Andrew Hawkins

Effects of Two Instructional Approaches on Skill Development, Knowledge, and Game Performance

Two instructional approaches that have been of interest in promoting sport have been the Sport Education Model (SEM) and the Traditional Style (TS) of teaching physical education. The purpose of this study was to investigate how SEM and TS would affect skill development, knowledge, and game performance for volleyball at the secondary level. A 2 × 3 (group × time) research design was utilized on 47 secondary students testing volleyball skills, knowledge, and game performance. Participants were placed in either the SEM or the TS via stratified randomization, and then were tested pre, mid, and post intervention through the 20-lesson volleyball unit. The 2 × 3 repeated measures Analysis of Variances (ANOVAs) with Bonferroni correction revealed no significant difference between models for skills and knowledge, but there was for game performance for group [F(1, 45) = 10.27, p < .008, η2 = .19], time [F(2, 90) = 8.62, p < .008, η2 = .16], and group × time interaction [F(2, 90) = 8.43, p < .008, η2 = .16]. If the goal of the physical education program is to promote quality game play, the SEM may be more effective than the TS.

Pragmatism, Purpose, and Play: Struggle for the Soul of Physical Education

Pragmatic inclinations focused on health and wellness have begun to shape much of kinesiology. The wisdom of this trend is challenged as it tends to define leadership development. Chief among the problems with this trend is the loss of professional meaning. The inadequacy of pragmatism in establishing meaning for our professional activities is the central critique of this article. Michael Polanyis understanding of the development of meaning, rooted in his theory of personal knowledge, is the basis for the critique. Polanyis theory is expounded and then applied to the current pragmatic dispositions of our profession showing that such utilitarian approaches destroy meaning. A reorientation of the profession is then proposed toward a concept that has the capacity to capture a more genuine sense of professional meaning: play.

Influencing leisure choices of autisticlike children

A leisure education program was implemented with three autisticlike children. Based on an assessment phase, potential recreational activities were designated as high interest or low interest for each subject. During the leisure educational training phase, choices were provided between high- and low-interest activities under three alternating conditions. During the Prompt and Praise condition the instructor prompted the subject to engage in a low-interest activity for 2 minutes and then allowed a free choice for 2 minutes. During the Praise Anything condition the instructor allowed free choices every 2 minutes. During the Token condition the subject was provided a free choice every 2 minutes, but a token economy was established contingent on engaging in low-interest activities. The Prompt and Praise condition was superior to the other two conditions in encouraging participation in low-interest recreational activities.

Field systems analysis: A tactical guide for exploring temporal relationships in classroom settings

Abstract Many research paradigms are currently competing for acceptance in teacher effectiveness research, all striving to lend greater insight into the ecological and behavioral intricacies of expert instruction. One alternative, titled field systems analysis, is presented from conceptual and technical perspectives. This approach primarily focuses upon the temporal relationships among organismic behaviors and contextual elements in classroom settings, providing for the discovery of contiguous chains of behaviors. Driven by induction and description, the strategy de-emphasizes claims of independent causality. The methodology includes: (a) verbal description, (b) exhaustive category system construction, (c) alternative forms of data presentation, and (d) alternative dimensions of data interpretation. Selected results of an exemplary study with one teacher are provided to demonstrate the nature and benefits of the paradigm. Several chains of instructional behavior were apparent, and insight was gained into the temporal relationships among instructional, interpersonal, and managerial teacher behaviors.

Back to the Future: Leadership, Tradition, and Authority in a Post-Critical Age

Both modern and postmodern approaches to knowledge view tradition and authority with suspicion, even contempt, though each approach does so in different ways. Our profession vacillates between those epistemological orientations, struggling to find direction and meaning. Leadership, in particular, is in a quandary; what does leadership look like in a world bereft of authority and tradition? The work of Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) is insightful in this regard. His theory of “personal knowledge,” a comprehensive epistemology designed to make sense of knowing in its varied manifestations, is particularly well suited to demonstrate valued places for tradition and authority. This article explores his thought, the implications that it has for genuine knowledge production in our disciplines, and the applications that it makes for the development of leadership in our profession.