First Asia-Pacific Sport in Education Conference Ngunyawaiendi Yerthoappendi Play to Educate

21st January 2008

The Flinders University School of Education Physical Education Research Group invites teachers, academics, sport educators and coaches to the 1st Asia Pacific Sport in Education Conference - Ngunyawaiendi Yerthoappendi (which is Kaurna for ‘play to educate’).

This conference will share practice and research into games and sport curriculum and pedagogy to promote, advocate and situate games and sports' contribution to education. In the 1980's physical education models such as Sport Education in Physical Education (SEPEP) and Teaching Sport and Games for Understanding (TGfU) were developed to increase motivation, engagement, cognition, confidence and competence in being physically active through games and sport. This conference seeks to refocus and engage research, development efforts and progress of these original models in school and sport settings.

This conference will be of interest to:

  • Teachers
  • Sport Educators & Coaches
  • Sport Providers & Sport Facilitators
  • Community Groups
  • Academics Researching Sport & Education
  • School Administrators
  • Student Teachers

It will be an opportunity for participants to connect with key sporting organisations and the curriculum resources and programs they have developed to support both learning through games and sport in physical education, and national curriculum initiatives like values education, literacy and numeracy, across the curriculum. Conference participants will be able to learn from academics researching in the field of games and sport education as well as learn from physical education teachers who have successfully implemented games for understanding and sport pedagogies in the field.

The Sport Education in Physical Education Program (SEPEP) is a curriculum model for use in school physical education programs. SEPEP provides opportunities for connections with community junior sport and is predominantly used in upper primary and secondary school physical education programs.

Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) and its related models (Game Sense; Play Practice; Tactical Games; Play Smart; Playing For Life) are situated and learner centred models for the teaching and coaching of games and sport. They are aimed at generating greater understanding of all aspects of game play, while increasing engagement, motivation, cognition and enjoyment in sport and games learning.

SIE 2008 Keynote Speakers

Dr Ken Alexander, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, WA

After moving from Deakin to Edith Cowan University in 1992, Ken established the Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre (SPARC). Among its major projects was the initial Australian piloting of Siedentop’s Sport Education curriculum model in Western Australian schools. Encouraged by positive reports from teachers, SPARC earned support from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) in conducting national trials of what became known as ‘SEPEP’ – the Sport Education in Physical Education Program. In 1996, SEPEP won the Australian Publishers’ Award for educational publishing and was sold nation-wide through the ASC and its affiliated arms.

In 2001, Ken and ECU colleagues published a report in the journal, Sport, Education and Society, on nearly 400 Australian primary and secondary teachers’ first-hand experiences with SEPEP. More recently, in 2005 with Dawn Penney, Ken disseminated further-developed ideas on the uses of sport education in secondary PE programs. In the journal, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Ken and Dawn outlined the merits of combining a tactical teaching model with SEPEP – entitling their article: Teaching under the influence: Feeding sport education into the development-refinement cycle. This approach, in WA at least, now is taught as the ‘Clinic-Game Day’ model – a hybridisation of tactical teaching and SEPEP.

Today, Ken coordinates the 300-plus Graduate Diploma and undergraduate double degree HPE programs at ECU. He also has responsibility for the initial core education unit taken by the 400 students entering secondary teacher education annually – spanning all eight learning areas of the WA school curriculum.

Jan Stirling, Australian Women’s Basket Ball Team (Opals) Coach, Senior Project Office, Office for Recreation & Sport SA

Jan Stirling is the current coach of the Opals, the Australian women’s basketball team. Jan has enjoyed great success at the helm, including Olympic bronze and silver medals. The pinnacle of Jan’s success thus far has been leading the team to gold at the 2006 World Championships. The Opals have recently been named 2006 International Team of the Year and Jan was named 2006 Coach of the Year.

Jan also works at the Office for Recreation and Sport. She is Senior Project Officer – Safe, Supportive Environments; Recreation and Sport Development.

Nik Hagicostas, Consultant: Australian Football Team (Socceroos) and Athletics Coach

Over the last ten years, Nik has held a variety of roles with many high profile sports teams and organisations within Australia, representing his country at many different levels.

Nik has worked with teams of the caliber of the Australian Track & Field team, the Sydney Swans, Adelaide United F.C., Adelaide Lightning WNBL side and Australian Lightweight Women's Rowing team at different times during his career. One of his most recent roles as Fitness and Conditioning Coach for the Socceroos in their game against Argentina in September 2007, once again saw Nik representing his country at an international level.

As well as being involved with a number of successful teams, Nik has also coached athletes to Commonwealth Games gold medals, Stawell Gift and Bay Sheffield victories, and been associated with many quality coaches. Nik also spent six years at the South Australian Sports Institute.

Mary Safe, The Amy Gillett Foundation

 

Mary Safe’s, Remembering Amy for a Reason, is a powerful and thought-provoking presentation developed for schools following the tragic cycling accident in July 2005 that claimed the life of one of Australia's promising female cyclists, and Mary's daughter, Amy Gillett.

Amy Gillett began her career as a successful rower, representing Australia in the women's eight at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. After she was not selected for the 2000 Olympic Games rowing team, Amy turned to cycling. She progressed rapidly in this sport and in 2002 won the national pursuit championship. Amy concentrated on the track World Cup series in 2002 and 2003, before shifting focus to the road in 2004. At the time of her death in 2005, Amy was a member of the Australian Women’s Road Cycling team training for the Thueringen Rundfahrt in Germany.

A former teacher, Mary has put together an important life skills presentation for students in primary and secondary school which explains to young people the importance of goal setting, perseverance, dealing with disappointment and achieving success. Mary also includes some important bike safety messages throughout her presentation.

Mary devotes her time to being an ambassador with the Amy Gillet Foundation. The foundation was formed to reduce the incidence of death and injury caused by the interaction between cyclists and motorists.

SIE 2008 Conference Presentations

Keynote Presentations

Papers

Sport Education Resources

Sport Education Practical

  • Mr Dave Cohen, South Australian Rugby League — A Game Sense Approach to Introducing Rugby League
  • Mr Carl Jones, South Australian Rugby Union — Rugby Union: teaching modified games
  • Mr Toby Priest, St Thomas School Goodwood — Implementing Game Centered Teaching Approaches in Primary Physical Education
  • Mr David Bradley, SANFL — SEPEP and Recreational Football
  • Mr Andrew Zessers, South Australian Cricket Association — Learning the basic skills of cricket through games
  • Mr Dave Cohen, South Australian Rugby League — Aust Rugby League - Fundamental Ball Skills Program
  • Mr Toby Priest, ACHPER — Sports Ability: Tips for including Students with Different Abilities in Physical Activity
  • Mr Gavin Colville and Mr Indra Reinpuu, Australian Sports Commission — Playing for life. Concepts, theory and hands on involvement
  • Mr Shane Pill, Flinders University —  Game Performance Assessment (PPT 436KB)
  • Mr Aaron Harrison, Blue Earth Institute — The Blue Earth Approach
  • Mr Russell Brown, Flinders University —  Collaborative Inquiry in Sport Education (PPT 17MB)
  • Mr Matthew Chapman, Hallett Cove East Primary School — Introduction to Fundamental Movement Skills
  • Mrs Janet Eckert, Croquet SA — Everyone can play croquet

Refereed Conference Papers