and there have
been no issues from a competitive nature – “I can do this and you can’t”. This is in part due
to the teacher’s encouraging approach and I would expect that from a professional teacher.
Of course I will be encouraging the teacher to accept whatever the child can manage,
knowing that with time their skill level will improve (this has been very evident with the
children than are already doing it). I see this short exercise session being far less
psychologically detrimental than a Maths test with marks, or a running race where the
winners and losers are obvious. Once the exercises have been taught, the children then
choose the exercise they feel they need, or that they like. Again with everyone doing
different exercises the comparisons are harder for children to make. In the class that has
been doing the exercises the teacher has been fascinated by what each child has chosen.
The less skilled children find the exercise that is easiest for them and they stick with that for
a while, and then they change it. The well skilled children change their exercise more often.
This will all have implications for the discussion section of the thesis. What about children
that may have a physical impairment that makes these movements difficult? The exercises
are simple and there are adaptations that can be made. In Sweden the exercises have been
used with a range of children with quite marked physical, and cognitive impairments. At the
beginning the movement the child can complete may be rudimentary, but as the brain
connections grow the movement becomes more mature. I believe I have the experience to
be able to work through any issue of this nature and adapt the exercise to meet the needs of
the child. How will these be managed so that children do not feel inadequate, belittled, etc.?
I have a birth injury (arm/shoulder) of my own and I have been able to make the exercises
work. It will never be about what the child can’t do, but rather about what they can do. This
is the whole basis of this programme and I will be encouraging teachers along these lines.
There is not a right and wrong way to complete the exercise, it is about how it feels for the
child, and I will teach the teachers to ask the children “How does that feel for you, would it
be better to go faster? Or slower? Does a bigger movement feel better or a smaller one? The
child is in control of what is happening. From my experience over the two years using these
exercises with children, they seem to know what they need, and they gain a real sense of
achievement when they can complete the exercises. I have had experience with a parent
trying to get her child to complete the exercise ‘correctly’, and the child being very annoyed,
so I now spend more time with the parent watching me gently working with the child,
accepting what they can do, and leaving it at that. I do show the child what the correct
exercise looks like, but do not tell them that they are not doing it correctly. Caring for the
child and how they feel is very important to me. To have willing participators, I need to
provide a supportive and encouraging environment. I believe that with my 30+ years of
teaching experience I can provide that environment.
  Information Sheets: please could you change the order of these so that the group that each
Information Sheet is for is in the first section, i.e. the Parents’ Sheet needs to have what
children/parents need to know first, not the school information.
o The Committee also felt that the wording of the sheets should be amended, as it is
currently too directive e.g. “you will”. The person reading the sheet has not agreed to be
a participant yet. The Committee suggest the wording be changed to “you will be asked
to….”.
o The BOT and Principal sheets state “I would need access to one…”, a better way to
request this might be “I would be seeking access to one…”. The Committee also suggest
changing the phrasing along similar lines in the statements under the “testing” heading.
o Please re-word the statement around withdrawing from the project so it is adapted
to/relates to the information for the BOT and Principal.

Following amendment I would be pleased to receive your revised documentation for further review.
Please detail how you have addressed each point of the Committee’s feedback, and amend your
application and/or supporting documents accordingly. Please forward these documents to the above
email address quoting the ERHEC reference number in the subject line.

Please note that you should not begin your project until you have received a formal letter of
approval from the Chair of the Educational Research Human Ethics Committee.

Kind Regards,

Rebecca Robinson

Ethics Coordinator and Erskine Programme Administrator

Level 5 South, Matariki Building

University of Canterbury ~ Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand

Ph: +64 3 369 4588, Ext: 94588

Email: [email protected]

Ethics hours of work: Mon 2.30-5pm, Tues 8.30-11am, Wed 8.30-5pm, Thu 2.30-5pm, Fri 8.30-5pm

 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail