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1 | LINK | DATED | BLOG TITLE | AUTHOR/S | TOPIC AREA/SYNOPSIS | VIDEO | SCHEMES OF WORK, LESSON PLANS & PRACTICAL ASPECTS | THEORY/ DISCUSSION | ANNOUNCEMENTS | |||||||||||||||||
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3 | Mar-26 | 2/3/2026 | Making Thinking Visible in Game-Based Coaching | Christopher Pahl | When teaching games to build UNDERSTANDING, how can we be confident that players are engaging in the types of thinking known to build understanding, and how can we make that thinking visible to players and coaches so that it can be recognised, interrogated, and extended? Game-Based Approaches and the Importance of Inquiry Game-based approaches (GBAs) are commonly associated with learner-centred coaching and teaching philosophies grounded in social and cognitive constructivist perspectives, which emphasise inquiry, problem-based learning, and the active role of the learner (Harvey & Light, 2015; Light & Harvey, 2017; Richardson et al., 2023). From this perspective, learning is not transmitted from coach to player but is constructed through interaction, dialogue, and engagement with meaningful problems. A defining feature of GBAs is their emphasis on inquiry. Coaches are encouraged to design learning experiences that invite players to engage with the game in meaningful ways by making decisions, exploring tactical problems, and reflecting on the outcomes of their actions (Kidman & Penney, 2014; Kinnerk et al., 2018; Oslin & Mitchell, 2006). Games are therefore positioned not simply as activities, but as carefully designed learning environments. | No | No | Yes | No | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Feb-26 | 5/2/2026 | Bridging TGfU’s high-quality pedagogy with the meaningfulness of Sport Education: Teaching games through Competitive Tactical Cycles (CTC) framework | David Gutierrez | Competitive Tactical Cycles (CTC) is a Game Based Approach [1] that structures the learning process through instructional cycles guided by a tactical map. Each cycle lasts between three and four sessions and focuses consecutively on two complementary tactical problems or principles and concludes with a competition session. Throughout the cycle, a reference game is used as the main learning activity. In addition, CTC incorporates elements of the Sport Education model to make the learning experience more motivating and meaningful while also contributing to efficient lesson organization and management. | No | No | Yes | No | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Jan-26 | 5/1/2026 | Teaching GBAs with pre-service teachers: Learning lessons when developing a degree programme | Ellen-Alyssa Gambles | In the UK, pupils may elect to study PE at GCSE (age 14 to 16), and then at A Level (age 16 to 18) or complete BTECs at a secondary school or Further Education college. Subsequently, those wishing to become a secondary PE teacher undertake a 3 year undergraduate degree programme in a sports-based subject followed by a 1 year PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status. In my institution this route has been truncated into a 3 year undergraduate degree programme with students gaining Qualified Teacher Status upon completion of a dialogic assessment. Our curriculum includes theoretical and practical teaching in the university with increasing periods of time spent on placement (practicum) in local secondary schools. | No | No | Yes | No | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Jul-25 | 13/7/2025 | Changing the Narrative: Reimagining PE for Upper Primary (Elementary) Students | Annie Kay | As a compulsory subject, Physical Education (PE) plays a crucial role in children's physical, cognitive, and emotional development, especially for those with limited physical activity opportunities (Janssen & Leblanc, 2010; MacNamara et al., 2011; McLennan & Thompson, 2015). Enjoyment in PE is a key predictor of lifelong participation in physical activity (Lubans et al., 2010). Yet, many students have negative experiences due to overemphasis on performance, teacher-centred pedagogies, low perceived competence, and limited variety in traditional sport-focused programs (Garrett, 2004; Kirk, 2005; Lubans et al., 2010; Tinning, 2010). This highlights the need for inclusive, engaging approaches that build confidence and foster positive attitudes towards movement. | No | No | Yes | No | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Jun-25 | 5/6/2025 | Sustaining the Value of Game-Based Approaches through International Events | AspasiaDania | Game-Based Approaches (GBAs), such as the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model, are widely recognized for their capacity to promote meaningful learning experiences in physical education teaching and sport coaching. International conferences and professional development seminars or workshops serve as venues for sustaining and evolving the use of GBAs in alignment with the broader changes in the educational and coaching landscape. The global nature of these events ensures that development in GBA design and implementation is shaped by a diversity of cultural, pedagogical, and institutional perspectives, encouraging cross-border exchange. Furthermore, the outputs of such events (e.g., peer-reviewed proceedings, publications, working groups, follow-up webinars or podcasts) extend the dialogue well beyond the event itself, offering a repository of collective knowledge that can inform practice and policy across the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Jul-24 | 19/7/2024 | Specific Strategies to Assist Teacher Candidates and New Practitioners with Tactical Questioning | Diana Niland | In this spirit, the TGfU Special Interest Group (SIG) is proud to report on the organization and delivery of two significant international events that exemplify this commitment to advancing GBAs: (a) the 8th International Conference on Games-Based Teaching and Coaching, hosted by the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, New Zealand, and (b) the Pre-Conference Workshop Interdisciplinary Perspectives to Game-Based Teaching and Coaching, held during the AIESEP 2025 Conference in St Petersburg, Florida, USA. Both events are presented in this blog showcasing how international collaboration and professional learning can sustain and evolve GBAs to meet the needs of diverse learners in physical education and sport and contexts. | YES | YES | YES | ||||||||||||||||||
