“ACTIVE VALUES”: An Interdisciplinary Educational Programme to Promote Healthy Lifestyles and Encourage Education in Values—A Rationale and Protocol Study

Abstract

Numerous investigations show the need to intervene with school children and young students in order to mitigate socio-educational difficulties such as social conflict, and public health problems such as sedentary lifestyles and childhood obesity. This study seeks to explain the rationale and protocol of an educational programme called “ACTIVE VALUES” as an intervention strategy for the reduction of sedentary lifestyles and the promotion of education in values in schools. The present research used a mixed methods approach with a quasi-experimental design of repeated measures (pre-test and post-test), with a non-randomised control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). The sample was composed of approximately 250 students and 30 teachers from different autonomous communities in Spain, divided into EG and CG. The EG implemented a teaching methodology based on the incorporation of Active Breaks (AB) into the structure of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model, during one academic year, while the CG used conventional teaching based on the direct instruction teaching technique. A specific two-stage professional development procedure was followed: (1) initial training and (2) continuing professional development (CPD). The fidelity of the programme was checked by observational analysis of the sessions which were analysed by two observers with expertise in educational research and active methodologies. Currently, “ACTIVE VALUES” is the first study that examines the effectiveness of an educational programme that integrates into the teaching methodology, elements that foster education in values and promote healthy lifestyle habits through physical-sports activity within the classroom.

1. Introduction

Currently, two major problems are evident internationally among the child and youth population: (1) increasing social conflict reflected through disruptive behaviours, bullying, violence, depression, and suicide [1,2]; and (2) exponential growth of obesity rates in children and adolescents due to behaviours related to low physical activity, excessive sedentary leisure activities and inadequate nutrition [3,4]. These situations could generate serious consequences at a personal, social, and cultural level that require reflection and interventions from the educational and health spheres [5,6]. In this sense, educational centres are considered an ideal setting to help children and adolescents reduce these imbalances, as they spend a large part of their daily time in this environment [7].

In relation to the first problem, numerous studies indicate the need to apply teaching strategies or educational programmes that foster responsibility, an appropriate classroom climate, empathy, self-concept, and emotional regulation [8,9]. In this sense, pedagogical models constitute an opportunity to diversify, renew and improve the way of teaching and learning [10], generating a higher level of involvement and satisfaction on the part of students. Among the existing models, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) [11] is considered one of the most powerful in promoting values, responsibility and life skills in children and adolescents [12]. Its main purpose is to teach and help young people learn to be autonomous and responsible for their well-being and that of others, equipping them with strategies to exercise control over their lives in order to adapt to their social environment [9].

Initially, it was applied in contexts of social exclusion and marginalised centres in the United States [11], seeking to improve coexistence and reduce violence with good results [13]. However, TPSR has undergone a progressive evolution over time that has culminated in its implementation in various educational contexts and settings [14], as well as its extension to other curricular subjects other than Physical Education [15,16], which has provided multiple improvements in variables such as personal and social responsibility, autonomy, motivation, self-concept, and classroom social climate.

At the present moment, most TPSR-based programmes promote the development of educational values by gradually addressing the levels of responsibility proposed by Hellison [17], which are graded in five levels: (1) respect for others, (2) participation and effort, (3) autonomy, (4) leadership and helping others, and (5) transfer of values outside the classroom). In order to promote these values, the classroom sessions are structured in different parts, such as [17]: awareness raising, responsibility in action, group meeting and evaluation and self-evaluation. In addition, there are a number of general strategies throughout the session and specific strategies for the development of each level of responsibility that characterise this model and at the same time ensure the achievement of the objectives linked to the TPSR [17].

With regard to the second problem, different organisations such as the World Health Organisation [18,19] and the European Commission [20] suggest the implementation of strategies to effectively address sedentary lifestyles and their consequences on public health and the education and training system. In recent years, different strategies have been developed in schools to meet physical activity recommendations, such as physical education classes, active transport, active recesses, and active breaks [7,21]. Classroom physical activity programmes based on active breaks (AB) are presented as an intervention strategy to increase physical activity and/or decrease sedentary behaviour, and seem to be the key alternative to reach up to 50% of the daily physical activity recommendations established by the WHO [22], to reduce sedentary lifestyles and improve the level of physical fitness, classroom behaviour, and executive functions of schoolchildren [23]. These AB are understood as physical activity breaks of five to 15 min, at any level of intensity (although predominantly moderate and vigorous physical activity), which are guided by teachers of any subject during the normal course of the class and can be implemented in any school context as it does not require a specialised space, material or staff [7,24].

The time available for these AB is discrete and limited, so several additional times during the school day are necessary for children to decrease sedentary time and reach the recommended physical activity levels [22,24]. Therefore, physical activity in the classroom is a teaching strategy that teachers can use to educate children to maintain an active lifestyle within school hours [21,23]. The incorporation of physical activity in the classroom can take place during class sessions (intra-class) or between class changes (inter-class), either by integrating physical activity into lessons (physically active classes) or through short bursts of curriculum-related physical activity (curriculum-focused active breaks) or non-curriculum-related physical activity (active breaks) [23].

