TEACHING GAMES CENTRED GAMES USING PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPLES OF PLAY

By Tim Hopper, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria.

First summary by Chris Ball

ISSUE/FOCUS: The purpose of this article is to show the benefits of modifying existing 'adult' games to a level that is more suitable for certain age/skill levels. Through the TGFU approach, the modification of games will enable children to develop a better level of tactical awareness and enable children to make appropriate decisions about what to do and how to do it.

REASONING/ASSUMPTIONS: Hopper outlines four general game categories in which general rules of play and tactics are similar. These include target, net/wall, striking/fielding, and territory/invasion. The general characteristics that unite games within the categories are outlined. These rules lead to common principles that structure the play within games of the same category. These principles are then taken to design simpler modified games. Secondary rules can be gradually added to the games to bring them closer and closer towards an actual sport such as baseball, tennis, golf, or soccer. The students will develop a 'need' to learn certain skills to excede and bring back to the game, and will in turn look to improve their skill. These gradual rule additions, or 'secondary rules', are valuable because the teacher can gradually adapt the game based on how fast or slow the students pick up on the concepts.

SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION: The approach outlined by Hopper will allow students to become decision makers and not merely mindless participants in a complicated game. Secondary rules within games can be modified by the teacher to their advantage, while the primary rules will insure that the students are understanding basic principles important to the four game categories.

CONCLUSION/PERSONAL COMMENTS: Progressive principles of play is a way to develop understanding of tactically complex games. When learners appreciate the demands of a game and are able to recognize how they can meet the challenges through play and practice, then game playing can become a positive for every learner. This approach will develop the ability to have more overall success at these games, and therefore have a positive attitude towards more sports in general.

Teaching Games For Understanding using progressive principles play.
By Dr. Timothy Hopper

Second Summary by Ken Forde

Issue/Focus:

In this article Dr. Hopper discusses the use of TGFU teaching methods, as well as explaining how these methods can be extended through the use of progressive principles of play. Specifically using “primary rules of games” to introduce students to several games that fall into the same category(invasion/territory, net/wall, target, striking), then extending that knowledge into specific games through the introduction of secondary rules.

Reasoning:

Hopper feels that using progressive principles of play is an effective way for the teacher to “encourage learners to become effective decision makers and intelligent performers”. The primary idea is that students will be able to understand a variety of games more effectively and as a result enjoy the games they are playing more.

Assumptions/Personal Comments:

The article does not make any direct assumptions. However, indirectly it does tend to assume that all students would enjoy this method of teaching games. Unfortunately that is probably not the case for students already involved in the sport the modified games and progressive principles are leading up to. They may find these lessons boring; however, the teacher should be able to accommodate for these differences and modify the games again after observing the class and figurinf out which students may need more challenging activities.

Significant Information:

The article provides examples of modifying striking/batting games(baseball, cricket). It also provides a very useful chart that describes the similarities between games within the same category.

Conclusion:

This article provided a good description of how teachers can use the similarities between several games and teach the class those basic principles without having to dedicate separate lessons to teaching the same tactics and strategies over and over again.