9 | Mar-24 | 3/10/2024 | A busy time for research into Game-Based Approaches in Ireland | Phil Kearney | Precis of an informal meeting of the Coaching Science group of the Sport & Human Performance Research Centre at the University of Limerick to discuss research projects relating to GBAs currently being undertaken at institutions across the island. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Sep-23 | 9/2/2023 | Game-Based Approaches in Ireland: An interview with Master Adrian Byrne | Phil Kearney | Interview with athlete and coach in Taekwando on a GBA approach, Adrian is the Chair of the International Taekwon-Do Federation Coaches Committee as well as a Coach Education Development Officer for Sport Ireland with a remit spanning multiple sports. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Aug-23 | 8/10/2023 | Implementing a GBA- EForce Football | Sean Fullerton | An overview of the planning, implementation, and reflection of GBA strategies at a youth American football skills camp | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Dec-22 | 12/4/2022 | 40th Anniversary- Reflections on a milestone year | Ellen-Alyssa Gambles | With contributions from members of the TGfU SIG Executive, IAB and community | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Sep-22 | 9/2/2022 | The messiness of Game-Based teaching | Aspasia Dania | Discussion on why PE teachers should be given opportunities to experiment with various pedagogies that will trigger students’ motivation to learn and act for a cause. The VIBES Model: Currently, educational policies worldwide focus on pedagogy under a methodological consideration, advocating for its use primarily for achieving standardized performance outcomes. Under such frameworks, normalized teaching practices are equated to effective curriculum delivery, making it difficult for Physical Education (PE) teachers to understand the scope of different pedagogies and their relevance to student learning. According to Giroux (2007), pedagogy is the cornerstone of democracy and thus must be fulfilled as a form of labor that the teacher embraces to facilitate student autonomy, freedom and self-direction in learning. Thus, PE teachers should be given opportunities to experiment with various pedagogies that will trigger students’ motivation to learn and act for a cause | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Aug-22 | 15/8/2022 | Special Edition: Applying Game-Based Approach in Early Childhood Education in Japan | Kanae Haneishi and Tsuyoshi Matsumoto | Application of GBAs to Early Years education: While the Game-Based Approach (GBA) concept has been mainly applied to the Physical Education as well as Sport Coaching fields, have you ever thought of applying the GBA concept to Early Childhood (i.e., age 0-5) Education and their motor development, motor learning, and beyond? Professor Matsumoto at Tsukuba University and other Japanese scholars have been working with Early Childhood educators to improve their game and play teaching strategies. This blog introduces the early part of this initiative and how GBA could be helpful in Early Childhood Education. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | Aug-22 | 2/8/2021 | TACTICAL DECISION-MAKING IN SPORT: HOW CAN COACHES HELP ATHLETES MAKE BETTER IN-GAME DECISIONS? | David Cooper and Barrie Gordon | New sports coaching book: This new sport coaching book was published in June 2020 by Routledge UK. It addresses the challenge of how coaches and teachers can educate their athletes and students in the important skill of in-game tactical decision-making. Every coach at some point must have wished that their athlete or athletes had made a better in-game decision. Listening to interviews of coaches after a loss, many have wished that if only their players had made better choices in various important situations, the result might have been different. In every competitive event, match or game, once the event begins, the coach’s ability to influence the outcome of in-game play may be limited. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | Jul-22 | 2/7/2022 | What Does ‘Ready to Play’ Look Like?: Integrating the Interactive4Life Project with TGfU | Matt Dingwall and Rebecca Lloyd | Interactive for Life IA4L Project and Interactive Function2Flow Model: The primary focus of the InterActive for Life (IA4L) Project is to promote participation in games, fitness pursuits and dance by connecting to feelings of joy and happiness experienced through relational connectedness – not just for a day, or for one class, but for life. Conceptually framed by the four dimensions of the Interactive Function2Flow (IF2F) Model, specifically InterActive Function, Form, Feeling, and Flow, the IA4L project draws attention to the relational ways we connect through posture, position, gesture and movement expression (Lloyd & Smith, 2021, 2022). The first phase of the IA4L project was premised on learning from experts whose practice is based on communicating in and through movement (Lloyd, 2020; Lloyd & Smith, in press) which resulted in a series of documentary videos that showcase the ways we may physically act and react in meaningful interaction. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Jun-22 | 2/6/2022 | Understanding tactical knowledge within game-based approaches | Francesco Sgrò and Michele Barca | GBAs and the cognitive domain - tactical knowledge evaluation of Declarative and Procedural Tactical Knowledge: Learning is a complex process that arises from the interdependence of three learning domains (Hoque, 2016): cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (attitudes). It is well known that game-based physical and sport activities can offer development opportunities which are related to psychomotor and socio-affective (Sgrò et al., 2020; Sgrò et al., 2021), but what can we say about the effect of these activities on the cognitive domain? | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