Despite the increasing scientific evidence suggesting the use of TPSR model and AB in the classroom [14,23] and the fact that the scientific-educational community considers the design, development, and implementation of multicomponent and interdisciplinary educational programmes to be fundamental, there is no longitudinal programme that combines the TPSR with the AB. Therefore, this study seeks to explain the rationale and protocol of an educational programme called “ACTIVE VALUES” as an intervention strategy for the reduction of sedentary lifestyles and the promotion of values education in schools. It is hoped that this programme will contribute to developing values of responsibility and autonomy in young people, as well as promoting healthy lifestyle habits and an active lifestyle.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Design

This intervention protocol is a quasi-experimental study of repeated measures (pre-test and post-test), with a non-randomized control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG), which falls within the area of research-action oriented towards reality and educational practice [25] in which the teaching and learning processes of responsibility and AB can be analyzed from quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data [26]. For its design, the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) [27] has been used, in conjunction with the checklists and guidelines of the Transparent Reporting of Evaluation with Nonrandomized Designs (TREND) [28]. However, since a pilot test has not been carried out, it has not been possible to incorporate all the elements of these guides.

This research will be developed under the mixed methods methodology due to the development and evaluation of the educational and pedagogical programme “ACTIVE VALUES” requiring quantitative and qualitative data to describe the application processes, evaluate the viability of the training and the reliability of the implementation, as well as understanding and verifying the effects of the application of the programme in a global sense [21,29]. The proposed design allows for feedback and optimizing the intervention prior to implementing the programme on a large scale, allowing for the replication of the training and application strategies and practices in the future [26]. This approach has proven effective in research based on pedagogical models such as the TPSR [26,30,31,32,33]. Specifically, a multilevel triangulation mixed methods design (Figure 1) will be followed to carry out the research, whose purpose is to combine complementary information about the same event to better understand it [33].

Regarding the systematic observational methodology, an observational design will be used [34]: (1) nomothetic: observation of students and teachers; (2) follow-up: observation of behaviour patterns during the implementation of the educational programme (one academic year); and (3) multidimensional: observation of different educational strategies.

To continue, the design of the research protocol schedule is described by dividing it into five phases (Figure 2). These phases are indicated next to the title of each of the sections that make up point 2 of materials and methods.

2.2. Participants (Stages 1–5)

2.2.1. Recruitment and Organization of Research Groups

First, the researchers will visit each school to present the educational programme and inform the management team and the school board about the objectives and methods of the study with the intention of obtaining their consent. Next, parents and/or legal guardians will be invited to a meeting to explain the procedures and objectives that will be followed during the investigation. Subsequently, parents will be asked to sign an informed consent slip to allow their children to participate in the study. The pertinent ethical values in research with human beings will be respected at all times. The recruitment process can be observed in more detail in Figure 3.

It is important to clarify that the systematic observation will be carried out in a natural context, that is, the natural development of the school sessions will be observed. In this way, following the provisions of the “Spanish Data Protection Agency”, video recordings may be made and used for educational purposes without the need for the consent of the students or families, but they may not be shared over the internet or any other platform [35,36].

2.2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria (Stages 2–5)

The participating educational centres will be selected for accessibility and convenience [37], using intact Primary and Secondary Education classes with a medium-low family socioeconomic level and similar sociodemographic and cultural characteristics. The entire sample will be made up of a total of approximately 250 students and 30 teachers, belonging to schools in different regions of Spain, once the inclusion and exclusion criteria have been applied (

Table 1. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for students and teachers.

Participants	Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Students	Completing 90% of the measurement tests in their entirety
	Conduct the pre-test and post-test
	Know and master the Spanish language
	Health care providers, teachers, parents or guardians do not report any chronic physical (heart disease, diabetes or asthma) or mental health conditions that might prevent participation in programme activities
Teachers	Conduct initial and ongoing training on teaching methodology during the implementation of the programme
	Videotape sessions for researchers to analyse teaching strategies through systematic observation *
	Conduct teacher follow-up diaries every month after implementation
	Apply the ACTIVE VALUES programme in a percentage of more than 80% of the weekly sessions
	Conduct a semi-structured individual interview at the end of the intervention
	No previous experience in the ACTIVE VALUES methodology

Note: * = sole criterion for inclusion for CG teachers.

). The proposed sample size was estimated from statistical data on effect size from meta-analyses conducted on AB [23,24] and from the sample quality parameters of systematic reviews on the TPSR [9] to ensure adequate statistical power of the programme’s results. This is discussed in more detail in the section on data analysis (Section 2.5). The selection of different schools and regions in Spain is to test the effects of the programme in different contexts and social settings to stablish cause-effect relationships with greater scientific rigour.

In the event that some students do not meet the inclusion criteria, they will be excluded from the research in relation to the analysis of the results, but they will follow the same intervention itinerary as their classmates.

2.3. Instruments (Stages 2 and 4)

Quantitative

2.3.1. Instruments for Students (Stages 2 and 4)

• Executive functions

The evaluation of executive functions will be conducted through different tests. The NIH Examiner programme [38] evaluates cognition, emotion, motor development and performance, as well as the sensation-perception of the stimuli received and that are processed by the nervous system. In this study, only cognition variables will be measured. The tests that will be used are the following:

(1) Verbal fluency by category (animals), the first test will consist of writing the maximum possible number of animals in one minute;

(2) Verbal fluency by category (vegetables), the second test will consist of writing the maximum possible number of vegetables in one minute;

(3) Unstructured task (Planning), the last test will consist of filling 4 pages with ingenuity games (in a maximum time of 6 min) that have a certain number of points that accumulate when they are completed. Each page has 4 games. Some games have a higher score than others. The goal is to score as many points as possible.

To complete the data collection of executive functions, the following instruments will be used:

(4) Test of colours and words Stroop [39], this is an attentional test that evaluates the inhibitory control, in which the students will have to execute the answers sequentially (reading the word followed by the naming of the colour) or suppressing the automatic response of word reading through voluntary control;

(5) Creativity test [40]: for this variable, the third part of a test battery called Delis-Kaplan will be used, with a score normalized by age. Specifically, this part called “Design Fluency Test” consists of drawing as many designs as possible by joining the points and taking into account three basic conditions: (a) each design has to be different, (b) four straight lines are used in each design, and (c) each line must touch another line at a point. Participants have a total of 60 s for each test.

• Academic performance

(1) Grades: the academic performance of the students will be obtained from the average grades of the database of the participating students in each one of the curricular subjects studied. The average grade will be calculated from the overall results of the initial evaluation of the first trimester (pretest) and the final evaluation of the third trimester (posttest), following the proposals of Melero et al. [41] and Moreno-Gómez et al. [42].

• Psychosocial aspects

These variables will be measured by means of a questionnaire:

(1) Academic Motivation Questionnaire (PLOC): to measure the student’s academic motivation, the version translated and validated into Spanish [43] of the Perceived Locus of Causality (PLOC) Scale is used in an adapted way [44], adapted in turn from the Self-Regulation Questionnaire of Ryan and Conell [45]. The instrument consists of 20 items, preceded by the phrase “I participate in this class,” and distributed into five subscales with four items: amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation;

(2) Questionnaire for the analysis of the levels of personal and social responsibility (PSRQ): it is a scale to measure responsibility that has been adapted to the school context by Li et al. [46] and into Spanish by Escartí et al. [47]. This questionnaire consists of 14 items grouped into 2 dimensions: social responsibility and personal responsibility;

(3) Questionnaire for the analysis of basic psychological needs (PNSE): to measure basic psychological needs, the Spanish version of the Psychological Need Satisfaction in Exercise Scale (PNSE) by Vlachopoulos and Michailidou [48] and Wilson et al. [49], validated in the educational context by Moreno-Murcia et al. [50]. This questionnaire is made up of 12 items that refer to the need for autonomy, competence and relationship with others;

(4) Classroom Social Climate Assessment Questionnaire: to measure the social climate in the classroom, the scale developed by Pérez et al. [51] that consists of 14 items grouped into 4 levels: interest, satisfaction, relationship, and communication;

(5) Measure of the Intention to be Physically Active (IPAS): the version adapted and translated into Spanish [52] of the Intention to be Physically Active Scale (IPAS) by Hein et al. [53] will be used. The scale is composed of five items to measure the subject’s intention to be physically active (e.g., “I usually play sports in my free time”) with a single dimension.

• Health

(1) Level of physical activity: to measure the level of physical activity, a subsample of 150 participants belonging to the CG and EG will be randomly and equally selected and accelerometers (Actigraph wGT3X-BT) will be used. The instrument has been previously tested for its validity and reliability in measuring physical activity [54,55];

(2) Anthropometry: the weight will be measured twice with the Seca^® 861 weighing scale, in which the students must wear light clothing and no footwear. Regarding height, it will be measured twice with a stadiometer (Seca^® 222) in which the children will stand barefoot, upright and sagittal, touching the wall;

(3) Body composition: the body mass index (BMI) of the participants will be calculated as the difference of weight by height squared (Kg/cm²);

(4) Physical condition: to measure physical condition variables related to health, the Alpha Fitness Battery tests will be used [56,57]. Aerobic capacity will be assessed by the Course Navette Test, which has been validated to measure maximal aerobic capacity. Muscular strength will be measured using dynamometry (Takey^®, TKK 5401 Grip-D) and the standing broad jump to measure upper and lower body explosive strength. Flexibility will be assessed using the sit and reach test [58] which measures the maximum distance that participants can reach their fingertips by flexing the trunk without bending the knees. Teenagers will have three attempts [59]. In addition, the Chales Dillman Hexagon Test will be used to assess coordinative agility [41]. There will be two attempts and the best result will be recorded [60];

(5) Life habits: to measure healthy habits, the Youth Activity Profile-Spain (YAP-S) questionnaire will be used, which provides information on physical activity and sedentary behavior of adolescents. This questionnaire was originally developed by the Iowa State University Physical Activity and Health Promotion Laboratory and calibrated through different studies [61,62,63].

Qualitative

• Perception about the educational programme

(1) Focus group: to find out the perception of students, from 3rd year of Primary Education onwards. Within the ACTIVE VALUES programme, focus groups of 4 to 6 students will be held at the end of the intervention. The discussion will take place in a room of the educational centre with a calm and trusting environment, with the aim that the participants openly dialogue and exchange more varied and profound ideas about the programme [64];

(2) Drawings: students in the first and second years of Primary Education will be asked to “make a drawing about what the programme represents for them”, following the proposal by Fernández-Río et al. [65]. Each student will be given a sheet of paper and encouraged to draw whatever they want in relation to the different educational subjects experienced. In addition, they will be asked to include descriptive words or sentences that help express feelings and thoughts [65].

