Developing Meaningful Understanding of Games and Sport in Physical Education
This blog summarises ideas explained in more detail in a paper available hereIn the sport and games focus area of PE teaching, the idea of understanding is located within the concept of games as decision-laden, problem solving contexts. However, if we add the word meaningful to understanding, that changes the idea of what understanding is in the context of games and sport.In the game-based teaching/coaching field that I do a bit of work in, it was suggested by Bunker and Thorpe (1982) that a game-based approach in secondary physical education would be more engaging and enjoyable than "traditional" methods of teaching games and sport in PE. Engagement and enjoyment are descriptions sometimes associated with "meaningful" expereinces in PE. Game-based approaches to teaching games and sport in PE are premised on the idea of teaching "first" for understanding, and thus meaningful game participation. Thus, with respect to the cognitive and emotional dimensions…