18 | May-22 | 2/5/2022 | Implementing TGfU Strategies and Principles in Adolescent Top Level Soccer–An Exploratory Approach | Can Ünal & Stefan König | Regarding the role TGfU plays as a teaching conception in both degree courses for sport science at German universities and in coach education organized by German sport associations we can observe that it hardly matters and seems to be exclusively approached as a teaching method for Physical Education in primary and secondary schools. TGfU is scarcely considered as an issue which might be of relevance for coaches in children’s and adolescents’ team sports. In the following we will report on a pilot study in which juvenile soccer players from a German top club were confronted with teaching along the principles of Bunker & Thorpe (1982) and their followers. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | Apr-22 | 5/4/2022 | TGfU and student motivation in Physical Education | Alexander Gil Arias | Studies examining student motivation suggest that fostering high levels of autonomous motivation in students has a positive effect on their propensity to engage in physical education (PE; Chanal et al., 2019). A theoretical framework that examines student motivation in the educational context is self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2020). The proposed SDT sequence suggests that social factors (e.g., autonomy support from the teacher) nurture the basic psychological needs (BPNs) of the students that, in turn, will positively develop more self-determined behaviours and various cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes (Vasconcellos et al., 2020). | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Mar-22 | 2/3/2022 | Implementing a Game Sense Approach with young academy football players in England | Ross Ensor | Youth academy football coaching has often been conceptualised as ‘linear’, aligning this notion to coaching practice, pedagogy, and subsequent behaviours. With coaches often conceptualizing this as drill-based activities to develop technical competency of players before ‘transferring’ this into a game. As a coach experiencing coach education in the United Kingdom this was the narrative promoted on courses as a generic ‘how to’ of coaching. My first introduction to Games Based Approaches (GBA) such as Game Sense was during my undergraduate university modules, and I can only describe the experience as ‘liberating’. The contrast of a total director of learning of the coach to a pedagogy and experience that aligns with players desires and can fulfil their learning needs was my motivation to implement this within my practice | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | Feb-22 | 1/2/2022 | Action research with youth in recreational programs: Making the case for TGfU | Jennie Petersen | Supporting physical literacy in YMCA recreational sports programmes in Canada: In 2017, I embarked on my PhD journey with Brock University and decided to conduct an action research project with YMCA facilities in one large Canadian city. The focus of my research was to investigate what pedagogical approaches to physical literacy youth find engaging within a YMCA recreation context. An important goal of my dissertation research was to develop practical solutions with youth and YMCA staff that could be implemented in a YMCA recreational sport and physical activity context. This blog highlights specific aspects of my dissertation work that connect to Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Jan-22 | 2/1/2021 | How can Teaching Games for Understanding and Sport Education be combined? Practical tips for Primary School | Eva Guijarro | There is an increasing number of publications focusing on the combination of Teaching Games for Understanding and Sport Education (Alexander et al., 2021 as an example). However, what do we have to take into account at a practical level to use this combination with Primary School students? In this short blog, I will provide some practical tips I employed during a specific invasion game (basketball) with fourth and fifth grade students (9-11 years old). I will outline the importance of developing respectful relationships to foster a healthy class environment, to consider group sizes and their associated benefits and limitations when posing questions for learning and encouraging autonomy at both team and student level. For specific results about this learning experience, visit the recently published paper of Guijarro et al. (ahead of print) in the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | Dec-21 | 2/12/2021 | An experience with the game-based approach in teaching sports to children in an extension project at a Brazilian university | Guy Ginciene, Camila Amato, Eduardo Rodrigues Oliveira and Thiago José Leonardi | Brazilian public universities are constituted by teaching, research, and extension. The extension is the interaction between university and society, through its different projects, developed by professors or technical servers. In 2019, we started an extension project called Sports School at the School of Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Dance of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The aim was to teach sports to children between 6 and 11 years and, at the same time, contribute to the professional development of student-teachers (student of the Physical Education course). Thus, the project was structured in an action research format, with moments of meetings (reflection) and classes (action) in a spiralling way. The working group was basically formed by two university professors and three student-teachers. One day of the week we met to plan, discuss, reflect, and re-plan the Didactic Unit (DU); and on two other days the student-teachers taught the classes to the children. The project was linked to a research project and therefore the student-teachers recorded their observations in a field diary and excerpts of the classes on their mobile phones through videos/audios. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