2.3.2. Instruments for Teachers (Phases 3 and 4)

Qualitative

• Fidelity of the implementation

(1) Tool to assess Responsibility-Based Education and Active Breaks in the Classroom (TARE-AB): To assess teaching strategies based on responsibility and physical activity in the classroom, subscale 1 will be used of the Spanish version of the Tool for assessing responsibility based education (TARE) [66], validated by Escartí et al. (2015), with the inclusion of three items of the instrument to evaluate active breaks (IEDA) [21]: (1) movement, (2) structure, and (3) liveliness and participation. This section implies that the observers use a recording system of five-minute intervals to make rating decisions about the teacher’s performance, marking a 1 if the strategies occur in that section and a 0 if they do not manifest themselves.

• Pedagogical behavior patterns

(1) Observation system of responsibility and active breaks oriented to teaching (OSTOR-AB): this observation system will be used, adapted to the Spanish version “SORPS” [67,68] and used in other studies [29,30], with the inclusion of some categories related to the teaching-oriented active break observation system (SODAE) [21] to obtain behaviour patterns of teachers related to the implementation of responsibility and physical activity in the classroom.

A video camera attached to a tripod and placed at the corner of the classroom will be used to record teaching behaviour sequences related to responsibility and AB. The classes will be encoded using the free software LINCE PLUS [69]. This software programme will also be used to control the quality of the data. In this case, the results will be exported and analyzed using the THEME software package [70] for the detection of the T-pattern.

• Perception about the “ACTIVE VALUES” programme

(1) Teacher follow-up diary: to find out how the intervention evolves, each teacher will complete a personal diary every four weeks (once a month) answering a series of questions related to the concept of critical incidents [65] and with the development of the educational programme;

(2) Focus groups: every month and a half, the participating teachers will meet with the main researcher by Zoom^® to discuss the application of the programme, in reference to positive experiences, significant events, negative experiences, implementation difficulties and aspects to improve. In addition, the topics reflected in the teacher monitoring diary and the results obtained from the observational analysis will be addressed. The duration will be approximately 60 to 90 min, depending on whether teachers need to go over certain methodological strategies of the programme. The session will be recorded for later transcription and data analysis;

(3) Semi-structured individual interviews: a qualitative analysis will be carried out through semi-structured individual interviews [64] to learn about teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the ACTIVE VALUES educational programme. They will be carried out at the end of the intervention via Zoom^®, asking the participating teachers to sit in a comfortable and quiet room, that is, isolated from noise. The interview will last 30–45 min and will include 10 questions related to the effectiveness of the programme. Like the focus groups, the interviews will be recorded on audio and video to transcribe and analyze the teachers’ statements.

2.4. Procedure and Work Plan (Stages 2–4)

This study will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki after the approval of the protocol by the Ethics Committee of the University of Murcia (3207/2021).

Once the recruitment has been carried out and the inclusion and exclusion criteria have been applied, the principal investigator will give a brief explanation of the objective of the study and will request the voluntary and anonymous participation of the students in the study. After that, the pretest data will be collected, which will last three weeks (

Table 2. ACTIVE VALUES data collection procedure.

Moment	Months and Weeks		Variables and Duration
Prior to (Pretest)	September	Week 1	Psychosocial aspects (30 min) and executive functions (15–20 min)—1 session with 10–15 min break between tests.
		Week 2	Accelerometry—1 week from Monday (9:00 h) to Monday (8:59 h).
		Week 3	Anthropometry, physical fitness and lifestyle questionnaire tests—2 sessions of 55 min.
During (Follow-up)	September-June (third or fourth week of each month)		Fidelity of implementation (TARE-AB)—observational analysis and feedback report writing (4th week of each month).
			Teacher follow-up diary—4th week of each month.
			Focus groups—every 6 weeks of intervention
After (Posttest)	June	Week 1	Psychosocial aspects (30 min) and executive functions (15–20 min)—1 session with 10–15 min break between tests.
		Week 2	Accelerometry—1 week from Monday (9:00 h) to Monday (8:59 h).
		Week 3	Anthropometry, physical fitness and lifestyle questionnaire tests—2 sessions of 55 min.
		Week 4	Students: group discussions (30 min) and drawings (20 min).
			Teachers: semi-structured individual interviews (30–45 min).

). In the first week, data related to psychosocial variables and executive functions will be collected. In the second week, the students will wear the accelerometers for a week (all day, except for sleeping) to measure their level of physical activity prior to the start of the intervention. In the third week, variables related to physical fitness will be measured using two normal Physical Education classes. The tests will be set up as a circuit with posts placed around the sports court. In the first 55-min class, body composition, aerobic capacity and flexibility tests will be measured. In the second class, muscle strength, speed-agility and lifestyle habits will be evaluated.

At the end of the intervention, the tests carried out prior to the start of the educational programme will be administered again, following the same procedure. However, in this case, there will be a fourth week in which the focus groups and the students’ drawings take place; and semi-structured individual interviews with teachers, to find out the participants’ perceptions of the ACTIVE VALUES programme.

2.4.1. Implementation of the “ACTIVE VALUES” Programme (Stage 3)

This research will be carried out during an academic year in which the curricular elements and the contents of all educational subjects (mathematics, Spanish language, social sciences, natural sciences, music, English, physical education, plastic education) will be followed. They are included in the current Spanish law on education [71]. Different methodologies will only be used depending on the assigned group:

• Control group

In this group, a traditional teaching approach will be applied [72] in which the teaching staff will be characterized by being the centre of the teaching-learning process, presenting the contents in a unidirectional way and imposing the tasks and organization of the classroom, using strategies such as direct command. Students will have a passive role and their function will be limited to being recipients of information and memorizing it, without cognitive and participatory involvement in learning. In addition, the participating teachers will not receive any training course and will not apply the methodological strategies related to the intervention programme.

