Game Sense or Teaching Games

for Understanding

• Traditionally sports have been taught using the skill and drill method.

• This traditional approach means - the game is broken down into skills - these skills are practised - these skills must be learned before full participation in the game ( Light and Fawns 2001)• This technique produced players - who could perform techniques well - were often unable to adapt these skills to changing game conditions - who had poor decision making abilities - became dependent on the coach for tactical decisions

Traditional method

• Games sense focuses on developing thinking through problem solving using physical activity

• In game sense the nature of the game is taught and the skills are added as and when the participants are able to absorb them. (Pill,nd)

Games sense has five skills outcomes:• Communicating• Decision making• Interacting• Moving• Problem solving (Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education,2013)

Game Sense

• Bunker and Thorpe identified a large percentage of children achieve little success in games due to an emphasis on performance and that most left school knowing little about games.

• Games sense focusses on the individual and the tactical dimensions of games.• We begin teaching game sense using simple games which can be modified to suit

the individual abilities of the players and take away the stress of acquiring complex skills

• Emphasis is placed on the active role of the student in perception , decision making and understanding the developmental factors in modifying the games.

Game sense is the preferred teaching method for PDHPE because:• It encourages cognitive thinking

• That the tactical approach taught in game sense leads to players showing decision making abilities, tactical awareness and flexibility

• It is a student centred approach which emphasis active engagement, group and individual problem solving and enjoyment in physical activity

ReferenceLight,R &Fawns,R ,(2001). The Thinking Body: Constructivist Approaches to Games Teaching in Physical Education, Melbourne Studies in Education, 42(2), 69-87

Pill,S,(nd). Teaching Games for Understanding: Sports Coach Magazine, 29(2). Avaliable from: http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/search_articles?queries_keywords_query=&queries_title_query=&queries_author_query=Pill%2C+S&queries_issue_query=29%2C+2