A review of the penetration of Francophone research on intervention in physical education and sport in Anglophone journals since 2010

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Since the 1990s, the notion of intervention has expanded with growing interest in the analysis of practices in Francophone country. French-speaking research community considers intervention sciences as a specific field of research in sport and PE. The aim of this literature review was to characterize the penetration of Francophone research in the English-language literature in physical education and sport concerned with intervention since 2010 in the category ‘Education & Educational Research’ of the Journal Citation Reports (2017). This research was in line with the analysis of the papers presented during six Francophone congresses from 2000 to 2010 of the Association for Research on Intervention in Sport (Musard and Poggi 2015 Musard, Mathilde, and Marie-Paule Poggi. 2015. “Intervention in Physical Education and Sport: Trends and Developments in a Decade of Francophone Research.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 20 (3): 250–267. doi:10.1080/17408989.2013.817008.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).

Methods: The selection of articles was carried out in three stages: selection of journals, selection of articles manually, the second level of selection. The selection of journals is do in this category "Education & Educational Research" (JCR, 2017) focusing primarily on sport and physical education. Six journals met these criteria: Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, European Physical Education Review, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Sport Education and society, Quest, Journal of Hospitality Leisure Sport & Tourism Education. Then, the selection of articles was manually analyzing all the publications of each journal since 2010 (almost 2000 articles) according to inclusion criteria "sport or physical education", "francophone authors", and "intervention". Each 46 articles selected was classified according to its theoretical framework. The last stage of selection corresponded to an analyze and an extension of the literature review by a French-speaking specialist in each theoretical framework.

Results: The results show that French-language research on/in/for intervention is in close connection with the international tradition. Some approaches such as didactique, a technological approach, and course of action, have a Francophone specificity based on various international theoretical anchors; others such as motor learning, social psychology, ecological approach come from non-French-speaking international theoretical frameworks.

Discussion and conclusion: These findings raise the question of the Francophone specificity of intervention sciences. Beyond particular French-speaking theoretical frameworks, concepts and concerns join Anglophone traditions. As in the international fields of ‘sport pedagogy’ or ‘praxis’, the Francophone intervention sciences are composed of a diversity of theoretical approaches and are focused towards an epistemology of action. These two communities can enrich each other and deserve more interaction and exchange.     

The evolution of student-coach’s pedagogical content knowledge in a combined use of sport education and the step-game-approach model*

Background: One of the essential elements within Sport Education is the inclusion of student roles and responsibilities. While previous research has examined students’ performance in officiating tasks, the examination of student-coaches’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) within peer-assisted tasks of Sport Education has been scarce. Indeed, the only study to date which has examined student-coach effectiveness was conducted by Wallhead and O’Sullivan [2007. “A Didactic Analysis of Content Development During the Peer Teaching Tasks of a Sport Education Season.”Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 12 (3): 225–243]. In that study, student-coaches struggled to manifest PCK by providing appropriate demonstrations, to diagnose errors, or to modify tasks for higher order content development. The study of PCK may be a useful heuristic to examine instructional effectiveness in physical education.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the evolution of the PCK of a cohort of student-coaches across three hybrid Sport Education-Step Game Approach seasons, and to examine the impact of protocols put in place to specifically enhance coaches’ PCK.

Participants and setting: Twenty-one students and one teacher from a school class in the north of Portugal participated in the present study.

Method: Data from multiple sources were collected: (a) videotape observations of all lessons, (b) field notes, and (c) pre-lesson interviews with the student-coaches. These were then subjected to deductive examination through a process of thematic analysis.

Findings and conclusions: Following a baseline season that identified four key limitations within the student-coaches’ instruction (task presentation, error diagnosis, feedback, and task modification), these students participated in specific coach preparation that involved modelling teacher’s instruction, pre-lesson meetings, and coaches’ corners. While showing marked improvement in their content knowledge across the second season, a second protocol was instigated during the third that involved the student-coaches to participate in stimulated reflections of their instruction and the incorporation of planning sheets to enhance their instruction. It was found that both interventions were efficacious in developing student-coaches’ PCK, which allowed a more complete transfer of the instructional responsibility from the teacher to the students. These results give insight into the importance of including coach education protocols within the design of seasons of Sport Education with respect to student-coaches’ instructional preparation.     

