Sport Education in Physical Education

Research Based Practice

Dawn Penney, Gill Clarke, Mandy Quill, Gary Kinchin, Dawn Penney, Gill Clarke, Mandy Quill, Gary Kinchin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781134439140
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Physical Education

Sport Education is an exciting approach to the teaching of PE. Sport Education: Research Based Practice presents teachers with a framework for developing units of work that will provide their students with challenging and enjoyable sporting experiences that involve them in an array of roles. In Sport Education students are not only players, they also become skilled and knowledgeable as captains, coaches, managers, match reporters and more.

This book provides a complete guide to using the Sport Education model in PE and sport in schools including:
*key issues in PE such as inclusion, assessment, cross-curricular learning; citizenship and lifelong learning.
* sport Education in the context eg National Curriculum for Physical Education.
* real world examples of how Sport Education has been used in both primary and secondary PE.
* sport Education in the context of games, gymnastics, athletics, swimming, outdoors and adventurous activities.
Sport Education is based upon original research and is the first collection of its kind. It will be an important resource for trainees, teachers and teacher educators looking to try Sport Education in their schools and training institutions.

Part 1
Introduction

1 What is Sport Education and why is it timely to explore it?

Dawn Penney, Gary D. Kinchin, Gill Clarke and Mandy Quill

Introduction

Sport Education is now a firmly established curriculum ‘model’ or ‘approach’ used within the physical education curriculum setting internationally. The work of Daryl Siedentop (1994) at Ohio State University in the United States of America (USA) has provided the impetus for the development of Sport Education in the USA, New Zealand and Australia particularly. By comparison many teachers and teacher educators in the United Kingdom (UK) are relatively unfamiliar with the term ‘Sport Education’ and the developments in physical education teaching that it is linked with. In some respects this is surprising. Invariably in recent years the talk (particularly amongst politicians and in government policy documents) has been of ‘physical education and sport in schools’. While increasing linkages have long been sought between developments in education and those relating to efforts to enhance participation and achievements in sport, it is only recently that attention has turned to the specific potential of Sport Education to facilitate these linkages.

Developments in physical education are very openly of direct interest to policy makers within central government’s education departments and curriculum agencies, and those departments and agencies concerned with the development of sport. In recent years there has been a clear push for ‘joined up thinking’ in government arenas and greater coherency in developments relating to physical education and sport for young people. Government statements have reaffirmed these concerns and also draw attention to the fact that interests in sport development and sport participation amongst young people are also tied in with interests relating to health and crime. In the foreword to the government’s strategy for delivering its sport and physical activity objectives, aptly named the Game Plan, the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell stated:

The whole government knows the value of sport. Value in improving health and tackling obesity. Value in giving young people confidence and purpose, to divert them from drugs and crime. And value in the lessons of life that sport teaches us.

(Jowell, in DCMS/Strategy Unit, 2002)

The strategy document confirmed clear dual government interests: in developing sport and in developing individuals, communities and society through sport. Schools, and their provision of physical education and sport for young people, are seen as the key to both developments.

This policy context in England is one in which it is very appropriate to look at the development of Sport Education as conceptualised and explored in this book. In making that statement we recognise that there are varying understandings of what Sport Education is and ‘is about’. This chapter therefore provides some important background commentary on Sport Education, its history and development to date internationally and its potential for adoption in the UK. In relation to the latter point, our aim in this book is to particularly pursue the scope for Sport Education to be integral to:

• the implementation of the current National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE) requirements in England and those in Wales;
• the fulfilment of National Curriculum requirements in other subject areas (particularly those of personal, social and health education, and citizenship) and for the curriculum as a whole (including established principles for inclusion); and
• work towards examination and other accredited courses in physical education.

