The evolution and dissemination of game-centred-learning practice in Physical Education and sport coaching in New Zealand: A practitioner's tale

Research on teaching games in Physical Education and sport coaching in New Zealand reveals that over the last 30 years traditional skill-based game teaching models have gradually been supplemented by instruction under an... [ view full abstract ]

Research on teaching games in Physical Education and sport coaching in New Zealand reveals that over the last 30 years traditional skill-based game teaching models have gradually been supplemented by instruction under an inclusive banner of Game Centred Learning (GCL) especially, Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). This development was not mandated by educational policy but evolved and was disseminated through combinations of the practice and insights of early luminaries, visits to New Zealand by Rod Thorpe, a new guard of Physical Educators in pre-service teacher education colleges and the emergence of a socio-ecological perspective in the national PE syllabi (1999 & 2007). The practitioner’s tale of this process emerged through data collection that began with life story bibliography but evolved through auto and analytical ethnography. Plausibility was achieved through a triangulation of this data with reference to historical documents, peer reviewed articles and discussion with luminaries in the field. Conclusions were referenced against Bourdieu’s concepts of practice and field that emerged as tensions in practitioners changing habitus, that nevertheless led to the adoption of GCL practice as an accepted model in PE teaching and sport coaching in NZ. 

An implication of this research is that the adoption of GCL strategies in teaching and coaching games should not be ideologically bound but rather integrated with other models of instruction in a holistic experiential sense. This holistic focus should both enhance learning in movement skills and integrated as a means to promote citizenship. This presentation explores the process, methods and findings of the research and suggests strategies for enhancing PE and sport coaching practice in educational settings. 

Ministry of Education. (1999). Health and Physical Education in the New` Zealand curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media Ministry of Education. 

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.