Adopting a models-based approach to teaching physical education

Background: The popularised notion of models-based practice (MBP) is one that focuses on the delivery of a model, e.g. Cooperative Learning, Sport Education, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility, Teaching Games for Understanding. Indeed, while an abundance of research studies have examined the delivery of a single model and some have explored hybrid models, few have sought to meaningfully and purposefully connect different models in a school's curriculum (see Kirk, D. 2013. ‘Educational Value and Models-based Practice in Physical Education.’ Educational Philosophy and Theory 45 (9): 973–986.; Lund, J., and D. Tannehill. 2015. Standards-based Physical Education Curriculum Development. 3rd ed. Burlington, MA: Jones &; Bartlett.; Quay, J., and J. Peters. 2008. ‘Skills, Strategies, Sport, and Social Responsibility: Reconnecting Physical Education.’ Journal of Curriculum Studies 40 (5): 601–626.). Significantly none, to date, have empirically investigated broader notions of MBP that make use of a range of different pedagogical models in/through the PE curriculum (Kirk, D. 2013. ‘Educational Value and Models-based Practice in Physical Education.’ Educational Philosophy and Theory 45 (9): 973–986.).

Aim: To provide a first empirical insight into using a MBP approach involving several models to teach physical education. At its heart, this paper presents the reader with the realistic and nuanced challenges that arise in striving towards, engaging with, planning for, and enacting a broader, multimodel notion of MBP.

Method: While the study itself was broader, we focus primarily on three units (one using Cooperative Learning, one using a Tactical Games/Cooperative Learning hybrid and a third using Sport Education) taught to boys in two different age groups (i.e. 11–12 and 14–15). Two analytical questions inform and guide our enquiry: (1) What do we learn about MBP implementation through this project that would help other physical education practitioners implement a multimodel MBP approach? and (2) What are the key enablers and constraints of early MBP implementation? Data sources included (a) 21 semi-structured interviews with student groups, (b) teacher post-lesson and post-unit reflective analyses, (c) daily teacher reflective diaries, and (d) teacher unit diaries. Data were analysed comparatively considering the two analytical questions.

Results: The data analysis conveys strong themes around the areas of teacher and student prior learning, working toward facilitating a change in practice, sufficient time to consider changes in practice, and changing philosophies and practices. The results suggest that the consistent challenge that arose for the teacher towards the goal of adopting a MBP approach was the reduction of his overt involvement as a teacher. While the teacher bought into the philosophy of multimodel MBP he was continually frustrated at not progressing as quickly as he would like in changing his practice to match his philosophy.

Conclusions: Despite his best intentions, early attempts to use a multimodel MBP approach were limited by the teacher’s ability to re-conceptualise teaching. The teacher made ‘rookie mistakes’ and tried to transfer his normal classroom practice onto paper handouts while simultaneously inviting students to play a more central role in the classroom. In considering this journey, we can see an indication of the investment needed to implement a MBP approach. Pedagogical change in the form of MBP is a process that needs to be supported by a community of practice intent on improving learning across multiple domains in physical education.     

The development of skill and tactical competencies during a season of badminton

Abstract

In this study, we examined the development of skill competence and tactical knowledge of 41 eighth-grade students (mean age 13.6 years) as they completed a season of badminton conducted following the features of Sport Education. Using data from students’ performance on badminton skills tests, their competence in game play, and their tactical knowledge, it was determined that these students made significant improvements in their ability to not only control the shuttle, but also to hit it more aggressively. This resulted in improvements in both the selection (what shot to make) and execution (ability to produce the desired shot) dimensions of their game play. In addition, the students demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to select tactical solutions and make arguments for those decisions when watching videotaped performances of badminton games. The key explanation for the development of competence in this setting was that the structure of the Sport Education season allowed for significant practice opportunities, and that the authenticity and consequential nature of the game play helped move all but weak novice students from a more cooperative version of net-game play to one where tactical decision making and execution was valued.     