The book focuses upon teachers working with the NCPE in England in innovative ways and draws directly upon their accounts of developing Sport Education amidst implementation of the NCPE. The experiences that we describe and the many issues that we raise in relation to the potential development of Sport Education are, however, not only of relevance to teachers and teacher educators in England. Physical educationalists throughout the UK and overseas should find many points of connection with the challenges, dilemmas and realities of curriculum developments that we address. The need for debate about matters such as assessment and inclusion in physical education, the role of the subject in contributing to development of citizenship and other cross-curricular learning, and its role in the development of lifelong learners, is certainly not unique to England. Nor is the need for practical examples of the ways in which teachers are exploring these various contributions and with what effects. Providing such examples has been a priority in producing this book.

In introducing the book it is appropriate to explain our stance towards Sport Education. It is our view that Sport Education offers exciting and timely potential for curriculum and pedagogical development in physical education in the UK and, more importantly, for the development of positive and enjoyable curriculum experiences that relate well to more children’s learning needs and interests than may currently be the case. At the same time, however, we stress that in itself the label of ‘Sport Education’ guarantees nothing in relation to these aspirations. Sport Education is certainly not a magic answer to all or any of the shortcomings that we might see in current teaching and learning in physical education. It is but one model that can be utilised and developed within physical education and that may particularly aid progress towards specific learning outcomes. In looking to its potential development in the UK and, more specifically, within the context of implementation of the NCPE in England or in Wales, we urge critical reflection upon what in particular it is hoped will be achieved through the development of Sport Education in physical education. Furthermore, we reaffirm that Sport Education should not be seen as either the whole of or a replacement for physical education. Siedentop (1994: 6) categorically stated: ‘I don’t advocate that physical education should be totally transformed into sport education.’ Undoubtedly Sport Education offers important development potential for teaching and learning, particularly in relation to interests in inclusion and lifelong learning. But realising that potential demands skilful, thoughtful teachers and teacher educators, able to read and respond creatively to the different contexts that they are working within. Indeed, throughout the book we stress that there is not one or right version of Sport Education. Quite deliberately we refer to it as a framework that can inform, structure and shape curriculum planning, teaching and learning across the full range of activities that are associated with physical education. Aesthetic activities and outdoor and adventurous activities are firmly embraced in our conceptualisation of physical education and sport and, therefore, Sport Education. The Sport Education framework presented here is one to work from and to develop in ways that are appropriate to each individual teaching and learning context. Thus, a major section of the book is devoted to illustrating the diverse ways in which it is possible but also appropriate to develop Sport Education in physical education, given particular school contexts, teaching and learning priorities, physical resources, staff expertise and group sizes and configurations. So what exactly are we talking about here?

What is Sport Education?

Sport Education originated as a curriculum and instruction model at Ohio State University in the USA. It was conceived by Daryl Siedentop with the objective that children be educated ‘in the fullest sense’, and to help develop ‘competent, literate, and enthusiastic sportspeople’ (Siedentop, 1994: 4). In many respects the development was a response to a concern that Siedentop had that the existing teaching of sport within physical education classes was ‘decontextualised’. He believed that, ‘too often, physical education teaches only isolated sport skills and less-than-meaningful games’ (Siedentop, 1994: 8). Siedentop (1994: 7–8) explained that:

Skills are taught in isolation rather than as part of the natural context of executing strategy in game-like situations. The rituals, values and traditions of a sport that give it meaning are seldom even mentioned, let alone taught in ways that students can experience them. The affiliation with a team or group that provides the context for personal growth and responsibility in sport is noticeably absent in physical education. The ebb and flow of a sport season is seldom captured in a short-term sport instruction unit.

Siedentop’s aim was to therefore present ways in which children could be offered more ‘authentic’ learning experiences in physical education. He identified six key characteristics relating to the focus of teaching and learning, its organisation and teacher and student roles, which may enhance the sporting authenticity of physical education. These characteristics of ‘seasons’; ‘affiliation’; ‘formal competition’; ‘culminating event’; ‘keeping records’ and ‘festivity’ have become identifying features of Sport Education. Below we introduce each characteristic and discuss a number of related issues relevant to the prospective development of Sport Education. Much of the rationale for the development of Sport Education in and through physical education will become apparent. But so too will some of the many questions and dilemmas that Sport Education poses for teachers and teacher educators. Reading about, for example, the use of teams as a grouping strategy and the provision of experiences of various roles raises questions such as ‘who picks the teams?’ and ‘who decides who takes on what roles?’ These and other questions are ones that we discuss in the chapters that follow. In Part 2 of the book we address the development of Sport Education in relation to a number of overarching concerns in curriculum planning and teaching in physical education. In Part 3 specific examples of Sport Education developments in a variety of schools, at different key stages¹ and in different activity contexts illustrate that there are no hard and fast answers to many of the questions arising. Rather, the appropriate answers will always be context dependent.

The key characteristics of Sport Education

The key characteristics, as developed from Siedentop (1994), are:

• Sport Education relates directly to a season of play and competition in an activity. The overall duration of the unit of activity and patterns of progression within it are designed to mirror the seasonal form and demands of the activity in its ‘real world’ setting. Units are therefore not confined to a short number of weeks that relate to a half or full term within school, but instead may run across terms and throughout a year.
  Within the unit, attention will shift from, for example, pre-competition skills and fitness development, to trial competitive games, to participation in a structured series of competitions (as in a league situation), with a view to a culminating competition or festival in the activity.
• Sport Education features a culminating competition or festival in a form that will provide for a celebration of the progress that all students have achieved through the season and that will recognise the extensive range of learning that has been developed in the season. This relates directly to the various roles and responsibilities that the students will have participated in as members of teams.
• In Sport Education students are members of the same team for the duration of the season. This arrangement is explicitly designed to promote cooperative learning and the development of inter-personal and social skills, and give all children a sense of membership and belonging. The team is thus both a supporting structure for learning and a means of prompting responsibility for learning. The team structure is central to a move towards students taking collective and individual responsibility for their learning and the parallel move to teachers progressively taking on a facilitation (rather than direct instruction) role, guiding and supporting students in extending their own and others’ learning.
• Within a team students will take on various roles relevant to the activity and designed so that teaching and learning in Sport Education clearly extends beyond the role of player/performer in the activity. Activities and participation or performance are set in more of a real life context, with teaching and learning therefore addressing the various roles and responsibilities that may be taken on in that context, including team captain, manager, official, press/publicity officer, statistician and fitness coach. In addition Sport Education embraces roles and responsibilities that are designed to maximise linkages to ‘wider learning’ and encourage critical awareness of social issues and responsibilities. In Sport Education students will therefore be called upon to be equipment managers or ‘the duty team’ and to act as ‘equity officers’ ensuring fair play.
• Experience of competition in various formats is an integral part of Sport Education. Formats will vary according to the particular activity and stages of the ‘season’, and will be designed to facilitate and celebrate learning relating to all of the roles that students have been challenged to take on. Competitions will also always be structured with inclusion and cooperative learning in mind.
• Throughout a Sport Education season, detailed records and statistics are kept by teams in relation to various aspects of performance in the activity, with guidance and support from the teacher. The records play a key formative role in teaching and learning, with teams and individual students encouraged to reflect upon strengths and weaknesses in their performances and consider strategies to adopt for collective and individual improvement. Record keeping is designed to emphasise the breadth of issues relevant to performance. It will therefore include, for example, analysis of behavioural issues as well as levels of mastery of specific skills, tactical understanding and ability, and development of particular aspects of fitness relevant to the activity.
• Sport Education is fundamentally about enjoyment and celebration of sport. The notion of ‘festivity’ is a particular focus of attention in the culminating event to the season, but it is also promoted throughout the season and linked to the development of team identities. Teams therefore might be involved in designing their own uniforms (or team strips), deciding upon their team name and a logo and/or maintaining a team notice board.

These characteristics of Sport Education are key elements of the framework, but always need to be considered in relation to a number of principles that underpin them. Some of these are already explicit, such as the celebration of sport. But the celebration should be accompanied by a constant concern for inclusion and for exper...