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The Australian Curriculum requires teachers of all learning areas to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Culture and History where there is opportunity to do so meaningfully. Despite this requirement, there are few studies considering culturally responsive pedagogy for those perspectives in the teaching of Physical Education (PE) in Australian schools. This study investigated a Year 7 PE teaching team in one school's implementation of a unit of work in the Games and Sport focus area directly incorporating the Cross-curriculum Priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. Four teachers participated in end-of-unit interviews using an appreciative inquiry approach to gain their insights on the work. The results revealed teachers grew in appreciation and awareness of the Cross-curriculum Priority, but experienced cultural and competency barriers during implementation. However, the teachers felt empowered in shaping new ways of student learning. In this study, we demonstrate how rebuilding ways of thinking, knowing and doing provide opportunity for existing games teaching structures to be interrogated, and new ways of knowledge able then to find passage into teachers' assumptions of PE processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored how a physical education teacher education (PETE) programme at an Australian university influenced physical education pre-service teacher (PEPST) sport teaching identities. Our methodology utilised Elias’s [2012a [1970, 1978]. What is sociology? Collected works (Vol. 5). University College Dublin Press] personal pronouns as a figurational model which shows how social group (‘we’) identity relates to outsiders (‘they’) as well as individual members (‘I’) within communities. We also drew upon the concepts of figuration [Elias, N. (2012b [1939]). On the process of civilisation, collected works (Vol. 3). University College Dublin Press], habitus [Elias, N. (2010 [1987]). The society of individuals, collected works (Vol. 10). University College Dublin Press] and established and outsider theory [Elias, N., & Scotson, J. L. (2008 [1965]). The established and the outsiders. Collected works (Vol. 4). University College Dublin Press]. By examining if and how the ‘I’ pronoun was used in a written assessment task, we sought to ascertain the extent PEPSTs might apply the concept of ‘PE-for-sport-literacy’ (PE4SL) in their future careers. Just over half the participants wrote ‘I’ statements about how they would enact sport teaching in convincing and believable ways, the remaining PEPSTs provided descriptive narratives, suggesting a limited engagement with PE4SL, using writing styles more akin to academic writing, with little or no use of the ‘I’ pronoun. Our findings are important because, there have been limited studies about the process of teacher identity formation in teacher education [Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175–189] and fewer studies about the construction of PEPST identity [Liu, J., & Keating, X. D. (2022). Development of the Pre-service Physical Education Teachers’ Teacher Identity Scale. European Physical Education Review, 28(1), 186–204] and PE teacher identity [Virta, J., Hökkä, P., Eteläpelto, A., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2019). Professional identity among student teachers of physical education: The role of physicality. European Journal of Teacher Education, 42(2), 192–210]. Our findings then, add to the finite stock of knowledge concerning PEPST teacher identity development, by drawing attention to the varied ways our participants engaged with PE4SL. This study reinforces previous research that highlighted that as teacher educators, the knowledge we teach does not automatically translate into beginning teacher practices [Brown, D. (2005). An economy of gendered practices? Learning to teach physical education from the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu's embodied sociology. Sport, Education and Society, 10(1), 3–23; Fernández-Balboa, J.-M. (2009). Bio-pedagogical self-reflection in PETE: Reawakening the ethical conscience and purpose in pedagogy and research. Sport, Education and Society, 14(2), 147–163]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a rationale for The Spectrum of Teaching Styles (The Spectrum) as a pedagogical model in teaching physical education (PE). Building on prior discussions/debates (SueSee et al., 2021), we will contest the view that the concept of teaching styles is different from that of a pedagogical model. In doing so, we highlight the most central aspects of The Spectrum and explain fundamental characteristics that warrant its representation with existing pedagogical models. The paper demonstrates for teachers how The Spectrum details the 'how', 'when' and 'why' of their pedagogical decisions, in understanding how they may meet educational outcomes for increased curriculum alignment, or successful enactment of models-based practices. The contention we present is The Spectrum is valuable to PE teachers in understanding the context-specific realities of teaching episodes and therefore improving teaching and learning practices in PE by helping teachers align their pedagogy with their desired learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Purpose Discussion Conclusion For over two decades, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) has used Arnold’s tri-dimensional perspective of movement (1979, 1988) as a framework for its senior Physical Education (PE) syllabus documents (1998, 2004, 2010, and 2018). As the most recent version, the Queensland Senior Physical Education Syllabus-2019 (QSPES) cites Arnold’s perspective as ‘a philosophical and educative framework to promote deep learning in three dimensions: about, through and in movement contexts’ (QCAA 2018, 1), it is reasoned these principles will be evident throughout this Australian state syllabus.The purpose of this paper is to examine the claimed adherence to the Arnoldian perspective in the QSPES (QCAA 2018) as stated in its curriculum intention statement (see QCAA 2018, 1).The authors suggest that a reinterpretation of Arnold’s intention has occurred in the application of his perspective to the QSPES (QCAA 2018) and suggest what may occur as a consequence of this reinterpretation.We conclude by discussing the potential effects of this reoriented view of Arnold’s perspective on students, teachers, and PE in general. The discussion highlights a familiar story of PE attempting to legitimise itself through science and academia and how in most cases the warnings against such validation have fallen on deaf ears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The need to generate empirical evidence regarding the nature of coach development in sports coaching to inform more meaningful coach education programmes is recognised. Understanding the professional development of sport coaches is a developing and growing area of scholarship, with calls for the implementation and evaluation of mentoring programmes that provide in situ contextualised mentoring to support coach development. Purpose: This paper provides insights gained from the examination of a coach education programme in Australia run by a state Australian football (AFL: Australian Football League) sporting body that utilised the role of a dedicated coach developer to facilitate community club coach development. Method: The research was guided by an interpretivist perspective and used a qualitative methodology enabling the researchers to make meaning from the data. Focus groups (N = 4: 12 participants) and semi-structured individual interviews (N = 9) were used to collect data. The interviews were analysed utilising inductive thematic analysis. Themes derived from interpretative analysis of the interview data were then analysed using an abductive process of induction and deduction to consider the data through the lens of the theoretical framework: situated learning. Results: The four themes developed were: reliance on volunteers; coach development resources, barriers and facilitators of coach development and club culture. The study found that cultivating coach education as a community of practice is not easy in an environment that is reliant on a volunteer workforce. Conclusion: A club culture that places a focus on a positive player environment through quality coaching tends to invest in a coach and player retention, and parent satisfaction and engagement. The affiliation of positive physical, social and cultural concepts with a positive player environment led clubs to anticipate success in these areas and a translation to the best possible quality in coaching practice, sustainable learning and knowledge acquisition. Further research is warranted to broaden knowledge of the scope of practice across other states in Australia and other sporting bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined secondary (high) school teachers' experiences of online delivery of health and physical education (HPE) during Covid-19 suppression measures in one Australian state in 2020. Research has noted the use of blended learning and flipped classrooms in HPE, yet little is known about the delivery of fully online school HPE. Semi-structured interviews occurred with eight high school HPE specialist teachers, providing qualitative data for analysis. The analysis of teachers' experiences indicated that in most cases HPE did not happen; rather, physical activity provision was initiated, or HPE was marginalised to a movement break between subjects with perceived higher status and priority. Additionally, teachers found that providing HPE online was challenging, and struggled to connect with, engage and provide equitable opportunities for their students online. The results showed that the move to online provision of HPE resulted in diminished educative purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2020a) requires all teachers to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples', culture and history where there is scope to meaningfully do so. However, there is a general absence in Australia and internationally of understanding culturally responsive pedagogy for those perspectives in teaching Physical Education (PE). This concept paper proposes an educational framework comprising Yunkaporta's (2009) 8 Ways Aboriginal Pedagogy and the Game Sense approach (GSA) (Australian Sports Commission [ASC], 1996). for games and sport teaching in PE to move towards a culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. We provide an empirical argument that curricula are instruments of colonisation and explain the creation of a cultural interface through games and sport as one approach for decolonising PE. We present an opportunity to 'close the gap' between Western and Aboriginal knowledge through the purposeful design of engagement in reconciliation, respect and recognition of continuous living Aboriginal cultures. We use the game Parndo (ASC, 2000) to illustrate an example of how Yunkaporta's (2009) framework and the GSA become a solution for closing our identified gap. By proposing a culturally responsive curriculum, we focus on the importance of identity for all people and how curricula must be relevant and meaningful for all Australians. Importantly, Yunkaporta's (2009) 8 Ways is a product of 'cultural interface', co-created through dialogue between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educators. Our findings, although not transferable to other settings, nonetheless have relevance to other countries where there is a similar move to decolonise PE curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaching is grounded in three knowledge components: professional, interpersonal and intrapersonal knowledge. Coach development research has shown that coaches value contextual, in situ, learning with mentors more highly than formal, mediated programs that are offered by sporting bodies, which often provide generic content.The aim of this paper is to present the findings of an evaluation of a Coach Developer Program that was implemented across 6 community sports clubs in the southern suburbs of South Australia. The program provided guidance to the clubs in the development of a designated Coach Developer role to support coaches and their practice.This study utilised pre and post program surveys that contained qualitative and quantitative questions. 