Gender equality,sport and the United Nation’s system. A historical overview of the slow pace of progress

Abstract

The history, milestones and (sluggish) progress towards gender equality within the interconnected movements of sport, international development and human rights are reflective of the broader feminist struggle. In this paper, we shall explore how key stakeholders, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the (former) United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport together with other women and sport organisations have been working to promote gender equality within and beyond sport. Despite decades of parallel or synchronized effort, critics contend that progress is slow and uneven, leaving generations of girls and women marginalized. In this article, we explain the progression towards a renewed initiative to create a UNESCO Global Observatory for Women, Sport, Physical Education and Physical Activity and discuss how the observatory should serve as a nexus of these collective movements by bringing advocacy, research and action together in one platform.     

The influence of content knowledge on teaching and learning in Traditional and Sport Education contexts: an exploratory study

Background: Our understanding of the role in which content knowledge (CK) can strengthen instructional models and how that knowledge matters for professional development is limited. It is contended that mere use of an instructional model is insufficient to impact psychomotor learning in meaningful ways.

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate how a teacher's enacted pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) differed as a function of CK and Sport Education (SE), and to investigate the relative contribution of CK and Sport Education on student learning in terms of swimming performance.

Methods: Four intact classes comprising 88 secondary school students (age: 16–17 years) were randomly assigned to a Traditional, an Sport Education, a Traditional-CK, and a SE-CK group. All classes were taught by the same teacher during a 10-day unit of instruction in the front crawl.

Results: Results showed that the teacher's PCK differed as a function of improved CK. For verbal representations, the amount of cues in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK groups increased about sixfold compared to the Traditional and the SE group. For visual representations, more partially incorrect demonstrations were observed than correct demonstrations in the Traditional and the SE group. More mature and developmentally appropriate tasks were observed in the Traditional-CK and the SE-CK group compared to the Traditional and the SE group. Students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK groups demonstrated a significant reduction of their amount of strokes on 50?m compared to the Traditional group. A significant interaction effect revealed a larger increase in swimming performance in the CK groups compared to the Traditional and the SE group. Finally, students in the SE group swam significantly more laps than their counterparts in the other groups.

Discussion and conclusion: These results show the impact on student learning when CK was added to both Traditional and Sport Education conditions and contribute to the literature for pre- and in-service teachers. The Sport Education model did not contribute to students’ swimming performance. Students in the Traditional and the SE group did not get the same quality of instruction as students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions. The latter groups received content that was presented differently both as a presentation and in terms of the actual task. In short, students in the Traditional and Sport Education conditions experienced the content differently than those in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions. These instructional differences resulted in students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions improving their swimming performances in terms of technical efficiency and in terms of 50?m times.     

‘That is like a 24 hours-day tournament!’: using social media to further an authentic sport experience within sport education

Several studies demonstrate that Sport Education supports the development of an authentic experience of sport. Social media has the potential to further the development of an authentic sport experience since it is a key aspect of contemporary sport culture and can be a space for individuals to interact during the Sport Education. Yet the evidence-base on the use of social media within Sport Education is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore how social media supports the development of an authentic sport experience within Sport Education. The context of this study was within a female recreational community sport futsal club. Players engaged with Sport Education as a focus for their sessions for 13 weeks. The Sport Education season embedded the six key features. During the Sport Education season, players interacted with each other through Facebook. Data were generated from; (1) researcher/player field journal, (2) Facebook posts and (3) post-season player interviews. Data analysis involved inductive, constant comparison and member-checking methods. Results showed that players’ uses of Facebook supported the development of an authentic sport experience. Players’ uses of Facebook strengthened the development of three key Sport Education features; affiliation, festivity and season. Based on the limited amount of research on the impact of social media within Sport Education and community sport, future studies should continue to examine the effectiveness of social media as an interactional tool to enhance the development of an authentic sport experience.     

Physical activity levels,game performance and friendship goals using two different pedagogical models: Sport Education and Direct Instruction

Background: Advances in technology have changed children’s lifestyle so much that the majority of them do not meet the recommended 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Compulsory Physical Education has been highlighted as an ideal context to achieve the suggested physical activity (PA) goals, since it could be the only place where some students become truly physically active. In those classes, the teacher selects a pedagogical approach and this selection could be vital to meet the advised PA levels.

Purpose: The goal was to assess the effects of two instructional approaches, Sport Education Model (SEM) and Direct Instruction (DI) in Primary Education students’ physical activity intensity levels, game performance, and friendship goals.

