Positive pedagogy for physical education and sport : Game Sense as an example
- Authors: Light, Richard
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary developments in games teaching Chapter 2 p. 29-42
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- Description: Student-centred, inquiry-based approaches to teaching games are effective for improving game playing ability, increasing student motivation and providing positive affective experiences of learning (see, for example, Kirk 2005; Mitchell, Oslin and Griffin 1995; Pope 2005). Consistent with social contructivist theories of learning (see, for example, Fosnot 1996; Gréhaigne, Richard and Griffin 2005; Wallian and Chang 2007), the central role that dialogue, reflection and purposeful social interaction play in facilitating learning in these approaches can promote deep understanding (Light, Curry and Mooney in press) and make learning meaningful. Through these experiences students/players/athletes not only learn the content of the lesson or practice session but also learn how to learn and develop a positive inclination towards learning. The modes of learning employed in Game Sense and other game-based approaches (GBA) can generate positive intellectual and affective experiences of learning that foster an enjoyment of learning, confidence in the learners' ability and inclination to learn as they develop into independent learners: not just in sport and physical education but also in most areas of life.
Introduction : Ethics in youth sport : Policy and pedagogical applications
- Authors: Light, Richard , Harvey, Stephen
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Ethics in youth sport : Policy and pedagogical applications Introduction p. 1-8
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- Description: Sport as we know it today finds its origins in nineteenth-century schools of the middle classes of England, where it was explicitly articulated as a medium for the socio-moral development of the future leaders of society (Mangan 1982). Despite massive social and economic changes since then, the idea of using sport as a means of developing 'character' and other positive social learning, such as learning to work in a team, has formed an enduring justification for the provision of sport for young people in schools and in sports clubs, in both western and non-western settings (see, for example, Sherington 1983; Light 2000). Despite a more recent and popular view of sport as a useful means of combating lifestyle diseases such as obesity (see, for example, Gard and Wright 2009), and growing awareness of how children's and youth sport can be corrupted by the influence of elite-level professional sport, assumptions about positive socio-moral learning occuring for young people through playing sport have proven to be remarkable resilient (see, for example, Holt 2009).
'Girls get going' : Using Game Sense to promote sport partication amongst adolescent girls in rural and regional contexts
- Authors: Mooney, Amanda , Casey, Meghan
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary developments in games teaching Chapter 7 p. 103-117
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- Description: Albert Einstein once defined the term 'insanity' as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Whilst we are not advocating that attempts to address issues surrounging girls' physical activity (PA) participation are in vain or that all attempts have been similare in nature, we do acknowledge that these concerns, and research conceived to address these issues, are not particularly new. In fact, many authors have discussed the reported decline in PA participation by adolescent girls (and the reasons for this) both within Australian contexts (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011; Garrett 2004; Slater and Tiggemann 2010; Wright, Macdonald and Groom 2003) and internationally (Flintoff and Scraton 2001; O'Donovan and Kirk 2008). More recently, similar trends have been highlighted in research conducted in Australian rural and regional contexts (Barnett et al. 2002; Casey, Eime, Payne and Harvey 2009).
Conclusions : Contemporary developments in games teaching
- Authors: Harvey, Stephen , Quay, John , Light, Richard
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary developments in games teaching Conclusions p. 207-220
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Mitchell (2005) suggests that although the range of variations of GBA may be different in detail, they should be seen as taking 'different paths up the same mountain'. This collection provides support for Mitchell's contention by demonstrating the commonalities among some of these different GBAs while confirming their efficacy.
Conclusion : Ethics in youth sport : Policy and pedagogical applications
- Authors: Light, Richard , Harvey, Stephen
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Ethics in youth sport : Policy and pedagogical applications Conclusions p. 203-210
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The chapters in this volume are written on a range of topics related to the ethical practice of youth sport from different perspectives, and by authors from different cultural settings, but there are some clear common themes that emerge from them. They all suggest that sport has great potential as a medium for fostering children's positive social, moral and ethical development, but confirm previous warnings that this development is not automatically achieved by mere engagement in sport (Siedentop et al. 2004). Many chapters in this book remind us of the countless recurrences of negative issues in youth sport, such as cheating, negative coaching, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and player/spectator violence. These practices present a constant threat to the ethical practice of youth sport and we must acknowledge that, in part, these may be attributable to an adult-centric verison of youth sport with an overemphasis on winning, particularly by over-zealous adults such as coaches and parents.
Game Sense pedagogy in youth sport : An applied ethics perspective
- Authors: Light, Richard
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Ethics in youth sport : Policy and pedagogical applications Chapter 6 p. 92-106
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- Description: Research and writing in the physical education field over the last decade has seen a rapid growth of interest in pedagogy in games teaching, and particularly in Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) and its variants. There is also an emerging and long overdue interest in pedagogy within the sport-coaching field focused on athlete-centred coaching approaches (Kidman 2005; Jones 2006; Kirk 2010; Light and Evans 2010). These approaches have much to offer for improving game-playing ability and making sport more enjoyable and satisfying for children and young people. There is, however, a range of learning arising from the use of these approaches that is often unintended and less tangible, yet likely to be more significant in the educational and life journeys of young people (see, for example, Kretchmar 2005; Light 2008).
The influence of school context on the implementation of TGfU across a secondary school physical education department
- Authors: Curry, Christina , Light, Richard
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary developments in games teaching Chapter 8 p. 118-132
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Over the past decade Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) has enjoyed a sustained revival of interst from researchers and practitioners across the globe that is strong enough to be described as a 'movement' (see, for example, Light 2005). Along with other game-based approaches (GBA) it has come to form one of the more prominent areas of research interest in physical education with a well-attended series of international conferences on TGfU established from2001, and with the most recent one held in TGfU's 'birthplace' at Loughborough University in the UK in July 2002. Research consistently confirms the effectiveness of this approach to teaching in terms of developing better games players, generating positive affective experiences of learning and promoting a range of positive social, moral and personal learning (see, for example, Butler and Griffin 2010; Holt, Ward and Wallhead 2007; Light 2013 and Chapter 6 by Jarrett and Harvey). Despite these positive developments, the uptake of TGfU and other game-based approaches (GBA) by physical education teachers across the globe remains limited. Even in Singapore, where a variation of TGfU, the games concept approach (GCA), was mandated by the Ministry of Education, a sustained body of research conducted over the past decade suggests that it is yet to make a significant impact upon practice (see Chapter 3 by Fry and McNeill).
Introduction : Contemporary developments in games teaching
- Authors: Light, Richard , Mooney, Amanda
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Contemporary developments in games teaching Introduction p. 1-12
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: For individuals interested in contemporary physical education and sports coaching practices, the well-known saying, 'may you live in interesting times' (sometimes referred to as the Chinese curse) will hold some resonance. As debate occurs about the very nature of what constitutes physical education and sports coaching, and 'which' knowledge should be privileged through pedagogical encounters, we do live in interesting times characterised by profound social and cultural changes (Wright, Macdonald and Burrows 2004). For some, these changes have produced professional working lives that are extremely fast-paced and time-poor. With many commercial enterprises claiming to offer 'innovative' and 'cutting-edge' practical solutions and 'quick fixes' for highly complex problems, as professionals we are now required to become critical consumer of what others have termed the global information explosion (Wright et. al. 2004). In relation to physical education and coaching we believe that in order to be effective critical consumers, 'context' matters and as such, we need local, nuanced examples of how various teaching coaching approaches are applied to consider their relevance for the issues we face in our own practice.