Implementing game sense coaching approach in Australian football through action-research

This paper introduces the methods, selected findings and discussion of an action research investigating a coach and player experience of Game Sense coaching as a new approach to coaching an Australian football team. The study was conducted over five months, which covered the in-season training segment of the coach’s training plan. The study involved the coach systematically reflecting on the experience of coaching and regular conversations with the sport pedagogue through coach use of a reflective journal. During the final week of training players were invited to complete a coaching efficacy survey to elicit qualitative data in an attempt to gain insights into their experience of the coaching. At the conclusion of the season the coach participated in a semi-structured interview with the sport pedagogue. The research adds further evidence that game-centred coaching approaches like the Game Sense approach take time to learn, require greater instructional knowledge and game understanding by the coach, and may be misinterpreted as small sided games.Este artículo presenta los métodos, algunos resultados y la discusión de un estudio de investigación-acción centrado en la experiencia del entrenador y de algunos jugadores de fútbol australiano que siguieron un plan de entrenamiento basado en el enfoque comprensivo del sentido de juego (“game sense coaching”). El estudio se desarrolló durante cinco meses, incluyendo los entrenamientos durante la temporada planificados por el entrenador. El estudio implicó la reflexión sistemática, mediante un diario, del entrenador sobre su experiencia, así como conversaciones regulares con el pedagogo deportivo (el investigador colaborador). Durante la última semana de entrenamiento, se invitó a los jugadores a realizar un cuestionario diseñado para obtener datos cualitativos sobre la efectividad del entrenamiento y sobre su propia experiencia. Al concluir la temporada, el entrenador participó en una entrevista semiestructurada con el pedagogo deportivo. El estudio viene a concluir que los enfoques de entrenamiento centrados en la comprensión del juego, como el “Game-Sense”, requieren más tiempo para ser dominados por parte de los entrenadores, un mayor conocimiento para su aplicación, desarrollo y comprensión del juego; y que puedes ser erróneamente interpretados como “partidillos”

Rethinking sport teaching in physical education: A case study of research based innovation in teacher education

This paper focuses on the significance of physical education teacher education (PETE) in the diffusion of 'new' thinking about sport teaching in physical education. It explores issues arising from a case study investigation that sought to respond to the critical commentary about the form and substance of sport teaching in physical education by supporting innovation in school curriculum and pedagogy through pre-service teacher education. The study was designed to challenge PETE pre-service teachers' thinking about sport curriculum and pedagogy in physical education, introduce them to new thinking about models and specifically, the sport literacy model (Drummond & Pill, 2011; Pill, 2009, 2010). Details of the research design are presented and the insights that the data have provided in relation to challenges and opportunities that teacher educators and teacher education courses confront in seeking to promote and support curriculum and pedagogical innovation are discussed

Researching the Implementation of Sport Education in a Primary School Setting: A Case Study

Flinders University, S

The Relationship Between University Learning Experiences and English Teaching Self-Efficacy: Perspectives of Five Final-Year Pre-Service English Teachers

No literature exists on English teaching efficacy or self-efficacy or on pre-service teachers’ English teaching self-efficacy and its relationship to pre-service teacher education. This project addressed this conceptual and methodological gap in current teacher efficacy research literature. Five pre-service English teachers in their final year of double degree Bachelor of Education/Bachelor of Arts teacher education programmes at an Australian university were interviewed about their self-efficacy for specific English teaching skills. Results suggest that the pre-service teachers see a significant relationship between their self-efficacy to teach English and their degree. The data suggests that the relationship between university learning experiences and English teaching self-efficacy is determined by the nature of those experiences

Applying the concept of ‘PE-for-sport-literacy’: Exploring pre-service teacher identities with a new way of teaching sport

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]

The Influences on Teaching Perspectives of Australian Physical Education Teacher Education Students: The First-Year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) Study