24 | Nov-21 | 2/11/2021 | Game Contribution Assessment Instrument (GCAI) | Naoki Suzuki | It has been argued that for performance assessment in games, a focus on the individual is inappropriate as individual performance is crucially affected by the capacities and motivations of other players (MacPhail, Kirk & Griffin, 2008). Furthermore, Suzuki et al. (2010) assert that comprehensive assessment should be based on the contribution to the game as a whole and not based on individual performance within the game. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Oct-21 | 2/10/2021 | Engaging 100 pupils in a games based approach using Horst Wein's Game Model | Jack Rolfe | It would be my natural bias to lean towards a games based approach to learning, creating environments that players interact with the game through adaptive formats, rules and changes in equipment. Given that players of all ages and abilities often ask “when are we going to play a game?” this would reflect the type of static and isolated environments we sometimes create. At the end of each term we host a lighting carnival with a local school, a carnival that aims to provide an opportunity for pupils to learn by doing and have shared experiences of the sport that has been delivered in their lessons for the past 8 weeks. Catering for 100+ year 4 pupils is a constraint in itself and asks us to think differently. Dividing the hockey pitch in 12 mini courts, that would see one young leader facilitate the learning of each 4v4. | YES | YES | YES | ||||||||||||||||||
26 | Sep-21 | 2/9/2021 | Developing Game Sense in Physical Education and Sport | Ray Breed | Teachers have been using tactical game-based teaching approaches in Physical Education for years, including variations of models such as Teaching Games for Understanding and Game Sense. In 2020, myself and a colleague (Michael Spittle) wrote a textbook specifically designed for primary and secondary PE teachers. This blog will provide an overview of the game sense approach that we provide in the book. Our game sense model emphasises and integrates tactical, technical and strategic skills within game contexts. Learners are challenged with problems to solve within small-sided, designer games and guided by open-ended questions. It is often thought that technical skills are not practiced within tactical approaches, but they are in fact learned concurrently with the development of tactical skills and understanding of the game. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Aug-21 | 18/8/2021 | Special Edition: Global Lesson Study for a Better Game-Based Approach | Naoki Suzuki | Lesson Study (Jugyo-Kenkyu), which developed in Japan, is attracting attention from around the world as a place for a professional development opportunity. In this article, I will introduce the Global Lesson Study, which is an attempt to gather people from all over the world to think about better game teaching. In the Global Lesson Study, the main activities are "watching research lessons" and "discussion about the lessons. Through these initiatives, we place importance on reflection to create better lessons. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
28 | Jul-21 | 1/7/2021 | Themes and Application for TGfU in Elementary Physical Education: Insights from a Practitioners Perspective | Michael Ertel | It is clear from the original work of Bunker and Thorpe (1982), that teaching games for understanding (TGfU) was an intentional games-based curriculum model developed for secondary-school students. Rovegno (2010), Memmert and Konig (2007), and other scholars, however, provide a structured framework that transfers the hallmark themes of TGfU to an elementary school setting. This TGfU framework will be of value to pre-service and in-service teachers and is outlined by the following sections contained below: an analysis of the themes encompassed in the model with direct applications to elementary physical education; and a curriculum foundation with an accompanying block schedule for a 4th or 5th-grade TGfU soccer unit. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | Jun-21 | 1/6/2021 | Games-Based Goalkeeper Training: Using a TGfU model to optimise decision-making in developing football goalkeepers. | Andy Elleray | Goalkeeping in football has long since championed a structured drill-based approach, where there is a large technical focus. Over the years, more specially 2009 and since meeting Lynn Kidman at University who was my lecturer (she did the forwards for my first book!), I’ve pioneered an alternative methodology in goalkeeper training. This methodology took the principles of TGfU with focus on specifically designed games, constraints, and high-level questioning in order to enhance several key attributes that are deemed vital for a goalkeeper in football. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
30 | May-21 | 1/5/2021 | Differentiating Instruction using TGfU: New Insights from Instructional Models in Physical Education (4th ed.) | Gavin Colquitt and Mike Metzler | Differentiated instruction has been a focus of classroom instruction in since the mid-1990s (Tomlinson, 1995). However, it has only recently been applied to teaching in physical education (Colquitt et al., 2017). Differentiating instruction for personalizing learning is a systematic approach that operates under the assumption that learning in physical education is personal. The breadth and depth of instructional approaches in model-based instruction gives physical education teachers the tools to systematically ensure that instruction can be tailored to each student based on their readiness (i.e., current skill level), interests, and learning profile (i.e., student learning preference, intelligence preference, and considerations of gender and culture). | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
31 | Apr-21 | 1/4/2021 | Teaching Games for understanding in the States | Neil Wallner | The lesson sequence for a typical tactical (TGfU) lesson is “(1) the initial game where students are exposed to a game that is based on specific objectives; (2) a student-centred Question and Answer (Q&A) session centred around the goal of the Game; (3) practice based on the Q&A and (4) the application of the skill in a game context” (Gubacs-Collins, 2007) | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
32 | Mar-21 | 2/3/2021 | Looking at TGfU in Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Perspectives | Kanae Haneishi | We have all witnessed numerous incidences related to inequity and discrimination in our society and as educators there needs to be a sense of urgency for as equity, inclusion, and social justice throughout teaching and learning spaces. In physical education and sport, Clup (2021) has been an advocate for fighting dehumanization by creating need for applying a Thirdspace lens for social justice in Kinesiology (Culp, 2020). In this article, my intend is to reflect on how game-based approaches could be a venue for promoting equity, inclusion and social justice in teaching and learning in physical education and sport. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Jan-21 | JOLF | JOLF was born in 2011. We provide children and their family’s accessible opportunities to play golf. We do this by delivering enjoyable, engaging and appropriate experiences in schools, the community and at golf clubs. Our approach to playing and learning golf is driven by JOLFology, our guiding principles developed through our ongoing experiences, research and critical review. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Jan-21 | 2/1/2021 | Is coaching an art or a science? | Neil Plimmer | This quote from Seth Godin’s daily email caught my attention, and has kept it for a while https://seths.blog/2020/11/one-difference-between-science-and-art/ One difference between science and art If you can’t replicate the work and get the same outcome, then it’s not science. If you can replicate the work and get the same outcome, it’s not art. Is coaching an art or is it science? Can it be one or the other? After thinking about this for a while I came to the conclusion that it is both. In fact I decided that coaching is many different shades of grey | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Dec-20 | 2/12/2020 | On the Implementation of TGfU Principles in Physical Education in German Secondary Schools–a Snapshot in Time | Stefan Konig | Although the original concept of TGfU was published in 1982 by Bunker and Thorpe, the concept is still far from being well-known among physical education teachers in Germany. As a consequence, TGfU’s pedagogical principles and didactic approaches are scarcely implemented in the respective PE lessons. In the following four pivotal issues are described and discussed. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
36 | Nov-20 | 1/11/2020 | Applying Games-Based Approaches to High Performance Coaching in Ireland: An interview with Paul Kinnerk | Phil Kearney | Initially qualified as a Physical Education teacher, Paul Kinnerk completed his doctoral studies at the University of Limerick in 2020 on coaching pedagogy in the sport of Gaelic football (one of two traditional Irish games under the remit of the Gaelic Athletic Association, or GAA). In addition to his recent publications on game-based approaches, Paul has promoted a games-based approach at National Coach Development conferences, and has a reputation as one of the most effective coaches in the game of hurling. In high performance settings, Paul has held the role of lead coach for the Limerick (2017-present) and Clare (2012-2014) senior hurling All-Ireland winning teams. In this interview, Paul discusses his introduction to games-based approaches, and his current research and promotion of games-based approaches within Ireland’s native games. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
37 | Oct-20 | 1/10/2020 | The use of game-based teaching as a route to address gender issues in physical education | Aspasia Dania and Panagiotis Stasinos | n many countries worldwide, there are inequalities in the opportunities given to girls compared to boys for participation in Physical Education (PE). Scientific data show that while girls' biological diversity is not an obstacle to their participation in any sporting activity, social diversity undoubtedly affects it negatively. School plays a very important role in the reproduction of gender inequalities and by the time girls reach adolescence, they already behave as individuals with a socially defined gender identity. School PE in particular, is an important and dynamic space for the construction of gender identity and numerous studies have shown that female participation in PE games and/or activities becomes lower as girls move on to graduation. The existence of body, strength and ability stereotypes within PE classes result in a lack of encouragement for girls, who perceive they are not so able so as to look up to their teachers’ expectations, and thus choose to be “competent by-standers”. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
38 | Sep-20 | Final Reflections | Linda Griffin & Steve Mitchell | Here we offer our final reflections as a tribute to Len and Joy. Our tribute is a sign of respect and admiration for their accomplishments. After careful and thoughtful review of their scholarly work and knowing Len and Joy personally, we offer three themes that connected them. | YES | |||||||||||||||||||||
39 | Sep-20 | 1/9/2020 | Forthcoming Edited Book | Linda Griffin | Steve Mitchell and I wanted to let the TGfU Community know that there will be a forthcoming edited book entitled “Lifetime Contributions in Physical Education: Celebrating the lives and work of Len Almond (1938-2017) and Joy Butler (1957-2019)” The edited book is being published by Scholary. In anticipation of the book coming out, we want to share our reflections on Len and Joy contributions. Enjoy! | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
40 | Aug-20 | 18/8/2020 | Special Edition: Global Lesson Study for a Better Game-Based Approach | Naoki Suzuki | Lesson Study (Jugyo-Kenkyu), which developed in Japan, is attracting attention from around the world as a place for a professional development opportunity. In this article, I will introduce the Global Lesson Study, which is an attempt to gather people from all over the world to think about better game teaching. In the Global Lesson Study, the main activities are "watching research lessons" and "discussion about the lessons. Through these initiatives, we place importance on reflection to create better lessons. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
