As a field of study, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy is concerned with learning, instruction and subject matter knowledge as interacting and interdependent components of pedagogy, practised in particular contexts such as school physical education programs, sports clubs, and other settings.

Recent Submissions

  • ‘We had to do intelligent thinking during recent PE’: students’ and teachers’ experiences of assessment for learning in post‐primary physical education

    MacPhail, Ann; Halbert, John (Taylor & Francis, 2010-02)
    This study arose in response to a perceived need for additional teacher support for assessment in physical education and the limited focus in physical education pedagogy literature on the impact of Assessment for Learning (AfL), in particular the impact of formative assessment on student learning. The study involved the refinement and evaluation of a post‐primary physical education planning framework with assessment instruments for use by teachers. A number of teachers were engaged in the development of assessment and planning materials, the trialling of these in school settings and their subsequent refinement based on the feedback received from the teaching and learning setting. The study was contingent on teachers cultivating a learning culture within their class. Students’ and teachers’ experiences of AfL are reported before highlighting some of the challenges that remain in investigating formative assessment.
  • Representing valued bodies in PE: a visual inquiry with British Asian girls

    Hill, Joanne; Azzarito, Laura (Taylor and Francis, 2012)
    The paper's aims are to explore varying ways British Asian girls visualise and make sense of themselves as active or sporting bodies, and what this means for their (dis)engagement in physical activity. This study draws on a feminist poststructuralist approach concerning the ways in which young people create multiple subject positions through negotiating or rejecting verbal and visual narratives about physical activity and girlhood.
  • Making cooperation a real part of your teaching

    Casey, Ashley (The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER), 2009)
  • Student-designed games: understanding the importance of rules and strategies

    Casey, Ashley (Association for Physical Education, 2012)
  • Effective research writing

    Kirk, David; Casey, Ashley (Routledge, 2011)
  • Using social media in physical education

    Casey, Ashley (Association for Physical Education, 2012)
  • Using the jigsaw classroom to facilitate student-designed games

    Hastie, Peter A.; Casey, Ashley (Association for Physical Education, 2010)
  • Cooperative Learning as a pedagogical practice for learning in Physical Education

    Dyson, Ben; Casey, Ashley (Association for Physical Education, 2012)
  • Physical literacy and physical education

    Killingbeck, M.; Bowler, Mark; Golding, D.; Sammon, Paul (Association for Physical Education, 2007)
  • Preparing physical education preservice teachers to design instructionally aligned lessons through constructivist pedagogical practices

    MacPhail, Ann; Tannehill, Deborah; Goc Karp, Grace (Elsevier, 2013)
    Examining how teacher education influences preservice teachers' (PSTs) application of content knowledge, decision making when planning for teaching, creation of innovative teaching practices and design of aligned instruction, has significant implications for understanding learning to teach. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which the constructivist pedagogies (e.g., interactive community discussions, problem solving, group challenges) employed by teacher educators through the implementation of a rich task (Macdonald, Hunter, & Tinning, 2007) assisted PSTs in their understanding and construction of knowledge about instructional alignment. Data collection employed rich tasks and focus-group interviews with a sample of 31 physical education teacher education (PETE) PSTs enrolled on a one-year Graduate Diploma Physical Education program. Data were analysed inductively (Patton, 1990) using the constant comparative method (Rubin & Rubin, 1995).
  • Using the TGfU tactical hierarchy to enhance students understanding of game play : expanding the target games category

    Méndez-Giménez, Antonio; Fernández, Río J.; Casey, Ashley (Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), 2012)
    This article reviews the structural and functional elements of a group of activities denominated moving target games, and promotes its inclusion in the Teaching Games for Understanding framework as a new game category. It represents an attempt to enlarge Almond’s taxonomy (1986) to make the transition from one group to another smoother. The basic idea is to modify the structural elements of games to make them developmentally appropriate. Self-made equipment is also introduced as a tool to enhance the educational possibilities of these games. It is easy to make, it reduces the risk of causing damage to an opponent, and it gives students the opportunity to invent games. Finally, the article also tries to show how this approach can be implemented in schools.
  • Girls looking for a ‘second home’: bodies, difference and places of inclusion

    Azzarito, Laura; Hill, Joanne (Taylor and Francis, 2012)
    This visual ethnographic research aimed to further understandings of ethnic-minority girls' emplaced embodiment by investigating the link between girls' physicality and their views of physical activity spaces in their communities. The research was conducted in a school located in an urban multicultural context in the Midlands region of the UK. Participants were 20 girls (19 ethnic-minority girls; 1 white girl) aged 14–15 from two single-sex physical education classes.
  • Gender differences in fundamental motor skill development in disadvantaged preschoolers from two geographical regions