There has been a paucity of literature investigating the teaching beliefs and intentions of Australian physical education teacher education (PETE) students that enter teacher training. The First-year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) study explores the teaching perspectives of first year PETE students; including teaching perspectives predicted as being dominant and important for physical education teaching. The teaching perspectives inventory (TPI) was administered to 105 Australian PETE students. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA statistical tests were conducted to compare average teaching perspective summary scores across demographic variables. The FIT-PE study findings revealed 18 year olds (compared to 20-25 year olds) and PETE students from rural backgrounds (compared to regional) had significantly higher average summary scores for the transmission (content-oriented) teaching perspective. This paper provides reflective opportunities for teacher training programs of the underlying core teaching values (beliefs and intentions) of students at the entry point of PETE training

RECONCILING APPROACHES – A GAME CENTRED APPROACH TO SPORT TEACHING AND MOSSTON’S SPECTRUM OF TEACHING STYLES

During the late 1960s and into the 1970s game-based approaches to sport teaching and coaching emerged in scholarly literature on sport and physical education teaching. Game based pedagogical approaches for games and sport teaching have been distinguished by some authors through the more prominent emphasis on guided discovery teaching and student/athlete reflective thinking than what occurs in the more historically common sport-as-sport techniques approach typified by a demonstration-replication, or ‘transmission’, method of instruction. However, guided discovery is also associated with another teaching approach that emerged in the 1960s, Style F of Mosston’s Spectrum of Teaching Styles. In this paper we posit that rather than be seen as competing approaches, game-based approaches and The Spectrum of Teaching Styles should be seen as complementary as both are governed by a fundamental proposition – pedagogical decision making. In particular, due to the Spectrum of Teaching Styles non-versus approach, it is theoretically impossible/contradictory for the Spectrum to be in opposition to or compete against any pedagogical approach. Our purpose is to examine two Game Sense learning episodes and to identify the decisions being made between the teacher and student/s. This will then allow these two Game Sense learning episodes to be placed on the Spectrum of Teaching Styles. By doing this it will detail  important pedagogical concepts and unify pedagogical decision making that take place when sport and games teaching is taken across the ‘discovery barrier’ and into an intentionally designed space to develop ‘thinking players’. In the Australian educational landscape, this discussion is timely given the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education key ideas to focus on both content and pedagogies that are educatively focused with an inquiry approach.  Article visualizations

Teaching styles of Australian junior tennis coaches

Game Sense was introduced to Australian tennis during Australian Sports Commission (ASC) national workshops in 1996, prompting tennis coach education providers to emphasise the approach, and its embrace of increased player involvement in the coaching process, in formal coach accreditation literature. This research involving 208 junior development and club professional coaches in self-assessment of their teaching styles, provides insight into the penetration into the everyday coaching practice of one of the central pedagogical tenets of the Game Sense approach – the use of well-considered coach questions to guide the development of players’ technical and tactical game development. Since the ASC workshops in 1996, until this research there has been no assessment of the uptake of the Game Sense approach in Australian tennis. The pedagogical practice of coach-led questions in the Game Sense approach has been referred to as a form of guided discovery. This research used Mosston and Ashworth’s Spectrum of Teaching Styles (2008) (The Spectrum) as a tool through which to investigate the coaching styles of Australian junior tennis coaches, revealing coaches self-identified alignment with the guided discovery practice of coach-led questions (Mosston’s Guided Discovery-Style F). The research found that a practice style (Mosston’s Practice Style-B) was the pedagogical style used most often by the respondents, followed by a more directive or command style (Mosston’s Command Style-A). Guided discovery (Mosston’s Guided Discovery-Style F) was the third most commonly adopted pedagogical practice

Impregnando la pedagogía del entrenamiento del juego modificado en el enfoque centrado en el sentido del juego con la teoría de las affordances