2 club administrators, 3 coach developers and 29 coaches from the 6 clubs participated in an online pre-program survey, and 22 coaches and 2 coach developers participated in an online post-program survey.Some coaches believed their coaching was positively impacted on the introduction of a Coach Developer role within their club, and the coaching mentoring promoted as part of the Coach Developer Program, however, many were unsure if their coaching practice had been impacted. Therefore, the perceived usefulness of the role of a Coach Developer was considered equivocal in terms of the overall impact. However, when considering individual impact, the role was beneficial for focussing coach development and support.Given the preference of coaches for in situ mentoring expressed in this project and the extant literature, we recommend that governing bodies and community clubs invest in purposeful in situ learning, such as the Coach Developer Program trialled in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporarily Australian Indigenous peoples are portrayed by white Australians according to deficit understandings. As well as being inaccurate, this depiction, as part of a long-term civilising process, is an expression of 'fantasy-laden thinking' [Mennell, S., & Goudsblom, J. (1998). Introduction. In S. Mennell & J. Goudsblom (Eds.), Norbert Elias on civilization, power, and knowledge: Selected writings (pp. 1–45). The University of Chicago Press]. Such reasoning, apart from being false, serves to create and reinforce stereotypes, while promoting the 'superiority' of the Western world. Sport was used by the British as part of the process of civilisation to globally promote such reality inadequate accounts of Indigenous peoples, through its use as a 'civilizing' instrument. Sport, including rugby league and Australian football (AFL), was used in Australia to teach British values and gentlemanly behaviour to show Aboriginal people their 'place'. This study explains how both sports have meaning for high school students, as an unintended outcome of their introduction to Australia's Indigenous peoples. Figurational sociology, through its concern with long-term processes, is used to examine the importance of AFL and rugby league to 12 Year 7–10 (age 12–16 approximately) participants. Data were collected using six semi-structured interviews and were interpretively analysed. Instead of experiencing a sense of being 'civilized' or enlightened through their involvement in AFL and rugby league, participants instead spoke about both sports offering: (i) personal meaning through enjoyment and identity creation; (ii) family and community connections; (iii) support networks from family members, peers and others; and (iv) opportunities to continue their culture. It would seem then that the introduction of rugby league and AFL to Australia's Indigenous peoples has resulted in the adaption of both sports for cultural and other reasons. It is possible that similar reconstruction of meaning is experienced by Indigenous groups beyond Australia who were similarly colonised by Western nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project investigated how Australian Capital Territory (ACT) teachers of physical education (PE) assess games and sports as a Focus Area in the Australian curriculum health and physical education (AC: HPE). Figurational sociology, including the concept of habitus was used to inform the study and make sense of the findings. The figuration we examined was ACT primary and secondary school teachers across the government, independent, Catholic and private sectors who are mutually oriented towards assessing their students in PE. There were two sources of data: Semi-structured group interviews and current and historical PE curricula. Interview data were collected by each of the authors, from 19 teacher participants split into three groups, comprising two groups of six participants and one of seven participants. Our other data sources were the current AC: HPE curriculum and four historical ACT PE curricula. We used the interview data and the said curriculum documents to reconstruct the macro, micro and sociogenesis levels of the figuration and thematic and content analysis were used to analyse the data. We found that participants used approaches to assess games and sports that were not fit for purpose, were not evidence-based and that were typically based on subjectivity. Further, participants had limited understanding of how to authentically assess games and sports, with the assessment of skills emphasised at the expense of other criteria. This prioritising of skills assessment was also identified as a long-term process within ACT PE teaching. An over-emphasis on skills assessment contrasted with the assessment of game strategy, which although a requirement in the AC: HPE and the historical curricula, received little attention. Our findings are important, because the gap in teacher knowledge we revealed, led to teacher professional learning to upskill ACT teachers in the use of evidence-based approaches to assessing games and sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been calls for research that provides a description of how physical education teachers persist in integrating student-centred pedagogical models, such as Sport Education (SE), in their professional practice [Hastie, P. A., and T. Wallhead. 