Michael C. McNeill

Teaching teachers to play and teach games

This study was designed to determine the extent to which a technical and a tactical approach to teaching a basketball unit to physical education teacher education (PETE) students would each affect their games playing abilities, perceived ability to teach, and approach preference for teaching the game. Pre- and post-unit data were collected through videotape of half-court games play, questionnaire and an eight-lesson planning assignment, submitted by the students at unit-end. Within-group adjusted multiple t tests revealed that the tactical group participants improved significantly in their overall games playing abilities (skill execution, decision-making and support). They also significantly improved on self-rated questionnaire items pertaining to their perceived abilities to teach tactics and strategies as well as to use their basketball skills in a games situation. The technical group participants did not improve significantly in their overall games playing abilities but did improve their overall perceived abilities to apply their basketball skills in games settings. Whereas 80% of the technical group (n = 15) chose the tactical approach, the tactical group (n = 15) unanimously applied a tactical approach in their lesson design.

Structuring time and questioning to achieve tactical awareness in games lessons

Background: A paradigm shift in educational policy to create problem solvers and critical thinkers produced the games concept approach (GCA) in Singapores Revised Syllabus for Physical Education (1999). A pilot study (2001) conducted on 11 primary school student teachers (STs) using this approach identified time management and questioning as two of the major challenges faced by novice teachers. Purpose: To examine the GCA from three perspectives: structure—lesson form in terms of teacher-time and pupil-time; product—how STs used those time fractions; and process—the nature of their questioning (type, timing, and target). Participants and setting: Forty-nine STs from three different PETE cohorts (two-year diploma, four-year degree, two-year post-graduate diploma) volunteered to participate in the study conducted during the penultimate week of their final practicum in public primary and secondary schools. Intervention: Based on the findings of the pilot study, PETE increased the emphasis on GCA content specific knowledge and pedagogical procedures. To further support STs learning to actualise the GCA, authentic micro-teaching experiences that were closely monitored by faculty were provided in schools nearby. Research design: This is a descriptive study of time-management and questioning strategies implemented by STs on practicum. Each lesson was segmented into a number of sub-categories of teacher-time (organisation, demonstration and closure) and pupil-time (practice time and game time). Questions were categorised as knowledge, technical, tactical or affective. Data collection: Each ST was video-taped teaching a GCA lesson towards the end of their final practicum. The STs individually determined the timing of the data collection and the lesson to be observed. Data analysis: Each lesson was segmented into a number of sub-categories of both teacher- and pupil-time. Duration recording using Noldus software (Observer 4.0) segmented the time management of different lesson components. Questioning was coded in terms of type, timing and target. Separate MANOVAs were used to measure the difference between programmes and levels (primary and secondary) in relation to time-management procedures and questioning strategies. Findings: No differences emerged between the programmes or levels in their time-management or questioning strategies. Using the GCA, STs generated more pupil time (53%) than teacher time (47%). STs at the primary level provided more technical practice, and those in secondary schools more small-sided game play. Most questions (58%) were asked during play or practice but were substantially low-order involving knowledge or recall (76%) and only 6.7% were open-ended or divergent and capable of developing tactical awareness. Conclusions: Although STs are delivering more pupil time (practice and game) than teacher-time, the lesson structure requires further fine-tuning to extend the practice task beyond technical drills. Many questions are being asked to generate knowledge about games but lack sufficient quality to enhance critical thinking and tactical awareness, as the GCA intends.

Development of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire for Sport

Abstract As sporting challenge at the elite level becomes ever harder, maximizing effectiveness of the talent development pathway is crucial. Reflecting this need, this paper describes the development of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire, which has been designed to facilitate the development of sporting potential to world-class standard. The questionnaire measures the experiences of developing athletes in relation to empirically identified “key features” of effective talent development environments. The first phase involved the generation of questionnaire items with clear content and face validity. The second phase explored the factor structure and reliability. This was carried out with 590 developing athletes through application of exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation, principal axis factoring extraction and cronbach alpha tests. This yielded a 59-item, seven-factor structure with good internal consistency (0.616–0.978). The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire appears to be a promising psychometric instrument that can potentially be useful for education and formative review in applied settings, and as a measurement tool in talent development research.

