Game sense is an approach to teaching physical education (PE) that focuses on developing skills through modified game play rather than isolated drills. It emphasizes student-centered learning as teachers guide students to make their own decisions within games. Specifically, common sports are modified to focus on key skills while maintaining the original rules. This allows students to learn skills in context through the games. Game sense has benefits like increased engagement, teamwork, and development of tactical awareness and decision-making. It also helps students improve fundamental movement skills, as well as cognitive and physical skills emphasized in the PE curriculum.

1. GAME SENSE IN PDHPE

2. WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
Game sense promotes
game centered learning
than technique
centered. This means
that rather than
focusing on developing
skills through drills and
training specific
techniques, these skills
are developed through
playing games (Light,
2012)
This approach to
teaching PE is a
method that is
student driven and
allows students to
develop essential skills
in a game based
environment
(Georgakis et al,
2015).
Rather than teachers
controlling the lesson,
Game Sense
encourages teachers
to instead guide
students through the
games, allowing them
to make decisions
and think on their
own.

3. Game sense takes games and modifies them,
keeping the same rules of the original game but
it has been modified to focus on key aspects that
are essential to learn (Pill, 2016).
• For example, basketball is modified to a
game that still employs the same rules at
basketball but focuses on dribbling.
• Game sense promotes learning of skills
“in and through” these games that have
been modified (Light, 2012 p. 51).
WHAT IS GAME SENSE?

4. FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS & GAME SENSE
Fundamental movement skills are
essentially the foundation skills students
needs to play any sport, no matter what
year they are in.
Even though game sense does focuses on
learning through games, the necessary skills
for the game and fundamental movement
skills are still developed, just in context not
in isolation (Light, 2006).
Game sense promotes learning and
improving fundamental movement skills.

5. BENEFITS OF GAME SENSE
 Students are more engaged in the
sport, everyone participates at the
same time.
 Encourages teamwork skill and students
are able to build confidence while
playing games and having fun.
 Students develop tactical awareness,
decision making, strategic and critical
thinking skills. (Light, 2006).
 Student develop essential skills for the
game in a game context, not in
isolation.
 Games start from simple and are slowly
modified to become more complex -
this ensures all students are learning
the same skills at the same time and it
caters for diverse learners (Light, 2012).

6. STRENGTHS OF GAME SENSE FOR TEACHING
 As mentioned in the PDHPE rationale, “students learn in movement, about
movement and through movement” (NESA, 2018), therefore applying game
sense as a teaching strategy would allow students to gain maximum learning
from PE.
 Also according to the rationale, one of the aims of PE is to help students
develop, practice and refine both cognitive and physical skills that are
important for engaging in movement (NESA, 2018). This is what Game Sense is
promoting for students as well.
 All throughout the PDHPE syllabus, students are learning and developing the
fundamental movement skills and this is what Game Sense promotes.
 Game sense requires student/teacher dialogue in order to be successful (Pill,
2016). Teachers should ask students questions related to the game which will
encourage their tactical and critical thinking skills.

7. References
Georgakis, S., Wilson, R., Evans, J. (2015). Authentic Assessment in Physical Education: A Case Study of
Game Sense Pedagogy. The Physical Educator, 72, 67-86.
Light, R. (2006). Game Sense: Innovation or just good coaching?. Journal of Physical Education New
Zealand,
39(1), 8-19.
Light, R. (2012). Game Sense : Pedagogy for Performance, Participation and Enjoyment.
NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). Personal Development, Health and Physical Education K-10
Syllabus.
Pill, S. (2016). An Appreciative inquiry exploring game sense teaching in physical education. Sport,
Education and Society, 21(2), 279-297.