Psychomotor education

Mental processes such as emotional or concentration, but also the individual personality structure, affect the movement of people. This causal link is called psychomotor. In the following article, the term stands for a holistic and development-oriented concept, perception and movement promotes alike.

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The various psychomotor schools emphasize the interplay of psychological experiences of man or his psycho- spiritual- emotional development and the development of motor skills and perception. The influences of the social and physical environment are taken into account on the structure of the psyche and motor skills.

Psychomotor schools and institutions differ primarily in terms of some of their basic assumptions about the origin of impaired movement and deviant and criminal behavior. The founder of the approaches make use of for relining their practical approach each different psychological, educational, sociological and medical theory building. Thus, each suitable elements are taken out and used to justify, for example, concepts of psychoanalytic and cognitive psychology.

The concepts of psychomotor are also found, with varying emphasis, under the terms movement education, exercise therapy, Motopädagogik, Motopädie, Moto therapy, psychomotor therapy, etc. again. Psychomotor is both an educational and a therapeutic concept.

History

Founded as the psychomotor in Germany in the mid 1950s by Ernst Kiphard, regarded as their forefather. The term psychomotor he took over from the German rhythmist Charlotte Pepper, published her first essay entitled Psychomotor therapy in 1938. In Kiphards years of working with behavioral problems, particularly relationship disturbed and aggressive children and adolescents was visible that his sports activities had a positive effect on the emotional development of children. In view of these therapeutic and supportive effect he began to systematically expand its movement range.

Kiphard led motor and sensorimotor abnormalities in children with learning and behavioral problems back to a minimal cerebral dysfunction. The resulting Here deficits in perception and movement cause his opinion to worry. Occur secondary to disturbances such as restlessness, hyperactivity, emotional lability, inhibited and fearful behavior, motivational deficiency and disturbances in endurance and concentration. Also, the ability to achieve adequate control of their own behavior in general will deteriorate.

Here Kiphard considers the use of psychomotor exercise treatment necessary. Motor operation and the analysis of their own abilities and fears should lead to harmonization and stabilization of the personality of children. As a Professor of Special Education and Rehabilitation at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main Kiphard has further developed the concept of psychomotor.

Development

The psychomotor exercise treatment after Kiphard came particularly from the mid-1980s in criticism. She was considered too medical- psychiatric and deficit- oriented approach. This was further developed and this was the consideration of the " childlike point of view" in the foreground. It created new psychomotor schools such as the child-centered approach by Renate rooms and Meinhart Volkamer and the competency-based approach by Friedhelm Schilling.

The child-centered approach ( child-centered therapy Moto ) has parallels to the indirect Play Therapy by Virginia Axline, and the reasons for its theoretical foundation based on the personality theory of Carl Rogers. This offers the children a movement and social experience room to find independent ways to cope with their emotional difficulties and problems in movement expression. By even looking and hardly controlled movement experiences the self-concept of children should be strengthened. Central here is that the children of their own effectiveness and ability to act are aware of.

The competency-based approach that can be considered as an extension of the exercise treatment, based on the assumption that children develop movement disorders with psychological difficulties, which are intended to compensate for this lack of competence in movement behavior and can. The aggressiveness of children is then understood eg as compensation for a motor problem. Here psychomotor is intended to provide space for the subsequent development of movement skills to the children. Consequently misconduct ways the children can be abandoned. Theoretical foundations of the approach are to be found among others in the form of circuit theory by Viktor von Weizsäcker and the materialist theory of action by Alexei Leontiev, as well as in the approach of Jean Piaget.

Also, the competency-based approach is often criticized for its still deficit-oriented perspective. In the early 1990s formulated Jürgen Seewald the interpretive approach psychomotor, which essentially relies on the psychoanalytic understanding of man. Furthermore, it refers to the basic assumptions of his approach to the leibesphänomenologische view by Maurice Merleau -Ponty. Seewald developed so-called body and relationship issues of children, the basis of which should be recognized within the psychomotor therapy problems and their origin. Then the therapist can make the children in the psychomotor setting exercise and relationship offers, the long term lead to a subsequent processing and management of problems. The body and relationship themes are based among other things on the theory of psycho- social development by Erik Erikson. Seewald's approach is essentially based on the relationship aspect.

