Transfer of learning in physical education

In a prevous blog here I began to look at concept based curriculum model for physical education as an alternative to a multi-activity curriculum model. A multi-activity curriculum model typically has short 3-to-5-week duration units of work. In this curriculum design there is insufficient time for the volume of practice required through deliberate play and practice to master technical and tactical skills of an activity to the level where a student previously not playing the sport can reach at least a social-recreational level of ability to play/participate in the activity. In a multi-activity curriculum model more likely is that students with already developed ability in the activity, or ability able to be applied to the activity usually acquired through the participation in school and/or community sport, succeed. Students who ‘couldn’t play’ before the unit of work have reinforcement that they ‘can’t play’. The multi-activity curriculum model has been the subject of severe critique for its absence of educative outcomes for most students since the early 1990’s.  In a related blog here I explored possiblities for a more connected physical education curriculum through a thematic curriculum model that organised the concept base of the curriculum which would be the 'content' of the curriculum. 

Inherent in adopting a concept or thematic based curriculum structure for physical education is that what is learnt is able to be transfered to other contexts. The idea of transfer of learning is that learning can be transferred from one activity to another if the two activities are similar and share many common elements.The explanation for transfer of learning is that the level of transfer is determined by the level of similarity between the original context of the practice and the target context of the performance. Rink (2006) suggested that movement concepts as the content for physical education has the potential to be the subject matter of physical education that enables teaching and learning for the long term curricular goals usually espoused for physical education - the transfer of learning to active and healthy living beyond the school gate.

From a cogntive prespective, memory is important in transfer of learning. Past learning 'stored' in long term memory is retrievable and then operational withing the new context as the individual recognises the information similarity between the contexts. From this perspective, the role of the teacher is to help students 'build' memories. The making of memories and how they motivate future behaviour is something that I discuss in a blog here. From a pedagogcal lens, it is important that the physical education teacher relate new experiences to previous learning to help students recognise both how what they have learnt can be used (retrieved) and the contexts in which it can be used. This is the essence of a constructivist theory informed approach to teaching. 

Proposing movement concepts as the content of physical education curriculum, Rink (2006) identified 6 types of movement concepts that might form the basis of a physical education curriculum:

Movement action  e.g. the content is dynamic balance and the concept taught is stability - base of support.

Movement qualities e.g. the content is speed and the concept taught is acceleration 

Movement principles e.g. the content is force production and the concept taught is force summation

Movement strategies e.g. the content is offensive principles of play and the concept taught is penetration ahead of the ball.

Movement effects e.g. the content is muscular strength and the concept taught is adaptation (muscular strength increases as the muscles adapt to increases in workload)

Movement affects e.g. the content is social behaviour and the concept taught is supportive behaviour (i.e., people in teams perform better when they are appreciated and supported)

Another way of framing types of movement concepts that may form the basis of a physical education curriculum is an expanded Laban's movement analysis framework and accompanying focus questions that direct the exploration of a unit of work. Below is the planning tool I use for the purpose of developing focus questions from Play with Purpose: game Sense to Sport Literacy.

Teaching a concept requires 

1. defining the concept for the learners; 

2. teaching the dimensions or features of the concept;

3. designing opportunitis for students apply the concept to many examples; 

4. reinforcing student use of the concept throughout the curriculum and not just in the unit where it was taught; and

 5. extending student ability to work with the concept by designing opportunities for students to apply the concept to new movement experiences.

Concepts do not replace the need for movement activities. Instead, concepts bring educative purpose to the need to be able to know, understand and do something with the movement experience being encountered in physical education.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post. If you would like to connect with me on a project to do with the in this blog or any of the other ideas that I have blogged about, you can contact me by the email link available here

References

Pill, S. (2013). Play with purpose: game sense to sport literacy. ACHPER Publications.

Rink, J. (2006). Teaching physical education for learning. McGraw Hill.