• Experimental group

An educational programme, called ACTIVE VALUES, will be designed and implemented, based on the adaptation of AB to the methodological structure of TPSR in all curricular subjects, including Physical Education. Students will learn responsibility progressively and cumulatively through the interaction of the different levels [73] proposed by Hellison [11,17]. The five levels will be worked on as follows [17]: (1) Respect for rights and feelings: the teacher will create a good classroom climate where students respect and feel respected, with freedom of expression and without discrimination (e.g., controlling impulses and resolving conflicts peacefully); (2) Participation and effort: the teacher will promote the active participation of all students, regardless of their needs, characteristics and interests, promoting equal opportunities (e.g., participating with enthusiasm and energy, as well as persisting when things get complicated); (3) Personal autonomy: the teacher will promote the granting of autonomy and responsibility in students so that they are capable of self-regulation and create their own learning (e.g., develop a work plan and work independently); (4) Help others and leadership: the teacher will develop empathy and leadership through group work where students have to respect the proposals, put themselves in the place of their partner, work in a cohesive way, ask for help and taking charge of a group (e.g., assuming responsibilities and helping those who need it most); (5) Transfer outside the school context: the teacher will teach students to apply the educational values of the previous levels in other contexts and environments of daily life (e.g., put into practice what they have learned and be a model for others).

The intervention programme classes will follow the format proposed by Hellison [17] and adapted to all curricular subjects by Escartí et al. [74] and Manzano-Sánchez & Valero-Valenzuela [15], with the incorporation of AB to their structure (

Table 3. Session structure and teaching strategies of the ACTIVE VALUES programme.

Stages of the Sessions	Description	Teaching Strategies
Stage 1. Awareness raising (5 min)	The teacher welcomes the students by fostering a good classroom climate (interpersonal links). He/she then explains what they are to learn during the session, sets the teaching and educational objectives (according to the level of responsibility to be worked on) so that the students know what is expected of them.	Greeting students
		Discuss and review levels
		Setting expectations
		Objectives of the session: didactic and values
Phase 2. Responsibility active (35–40 min)	This part is the longest part in which the main activities of the session will be developed in line with the proposed objectives. The tasks will be a vehicle for teaching personal and social responsibility through the use of teaching and conflict resolution strategies. In addition, physical activity in the classroom will be encouraged through AB of 5 to 10 min duration.	Incorporating integrative tasks of personal and social responsibility
		Encouraging physical activity in the classroom
		Giving feedback
		Resolving conflicts peacefully
Phase 3. Group meeting (5–8 min)	The teacher will ask a series of open questions to the students to generate a debate in which they will share ideas, opinions or thoughts on how the session has developed. This debate will allow him or her to check if the students have achieved the objectives set for the session and if the knowledge and contents taught have been assimilated. The questions will be based on the metacognition ladder: What have I learnt, how have I learnt it, and in what other contexts could I apply what I have learnt?	Assembly and debate (open questions)
		Conclusion and resolution of the session
Phase 4. Self and Co-evaluation (2–5 min)	The teacher will allow students to evaluate their behaviour during the session (self-evaluation), the collective responsibility, i.e., the behaviour of their classmates (co-evaluation) and the teacher’s own behaviour (heteroevaluation), depending on the level of the programme being worked on. The evaluation will be carried out using the thumb technique, which can be: (a) positive (pointing the thumb upwards), (b) neutral (to one side), or negative (downwards).	Assessment using the thumb technique
		Examples of transfer

).

Teachers will use general (for example, assigning homework, giving opportunities for success, giving autonomy, or defining roles) and specific (for example, cooperative group strategies or personal work plan) strategies when implementing the TPSR to promote four themes that represent the essence of this pedagogical model [75]: (a) strong teacher-student relationship, (b) empowering students, (c) integrating responsibility and physical activity in the classroom, and (d) promoting transfer of responsibility. In addition, these strategies will also be applied to resolve individual conflicts (for example, five clean days) and collective conflicts (for example, the law of the grandmother or the court of justice), fully integrating the TPSR in all educational subjects and curricular contents.

The integration of physical activity in the classroom will be carried out through the AB, which will be developed after 20–25 min of class, when the teachers observe a decrease in attention on the part of the students or when the students request it by mutual agreement with the teacher. At that moment, the simultaneous combination of both teaching methodologies will take place. Specifically, they will be implemented in part 2 of the class (Active Responsibility), for a short period of time (5–10 min). To carry out the AB, different application methods will be used to achieve a greater integral and multilateral development of the students, as well as to avoid monotony, because the ACTIVE VALUES programme will be applied from two to four daily classes (10–16 sessions a week). Therefore, the methods that will be used are those proposed by Jiménez-Parra et al. [21]: (1) high-intensity intervals: these are routines that combine high-intensity exercises (e.g., jumping jacks, adapted burpees, squats, etc.), for 20 s, with periods of rest (10 s); (2) active videos: consists of audiovisual resources projected on digital whiteboards that generate a motor response in students, such as dances and body language activities; (3) curricular and cross-curricular active breaks: these are AB with great cognitive involvement because the academic contents are worked on at the same time as physical activity is carried out (e.g., the teacher mentions statements about an academic content, if the statements are true the students must perform 8 clapping jumps and if they are false they must perform 8 push-ups on the table). Within this method, transversal active breaks will also be carried out, that is, physical activity with transversal contents such as responsible education, solidarity, healthy eating, and healthy lifestyle habits.

