Nonlinear pedagogy and its relevance for the new PE curriculum
Increasingly, school teachers see the need to recognize the complex and dynamic interactions that occur between the individual, task and environmental constraints during learning. Nonlinear Pedagogy (NP), underpinned by Ecological Dynamics, provides a suitable pedagogical approach to encourage exploratory learning amongst children that is learner-centred and exploratory in nature. This approach is in contrast to a more traditional form of Linear Pedagogy (LP) that is teacher-centred and emphasises repetition in practices to promote movement form consistency in enhancing the acquisition of movement skills. Primarily, NP involves teachers identifying and manipulating constraints on learning to facilitate the emergence of goal-directed behaviours in children (Chow et al., 2016; Davids et al., 2008). Other key pedagogical principles relating to representativeness, awareness of focus of attention instructions, task simplification and the functional role of noise can help learners to develop 21st century competencies (Chow et al., 2016). Given growing concerns that physical inactivity could represent the biggest threat to global health in the 21st century, it is vital that children receive a high quality of education to develop their health and wellbeing.
The effect of nonlinear pedagogy on the acquisition of game skills in a territorial game
The use of information communication and technologies tools to maximise students' learning in physical education in Singapore schools
With the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) focus on using ICT in resourceful and innovative ways to improve teaching and learning (MOE, 2014), PE teachers should be trained and equipped with strategies to create environments where students are given more autonomy to decide ‘what’ to learn and ‘how’ to learn, according to students’ ability to use Information Communication and Technologies (ICT). For example, making available e-learning materials related to the lesson before and after the class affords students opportunities to learn more readily on their own than when these materials are absent. Using video recording to provide visual and verbal feedback from the teacher or among peers for skill performance during a lesson is just one of many ways ICT can be used to maximise students’ learning and develop the affective, psychomotor, and cognitive domains set out in the PE syllabus. The advantages of providing students with opportunities to harness ICT can be directly beneficial for skills acquisition and indirectly for honing life skills.
Why the constraints-led approach is not teaching games for understanding: A clarification
There is some apparent confusion regarding similarities and differences between two popular physical education pedagogical (PE) approaches, i.e., the Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) and Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU). Our aim in this commentary is to detail important theoretical and pedagogical concepts that distinguish the approaches, as well as to recognise where commonalities exist. In particular we note that TGfU emerged in the 1960s in the absence of a substantial theoretical framework, although several attempts to scaffold theories around TGfU have occurred subsequently. TGfU is a learner-centred approach to PE in which teachers are encouraged to design modified games to develop the learner’s understanding of tactical concepts. In contrast, CLA has arisen more recently from the umbrella of Nonlinear Pedagogy based on powerful empirically-verified theoretical frameworks of ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory. CLA creates a ‘learner-environment’ centred approach in which practitioners are encouraged to identify and modify interacting constraints to facilitate emergence of perceptionaction couplings. CLA is a broader approach which has been adapted for the design of (re)learning environments in physical education, sport and movement therapy. Other key distinctions between the approaches include: the overall goals; the way in which the learner and the learning process are modelled; the use of questioning as a pedagogical tool; the focus on individual differences versus generic concepts; and how progressions and skill interjections are planned and implemented. Despite such distinctions the two approaches are somewhat harmonious and key similarities include: their holistic perspective; the proposed role of the teacher; and the learning tasks that are designed by each. Both TGfU and CLA have a powerful central focus on the nature of learning activities undertaken by each individual learner. This clarification of TGFU and CLA is intended to act as a catalyst for more empirical work into the complementarity of these juxtaposed pedagogical approaches to learning design.
Singapore teachers' attitudes towards the use of information and communication technologies in physical education
The purpose of the present study was to examine and compare Singaporean physical education teachers’ attitudes towards information and communication technologies in physical education across different demographic groups that included gender, age, teaching experience, and school level. A total of 422 Singaporean full-time physical education teachers (mean age = 38.47 years, standard deviation = 8.31) completed the Physical Education Teachers’ Subjective Theories Questionnaire to assess their perspectives towards the integration of information and communication technologies into physical education teaching practice. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis H tests were conducted to examine the differences in participants’ attitudes across different demographic groups. Results revealed that attitudes towards information and communication technologies significantly differed between teachers of different gender, age, and teaching experience. However, no significant difference was found in attitudes towards information and communication technologies among teachers of different school levels. The findings of this study can inform policy-makers and stakeholders with an interest in promoting the integration of information and communication technologies in physical education.
Nonlinear pedagogy and its role in encouraging 21st century competencies through physical education: A Singapore experience
Nonlinear Pedagogy is an exploratory approach to teaching and learning Physical Education that can be potentially effective to help children acquire relevant 21st century competencies. Underpinned by Ecological Dynamics, the focus of Nonlinear Pedagogy is on the learner and includes the provision of less prescriptive instructions, and guided discovery which serve to develop greater autonomy, competency and relatedness in the learning process. This paper describes a study that examines the factors that contributed to motivation, enjoyment and the development of 21st century competencies in Primary School Children. 133 children were taught over 7-weeks to play a modified tennis game either with a Nonlinear Pedagogy or Linear Pedagogy (i.e., more teacher-centred) approach in a Singapore school. While findings from the IMI questionnaire showed that there was no difference for the subscales measured, student and teacher interviews indicated that the Nonlinear Pedagogy approach created a learning environment that facilitated perceived competence, autonomy and relatedness, thus potentially enhancing intrinsic motivation and enjoyment during practice. Nonlinear Pedagogy encourages teachers to create representative learning designs through the inclusion of a variety of modified games, the freedom to choose, an emphasis on exploration and problem-solving and can be relevant to develop 21st century competencies.