41 | Jun-20 | 1/6/2020 | The TGfU teacher as a facilitator of student learning | Aspasia Dania | Helping Physical Education (PE) teachers to develop a sound understanding of the TGfU teacher’s role is a major challenge that goes beyond the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Focusing on the real work done at schools, it seems that even though game-based training seminars and workshops are ambiguously designed to improve, maintain and advance PE teachers as knowledgeable professionals, the final changes in students’ learning will rely on each teachers’ ability to represent game content in a meaningful way. Acting as a reflective pedagogue, the TGfU teacher has to create supportive conditions of practice and inquiry within which students will feel cognitively triggered and emotionally safe to develop tactical awareness while learning to play the game. In order to be able to establish such a culture and successfully navigate the “teaching-to-understanding” process, the TGfU teacher needs to adopt a facilitator’s role. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
42 | May-20 | 1/5/2020 | The GBA Hat-Trick | Clancy Seymour | As a current physical education teacher educator, I strongly support Games-Based Approaches (GBA) for K-12 physical education (PE). In my pedagogy courses, I inform and train teacher candidates with GBA and provide authentic experiences to utilize these models. I am also a coach educator in my institution's sport pedagogy program and pleased to see that GBA have gained traction in the coaching ranks thus creating what I call The GBA Hat-Trick. The first goal of this trifecta occurred by chance when my wife and I registered our four young children (ages 4-5) in many beginner youth sport programs like soccer, baseball, swimming, ice hockey, golf, dance, and lacrosse. As proud parents, the opportunity to see our children learn about new ways to be active was certainly priceless, but not without our fair share of frustrations for two physical and health educators (yes, my wife is too). Classic errors in engagement would best describe the practices we witnessed including poor instruction, unclear teaching cues, fragmented session flow, and developmentally inappropriate tasks that could easily be rectified with key pedagogical features of GBA like representational modifications and/or small-sided games. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Apr-20 | 1/4/2020 | #TGfU_athome | David Gutiérrez | From the TGfU SIG (Teaching Games for Understanding Special Interest Group) we propose to create short videos (less than 5 minutes) of super-small side games (invasion, net and wall, field and bat, or target) that could be played at home. The objective is to keep people physically and mentally active; particularly for the students who are without Physical Education or after-school sports due to COVID-19. As we are designing modified games for home, we will also have to overcome the spatial and equipment limitations, as well as having a very small number of players, and possibly of different ages and skill level. You will have to do it with high doses of creativity and UNDERSTANDING. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
44 | Mar-20 | 1/3/2020 | WHY DO GAME-SENSE COACHES GET IT SO WRONG WHEN THEY COULD BE GETTING IT SO RIGHT | Dan Cottrell | In the rush to play more games in training, many well-meaning coaches have missed an opportunity to improve their players. Instead they allow poor practice and discipline to negate the gains from playing in this environment, and sometimes, demotivate players. Game-sense (or games-based constraint-led) coaches use games to encourage players to develop skills, techniques and decision-making. With a competitive atmosphere and more randomised scenarios, the players are motivated to find solutions and discover new skills. They also put current skills under pressure, testing out their ability to execute them correctly and at the right moment. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
45 | Feb-20 | 1/2/2020 | Reinventing the Game for Teaching in Physical Education (PE) | Balbinder Singh | As a teacher of Physical Education, being able to teach a game effectively is an obvious part of the job. The big question that dominates my professional thought processes is “What is effective teaching of a game?”. Do we want a student to replicate and mimic successful sports actions/movements and consider that effective? (I will use the word ‘Game’ and ‘Sport’ interchangeably at times). Or does good teaching allows the student to appreciate and adhere to that game even after the PE lesson is over? Contemporary education practices suggest that a deeper level of learning that goes further than just reproduction of actions is necessary. Personal understanding of the role of physical education in our lives tells me that skills learnt in PE classes need to embrace a part of the human psyche that allows a life-long contribution to that individual. It cannot be a once-off series of lessons in predetermined action movements that we require to meet our system’s short term objective. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
46 | Jan-20 | 1/1/2020 | The Grammar of Games: Improving Transfer of Learning in Games and Sports. | Greg Forrest | The playing, teaching and coaching of games and sports has been integral to engagement in movement in adult life. For many of us, especially those reading this blog, the most meaningful way to develop the skills to engage is through the use of Game Based Approaches (GBA). However, despite logical and persuasive arguments as to the value of the GBA in games and sports, uptake has been inconsistent and there has been consistent resistance from participants and practitioners to adopt the pedagogies. Simply put, transfer of learning has been uncertain or has not occurred in GBA. Therefore, this article will use the transfer lens to examine games and sports and suggest a new approach they may enhance ToL in games and sports. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