Method: A total of 88 students with an average age of 11.16?±?0.63 years, enrolled in two year-5 (from 10 to11 years) and two year-6 (from 11 to 12 years) Physical Education classes of the same school agreed to participate. The number of participants in the SEM was 47 and in DI was 41. The schools’ administration distributed one class of each grade to the experimental group, which experienced SEM, and to the non-equivalent group, which experienced DI. The content selected for both study groups was the same: Handball. Both study groups experienced a 15-session learning unit (45 min per class, three sessions per week). The goal was to conduct the experiment in a non-manipulated (intact) educational context. It followed a pre-test, post-test, experimental, non-equivalent group design. Participants wore Actigraph GT3X accelerometers in order to monitor physical activity levels, answered questionnaires to assess friendship goals, and their game performance was assessed using the Game Performance Assessment instrument (GPAI).

Results: Results showed that students who experienced the SEM had significantly higher light and moderate physical activity levels, friendship-approach and friendship-avoidance goals, while the ones who experienced DI had significantly higher sedentary physical activity levels. The GPAI scores showed significant gains in students’ game performance in both study groups, but these were larger in the SEM one.

Conclusions: The SEM could be considered more effective than DI to improve Primary Education students’ PA levels, game performance and friendship goals.     

Physical Education: What Future(s)?

This paper seeks to prompt professional debate about the future of physical education and, specifically, the form that curricula should take in rapidly changing times and societies. Arguments focus upon a reorientation and restructuring of the subject to address educational needs and interests relevant to the 21st century. The current revision of the National Curriculum for Physical Education in England and Wales is used as a basis from which to present a case for a distinctly new orientation to be reflected in the design of PE curricula, units of work and lessons. The work of Bernstein and Young is utilised in deconstructing long-established practices and outlining their potential reconstruction in ways that are informed by, and express, a 'critical pedagogy for social justice' [Fernandez-Balboa (1997) Critical Post Modernism in Human Movement, Physical Education and Sport (New York, State University of New York Press)]. A curriculum framework privileging learning achieved in and via activity contexts, as compared to learning of activities, is presented. The developments that are proposed are identified as highly challenging but arguably long overdue in physical education, and as matters of relevance to international professional communities, not only those in England and Wales.     

The School Sport Co-ordinator Programme: Changing the Role of the Physical Education Teacher?

Over the last decade or so, young people have increasingly become a focus of UK sport policy. Fuelled in part by concerns such as the increasing levels of childhood inactivity and obesity, and the lack of international success in sport, a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at young people have been developed. In April 2000, the government published its sport strategy document, A Sporting Future for All, pulling together all the threads of recent policies, and in it, restating its commitment to youth sport, sport in education, excellence and sport in the community. One such policy initiative, the School Sport Co-ordinator programme, is the focus of this paper. The School Sport Co-ordinator programme, currently being introduced into schools in England, is an initiative that involves two government departments (sport and education) and a number of other agencies, reflecting the government's current agenda to ensure 'joined up policy' thinking. It aims to develop opportunities for youth sport through co-ordinated links between PE and sport in schools, both within and outside of the formal curriculum, with those in local community sports settings. The essence of the School Sport Co-ordinator programme is to free up nominated teachers in schools from teaching to allow them time for development activities, specifically to encourage schools and community sports providers to work in partnership. This paper draws on data from an ongoing research project examining the implementation of one School Sport Co-ordinator partnership, 'Northbridge'. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it explores the perceptions of the newly established School Sport Co-ordinators of their changing role. The paper highlights some of the initial tensions and challenges for them in their task of working across different educational and sporting contexts.     

Conference reports

First World Congress of Science and Football, Liverpool, 13–17 April 1987

Conference on Sport, Leisure and Ergonomics, Burton Manor College, Burton, Wirral, Cheshire 26–27 November 1987     

Book reviews

Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications F.C. Bakker, H.T.A. Whiting and H. van der Brug, John Wiley, Chichester, 1990 ix + 225 pp., £29.95 (hb), ISBN 0 471 92368 0

Advanced Materials for Sports Equipment K.E. Easterling, Chapman and Hall, London, 1993 xii + 127 pp., £17.50 (pb), ISBN 0 412 40120 7

Sport Psychology: A Self‐help Guide S.J. Bull (ed.), Crowood Press, Marlborough, Wilts, 1991 vi + 208 pp., £14.95 (pb), ISBN 1 85223 568 3