2016. 'Models-Based Practice in Physical Education: The Case for Sport Education.' Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 35 (4): 390-399]. Specifically, more information is required on how physical education teachers navigate the contextual challenges that schools provide to deliver the core structural features of SE. This study adds to the existing literature in this domain by using social media as a novel platform to explore an international sample of physical education teachers' perceptions of implementing SE. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the range of dilemmas physical education teachers face when integrating SE into their curricula. Method: This qualitative research was completed through conducting a Twitter #chat with fifty-two physical education teachers who self-identified through their participation in the #chat as having an interest in SE. An inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data, grounded in Windschitl's (2002) dilemmas framework. Findings: The main benefits/successes of the physical education teachers' use of SE were related to pedagogical dilemmas. However, several conceptual, pedagogical, cultural, and political constraints affected physical education teachers' implementation of the model. A conceptual shift was needed to embrace a student-centred modality of instruction, however, the associated student learning outcomes related to this shift were viewed positively. Contextual challenges such as existing curricular structures and available resources often led to a pragmatic (and modified) version of SE manifesting in practice. Conclusions: Using Twitter enabled the capture of the realities of physical education teachers' practice with SE, suggesting they were interpretatively pragmatic in adapting the model to their situated context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the concept of "driveway tennis" as a construct for student games making in physical education as an option for teaching sport for understanding. We connect the notion of games making in PE with a game-based teaching approach using the example of the Game Sense approach. We demonstrate how the concept of driveway tennis, and games developed by children and young people generally, aligns well with PE curricula expectations internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated what the term Quality Physical Education (QPE) meant to Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers in Australian Capital Territory (ACT) schools. A total of 14 HPE teachers who taught middle school or above, representing government and independent schools, took part in focus group interviews about their understanding of QPE and the factors that influenced their constructs. Figurational sociology and the concepts of interdependence, habitus, and involvement and detachment, were used to inform the research and interpret the findings. It was found that teachers' accounts of QPE were largely informed by their individual and collective experiences and their personal 'philosophies' of physical education. With the exception of a recently introduced national curriculum for HPE, the teachers in this study did not use, or refer to, any evidence-based documents in forming their ideas about QPE. Further, they did not mention any recognised pedagogical approaches that they used in teaching QPE. The findings from this research are important, because 'everyday' or common-sense teacher understandings can negatively impact student learning and threaten the status and credibility of our profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, physical literacy (PL) has been the subject of increased publication, promotion, and speculation in physical education (PE). This research sought to understand how PE teachers interpret PL. We investigated teacher's conceptualisations, understandings, practices, and ideas of 'what' PL stands for through a #Chat conversation with physical educators on Twitter. This generated qualitative data that were interpretively analysed. An 'everyday philosophy' of PL emerged from the physical educators' relationship with the PL concept, alongside the notion that some use social media as a PL advocacy tool. A lack of sophistication was evident in the PE teachers understanding and operationalization of PL. We conclude that perhaps too much time and effort has been spent 'adapting' PL to national contexts, personal, and institutional agendas, rather than investing in the pedagogical and content knowledge of PE teachers to deliver on the concept of PL. We suggest that it is empirical research rather than academic opinionating that is needed to establish the validity of PL for PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the 2004 Queensland Physical Education (PE) Senior Syllabus to ascertain to what extent it is developing physically educated students. The 2004 QSPES is a fundamental document relevant to the teaching of PE (in Years 11 and 12 of high school) in the Australian state of Queensland. Kirk's (1988) notion of a physically educated person being an intelligent performer guides the research and frames the discussion. The 2004 QSPES syllabus was examined via content inquiry. The 2004 QSPES included concepts such as intelligent performance and complex environments, and it suggested teaching styles to meet these concept developments. It was found that the development of physically educated students was ill-defined, contradictory, and questionable. It is likely that teachers will have trouble applying, teaching, and assessing the concept of intelligent performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical literacy is developing as a contested concept with definitional blurring across international contexts, confusing