Sport and exercise pedagogy and questions about learning

Abstract

One important challenge ahead for sport and exercise pedagogy (SEP) researchers is to consider afresh questions about learning. Learning in the fields of sport, physical activity and physical education (PE) is a particularly complex business. Most existing theories of learning are defined cognitively, yet learning in sport and physical activity contexts is also practical and embodied, and is linked to the powerful wider cultural contexts of sport and related areas such as health. Yet, even though learning in these contexts is particularly complex, practitioners rarely draw upon specific learning theories to ask questions about practice, and researchers in SEP have tended to focus on content and issues of teaching and coaching instead of using learning theories as a way to explore learning or investigate learning. This paper draws on data from a project in Sweden on learning in PE to illustrate the ways in which a learning theory framework can be used to guide research questions, offer important insights into the learning process and make a contribution to the wider literature on learning theory. We also argue that research design grounded in learning theories has the potential to result in greater coherence across studies, thereby offering a more valuable service to practitioners.

‘It's the other assessment that is the key’: three Norwegian physical education teachers' engagement (or not) with assessment for learning

“…Our concern is underpinned by research pointing to teacher professional development as a prerequisite for successful implementation of AfL (Smith, 2011), and the need of embedding AfL in learning theory (Gardner, 2012). This may well be a challenge, acknowledging 'It's the other assessment that is the key' 637 that not only are most existing theories of learning defined cognitively, but also that learning connected to physical education and activity is, to a large extent, practical and embodied, and also linked to the powerful discourses of sport and related areas such as health (Quennerstedt et al, 2014). Similar to Hay (2006) and López-Pastor et al (2013), and acknowledging the limitation of a study on three physical education teachers, we advocate the need for more research on AfL related to physical education.…”

“…That said, assessment in physical education has been an area with little consensus, questionable validity and a slow ability to change (Annerstedt & Larsson, 2010;Arnesen, Nilsen, & Leirhaug, 2013;Hay & Penney, 2013). The historical legacy of physical education being closely linked to the practice of sport and performance culture does not necessarily correspond with the advances in educational theories of knowledge and learning (Kirk, 2010;Quennerstedt, Öhman, & Armour, 2014), and the need of embedding 'alternative assessment' in a learning culture (Black & Wiliam, 2009;Shepard, 2000).…”

What did they learn in school today? A method for exploring aspects of learning in physical education

“…By focusing on actions, this approach makes it possible to take issues of power relations in the learning situation into account, which involves adding a theory of power to the sociocultural learning theory (see, for example, Wertsch, 1998). In this way we complement situated approaches with a clear involvement of individual experiences in our studies, and didactique approaches by also involving issues of power as well as wider social, cultural and structural influences on the learning situation (for empirical examples see, Larsson et al, 2014;Quennerstedt et al, 2014).…”

Developing the practising model in physical education: an expository outline focusing on movement capability

“…The idea of learning transfer, essentially the notion of equipping learners with knowledge and skills to be utilized in other arenas, relies on a metaphor of learning related to acquisition where learners 'pick up' knowledge and take it with them to other contexts (Quennerstedt, Öhman, and Armour 2014;Sfard 1998). This view of transfer is wedded to behaviourist and information processing perspectives of learning (Ward 2013) which have been influential in PE practice (Tinning 2010).…”