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Background: Over the last 30 years, traditional skill-based game teaching models have gradually been supplemented by instruction under an inclusive banner of "Teaching Games for Understanding" (TGfU). This approach focuses on developing tactical understanding through modified games and a philosophy that places the learner rather than the game at the centre of instruction. A recent paper by Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout, "Modelling Ball Circulation in Invasion Team Sports: A Way to Promote Learning Games Through Understanding", had a threefold focus: (1) to report the results of a qualitative study on various offensive configurations of football play observed in Physical Education (PE) lessons with young novice players; (2) to propose a model of game play based on the analysis of such configurations of play; and (3) to promote a radical constructivist teaching approach based on "learning games through understanding" that challenges the long-established TGfU methodology. Purpose: This paper critically examines the contention of Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout that the presentation of tactical data collected through the observation of novices playing sport in ill-structured domains, e.g. team games such as football, represent a useful pedagogical model that promotes "learning games through understanding", In rewording the familiar TGfU approach, and calling it "learning games through understanding", Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout challenge the evolving TGfU approach as too solutions based and not sufficiently student centred. Discussion: This paper challenges the use of radical constructivism as a construct for the development of a philosophy for instructing novices in team games, in this instance, football. It defines ill-structured and well-structured learning domains and suggests that effective pedagogy, the art of teaching, requires flexible attitudes towards the choice of pedagogy in games. By inference, it also challenges Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout's assumption that the TGfU models previously published, e.g. TGfU, Game Sense, Play Practice, and interpreted in various texts, e.g. "Transforming Play, Teaching Tactics and Game Sense", are not student-centred and teacher dominated. Conclusions: Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout's work is important in the evolution of models of game instruction for use in PE contexts. The concept of "learning games through understanding" is a timely reminder of the importance of pedagogies, for example, guided or discovery learning that induce effortful thinking. However, if we consider TGfU in its true philosophical light, that is, as a holistic and experiential approach to teaching, then it already encompasses "learning games through understanding". Because no two students learn or conceive knowledge in exactly the same way, teaching contexts require a flexible approach to instruction, based on a methodological continuum of empirical to radical constructivism. In short, providing novice learners with sufficient opportunities to learn, requires flexibility and a holistic experiential approach to teaching that is appropriate for the learner, activity and context.

Background: Education policies and curriculum documents in many European countries promote the social and moral development of young people as a cross-curriculum goal and place that goal at the center of the education process. All subjects, including physical education (PE) are required to contribute to the social and moral development of the children. Scholars have argued that PE and especially the PE teacher play a crucial role in the social and moral development of children. There is however little scientific evidence that underpins the positive contribution of PE to this development. Scholars also understand the social and moral domain in diverse ways. Little is known about how teachers themselves think about their responsibilities with respect to the social and moral development of their students through PE and how they understand and operationalize such curriculum goals. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how physical education (PE) teachers make sense of this formal curriculum goal and try to operationalize it. PE teachers tend not to be formally trained in didactics of social and moral development. In addition, the PE curriculum gives few guidelines that define social and moral development or how to accomplish this (if at all) but does require them to integrate this development into their teaching. We therefore used a social constructivist perspective with an emphasis on sense making to situate the study. Participants and setting: Participants teaching in different types of high school were recruited from Dutch urban, suburban and rural locations. In total 158 PE teachers participated in this study. Their teaching experience ranged from one to thirty-eight years. Data collection: Data were collected in three phases. Phase 1 was exploratory consisting of eight in-depth interviews. The results were used to construct an open-ended questionnaire that was answered by 55 participants (Phase 2). In Phase 3 we conducted 95 in-depth interviews with PE teachers to further explore themes that had emerged. Data analysis: The data were analyzed with the use of a qualitative data analysis package. We used a thematic analysis that was driven by both the data and the research questions to examine the combined data sets. Findings: The PE teachers unanimously constructed PE classes as places where social and moral skills should and can be developed. They equated social and moral development with the learning of social interactional skills. They differed however, in what they emphasized and the strategies they used to realize this curriculum objective. Conclusion: The PE teachers involved in this study actively worked to contribute to the social and moral development of their pupils by teaching and monitoring social interactional skills. The commonalities in curricular practices found in this study and the individual differences together possibly reflect a globalized socialization of PE teachers into and through sport accompanied by differences rooted in how they as individuals make sense of their upbringing. We recommend the use of a contextually-based bottom-up approach to explore the dynamics of social and moral development in PE classes. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper uses figurational sociology to explain why Secondary Physical Education teachers' engagement with Health Related Exercise (HRE) is often limited. Historically-rooted concerns surround the teaching of HRE, and these have recently been linked to teachers' limited continuing professional development (CPD) in HRE (HRE-CPD). A two-phase, mixed-method study involving a survey questionnaire (n=124) and semi-structured interviews (n=12) was conducted in the UK to explore Physical Education teachers' engagement with HRE and HRE-CPD over time. The findings confirm that teachers' engagement with HRE-CPD is often limited. Indeed, nearly three quarters of the teachers (73%) also felt that their tertiary education had failed to adequately prepare them to teach HRE. This paper argues that a range of interdependent processes are contributing towards teachers' limited engagement with HRE, and that most of these processes--such as the marginalisation of HRE--are rooted in the privileging of sporting, individualised and performative ideologies within Physical Education. In conclusion, it is argued that informed and strategic action which addresses the above issues and which transcends all levels of the education figuration is needed if the concerns surrounding HRE are to be overcome. (Contains 3 notes, 1 figure and 2 tables.)

Background: As a component of the physical education curriculum, Health-Related Exercise (HRE) has been subject to intensive critique in terms of its status, organisation and expression in schools. Concerns and questions have also been raised about physical education teachers' professional knowledge of health and the extent to which HRE features within their continuing professional development (CPD) profiles. Aims: This paper presents findings from a research project which investigated English secondary physical education teachers' experiences, views and understandings of HRE and related CPD (HRE-CPD). It also draws upon existing research, sociological theory and the concept of "philosophies" in order to present an explanatory model (the HRE conundrum) which may help the physical education profession better understand the often problematic organisation and expression of HRE in schools. Methods: The research was undertaken via a two-phase, mixed-method study. Phase one consisted of a survey questionnaire, which was completed by 112 secondary physical education teachers. Phase two involved semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers from the phase one sample. Results and discussion: The survey revealed that approximately half of the physical education teachers who participated in the study reported to have had no prior professional experience of HRE before teaching it, and most had not taken part in any CPD related to health and lifelong physical activity in the previous 12 months (80%) or 3 years (70%). Further, the teachers' responses to both the survey and the interviews suggest that HRE within physical education continues to be characterised by incoherence and misunderstanding. The interdependent and emerging themes which provided an explanation for this include: i) the tendency for the teachers' philosophies to bear the hallmark of sport- and fitness-related ideologies; ii) the teachers' often narrow understandings of HRE and how best to teach it; iii) the teachers' largely misguided confidence in their ability to teach HRE; iv) a general lack of teacher engagement with any CPD related to health and lifelong physical activity. Conclusions: With regard to HRE, both the "I" in ITE and the "C" in CPD appear to have been overlooked, and this inevitably raises questions about the degree to which teachers are prepared to teach this area of the curriculum. It is argued that now is the time for action, and that relevant, effective and ongoing CPD has the capacity to address the problematic teaching of HRE and develop in teachers the knowledge, skills and understandings that are necessary to promote healthy, active lifestyles among young people. Many physical education teachers are not engaging in HRE-CPD but in order to disturb common and often narrow understandings of HRE it is arguably necessary. (Contains 9 notes and 2 figures.)

In this paper we discuss some of the challenges of centralising "race" and ethnicity in Physical Education (PE) research, through reflecting on the design and implementation of a study exploring Black and minority ethnic students' experiences of their teacher education. Our aim in the paper is to contribute to ongoing theoretical and methodological debates about intersectionality, and specifically about difference and power in the research process. As McCorkel and Myers notes, the "researchers" backstage'--the assumptions, motivations, narratives and relations--that underpin any research are not always made visible and yet are highly significant in judging the quality and substance of the resulting project. As feminists, we argue that the invisibility of "race" and ethnicity within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), and PE research more widely, is untenable; however, we also show how centralising "race" and ethnicity raised significant methodological and epistemological questions, particularly given our position as White researchers and lecturers. In this paper, we reflect on a number of aspects of our research "journey": the theoretical and methodological challenges of operationalising concepts of "race" and ethnicity, the practical issues and dilemmas involved in recruiting participants for the study, the difficulties of "talking race" personally and professionally and challenges of representing the experiences of "others". (Contains 1 table and 10 notes.)

This paper is a reflection on the reflections of pupils about being "reflective learners", one of the Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills of the secondary National Curriculum for England. A teacher and a lecturer worked together in a collaborative action research project generating co-constructed knowledge of practice across a two-year period, with reflective practice at the core of our action research endeavours. Key data were generated with a case-study group of 20 pupils who analysed their actions as "reflective learners". We also asked the pupils their opinions of reflecting on their learning. These data are discussed in the paper along with the reflective process engaged in by the teacher-researchers. Teacher Tami shared that previously she had only been concerned with examinations results and not developing cross-curricular learning. The culture of performativity was influential in her previous conceptions of teaching and learning. Our reflections were also concerned with catering for a diversity of learners including pupils who speak English as an additional language. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 1 note.)

In the current climate of health surveillance, governmental measurement and control as well as a focus on individual responsibility for risk are prevalent in school contexts. Physical education is a crucial site for the production and reproduction of health messages and thus is an important location through which health and healthy bodies are constructed and surveilled. Within a broader project with 16 participants in an urban city in the USA, it was found that the work of physical education teachers involved the management of a range of risky bodies--both their own bodies and the bodies of others. Risky bodies were unhealthy bodies, bodies read as overweight, ageing bodies and injured bodies. The physical education teachers' identities were embedded in their desire to embody health but not in simplistic, unified ways. In a climate of health surveillance, the teachers took personal responsibility for managing risk and were both the embodiment of bio-citizens and part of the mechanisms of (re)producing bio-citizens. (Contains 6 notes.)

In physical education, bodies are not only moved but made. There are perceived expectations for bodies in physical education to be "healthy bodies"--for teachers to be "appropriate" physical, fit, healthy and skillful "role models" and for students to display a slim body that is equated with fitness and health. In teachers' monitoring of students with the intention of regulating health behavior, however, the surveillance of students' bodies and associated assumptions about health practices are implicated in the (re)production of the "cult of the body". In this paper, we consider issues of embodiment and power in a subject area where the visual and active body is central and we use data from Australian and Swedish schools to analyze the discourses of health and embodiment in physical education. In both Swedish and Australian physical education there were discourses related to a fit healthy body and an at risk healthy body. These discourses also acted through a range of techniques of power, particularly regulation and normalization.

The discursive practices of physical education reflect not only the expectations and constraints of discourses in the wider society, educational organizations and bureaucracies, but also the pervasive influences of working with and within sport. Within physical education, and specifically in the lives, work and careers of physical education teachers, in what ways are gender dualisms breaking down and in what ways are powerful gendered discourses still influential? This paper will outline results from research on teachers' work, careers and leadership in physical education, with a particular focus on gendered patterns. A mixed methods research design was used with 556 female and male participants in the quantitative phase and 17 participants in the qualitative phase. Some of the results challenged gender dualistic ways of thinking about physical education teachers' work, careers and leadership while other results indicated ways in which powerful dominant discourses still shape gendered patterns. (Contains 2 notes.)

In a research project investigating the underrepresentation of women in leadership in physical education within the context of workplace cultures and teachers' lives and careers, subtle effects of power were found to be influential. This article outlines the analytical framework that was used for the discourse analysis of interviews from this research based on the work of Gore (1998), Wright (2000), and Foucault. Seventeen teachers (7 male and 10 female) were interviewed and the data analyzed through discourse analysis using eight techniques of power described by Gore that are pertinent to educational and physical education settings. These techniques explained the colonization of space by dominant masculinities, the male gaze on female bodies, gendered expectations of behavior and appearance, dominant discourses of male leadership, and exclusion from male-dominated networks that all contributed toward the underrepresentation of women in leadership in physical education.

This paper analyses surveillance as a technique of power in the culture of physical education, including its impact upon the health of teachers. Additionally, gendered aspects of surveillance are investigated because physical education is an important location in and through which bodies are inscribed with gendered identities. The embodied nature of physical educators' work renders the body as particularly significant in patterns of privilege and domination. The research was guided by Michel Foucault's work and poststructural feminist perspectives on the importance of power in social life. At nine schools across two international research sites, the functioning of surveillance was evidenced through the multi-directional workings of power in top-down, lateral, and bottom-up configurations. Data indicated that surveillance occurred on, through and about bodies. It had a strong gender dimension as the male gaze inscribed both female teachers' and students' bodies with value and competence. In terms of teachers' health, as well as responses to surveillance on a physical and emotional level, the workings of power were also influential in shaping teachers' identities. (Contains 4 notes.)

In a research project investigating the underrepresentation of women in leadership in physical education within the context of workplace cultures and teachers' lives and careers, subtle effects of power were found to be influential. This article outlines the analytical framework that was used for the discourse analysis of interviews from this research based on the work of Gore (1998), Wright (2000), and Foucault. Seventeen teachers (7 male and 10 female) were interviewed and the data analyzed through discourse analysis using eight techniques of power described by Gore that are pertinent to educational and physical education settings. These techniques explained the colonization of space by dominant masculinities, the male gaze on female bodies, gendered expectations of behavior and appearance, dominant discourses of male leadership, and exclusion from male-dominated networks that all contributed toward the underrepresentation of women in leadership in physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last 30 years, traditional skill-based game teaching models have gradually been supplemented by instruction under an inclusive banner of 'Teaching Games for Understanding' (TGfU). This approach focuses on developing tactical understanding through modified games and a philosophy that places the learner rather than the game at the centre of instruction. A recent paper by Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout, 'Modelling Ball Circulation in Invasion Team Sports: A Way to Promote Learning Games Through Understanding', had a threefold focus. * to report the results of a qualitative study on various offensive configurations of football play observed in Physical Education (PE) lessons with young novice players * to propose a model of game play based on the analysis of such configurations of play * to promote a radical constructivist teaching approach based on Teaming games through understanding' that challenges the long-established TGfU methodology Purpose'. This paper critically examines the contention of Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout that the presentation of tactical data collected through the observation of novices playing sport in ill-structured domains, e.g. team games such as football, represent a useful pedagogical model that promotes Teaming games through understanding'. In rewording the familiar TGfU approach, and calling it Teaming games through understanding', Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout challenge the evolving TGfU approach as too solutions based and not sufficiently student centred. Discussion: This paper challenges the use of radical constructivism as a construct for the development of a philosophy for instructing novices in team games, in this instance, football. It defines ill-structured and well-structured learning domains and suggests that effective pedagogy, the art of teaching, requires flexible attitudes towards the choice of pedagogy in games. By inference, it also challenges Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout's assumption that the TGfU models previously published, e.g. TGfU, Game Sense, Play Practice, and interpreted in various texts, e.g. Transforming Play, Teaching Tactics and Game Sense, are not student-centred and teacher dominated. Conclusions: Grehaigne, Caty, and Godbout' s work is important in the evolution of models of game instruction for use in PE contexts. The concept of Teaming games through understanding' is a timely reminder of the importance of pedagogies, for example, guided or discovery learning that induce effortful thinking. However, if we consider TGfU in its true philosophical light, that is, as a holistic and experiential approach to teaching, then it already encompasses Teaming games through understanding'. Because no two students learn or conceive knowledge in exactly the same way, teaching contexts require a flexible approach to instruction, based on a methodological continuum of empirical to radical constructivism. In short, providing novice learners with sufficient opportunities to learn, requires flexibility and a holistic experiential approach to teaching that is appropriate for the learner, activity and context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses figurational sociology to explain why Secondary Physical Education teachers’ engagement with Health Related Exercise (HRE) is often limited. Historically-rooted concerns surround the teaching of HRE, and these have recently been linked to teachers’ limited continuing professional development (CPD) in HRE (HRE-CPD). A two-phase, mixed-method study involving a survey questionnaire (n=124) and semi-structured interviews (n=12) was conducted in the UK to explore Physical Education teachers’ engagement with HRE and HRE-CPD over time. The findings confirm that teachers’ engagement with HRE-CPD is often limited. Indeed, nearly three quarters of the teachers (73%) also felt that their tertiary education had failed to adequately prepare them to teach HRE. This paper argues that a range of interdependent processes are contributing towards teachers’ limited engagement with HRE, and that most of these processes – such as the marginalisation of HRE – are rooted in the privileging of sporting, individualised and performative ideologies within Physical Education. In conclusion, it is argued that informed and strategic action which addresses the above issues and which transcends all levels of the education figuration is needed if the concerns surrounding HRE are to be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on a study which examined the development of cross curricular competencies in physical education, with particular focus on Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS). The study involved 13 British female students in Year 10 level who participated in group discussions and completed the questionnaires. The discussions focused on their views about gender and its influence on curriculum choices. They suggested the implementation of curriculum choice in physical education.

Expert and novice soccer players (N=140) from five different competition levels (inexperienced, provincial, regional, national and international levels) were examined for differences in procedural knowledge. A video-based test was developed recording four matches of the under-16 Spanish football final play-off. Ten sequences, seven offensive and three defensive, were finally selected for the video test. Analysis of variance indicated that no significant differences were found in procedural knowledge among the different competition levels but when combined, subjects belonging to the national and international level had a significantly higher rate of procedural knowledge than regional, provincial and inexperienced soccer players. Experts were less homogeneous as a group when compared to novices. No differences were found between defenders and midfielders in any category, although midfielders have to perform in more varied and tactically complex contexts than defenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of social learning in physical education. Social learning is defined as obtaining knowledge and skills in the affective domain, in terms of social and cultural contexts. Physical education teachers are encouraged to focus on teamwork, fair play and leadership in promoting social learning in physical education. It is believed that social learning can help in young people's employability, engage citizenship, and life chances as traditional educational competencies such as literacy and numeracy.