C&Pa Design for Learning: Hauora & Physical Education 3

Tinning has argued that going beyond skills and fitness allows PE to take its place in a more holistic integrated conception of hauora, a part of all the walls of Te Whare Tapa wha and the updated Te Whare Tapa Rima,  and to integrate easily with all learning areas and the host of contexts are limited only by your imagination. This provides the warrant for physical education becoming educational as well as physical. 

It allows for the curriculum vision of learning in, through, and about movement in a way accessible to a full range of akonga and kaiako. We would expect that your PE lessons will never be solely about skills, fundamental movement skills, or getting fit in isolation. 

The Learning Outcomes for this module are as follows:

• to be aware of some of the pitfalls associated with past pedagogical models in PE education
• to become familiar with recent pedagogical and theoretical models of PE education that consider hauora, a broad-ranging concept of well-being
• to feel confident to teach a lesson or series of lessons using the pedagogical approaches and resources shared in this module in your first teaching practicum

Pedagogical Change: Moving away From Physical Education as Drill & Skill

PE pedagogy has been traditionally seen as teaching using a drill and skill approach (Usher, Edwards & de Meyrick, 2015) which more often than not are linked into sports that are played in interschool sports competitions (Tinning, 2009).

For example: a typical netball-focused PE lesson might begin with a warm-up of children running around the field followed by stretching of muscles (drill). A range of fundamental skills are practised or revisited (i.e. passing/throwing skills; feet movement/not stepping skills; balance and rotation skills) (skills) which leads to playing of a game (sport), which is then complete after a warm-down (drill).

While this is good for sports training it is not effective physical education teaching and learning.

Sources of Inspiration: Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU)

One of major changes in PE teaching and learning has been the proliferation of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approaches.

Sources of Inspiration: Te Ao Kori

Te Ao Kori: The World of Māori movement is such a rich source for bringing out the educational aspects of the Health & PE curriculum and it can be integrated seamlessly with Te Reo Māori, Tikanga Māori, waiata, taha wairua, taha hinengaro, kapa haka, dance and drama and other curriculum areas. Movement has significance for Māori at many levels.

Atua Matua

This is not a ‘programme’ or an ‘activity’ like Ki-o-rahi. Utilising a Atua Matua approach is about reconnecting to our environment and traditional Māori knowledge and through that connection, mental, spiritual and physical wellness is deemed to follow. What are your thoughts about this? How does this approach differ culturally from your own? In what ways might an Atua Matua framework be operationalised to health and physical education teaching and learning in mainstream primary schools in New Zealand? What demands might this framework place upon you as a teacher? 

Taking TGfU to the classroom (or field or gym!)

PLANNING/IDENTIFYING THE LEARNING: Rather than focus on ‘playing games’ your focus should be on the needs of the tamariki in your class from a hauora and physical education perspective.

Use the games matrices and list of concept clinics to select and organise a range of concepts and games as the context for learning. For example, you may want to focus the children’s learning on playing angles as well as fairness and equity. Hence, you may choose to play 1.13 Aotearoa Tchoukball with its focus on playing angles, followed by 1.7 End Ball with its focus on developing fairness and equity. Similarly, you may select 1.12 Tapu Ae to put a learning focus on te reo Māori and tikanga Māori, followed by 2.1 Inchworms to develop group-work skills. Planning will be discussed on the next sub-chapter in more detail.

When planning an out of classroom PE session based on TGfU, there are a variety of different ways in which you might structure the lesson. Here is one suggestion taken from the MoveWell resource (pp. 18-20).

It will be tempting to jump straight to selecting games for the children that you teach, but the following process suggests an inquiry-based approach to using this resource most effectively for children’s learning. To get the best out of MoveWell, work your way through the ‘How to use this resource’ spiral, asking yourself the following: 

WARM-UP: Begin each session with an active start. Children generally dislike being sent for a run to warm up. Instead, get them to select one of the games to achieve the purpose of the traditional ‘warm-up’. This focuses and motivates the children, increases body temperature, and uses joints and muscles through the range of motion needed to develop the game skills. You might begin with a simple and quick game that is familiar to the children which can get them all involved and motivated to participate in the whole lesson. Is it enjoyable? Is it engaging? Are all children able to participate?

GAME PLAY: Adapt and modify the game to match the ability level of the children. Use the progressions outlined in each game to help you simplify or enhance the game to suit the needs of the children. In addition, use games with small teams to help ensure high levels of participation and practice. The aim is to ensure that children get lots of opportunities to play and learn at their level. Let children play. Learning takes time and good sessions provide plenty of enjoyable activity time for each child. While it may feel constructive to stop the game to provide lots of information and instructions, it is generally better to keep games active and encourage children to learn through questioning, inquiry, and guided discovery.

LEARNING QUESTIONS/DURING AND AT THE END OF A SESSION: The learning questions listed in each part of the game template can be used as a springboard for ‘teachable moments’ during the sessions and/or as reflective questions for the children at the end of the session. Involve children in their learning by providing them with choices about what they play, how they play, and who they play with. Challenge them to identify the next steps in their learning, giving them a voice and responsibility, and watch them thrive.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

SETUP: How will you set up equipment and materials for the TGfU session? It all depends when your PE session is timetabled for during the school day. Is it at the beginning of the day or straight after lunch? You might setup the equipment yourself in the gym, hall or on the field. If the PE lesson is in the middle of the day, you might have children set up equipment for you? Some schools have senior monitors timetabled to get out equipment from the PE shed for staff and may even setup the equipment for you. You might have all the equipment ready in your class and you bring it out to the field and set it up with students from your class. What is your plan for the session? Be clear about what you hope to achieve. How will you manage transitions between activities? Will you use a clear voice? a whistle? 

GAME ADVICE: 

• RULES: Have you clearly explained the rules of the game?
• DEMONSTRATION: If the children are playing in groups: You might use one group of children to role-play or play a version for others to watch, see and understand the rules. If the class is playing as a whole: You might want to ‘show’ and demonstrate how the game is played yourself and/or with a few students.
• EXPERIMENT/GAME PLAY: You might want to play the game in a non-competitive manner to start off, depending on the game. This allows all children to get used to the rules and way of play. Alternatively, you might want to launch straight into a competitive play of the game.
• GAME PLAY: Play the game again. You might introduce different versions of the same game to challenge, to be more inclusive, to maintain interest. You might introduce a new game and start back at ‘Experiment/Game Play’.
• OTHER THINGS: When structuring a lesson, you might have time to play more than one TGfU game. How would you manage this? Taking PE is fun but it also daunting. Creating expectations and boundaries with your class need to be set from the beginning. You might use the same expectations that your supporting teacher uses (i.e. when the teacher’s hand is raised all children put their hand up and are quiet and turn to the teacher to listen). You need to be clear about your expectations if using a whistle (i.e. when I blow my whistle with two sharp blows that means I want your attention and I need your eyes to be on me). There are also expectations that you need to set with the use of equipment. Be clear from the outset (i.e. nobody moves the equipment unless I ask them to and if you are holding a ball when I blow my whistle for attention you stop, place the ball under one foot and turn your eyes towards me). When asking children to meet you outside for PE, have you been clear about where and what you expect them to be doing when you arrive? (i.e. We are going outside for PE, can I please have four volunteers to help me carry the equipment out and the rest of you are to meet in front of the red soccer goal facing the library ready to start our launch activity. Hands to yourself, standing ready to play in 45 seconds.)