both practitioners and researchers. This paper serves the dual purpose of reporting on an interrogation of concepts associated with physical literacy in academic writing and exploring the use of a text mining data analysis tool. The Leximancer text mining software was applied to 49 research papers relating to physical literacy from 2001–2016, sourced from academic repositories and scholarly search engines. The findings from the text mining analysis revealed that the concept of physical literacy is used in a variety of contexts, specifically in connection with ‘education’, ‘activity’, ‘fitness’, ‘health’, ‘concept’, ‘competence’, ‘understanding’, ‘roles’, ‘curriculum’ and ‘assessment’. The concept with the most relevance connected to physical literacy is ‘education’, the very term that is commonly being replaced by ‘literacy’. A number of concepts were identified from the text mining analysis that were not explicitly mentioned within the definitions of physical literacy, including educational components such as ‘curriculum’, ‘teaching’ and ‘assessment’. It was also revealed that many of the strongest relational concepts from the text mining of the physical literacy literature were of a physical domain, with less relevance and connection to concepts of cognitive, social and emotional domains. The study fills an important gap in the literature by showing that while a multiplicity of conceptions of physical literacy exists, the concept gives dominance to the physical domain and the marginalisation of cognitive and affective domains in various constructions of physical literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Teaching games for understanding (TGfU) has stimulated so much attention, research and debate since the 1980s that it is easy for its origins to become refracted and misunderstood. For example, in a recent edition of thePhysical Education and Sport Pedagogyjournal there was paper arguing a constraints-led approach (CLA) as distinctive from TGfU, where TGfU was positioned as merely an operational model without an initial underpinning theory. Purpose:In this paper, we draw on historical records of existing literature and the memory of one the founders of TGfU to explore the various theoretical contributions to TGfU during its foundational years, which included the work of Bruner on guided discovery, and others (i.e. Stenhouse, Suits). Findings:First, we clarify that TGfU was not developed by Thorpe and Bunker, it was developed by what we refer to as a ‘games team.’ Second, we argue that although in practice TGfU and a CLA may look alike, epistemologically they rest on very different theoretical foundations. From its inception, the epistemological development of TGfU has been from an educative perspective rather than sport science/skill acquisition like that of a CLA. Not only have these competing epistemological/theoretical descriptions led to tensions between education and sport science in the physical education and sport coaching research and literature, they also cause confusion for the practitioner. It is however, inappropriate to privilege one fields’ theoretical discourse or to create a ‘verses’ mentality to theoretical descriptions of what to the practitioner appear essentially the same pedagogical actions (Stolz, S., and S. Pill, 2014. “Teaching Games and Sport for Understanding: Exploring and Reconsidering Its Relevance in Physical Education.”European Physical Education Review20 (1): 36–71). Notwithstanding these different epistemological foundations, we go on to ask for caution in the messages that are sent to practitioners using game-centered approaches (GCAs) such as TGfU or the CLA that simply manipulating constraints and letting the ‘game be the teacher’ is a sufficient condition forlearningto occur. Conclusions:The theoretical development of TGfU overviewed in this paper provides a historical record of several perspectives similar to the CLA – such as modifying game constraints, representation of the full game form in designer games, etc. which may render any ‘new’ GCA that has these features such as the CLA as ‘old wine in new bottles.’ We contend that the major differential in the work of TGfU and CLA authors is TGfU’s emergence from the educative perspective rather than the field of sport science/skill acquisition. From its inception, the interpretation of TGfU has been through the prism of discovery learning. It was only in the 1990s that physical education pedagogues ascribed TGfU to a constructivist approach. We believe the historical insights offered in this paper are critical to physical educators’ understanding of the theoretical development of TGfU as a pedagogical approach to games teaching/coaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many physical education curriculum frameworks include statements about the inclusion of critical inquiry processes and the development of creativity and problem-solving skills. The learning environment created by physical education can encourage or limit the application and development of the learners' cognitive resources for critical and creative thinking. This article presents the argument for critical and creative thinking in physical education, and then describes and explains pedagogical perspectives and teaching tools that foster student inquiry, creativity and problem solving in physical education. The ideas and examples presented are consistent with the expectations of contemporary curricula frameworks, such as the SHAPE America National Standards for K–12 Physical Education, the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program, and the Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the challenge of addressing student diversity in secondary physical education (PE) classes. Contemporary curriculum documents and teacher standards emphasize differentiated pedagogy in order to engage and challenge all learners. However, the