47 | Dec-19 | 1/12/2019 | Reflecting on 2019 | Ellen-Alyssa Gambles | As 2019 is ending, I thought I would reflect on some of the events that have happened this year within the TGfU Sig. For me, I would say, I have had a good year, although it has been long and at times very stressful, it has been one of good fortune. I started off the year in this new role with the TGfU Sig with the intention of promoting games-based approaches and trying to reconnect with our community. Since May, we have had a monthly blog post about the latest developments in our field and I am so happy and grateful to those of you who contributed and to those of you who read them. We restarted and released our quarterly newsletter in November to share the events and latest news with the community | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
48 | Nov-19 | 1/11/2019 | Game Insight: An insight in a game-based instructional model in the Netherlands. | Gwen Weeldenburg | The Game Insight Approach (GIA) and the corresponding Game Insight Model (GIM; Weeldenburg, Zondag & De Kok, 2016; see figure 1) was developed on the basis of extensive experience and research in the field of physical education and (elite) sports coaching. This approach applies a learner- and game-centred pedagogy to teaching games and is inspired by and based on the principles of the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) concept. Although the GIA is primarily aimed at physical education (PE) teachers in primary, secondary, vocational and special needs education, this approach can also be of value to other sport professionals involved in designing and teaching (sport) games. | YES | YES | |||||||||||||||||||
49 | Oct-19 | 1/9/2019 | Game based Coaching Approaches | Nick Hill | If you look around you will find numerous labels that come under the umbrella of Games Based Coaching which depends where in the world you are, what camp you sit in, or what book you are trying to sell. You will see Teaching Games for Understanding, Game Sense, Tactical Games Approach, Constraints-based Approach, and Play with Purpose as examples out there. From my experiences they are all the same to me, it just depends which context I am in. Hence why I call them “Conditioned Games”. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
50 | Sep-19 | 25/9/2019 | Special Edition- When Fun is Not Enough | Dennis Slade | Sport New Zealand has just announced a new initiative to try and maintain young people in sport as the dropout rate post-secondary school and even in slightly younger adolescents is high. Part of their drive to capture and retain young people in sport is to place an emphasis on fun. Spokes people repeatedly emphasized that in sport, ‘Young people just want to have fun.’ To my way of thinking it has much to do with how you can eventually have fun as an adolescent and in order to do that you need to develop competence. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
51 | Aug-19 | 8/1/2019 | You Need a Jet Pilot's Licence | Dennis Slade | I’ve never agreed with the ‘jet pilot’ notion. I think the practical application of TGfU, perhaps better described in its application as game centred learning (GCL), is relatively straight forward. You can learn it. Of course, you need some sport knowledge but you don’t have to be an elite coach to do so. Until recently, I would suggest being an elite coach might have got in the way of you using GCL. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
52 | Jul-19 | 7/1/2019 | Invisible Ball tag: Self-Organising team through non-conscious mimicry | Tim Hopper | What if we taught the team play movement first before adding in the ball? What if we could get our students to realize how they work as team to support the person with the object to create time when needed, to create space in attack or deny space for an opponent? What if they could pass the object without having to practice their sending and receiving skills? | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
53 | Jun-19 | 6/1/2019 | Play with Purpose | Shane Pill | The Game Sense approach was developed in Australia from 1994-1996 by the Australian Sports Commission together with Rod Thorpe, for Australian sport. It forms the pedagogical basis of the Sport Australia (formerly Australian Sports Commission) Playing for Life philosophy and Sporting Schools program. The focus of the Game Sense approach is developing ‘thinking players’. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
54 | May-19 | 5/2/2019 | Introducing our new Executive Board Members | The TGfU Sig would like to welcome and introduce the new members of our Executive Board. Congratulations to Professor Linda Griffin who has been appointed the role of Chair Elect and to Dr Jesse Rhoades, Ellen-Alyssa Gambles and Dr Roberto Sanchez Gomez for their roles as part of our Communications Team. We look forward to working with them over the next few years. | YES | |||||||||||||||||||||
55 | Feb-16 | 2/13/2016 | 6th International TGfU Conference in Cologne 2016 | International and national scientists will await to engage in interdisciplinary discussions relevant to Team Sport topics from fields of Sport Pedagogics, Sport Didactics, Sport Psychology, Sport Informatics, Training and Movement Science. In this respect the conference will be an ideal exchange opportunity between scientists, practitioners, coaches and teachers and will support existing cooperation or lead to new/future international cooperations. We are already looking forward to the international exchange, which will unquestionably characterize this conference. The Video for show on this webpage should give you a very first impression that Germany and Cologne in particular, known as the German City of Sport, are definitely worth a trip. Further information will follow soon | Y | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
56 | Dec-15 | 12/18/2015 | A Games Curriculum Framework pf 2 (of 4) | Len Almond | In the process of developing a classification[1] of different games in order to understand their similarities and differences, it became clear that this analysis provided also a means to sample the vast range of games available to us. Even similar game types provide a richness of very different experiences. This meant that teachers could make a judgment about the types of games they wanted to make accessible to their students and ensure that there was a sense of balance in these rich experiences rather than a selection of games based on teacher preferences. ...... | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
