Abstract

The Game-based Approaches in Physical Education: International Applications presents 22 chapters, including 18 teaching units to be applied in physical education or youth sport, divided into four categories of games and an additional category of performance activities.

This book combines the pedagogical, academic, and practical knowledge of a team of experts in the global game-based approaches community. Sharing some common universal principles about game-based physical education teaching, this book innovates by offering unique cultural perspectives and diversity in the pedagogical interpretations made in different continents and countries of the original Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach. Each unit includes a framework of tactical content of increasing complexity, a teaching unit outline (between 9 and 20 lessons), and the respective game-based activities and learning tasks.

By covering key themes in contemporary sports pedagogy and physical education, including lesson content, tactical questioning, task design, assessment, and game modifications, this book is essential reading both for all prospective and in-service physical education teachers and sports coaches working with children and youth and their teacher and coach educators.

Chapter 4 Abstract:
Teaching Games for Understanding (Bunker and Thorpe, 1982) is a game-based approach to physical education, which prioritizes the problem-solving and decision-making aspects of games. The learner is placed in the center of a sequential process of introducing games requiring increasing levels of tactical understanding. The Teaching Games for Understanding approach incorporates the Curriculum Model with four pedagogical principles (Thorpe, Bunker & Almond, 1986), supported by the games classification system (Almond, 1986) which categorizes games based on their fundamental tactical aims of play. Through contextual gameplay the player firstly learns ‘what to do’ and ‘when to do it’, and only learning ‘how to do it’ at the point when the skill is required for the game. The pedagogical principles provide a framework for game modification, so they are developmentally appropriate for the players. This can challenge the commonly held misconception about Teaching Games for Understanding as only suitable for higher ability or older pupils. This chapter describes the teaching of games in schools in England with particular reference to introducing less experienced pupils to the tactics required for the invasion game, netball.