GAME SENSE

WHAT IS IT & WHY DO I USE

IT?
S TA G E 3 - Y E A R 5

By Kathleen Thomas-Dell
10193437
Primary Health and Physical Education
102072 2H 2017
 WHY TEACH PDHPE IN SCHOOL?

1. First and foremost, IT IS FUN.

2. It teaches life skills to encourage

children to make a long-term
commitment to living healthy lives.

3. It is a Key Learning Area (KLA) in

the Primary Curriculum.

4. It teaches Fundamental Movement

Skills.
(BOS, NSW, 2007)
 WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL
MOVEMENT SKILLS?

The Board of Studies, New South Wales, PDHPE K-6 Syllabus (2007), define it as

(DET, 2000)
 WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
ITS ORIGINS

The concept of Game Sense was initially developed from a simple game
from a Badminton in 1969.
From here, research prompted the development of Teaching Games for
Understanding (TGfU) in PDHPE. This model of TGfU was developed in
1982 as a response to largeley ineffective physical education that focussed
more on a tactical model for teaching PDHPE (Bunker and Thorpe, 1982, as
cited in Webb & Pearson, 2008).
TGfU was introduced as Game Sense in Australia in the
late 90s as a variation of the original model.

WHAT IS GAME SENSE?

Put simply, game sense is making sense of games.

 BUT REALLY,
WHAT IS GAME SENSE?

Game Sense is an approach to teaching PDHPE that promotes physical, intellectual and social learning (Curry & Light,
2006).
It is teaching a game by asking, not telling, and allowing it to be adaptable by the students.
Unlike the traditional tactical model of teaching PDHPE, Game Sense places less demand on on mastering technical skills
so that students can focus better on the game as a whole by being creative, inclusive and collaborative problem-solvers.
(Curry & Light, 2006).

Whats the difference between Game Sense and TGfU?

There have been a number of variations developed from the original model of TGfU. Game
Sense is considered less structured than TGfU to allow more opportutnity for students to
construct skills required by the syllabus (Light, 2013).
 WHY AM I USING A GAME SENSE APPROACH
FOR TEACHING IN MY CLASSES?

BECAUSE
A flexible Game Sense approach permits mistakes and we learn from mistakes.
It values creativity and cooperation.
It values the skill set of all players, and prevents domination from skilled players.
Encourages more equitable collaboration.
It still teaches the fundamental movement skills required by the syllabus.

Pill (2014) provides evidenced based rationale for teachers who use game sense in their lessons. The report found that this approach was a
worthwhile and sustainable approach if the teacher is interested in greater student engagement.
____________________

I guess the question here is, am I, as your childs teacher, interested in greater student engagement.
I am a teacher who
wants

High student engagement
because this makes for a more productive an enjoyable lesson

Student-centred learning
because it empowers students to become better learners and
critical thinkers

Problem solving
because school and life is full of problems where we must learn to
solve them creatively

Respect & Social Justice

because it builds a more just society
 REFERENCES

Board of Studies, NSW. (c2007). Personal Development, Health and Physical Education K-6 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies. Retrieved from
http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/personal-development-health-and-physical-education-pdhpe
Curry, C. & Light, R. (2006). Addressing the NSW Quality Teaching Framework in Physical Education: Is Game Sense the Answer? In R. Light (Ed.) Proceedings for
the Asia Pacific Conference on Teaching Sport and Physical Education for Understanding (pp 7-19). Sydney: The University of Sydney. Retrieved from
http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/professional_learning/resources/papers/Proceedings_TGfU_06_AsiaPacificSport.pdf
DET (2000). Get skilled: Get active. A K-6 resource to support the teaching of fundamental movement skills State of NSW. Australia: Department of Education and
Training.
Light, R. (2013). Game Sense: pedagogy for performance, participation and enjoyment. Chapter 4 (pp 37-47).
OLeary, N. (2016). Learning informally to use the full version of teaching games for understanding. European Physical Education Review, 22(1). Doi:
10.1177/1356336X15586177
Pill, S. (2014). An appreciative inquiry exploring game sense teaching in physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 1-19. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2014.912624
Webb, P. I. & Pearson, P. J. (2008). An integrated approach to teaching games for understanding. Paper presented at 1st Asia Pacific Sport in Education Conference
Adelaide 2008. Wollongong, Australia: University of Wollongong. Retrieved from
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=edupapers