2.4.2. Teacher Training Programme Based on the ACTIVE VALUES Methodology (Stages 2 and 3)

To implement any type of educational programme, specific professional development of teachers is needed [26,76,77]. In this sense, Pozo et al. [9] highlight two directions that research should have: (1) requirement for control and evaluation by experts on the intervention, and (2) continuous and close monitoring of the data in the implementation of longitudinal studies, as well as include ad hoc methodological designs. In this way, the present study will follow a specific professional development of teachers composed of a two-phase approach:

(1) Initial training: a 20-h theoretical-practical course will be carried out, divided into 3 sections: (a) explanation of the TPSR (10 h), (b) teaching of the contents related to AB (5 h), and (c) combination of both methodologies (5 h). In the first section, an explanation will be given to teachers on how to design positive climates in the classroom and they will be provided with global and specific strategies for the development of responsibility. The theoretical and practical framework of this section will follow the foundations and proposals of Hellison [11,17,75], addressing theoretical knowledge, model classes, observation and teaching tests [26] such as climate design and the production of a positive and safe classroom, the levels of responsibility, the format of the lessons, the global and specific teaching strategies for the development of responsibility and the transfer of skills for life. General pedagogical and psychological principles related to the management of a group, such as conflict resolution and the coexistence corner, will also be introduced. In the second section, the theoretical foundations of the AB, the strategies for their implementation, the ideal moment of application, the application structure, the way of presenting the AB and the different types of AB will be addressed. In the third section, the strategies to effectively relate and incorporate the AB in the structure of the TPSR will be explained, as well as the fundamental elements of the TARE-AB so that teachers know the strategies that they must address in the classroom and thus they can self-assess after each class. Teachers will receive an explanation of a practical lesson based on the combination of both methodologies. In addition, they will be provided with an ACTIVE VALUES programme guide with didactic resources to review the different strategies discussed, as well as other teaching strategies [29], through a shared folder in the cloud (Google Drive);

(2) Continuous professional development (CPD) [31]: different strategies (training seminars, feedback, and query resolution cycles) will be applied to provide adequate guidance and support for teachers throughout the educational programme [78]. After the initial training, teachers will have to submit a document describing the structure of one of their own classes applying the methodology and adapting the ACTIVE VALUES programme to their annual classroom schedule. In this session, the first level of the TPSR (Respect), must be developed, specifying the activities and strategies used, as well as the approach of curricular AB related to the teacher’s subject. The Principal Investigator will provide comments and suggestions on the proposal. In the first and second week of intervention, the methodology will be implemented in lessons with different contents and a lesson given by the teachers applying the methodology will be filmed and subsequently analysed by expert observers from the research team, who will then indicate whether the teaching strategies are applied satisfactorily or not during the lessons, that is, more than 80% of all the elements listed for each class [79]. After the analysis, the main researcher will issue an evaluation report to the teachers so that they know which strategies they carry out correctly and which are susceptible to improvement. This sequence will be repeated throughout the intervention, once a month, together with the follow-up diaries and focus groups, allowing teachers and the main researcher to be in continuous contact, as well as share, debate and discuss the development of the programme [26,30,77] that ensure a controlled and effective intervention.

2.4.3. Fidelity of the Implementation (Stage 3)

To corroborate the effects of the implementation of a methodology in the educational field, Hastie and Casey [80] establish that the research group must provide 3 key elements to the teachers in the research: (a) a detailed description of the curricular elements of the educational programme, (b) validation of the methodology or strategies to be implemented in the study, and (c) a description of the context in which the programme will be developed. Elements (a) and (c) have been dealt with in previous sections (Section 2.4.1. and Section 2.4.2, respectively), while the detailed validation of the implementation of the programme will be carried out by the research group through the filming of the classes of the EG teachers throughout the intervention (one session per month). The observational analysis using the TARE-AB instrument will verify the degree of fidelity that teachers have towards the use of the strategies corresponding to the ACTIVE VALUES programme and provide feedback on their performance in the classroom. In the same way, lessons of the CG teachers will be recorded to verify that they use a traditional methodology, and the strategies are not related to the methodology under study. The comparison of the results between EG and CG will allow us to check whether there are differences in the teaching strategies used in the classroom and, therefore, the degree of validity of the programme with respect to the expected results.

In this procedure, a video camera will be used, which will be placed on a tripod in one of the corners of the classroom to record the entire space where the lessons take place. With the aim of not influencing the behaviour of the students, the classes will be recorded during the four sessions prior to starting the intervention (pretest) so as not to alter the behavior of the students when the ACTIVE VALUES programme is applied, favouring the appearance of spontaneous behaviours [81]. Observational criteria will be determined to be able to evaluate the validity of the intervention, such as the non-consideration of the periods of unobservability, known as those sections in which there is a break in the continuity of the observation lesson [82]; and in turn, this period of unobservability does not exceed 10% of the total time [34].

