An Integrated Approach to TGfU Dr. Paul Webb Dr. Phil Pearson Presentation for 1st Asia Pacific Sport in Education Conference, Adelaide January 21, 2008

Edward De Bono “… Lets teach everyone to walk and then give specialist coaching to those who can run rather than the present system of teaching everyone to run and neglecting those who are no good at running” ‘Thinking for the New Millennium’, 2001

Background An emphasis on the play, where tactical and strategic problems are posed in a modified game environment,ultimately drawing upon students to make decisions The key to TGfU approach is questioning Questions should be used with technique, strategies, rules and psychological areas

Some Benefits of TGfU TGfU has the capacity to Encourage a holistic approach to the teaching/coaching of games by establishing meaningful contexts Promote deep knowledge and understanding Promote critical thinking and problem-solving Engage students (physically and cognitively) Promote enjoyment for participants Cater for varying abilities

Implications of TGfU for Teachers A deep understanding of games both within and across categories (target, invasion, striking/fielding, net/court ) Integrated approach refers to analysing and developing constructive and innovative lessons across sports and categories

Observations Methods used in practical studies courses and Game Sense workshops for Professional Development Focus on what to do, not how to do Focus on examples of games and questions to use not how to develop them Focus on questions to ask to generate understanding No focus on where the questions were generated from nor how understanding was gained to ask them

Tactical Model Foundation of the movement component New South Wales Secondary Schools Personal Development, Health and Physical Education syllabus Difficult pedagogical process (Turner, 2005) Still very limited awareness regarding TGfU in the teaching and coaching community in NSW (Pearson, Webb, Towns and Rowland, 2005)

Questioning Questioning skills and the ability to develop appropriate activities to allow the questions to be answered are critical to the success of TGfU (Light 2003) Questioning can be applied to 4 areas: strategies. technical, rules and psychological

Game Example Two Court Bounce Two players per team, two squares 10m x 10m Aim is to bounce the ball in your court and have it bounce in the opponent’s court before they can catch it

IRE Discourse from pre service Teachers Initiation: Where do you bounce the ball to be successful? Response: To space Evaluation: Correct

Issues Reason for question Meaningful feedback Evaluation of answer Indicated learning The student may leave this class with no more knowledge about a net court game than when they entered but may well have been very busy and very active

Game Sense Beginner Teachers and Coaches need to understand Reason for using the game Matching the game with the questions Matching questions with elements they wish to develop Matching games with the category

The Model

Theoretical Model for Teachers and Coaches Phase 1 - Elementary Understanding of Game within Category Deconstruct the game through analysis, based on Strategies and tactics (initially Principles of Play) Technical skills (physical, psychological, communicative) Rules Match with games and develop questions associated with the elements of the game Conduct for all games within the category

Theoretical Model for Teachers and Coaches At end of Phase participants should have A bank of elements required to successfully participate in the game A bank of games for each game within the category Some elementary questions based on how to develop understanding about the game principles Some ideas around similarities and differences in games of the category

Purpose Provide the how and why, not only the what Deconstruct games to provide teaching ‘keys’ Allow a range of interpretations from students Give a framework for pre service teachers and beginner coaches to develop lessons, units and sessions Create connections between aspects of games to increase intellectual quality of lessons

Phase 2 Phase 2 Compare games across categories Find similarities and differences in rules, technical skills and tactical strategies Find commonalities in games and questions Find games that can be adapted to different categories

Phase 3 Use the same process as Phase 1 but examine more advanced elements of games, especially the tactics and strategies Deconstruct a game within the category Determine elements required by players to participate at a more advanced level Examine the game as a complex pattern, including the role and interaction of opposition Adapt games from Phase 1 to challenge students in a familiar framework

Phase 4 Use the same process as Phase 1 but examine more advanced elements of games, especially the tactics and strategies across the category Deconstruct each game within the category Determine elements required by players to participate at a more advanced level Compare games within the category to determine how strategies may be adapted to different games within the category, again comparing, analysing, evaluating (Forrest, Webb and Pearson, 2005)

Integrated Model for Unit and Lesson Planning Stage 1: Develop a unit on one sport Stage 2: Develop a unit across a subcategory Stage 3: Develop a unit across subcategories Stage 4: Develop a unit across categories

Stages of Unit Planning Phase 1: Choose a category and subcategory eg invasion carrying the ball across the line Phase 2: List the sports or activities to be analysed. Phase 3: Analyse the sports or activities under the headings of tactics, skills, rules and psychological Phase 4: List the differences of the sports under the same headings Phase 5: Develop the unit plan for teaching the sports THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS?