TEACHING GAMES FOR UNDERSTANDING: REFLECTIONS & FURTHER QUESTIONS

BY TIMOTHY CHANDLER

 

ISSUE / FOCUS: The purpose of this article is to summarize the information that other authors have presented in their own articles concerning teaching games for understanding.  In this article Chandler discusses what he believes are the strengths and weaknesses of TGFU as well as possibilities for the extension of TGFU in the future.

 

REASONING: One of the greatest strengths of TGFU is that "it takes into account both learning and motivation theory."  Chandler sees motivation as a key element of teaching as it allows students greater skill development and will encourage long trem activity.  One weakness of TGFU is that in order to fully develop tactics and strategies involved in each game category teachers must have a deep understanding of all games. 

 

ASSUMPTIONS: Chandler recognizes that in many pe classes skills are taught without any focus on knowledge and he realizes that lead up games do not always connect well to the "real game".  He believes that TGFU will solve these problems.

 

SIGNIGICANT INFO: There is a lot of useful information in this article.  It reminds us that as teachers we must make sure students understand the reasons why the skills, as well as the product of the skills, are important, so that students are able to function independently.  TGFU is game dependent and student centered, therefore it provides motivation to students; playing games provides motivation whereas learning skills alone may not.

 

CONCLUSION & PERSONAL COMMENTS: After reading this article it becomes clear that the four categories of games withingthe TGFU model allow learning and understanding of strategies and tactics as well as skills.  These strategies and tactics can then be transferred from game to game.  Chandler's article is effective in looking at both the positive and negative aspects of TGFU and is therefore useful to us as future educators.