The Game Sense approach involves designing games to achieve learning outcomes, asking questions to stimulate thinking, and ensuring discussion and testing of ideas. It has four key principles: designing the learning environment; emphasizing questioning to generate dialogue; providing opportunities for collaborative testing of solutions; and developing a supportive environment. The approach takes a holistic view of learning skills, tactics, and the dynamics of sports. It teaches fundamental movement skills through games and asks open-ended questions to engage students in reflection.

1. Game Sense
Approach
An Approach to teaching and
Learning in PD/H/PE

2. What is the Game Sense Approach?
The game sense approach involves “designing a game or sequence of
games to achieve particular outcomes, asking questions to stimulate
thinking and reflection and ensuring that there is opportunity for
discussion, collaboration and the formulation of ideas and solutions that
are tested and evaluated” (Light, 2012, page 48).

3. