Transforming games teaching and coaching

Transforming games teaching and coaching

Massey University Physical Education senior lecturer Dennis Slade is driven by a belief that learning how to enjoy and play games and sports well creates “positive social capital” and makes our world a happier and healthier place. It’s a message he’s been invited to deliver at the Game Sense for Teaching and Coaching Conference this week at the University of Canterbury.

Dennis Slade’s expertise in the area of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) is internationally recognised. He is often asked to deliver workshops for a range of sports. Last month he presented to Central Netball in Wellington on how to develop technique and tactical appreciation through games-based approaches.

Earlier this year, in an article published in The Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Journal with Associate Professor Andy Martin, he challenged the traditional argument of technique versus tactical focused approaches, and argued that TGfU should be seen in a holistic experiential sense, providing sufficient opportunities for learning games.

Mr Slade is currently completing his PhD Please sir, can we play a game? Transforming games teaching and coaching. Dr Andy Martin, who is supervising the study, says, “Dennis’ career teaching Physical Education in schools, as a regionally and nationally appointed hockey coach, and at Massey as a coach educator, has led to the development and promotion of innovative methods of learning through playing games in New Zealand.

“While there have been a plethora of TGfU studies published, Dennis’ work provides unique insights from a practitioner perspective, with implications for transforming games teaching and coaching in New Zealand and internationally. His flexible approach involves modifying games while maintaining a representative learning design in order that the key elements of the sport targetted are not lost. This is achieved through employing both explicit and implicit learning strategies that empower learners to discover the tactics of games, as well as knowing what techniques must be acquired to implement those tactics.”

Mr Slade’s most recent research on game-centred learning approaches used by international hockey coaches was published in The International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching this year. In July 2016, he will travel to the 6th International TGfU Conference at the German University of Sport, Cologne as an invited speaker.

In Christchurch, Dennis Slade will join other invited speakers, including former Flying Fijians head coach John McKee and Mitchell Hewitt, the National Coach Education Project Manager at Tennis Australia.

ENDS

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