The Game Sense coaching approach is founded on expectations of game-based practice as the game (or game form) becomes the focus and starting point of practice. The theory of affordances, a conceptual pillar of ecological modelling of perception and action in sport leading to a constraintsled game design perspective, provides a basis for understanding the modifying and adapting games as a pedagogical emphasis of the Game Sense approach. We review affordance theory leading to a demonstrated application of constraints-led learning in Touch Football. We conclude with the proposition of constraints-led game design as a logical semantics for the game-based practice assumptions of the Game Sense approach. This paper demonstrates the potential of affordance theory as a means of analysis of the task dynamics of Touch Football to inform a Game Sense coaching perspective for the sport.El enfoque del entrenamiento centrado en el sentido de juego se basa en expectativas de prácticas basadas-en-el-juego en las que el propio juego (o la forma del juego) se convierten en el foco y punto de partida de la práctica. La teoría de las affordances –un pilar conceptual del modelo ecológico de la percepción y la acción en el deporte, conducente a una perspectiva de diseño de juegos mediante “limitadores” (constraints-led)– proporciona una base para la comprensión de la modificación y adaptación de los juegos en el marco pedagógico del enfoque basado en el sentido del juego. Repasamos la teoría de las affordances a fin de mostrar una práctica de aprendizaje mediante “limitadores” en Touch Football. Concluimos con una propuesta de diseño de juego mediante “limitadores”, como una lógica ejemplificación de los supuestos de la práctica basada en el juego desde el enfoque del sentido del juego. Este artículo muestra el potencial de la teoría de las affordances como medio para el análisis de la dinámica de trabajo del Touch Football y, con ello, pretende enriquecer una perspectiva del entrenamiento deportivo basada en el sentido del juego

Impregnando la pedagogía centrada en el juego con una perspectiva «Constraint-Led» para la enseñanza del tenis en las escuelas

The Game Sense approach (GSA) helps sport teachers adopt a pedagogical toolkit for the complex interplay of collective decision making in tennis that evolves from the dynamics of momentary configurations of play meeting the personal coordination dynamics of the players. This pedagogical toolkit emphasises game-based play to teach players how to perceive the game as “thinking players” capable of functional behaviours that answer the requirements of momentary configurations of play. This paper, therefore, builds on recent theoretical debate in the areas of skill acquisition, the complementarity of perception-decision making and personal coordination dynamics (techniques), complex learning theory and coaching pedagogy, to connect the constraints-perspective of skill acquisition and the pedagogy of the Game Sense approach to enable theoretically informed tennis teaching. Practical implications of game-based training will be explained using the example of the Tennis for Primary Schools program alignment with the developmental stages of the Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education (ACHPE), which are described as student achievement standards in this curriculum.El enfoque centrado en el sentido del juego (GSA) proporciona a los profesores deportivos un conjunto de herramientas pedagógicas para el abordaje de las complejas interacciones que tienen lugar en la toma colectiva de decisiones en el tenis, que evoluciona a partir de la confluencia dinámica entre las configuraciones momentáneas del juego y la coordinación entre los jugadores. Estas herramientas pedagógicas destacan la comprensión del juego a fin de enseñar a los deportistas a percibirlo como “jugadores pensantes”, capaces de comportamientos funcionales que respondan a los requisitos de las configuraciones momentáneas del juego. Este artículo se basa en los recientes debates teóricos en las áreas que estudian la adquisición de habilidades; la complementariedad entre los procesos de percepción, la toma de decisiones y las dinámicas de coordinación personal; la compleja teoría del aprendizaje y la pedagogía del entrenamiento; todo ello para conectar la perspectiva de los “limitadores” (contraints, ver nota 1) y la pedagogía del enfoque centrado en el sentido del juego, para lograr una enseñanza del tenis fundamentada teóricamente. Las implicaciones prácticas del entrenamiento basado en el sentido del juego se explicarán sirviéndonos del ejemplo de un programa de Tenis para la Escuelas Primaria, el cual está en línea con las etapas del desarrollo del Currículo Australiano de Educación Física y Salud (ACHPE), descritas en el mismo como estándares de logro para los estudiantes