    Goodway, Jacqueline D.; Robinson, Leah E.; Crowe, Heather (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 2010-03)
    This study examined the influence of gender and region on object control (OC) and locomotor skill development. Participants were 275 midwestern African American and 194 southwestern Hispanic preschool children who were disadvantaged. All were evaluated on the Test of Gross MotorDevelopment-2 (Ulrich, 2000). Two, 2 Gender (girls, boys) x 2 Region (midwest, southwest) analyses of variance were conducted on OC and locomotor percentile rank. Both midwestern and southwestern preschoolers were developmentally delayed in locomotor and OC skills (< 30th percentile). There was a significant difference for gender (p < .0001) and Gender x Region interaction (p = .02) for OC skills. Boys outperformed girls in the midwestern and southwestern regions. For locomotor skills, there was a significant difference for region (p < .001), with midwestern preschoolers having better locomotor skills.
  • The effectiveness of aligned developmental feedback on the overhand throw in third-grade students

    Cohen, Rona; Goodway, Jacqueline D.; Lidor, Ronnie (Taylor and Francis, 2012)
    To improve student performance, teachers need to evaluate the developmental level of the child and to deliver feedback statements that correspond with the student’s ability to process the information delivered. Therefore, feedback aligned with the developmental level of the child (aligned developmental feedback – ADF) is sometimes considered to be the most appropriate type of feedback for improving student learning. It is assumed that the provision of ADF is beneficial in bringing about improvement in the learning of motor skills and subsequently in performance. However, the extent of the influence of ADF on motor performance remains unclear. This study examined the influence of ADF on students’ performance of the overhand throw for force in a naturalistic physical education setting.
  • Instructional climates in preschool children who are at-risk. Part I: object-control skill development

    Robinson, Leah E.; Goodway, Jacqueline D. (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 2009-09)
    Part I of this study examined the effect of two 9-week instructional climates (low autonomy [LA] and mastery motivational climate [MMC]) on object-control (OC) skill development in preschoolers (N = 117).
  • A developmental perspective on the role of motor skill competence in physical activity: an emergent relationship

    Stodden, David F.; Goodway, Jacqueline D.; Langendorfer, Stephen J.; Roberton, Mary Ann; Rudisill, Mary E.; Garcia, Clersida; Garcia, Luis E. (Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2008)
    Although significant attention has been paid to promoting the importance of physical activity in children, adolescents, and adults, we do not currently understand how to promote sustained physical activity levels throughout the lifespan. We contend that previous research has failed to consider the dynamic and synergistic role that motor skill competence plays in the initiation, maintenance, or decline of physical activity and how this role might change across developmental time. In this article, we present a conceptual model hypothesizing the relationships among physical activity, motor skill competence, perceived motor skill competence, health-related physical fitness, and obesity. We contend that the development of motor skill competence is a primary underlying mechanism that promotes engagement in physical activity.
  • Helping pre-service and beginning teachers examine and reframe assumptions about themselves as teachers and change agents: “who is going to listen to you anyway?”

    MacPhail, Ann; Tannehill, Deborah (Taylor and Francis, 2012)
    The focus of this article is how to ensure (beginning) teachers’ needs as practitioners are part of the discursive dialogue in physical education teacher education programs. We consider the relationship between ‘structure’ and ‘agency,’ teachers as ‘change agents’ and refer to ‘workplace learning’ as we examine the extent to which the social structure of the school and the teaching profession, and / or the capacity of the individual to act independently, ultimately determines a teacher's behaviour in reaction to teaching expectations. We are interested as physical education teacher education faculty in how we (1) strive to help pre-service teachers examine and reframe assumptions about themselves as teachers and change agents, and (2) examine taken-for-granted school practices and processes. We share ways that physical education teacher education programs could encourage pre-service teachers agency and the relationship between initial teacher education and induction.
  • What examining teaching metaphors tells us about pre-service teachers' developing beliefs about teaching and learning

    Tannehill, Deborah; MacPhail, Ann (Taylor and Francis, 2012)
    Pre-service teachers (PSTs) typically do not change their beliefs about teaching and learning during teacher education unless they are confronted with, and challenged about, their held beliefs through powerful and meaningful experiences that cause them to recognise and value the change process and its consequences for themselves and their learners. It has been suggested that examining teaching narratives and metaphors might be one way for teacher education to help PSTs in recognising their pre-existing beliefs about teaching and learning. Such practices assist PSTs to reflect on and examine these beliefs and how they impact both their teaching and the learning of their students. The purpose of this study was to understand how the process of examining metaphors influences PSTs' development of beliefs about teaching and learning.

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