The mid-1990s published Rolf Reinhardt Voss Balgo and their systemic psychomotor, based on the system theory, radical constructivism, cybernetics 2nd order and the Autopoesis concept. They called on to understand the psycho- motor development of the people as an adequate adaptation of children to its respective material and especially social environment. To treat accordingly are not the children with mental and motor abnormalities, but the interpersonal relationships in which they are located. This led eventually to the therapeutic process much more to draw on the family than previously ( Reichenbach, 2011).

Related developments

Anna Jean Ayres

Anna Jean Ayres, an American occupational therapist, which originates from the circle of perceptual -motor schools in the U.S., has shaped the scientific basis of psychomotor substantially. It developed in the 1960s, the concept of sensory integration ( SI short ) and extended their research essentially the knowledge of human motor control and perception, and in particular their effects on each other. The already known in medical circles facts about the anatomy and function of the musculoskeletal system and the perception they extended to each other essentially the knowledge of the effects and of the mutually existing dependencies.

The theory states that all areas of the central nervous system that all information which the body ( balance, proprioception, tactile perception, visual perception, auditory perception, etc.) at about movement and perception processes, and then must work together integrating to the people an understandable image of themselves and to map its environment. This makes him only able to act. This is the process of sensory integration. He is the basis for all learning and behavioral processes of man and runs unconsciously. The approach is based on his assumption of a linear processing. He says that if something is disturbed at the level of sensory input, and all of the following processes must be affected in their processing. In Ayres ' concept exercises are used for customized movement of the improvement of sensory integration, the goal of treatment is to normalize and optimize neuronal processes. Ayres developed the sensory integration therapy, their support systems, especially in the field of occupational therapy to continue, but also provide a scientific basis for the work of the psychomotor.

Aucouturier and Lapierre

Bernard Aucouturier and Bruno André Lapierre are representatives of the so-called "psycho- motoric practice Aucouturier ," a deep psychological, independent approach psychomotor in France. In Germany this approach particularly Marion Esser, which campaigns for greater dissemination and implementation of the French psychomotor schools represents.

Aucouturier and Lapierre base their concept on the theories of psychoanalysis and focus their therapeutic efforts on motor skills and the meaningfulness of the child's actions. The actions of the children is here understood as a representation of the Other or of what the children have experienced in the other.

Practice

Psychomotor is used in particular in the educational and therapeutic context eg in child and adolescent psychiatry. What psychomotor school finds its use here, depends mainly on the exporting specialist. Most psychomotrician connect meaningfully the approaches given and mix psychiatric and medical diagnosis and procedure with educational and psychodynamic approaches in order to approach holistically to the children or young people and to offer them assistance on a broad level.

A psychomotor therapy is paid in some states of the health insurance companies and performed in psychomotor practices. Furthermore, they offer sports clubs to psychomotor. Psychomotor elements are also found in the work of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists Heilerziehungspflegern.

Meanwhile, there are also many kindergartens and within the school sport, self-organized or by a carrier from outside, psychomotor offers. In special education and special education context, the psychomotor is traditionally used in working with children and young people who have disabilities (mentally, emotionally, physically ) or at risk of disabilities.

Medicinal and special education see themselves as part of the field of general education. The patients with whom they deal, but makes specific claims, which require special pedagogical support. Children and youth with disabilities may have problems in the areas of sensor, motor skills, emotion, communication and cognition. Especially these fields can be positively influenced with the help of educational measures. Psychomotor can make a significant contribution, both for physical education, as well as to a positive development of the entire personality of the person with a disability to make in this context. With the intention to convey ego, social and practical skills to children and adolescents, it is in line with the vision of the welfare and special education.

Psychomotor in a social context

In the social context of movement is attributed to more and more importance within the child's development. For one, there are now numerous developmental research results, which demonstrate the importance of movement and perception of a stable early childhood development in the areas of emotional, language development, social behavior and cognition. On the other hand cause social developments such as increasing urbanization with a rising " Verinselung " of childhood, child poverty, media consumption in children, unhealthy diet etc. a restriction of movement opportunities for children and thus to lack of exercise.