The Human Machine R. McNeil Alexander, Natural History Museum Publications, London, 1992 176 pp., £15.95 (pb), ISBN 0 565 01169 3     

Introducing the physical education and sport pedagogy 2012 scholar lecture

This commentary introduces David Kirk's paper entitled ‘Making a career in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy in the corporatized university: Reflections on hegemony, resistance, collegiality and scholarship’, which was presented in the 2012 Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (PESP) ‘scholar lecture’ at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference. We briefly describe the origins of the scholar lecture and its link to the PESP special interest group of BERA and then make a few introductory comments about the lecture, highlighting a number of points of tension that the paper raises for us.     

Notices

Kinanthropometry III. Proceedings of the VIII Commonwealth and International Conference on Sport, Physical Education, Dance, Recreation and Health. T. Reilly, J. Watkins and J. Borms (eds), E. &; F.N. Spon, London, 1986, xii + 312 pp, £25 (hb), ISBN 0 419 13970 2

Sensible fitness. J.H. Wilmore, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, USA, 1986, xii + 300 pp, $11.95, ISBN 0 88011 270 0

Running without fear. K.H. Cooper, Bantam Books, London, 1985, 256 pp, £3.95, ISBN 0 553 17356 1

Athletic training and sports medicine. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Churchill Livingstone, Chicago, USA, 1986. viii + 602 pp, £40, ISBN 0 89203 002 X

Athletics and the heart. R. Rost, Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., Chicago, 1987, vii+159 pp, £21.50 (pb), ISBN 0 8151 7397 0

Psychology and sociology of sport: current selected research, Volume 1. L.V. Velden and J.M. Humprey (eds), AMS Press, New York, 1986, ix + 237 pp, £49.50 (hb), ISBN 0 404 63401 X     

Making Sport History in the (Semi)Periphery: The Portuguese Perspective

Abstract

Sport is one of the most important phenomena in Portuguese contemporary life. Yet, in the late twentieth century, there were more historical studies about antique clocks and potatoes than on sport. Portuguese historians ended up successively underrating its place in history, placing sport in a kind of scientific (semi)periphery, with political history becoming the core of the matter. Sport, however, is an extremely important element in any serious attempt to reconstruct contemporary history, popular culture and what it means to be Portuguese. This paper analyses the history of the Portuguese historical writing and academic research on sport history, also its emergence, development, and contemporary position in the historiography of a (semi)peripheral country, in a comparative way with the Centre. The concept of (semi)periphery is employ to describe both the situation of sport history in Portugal and the Portuguese (sport) historiography in the international context.     

Books reviews

Coaching Children in Sport: Principles and Practice. M. Lee (ed.), E. & F.N. Spon, London, 1993. xiv + 311 pp., £16.99 (pb), ISBN 0 419 18250 0.

Clinical Sports Medicine. P. Brukner and K. Khan, McGraw‐Hill, Sydney, 1993. 697 pp., £48.00 (hb), ISBN 0 07 452852 1.

The Physiology of Sport and Exercise. J.H. Wilmore and D.L. Costill, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994. x + 549 pp., £40.00 (hb), ISBN 0 87322 693 3.

Neuromechanical Basis of Kinesiology, 2nd Edn. R.M. Enoka, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994. xiii + 466 pp., £40.00 (hb), ISBN 0 87322 665 8.     

New directions in the arts and sport? Critiquing national strategies

Abstract

Taking as its starting point the Fields of Vision initiative’s interest in promoting the potential benefits of bringing sports and arts closer together, this paper reviews how national (English) policy addresses that challenge. Four key strategic documents (the Government’s Sport Strategy and its Culture White Paper as well as the strategies of Arts Council England and Sport England) are examined. That is supplemented by the views of significant individuals from this interface, including the research network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Noting the similar social remit ascribed to sport and the arts by the government, shortcomings in the current strategies are identified as barriers to integration. ‘Play’ and ‘movement’ are briefly discussed as integrating concepts alongside our assessment of the potential of the arts/sport nexus, in areas including aesthetic innovation, promoting health and wellbeing, and encouraging wider participation and engagement. Having challenged existing national policies the paper suggests possible future directions.