The observational analysis will be carried out by two experts from the research group with experience in observational studies related to the implementation of active methodologies in the school context since studies such as Pozo et al. [9] and Sánchez-López et al. [7] indicate the importance of TPSR and AB programmes requiring expert monitoring and evaluation. The interobserver reliability (>80%) will allow the beginning to be used for the analysis of the lessons; which will be calculated with the following formula AT = TA/A + D (total agreement = AT; total of agreements = TA; agreements = A; disagreements = D) [83]. In the same way, the intra-observer reliability will be calculated with the analysis of the same video by the observers, after the passage of a certain period of time (seven days), before the beginning of the intervention.

2.5. Data Analysis (Stage 5)

To contribute to the quality of the statistical significance in the proposed research design, a priori, the calculation of the sample size is needed [84,85]. The statistical data of the effect size were reviewed: n sample under study, the F value (Anova-one way) of meta-analysis on AB [23,24], as well as the parameters of sample quality of systematic reviews on the TPSR [9]. It was estimated that with statistical parameters of effect size (f) of 0.33, statistical power of 0.95, alpha err. probability of 0.05 and 8 population groups that will participate in this study, the sample size necessary to ensure adequate statistical power of the results of this research is 240 participants [86]. These analyses were performed with G*Power 3.1.9.6 for Mac OS X 10.7 to 12 software.

In non-randomized trials, the problem of not randomizing the sample could be compensated in some way by Bayesian methods that quantify that the results obtained are explainable by possible selection bias of the participants [87].

2.5.1. Quantitative Data

First, the sample will be characterized by descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage. For the normality test, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic will be used, as it is the most powerful test to detect normality in samples of variable nature and greater than 50 participants [88]. In the case of presenting normal distribution, the MANOVA parametric test of repeated measures will be applied to compare between groups and within groups, to evaluate the changes in the dependent variables over time. If, on the contrary, the data show a non-normal distribution, the Wicolxon test (for related samples) and the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples will be applied [89]. Next, the assumption of homogeneity of variances will be carried out to assume equal variances or not, which will determine the use of the Fisher’s or Welch’s F statistic. The effect size will be calculated to quantify the magnitude of the difference between two means in the post-intervention data and for each group separately between the pretest and the posttest. According to Cohen [90], values of d = 0.02 represent a “small” effect size, 0.05 a “medium” effect size, and 0.08 a “large” effect size. Finally, the statistical power will be obtained through a post hoc analysis, considering 0.80 as an adequate power level [91]. The analyzes will be executed with the statistical packages IBM SPSS 25.0., Jamovi 2.3.3 and G*Power 3.1.9.6.

2.5.2. Qualitative Data

• Drawings, Teacher follow-up diary, Interviews and focus groups

The qualitative results referring to the drawings, teacher diary, interviews and discussion groups will be analyzed using the Atlas.ti 7.5.4 a powerful computer programme for the qualitative analysis of large amount of textual, graphic, audio and video data [92].

In relation to the analysis of the students’ drawings, each narrative will be placed next to the corresponding student drawing in order to codify the student’s intention and avoid misinterpretation [65]. Assigning a number to each drawing will avoid identification of the student. Thematic content analysis and constant comparison will be used independently by each researcher to analyse the drawing and the narrative through simultaneous observation [93].

The rest of the qualitative data (teacher diaries, interviews and focus groups) will be evaluated with the same procedure as the drawings, i.e., through thematic content analysis and constant comparison [93]. For this purpose, the interviews and focus groups will be recorded for later transcription. The transcription of the participants’ verbatim responses will be recorded as primary documents together with the teacher’s diaries [29]. After that, the analysis will be carried out by coding and organising the text extracts (e.g., notes, codes, families, etc.) into thematic contents (e.g., educational values, healthy habits, sedentary lifestyles, etc.) for further comparison [29,93].

• T-pattern detection (systematic observational analysis)

The data analysis will be carried out using the detection pattern T, since it is a particularly suitable fit to analyse teaching behaviours so complex that they allow to obtain detailed sequences of instructions. This analysis has already been carried out in other studies where teaching behaviours have been analysed at the implementation of the TPSR [30] and AB [21].

For the teachers’ pedagogical behaviours coding and students’ responses, the LINCE PLUS software [69] will be used. This software allows recording the behaviours with category systems, ensuring control and quality of the data, and exporting the results to the THEME software [70]. This software uses an evolutionary algorithm that compares all patterns and keeps only the most complex ones [30]. In this way, the analysis will allow the detection of synchronous and sequential behaviour patterns of teachers and students.

The qualitative results of the study will allow the acquisition of information that will expand and complement the quantitative data to provide a better understanding of the problem studied (disruptive behaviours and sedentary behaviours of young people).

3. Desired Outcomes and Discussion

This protocol study describes the development of the ACTIVE VALUES programme, the first intervention design aiming to target disruptive behaviours and sedentariness at the same time. The protocol includes a training plan for teachers either of Primary or Secondary education, regardless of their professional experience, the procedure for its implementation, and the procedure for evaluation. These procedures have been designed and detailed to facilitate teachers’ understanding and teaching of an innovative methodology based on personal and social responsibility and physical activity in the classroom.