The Role that Socialization Can Play in Promoting Teaching Games for Understanding

esearch suggests that when people make a decision to enter a particular profession, such as physical education, they go through three distinct phases of socialization: recruitment, professional socialization, and occupational R socialization. This article will discuss how these phases can affect the ways in which physical education teachers teach games to their pupils. As teacher educators, we believe that physical education teacher education (PETE) programs should challenge students to consider alternate methods and strategies of teaching physical education. One such alternative strategy for teaching games is through a tacticalunderstanding approach. The recruitment phase comprises the experiences that people have when they are young. People who choose to become physical education teachers have been socialized into and through sport (Lawson, 1986). In particular, sport experiences in school (physical education classes, intramurals, and interscholastic sports), as well as experiences outside of school (recreational activities and youth sport programs), play a major role in helping someone decide that they want to pursue a teaching career in physical education. The professional socialization phase consists of the experiences that people live through when they are training to enter the teaching profession. These experiences occur at the higher education level and include courses of study, early field experiences, and student teaching. The final stage of teacher socialization is occupational socialization, which refers to the experiences that teachers have when employed as physical education teachers in schools. This phase is complicated, but it includes learning what works in the real world of teaching and dealing with conditions in the workplace that affect teachers, both inside and outside the class setting (Solomon, Worthy, & Carter, 1993).

Using Computer Technology to Compare Student Teaching Behaviours

There are issues concerning the effectiveness of different types of lnital Teacher Training in Physical Education in England, thus there is a need to study the relative effectiveness of 4‐year undergraduate and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programmes. The purpose of this study was to compare student physical education teachers during school experience relative to a set of teaching behaviours. The participants were 10 first‐year undergraduates, 10 fourth‐year undergraduates and 10 PGCE student teachers from the same university in England. Each participant was videotaped teaching one lesson which met the requirements of the English National Curriculum in PE at Key Stage 3 (pupils aged 11‐14 yrs). Teaching behaviours were analysed by a team of researchers using a modified configuration of the Behavioral Evaluation Strategies and Taxonomy (BEST) software (Sharpe and Koperwas, 1999). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no differences in the observed teaching behaviours between the fourth‐year undergraduates and the PGCE group. However, the first‐year undergraduates displayed significantly higher levels of behavioural management than both the fourth‐year and the PGCE group. Also, the first‐year undergraduates were found to have lower levels of positive skill feedback, but this was not statistically significant The results of this study suggest that there were no differences between the effectiveness of teaching produced by the fourth‐year undergraduate and the PGCE student teachers.

In the Nation's Good: Physical Education and School Sport in Singapore.

Since independence in 1965, education and sport have been instrumental in Singapore’s nation building, with a rapid rise in education and economic status. This article examines the roles of physical education and school sport in the local context and makes comparison with global themes (instrumentality and marginality). It is argued that current roles in fitness development and social unification were established in early survival- and development-driven national policies. Syllabus revisions (1999, 2005) have mandated and reinforced a philosophical shift from technocratic efficiency to ability-driven learning process. Although the pedagogical practice of physical education has arguably been reoriented, its status in education remains low. A recent inquiry into primary school education recommended increasing core and co-curricular time for activity programmes, especially school-based sports talent development programmes, which are generally outsourced. Thus, the analysis presented in this article suggests that while school sport has gained a significant national and political profile in Singapore, physical education has not. Current improvements in physical education infrastructure are yet to impact on the quality of physical education pedagogy.

Physical Education and Health in Singapore Schools

As a school subject, physical education (PE) in Singapore took on its own shape with the introduction of a conceptual games teaching approach in response to the national governments ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’ policy of the late 1990s. With the recent media attention on hosting two main international events (Asian Youth Games and the inaugural Youth Olympic Games), aspects of PE as a school subject have been scrutinised. Particularly, the isolation of physical fitness training and testing from a sound pedagogical base has undergone review. Hence, school-level developments that either prioritise physical activity within a holistic health framework or promote positive social values through Olympic education, as well as the introduction an O-level examinable subject have broadened the possibilities for the subject. Drawing on local empirical evidence, this paper examines Singapore PE against regional and global events that have marked its development.

Standards and Practice in Asian Physical Education: Standards and Practice for K-12 Physical Education in Singapore

Abstract Although physical education is required at all grade levels in Singapore, physical educators there still battle marginalization of their subject.