Positive Pedagogy for sport coaching

Abstract

The literature suggests that, despite some challenges in their implementation, player/athlete-centred, inquiry-based approaches to teaching games and coaching team sport can improve game playing ability, increase player/athlete motivation and provide positive affective experiences of learning. A range of these approaches, including Teaching Games for Understanding, Game Sense, Play Practice and the Tactical-Decision Learning Model vary in detail but share enough in common to be referred as game-based or game-centred approaches. This includes the central role that dialogue, reflection and purposeful social interaction play in facilitating learning and the deep understanding that they can promote. While these approaches are widely referred to as instructional models for teaching and coaching consideration of the common pedagogical features they share offers an alternative conception that creates possibilities for promoting the same positive learning outcomes in sports beyond team games. In this article, we examine the concept of Positive Pedagogy as an extension of Game Sense pedagogy beyond games and team sports to explore what it has to offer coaching across a range of sports.