This study’s strengths are that it addresses several gaps both in teacher education-based programmes and in the implementation of active methodologies in the school context. Firstly, the ACTIVE VALUES design and implementation procedure are comprehensively described, emphasising its validity and reliability: (1) combines two methodologies with a strong scientific basis and evidence in the context of application [14,23]; (2) uses a mixed-methods approach to test and understand the effects of the educational programme. Moreover, its design followed validated templates and checklists, such as TI-DiER [27] and TREND [28], to carry out experimental or quasi-experimental designs; (3) it will recruit participants from different regions and educational stages to evaluate and extrapolate the impact of the programme to different contexts and settings; (4) uses quantitative and qualitative instruments validated in the school context and the target population; (5) presents the approval of the Ethics Committee of the University (3207/2021); (6) proposed data collection follows a rigorous process divided into three weeks for the pre-test and four weeks for the post-test; (7) describes a comprehensive process of initial and continuing professional development according to previous methodologies [26,29,30]; (8) develops a detailed intervention programme with a coherent progression of the implementation of the key elements of the methodology; (9) the procedure is based on observational analysis by expert observers [79] of recorded sessions using validated instruments such as the TARE-AB [21,29,66,79] to make sure the program is accurately implemented and with a high degree of validity and reliability; (10) the sample size needed to obtain a statistical power of 0.95 is provided; and (11) it is proposed a powerful statistical analysis to measure reliability, normality and inferential analysis.

Secondly, this paper addresses the fact that there are no published protocols on interdisciplinary educational programmes combining two methodological strategies and teacher training in different educational areas or stages have not been published. The study by Toivonen et al. [26] is the only one that develops a protocol for applying the TPSR by novice instructors, but it is based on the out-of-school context. Sánchez-López et al. [7] also proposed the implementation of an AB protocol. However, it was for preschool classrooms, and it is not applicable in Primary and Secondary environments. The publication of such protocols is essential to promote new innovative programmes in the classroom and to facilitate discussion within the scientific community about the proposal to be implemented, before carrying it out.

Thirdly, there are no controlled intervention studies on multi-component educational programmes using a mixed-methods approach. There is previous research on TPSR, but most of it applies exclusively to a qualitative methodology [9,14], while most AB works propose a quantitative methodology [23]. Accordingly, previous studies were developed using a quantitative or qualitative approach in isolation. The use of mixed methods based on the careful collection of quantitative and qualitative data ensures versatility and completeness of results and will increase the accuracy and validity of the outcomes [26].

Fourthly, this is the first intervention protocol suggesting the application of both methodologies with CPD for a full academic year. Research highlights the need for both the TPSR and AB to be implemented longitudinally [7,94] through teacher training programmes to improve the implementation accuracy [32,76,80]. This procedure will help the teacher to adapt the model by modifying the components according to cultural differences, extending the methodology to other contexts, encouraging student adherence, and making students more active and responsible in the classroom.

Based on these aspects, the ACTIVE VALUES educational programme emerges as an alternative methodology based on the incorporation of the AB in the structure of the TPRS to enhance prosocial behaviours and physical activity of Primary and Secondary students. Therefore, this proposal seeks to alleviate violent behaviour [14] and sedentary lifestyles among the youngest [4] simultaneously. Accordingly, the following results are expected from this programme: (a) an improvement of students’ executive functions, academic performance and psychosocial aspects such as motivation, responsibility, basic psychological needs and classroom social climate; (b) promote the improvement of health-related quality of life (intention to be physically active, level of physical activity, body composition and healthy habits); (c) modify teachers’ behaviour patterns towards devolution of responsibility and autonomy in order to increase students’ active, autonomous and cognitive participation; (d) to find out participants’ perceptions of the educational programme; and (e) to examine the feasibility of the two-phase training programme (initial and ongoing) and the fidelity of the intervention programme.

In relation to the expected outcomes, previous studies demonstrate the effects of the TPSR model and AB independently. On the one hand, the TPSR seems to have a positive impact on the behavioural, social, emotional, and academic development of young people [9,14], making it a pedagogical model that has a positive impact on the social and affective domain. However, the review of the literature on TPSR shows a lesser report on the physical and psychomotor development of children and adolescents [95], as it is a model focused on helping young people to become better people [14]. On the other hand, AB seem to have a strong impact on improving physical activity levels, physical fitness, classroom behaviour and cognitive performance [22,23,24], so it seems evident that this teaching strategy contributes to developing students’ physical and cognitive proficiency. However, the literature review on AB shows a contradiction in their effects on executive functions and academic achievement [24], requiring more research to determine the time, intensity, duration, and timing of implementing AB in the classroom [23]. Furthermore, it also fails to report on the type of motivational regulation that AB promote among students.

Thus, the combination of TPSR and AB aims to promote better outcomes in the four learning domains (social, affective, cognitive and motor) and to address the research gaps of both methodologies when implemented in isolation in the classroom [95]. In this sense, physical literacy, understood as a set of disciplines and dimensions (e.g., motivation, confidence, physical ability, knowledge, understanding, etc.) to value and participate in physical activity across the lifespan [14,96], can be the link between TPSR and AB since the development of responsible behaviours and physical literacy are reciprocal [14]. Individuals with good physical literacy have significant connections to those who foster responsible behaviours, while the development of responsible behaviours may contribute to the development of a physically literate individual [14,97]. Future intervention studies implementing educational programmes based on the combination of TPSR and AB could consider measuring this variable.

In conclusion, ACTIVE VALUES could be the first interdisciplinary educational programme that combats two international issues such as disruptive behaviour and sedentary behaviour among young people, as well as the associated social and health consequences. Furthermore, it could contribute to the improvement of a variety of domains in children and adolescents to facilitate their development and adaptation to society, enhancing the transfer and connection between school and out-of-school contexts. Thus, hybridization could help to reduce the limitations of applying TPSR and AB in isolation and enhance their strengths.