57 | Dec-15 | 12/14/2015 | Call for Abstracts for TGfU Conference in Cologne 2016 | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||||
58 | Oct-15 | 10/15/2015 | Preparing for the 2015 Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching Conference | Looking forward to the upcoming 2015 Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching Conference held at The University of Canterbury, NZ on the November 17-18, 2015, leading into the Physical Education New Zealand leadership seminars November 19-20, 2015. Speakers include S Harvey, John Evans, Warren Young | YES | |||||||||||||||||||||
59 | Oct-15 | 10/27/2015 | A TGfU App to support techers in implementing TGfU: A response to one of our Twitter followes calls for 'Suggestions and Opinions' | Kelly Ann Parry | Ben Colley, a 3rd year pre-service teacher at the University of Queensland, Australia, raises concerns regarding the current support for Secondary PE teachers in their implementation of TGfU. He proposes the creation of a TGfU App, to provide PE teachers with assistance in planning and implementing TGfU and calls for ‘suggestions and opinions’ regarding his Piktochart, providing a summary of his proposal...... | |||||||||||||||||||||
60 | Feb-14 | 2/12/2014 | NZ AIESEP 2014 TGfU Symposium - TGfU symposium 'Fishbowl' discussion forum | Kelly Ann Parry | Tim Hopper, Heidi Bohler and Kelly Parry concluded the TGfU symposium with a ‘Fishbowl’ discussion forum where they engaged delegates and TGfU SIG members from around the world in a discussion on PE pedagogy and the role of teaching games. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
61 | Feb-14 | 2/12/2014 | NZ AIESEP 2014 TGfU Symposium - Accuracy and reliability of tagging and video feedback to enhance tactical knowledge: Student’s perspective within a TGfU Basketball Setting | Presenters: Jeroen Koekoek and Wytse Walinga | Jeroen Koekoek and Wytse Walinga’s presented a practical session underpinned with their research into the accuracy and reliability of tagging and video feedback to enhance tactical knowledge. Their research acknowledged the work of Dyson (2005) and McBide and Xiang (2004), recognizing that teachers are being challenged to capture children’s understandings of decision-making and problem solving within the learning of games ...... | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
62 | Feb-14 | 2/12/2014 | NZ AIESEP 2014 TGfU Symposium - Developing the art of questioning in TGfU | Presenter: Stephen Harvey | Harvey’s session focused on the forgotten art of questioning. After providing an overview of the key tenets of game-based approaches from Light (2013), Harvey engaged the participants in a practical session where some participants played a modified handball game while ‘observers’ began to analyse the game in order to formulate a list of potential questions for use in ‘freeze replay’ situations...... | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
63 | Feb-14 | 2/12/2014 | NZ AIESEP 2014 TGfU Symposium- Game based approaches as positive pedagogy | Presenters: Richard Light, John Evans, Christina Curry | Drawing on the work of Antonvosky’s (1979) Sense of Coherence (SoC) model Csikszentmihalyi (1999) on flow, Light set the scene for Curry and Evans by highlighting the positive effects games-based approaches (GBAs) have on learners, be they adult or children. Light suggested strong links of GBAs to the concepts of Antonvosky’s model, those of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. .......... | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
64 | Feb-14 | 2/12/2014 | NZ AIESEP 2014 TGfU Symposium | Stephen Harvey | YES | |||||||||||||||||||||
65 | Jun-13 | 6/20/2013 | TGfUChat: Knowledge and Understanding of Games among PETE and MultiSport coaches | Flyer for TGfUChat on Twitter | YES | |||||||||||||||||||||
66 | May-13 | 5/10/2013 | Launching New TGfU SIG website for 2012 | Tim Hopper | Link to new website - The site features extension social bibliography libraries on games teaching/coaching, reviews on current research articles, video footage on game-based learning approaches, members pages to edit to refine insights on an array on game-based learning approaches and insights on current and past projects related to game-based learning. | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
67 | Jun-11 | 6/2/2011 | Game centred approaches in PE and Sport | Len Almond | The title is more of a procedural issue - the teacher or coach chooses a specific form of practice. Whether there are pedagogies associated with them is far from clear. With the exception of Play Practice, all the other are variations on a theme. What we need to do is to clarify what each brand name means - what are the similarities and differences between them?.......... | |||||||||||||||||||||
68 | Jun-11 | 6/17/2011 | Game Centred Learning in Physical Education - Panelists | Tim Hopper | Four invited speakers in a workshop/panel at the Limerick conference. J. Butler - Will there be a time when the TGfU movement has served its purpose?, L. Almond - The Craft of the Teacher in TGfU, W. Piltz - Play Practice-Framing the teaching Practice for game centred learning, D.Kirk - The normalisation of innovation, models-based practice and sustained curriculum renewal in PE | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
69 | May-11 | 5/26/2011 | AIESEP conference in Limerick - Game Centred Learning in PE | Tim Hopper | Four invited speakers for the conference | YES | ||||||||||||||||||||
70 | Oct-10 | 10/29/2010 | Challenges and Opportunities of using Game-Centered approaches to teaching, coaching and learning | Stephen Harvey | ||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | Oct-10 | 10/29/2010 | How can practitioners communicate globally ideas about GCA in PE and Sport? | Antonio Méndez-Giménez, Javier Fernández-Río | The use of homemade materials to enhance constructivist learning within the Sport Education-Tactical Games Model: the case of an ultimate learning unit | |||||||||||||||||||||
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