reality of designing effective learning experiences for diverse students represents a departure from traditional approaches to secondary PE teaching, and research indicates that secondary teachers often feel ill-prepared to make the necessary adjustments to plan and teach in a differentiated manner. This article employs the example of a team sports unit (volleyball) to make plain a general approach to planning for and teaching diverse learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses two pedagogical case studies (PCS) from a multidisciplinary perspective to highlight the problems of theoretical knowledge in tertiary physical education teacher education (PETE) programmes, school-based physical education (PE) practice and continuous professional learning (CPL) in PE. We argue that a critical view of tertiary PETE and PE teacher educator CPL practice or practices is particularly important if PETE programmes want to develop future PE and current teacher practitioners who are transformative agents. In setting up the pedagogical case study accounts, we recall common conversations about the bodies of knowledge in tertiary PETE programmes that have been positioned as problematic. The accounts highlight the existence of an artificial divide between PE educators as theory generators and both pre-service PE teachers and school-based PE practitioners as theory appliers. We suggest that part of the reason why this divide exists can be attributed to a general misunderstanding of theoretical and practical knowledge that have been wrongly compartmentalised into ‘theory’ and ‘practice’, and hence erroneously taught as isolated entities without any connection or direct link with each other, or the former considered to be less relevant and perhaps even irrelevant in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on research framed as a strengths-based appreciative inquiry (AI) into the use of a game sense (GS) approach for sport and games teaching in physical education (PE). The aim of this research was to find the elements which sustain teachers in the use of a GS approach. This is particularly pertinent given strong advocacy for GS as a preferred sport pedagogy but slow acceptance in Australian PE. Through the story of experience that emerged the common elements giving ‘life’ to the PE teachers' pedagogical practice, and thus sustaining the use of GS teaching, is illuminated. AI has not been previously used to case study games and sport teaching in schools generally and a GS approach specifically. Further research examining the long-term and accumulated benefits of AI for qualitative PE pedagogical is proposed, as is further investigation of teachers' experience with a GS approach from primary to secondary PE teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses a narrative approach in the form of a fictional dialogue between a physical education teacher educator (PETE) and an enquiring physical education teacher (EPET) in order to both contextualise the problem posed by Almond, that Teaching Games for Understanding-Game Sense (TGfU-GS) has been better accepted in academia than in the ‘natural setting’ of physical education (PE) teaching, and to intentionally provoke change about how TGfU-GS is positioned as a highly conceptualised ‘instructional model’ for games and sport teaching. Drawing on research by Green that PE teachers operate from ‘everyday philosophies’ and not necessarily from highly conceptualised curriculum or pedagogical models, this paper proceeds from the premise that competing descriptions of PE teaching found in the literature and its applications are problematic to the PE teacher because teachers do not necessarily see or want to see the same boundaries between pedagogical models as researchers do as theory generators. It is argued, that the tension suggested by Almond exists in part because of contextual and operational differences leading to each viewing the teaching of PE differently. The EPET is concerned about the praxis of teaching that is theoretically informed by pedagogical knowledge and made real through the experience of teaching; whereas, to the PETE, PE is viewed with a more nuanced interpretation of the complex, non-linear dynamics of the classroom, nature of learning and the need for theoretical informed practice. However, some similarities exist between the EPET and PETE which revolves around bringing order to the essentially unpredictable learning environment by adapting the environmental and task characteristics so that learning may occur. Consequently, we argue that the tension between the EPET and PETE is inevitable because each privilege certain ‘everyday philosophies’ about the design and enactment of PE teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on a project framed as a strengths-based case study in the field of sport coaching. The aim of this research was twofold. First, the project trialled. Appreciate Inquiry (AI) for sport pedagogy research and explain how AI can be used in sport coaching research. Second, using an appreciative perspective, the aim of the research was to find greater meaning in the two coaches' practice to explain the forces driving the shaping and the implementation of Game Sense (GS) coaching. This is particularly pertinent given strong advocacy for GS as a preferred sport pedagogy but a slow deployment in the field of sport coaching in Australia. Through the story of experience that emerged a reculturing of coaching practice was revealed and the elements that sustained GS coaching highlighted. This research improves understanding of decisions made by coaches to change practice and which are sustained because they bring ‘life’ to the coach. AI has not been used previously to case study coaching practice generally and GS coaching in Australian football specifically. Further research examining the long-term and accumulated benefits of AI for qualitative sport coaching research is proposed, as is further investigation of coaches' experience with GS coaching across a broad range of sports from entry and grassroots through to elite level sport. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over 30 years ago the original teaching games for understanding (TGfU) proposition was published in a special edition of the Bulletin of Physical Education (Bunker and Thorpe, 1982). In that time TGfU has attracted significant attention from a theoretical and pedagogical perspective as an improved approach to games and sport teaching in physical education (PE). It has been particularly championed as a superior alternative to what Kirk (2010) and Metzler (2011) described as a traditional method. Recently, however, one of the TGfU authors suggested that the TGfU premise needs to be revisited in order to explore and rethink its relevance so that pedagogy in PE again becomes a central and practical issue for PE (Almond, 2010), as it has not been as well accepted by PE teachers as it has by academics. In order to review and revisit TGfU and consider its relevance to games and sport teaching in PE this paper outlines two areas of the TGfU proposition: (1) the basis for the conceptualisation of TGfU; (2) advocacy of TGfU as nuanced versions. The empirical-scientific research surrounding TGfU and student learning in PE contexts is reviewed and analysed. This comprehensive review has not been undertaken before. The data-driven research will facilitate a consideration as to how TGfU practically assists the physical educator improve games and sport teaching. The review of the research literature highlighted the inconclusive nature of the TGfU proposition and brought to attention the disparity between researcher as theory generator and teacher practitioner as theory applier. If TGfU is to have improved relevance for teachers of PE more of an emphasis needs to be placed on the normative characteristics of pedagogy that drive this practice within curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What could a sport coach or sport teacher within physical education learn from digital game design and the way digital games capture, sustain, and maintain children's attention? Would the physical education learning experience be different if physical educators designed and enacted sport teaching by attempting to accommodate the learning needs and preferences of the wrap around technology generation by giving deliberate attention to the design principles employed in digital game design? This article emerged from those two questions to highlight how, as games governed by rules of play, sport and digital game play have much in common and, therefore, sport teachers in physical education may enhance student engagement by incorporating learning principles used in digital game design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the teaching of game sense, which includes strategic thinking and the development of sport-specific motor skills, as part of soccer coaching. This is said to be an educational model of coaching that places skill development within the context of a game situation. Also noted are the importance of learning environment to game appreciation, the learning of decision making skills, and strategies particular to the coaching of junior soccer.

Background: Sport Education (SE: Siedentop, D. 1994. Sport Education: Quality PE through Positive Sport Experiences. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics) remains the most researched of all the pedagogical models and thus has the strongest body of evidence that it has the potential to deliver on psychomotor, cognitive and affective student learning outcomes. Despite this evidence, there has been less discussion within the academic community regarding the future of the model itself, or the empirical evidence still needed to facilitate its position in school physical education programs. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to garner a reflective summary of collective SE scholarship to frame academics' perspectives on the potential of SE as a viable pedagogical model for physical education. This viewpoint included strategies that may facilitate an increased use of the model by teachers in school programs and the empirical evidence still needed to help validate its position. Method: Academic participants were 34 university faculty from 11 different countries who had published empirical research on SE. Participants responded to an online survey designed to prompt descriptive reflections on the topics of (a) limits, constraints, and/or challenges in assisting teachers in learning to implement the model, (b) the capacity of SE for framing effective learning, (c) potential need for the model to evolve, (d) challenges in demonstrating the efficacy of the model, and (e) appropriate research designs for evaluating this efficacy? In-depth qualitative content analysis was conducted using open, axial and selective coding techniques with trustworthiness established through processes of credibility, dependability and confirmability strategies. Findings: Findings revealed support for the contemporary utility of SE within school physical education programs. Perceived constraints to its continued proliferation in schools included teachers' beliefs and values about physical education, and the institutional contexts and curriculum policies that operate in schools. Academics highlighted the need for research that mapped teachers' use of the model, including what features they consistently use and why they persist with the model to navigate achieving student learning outcomes. Future empirical efforts need to address the model's contribution to broader curriculum outcomes and as a potential change agent in disrupting the status quo of contemporary physical education curriculum design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]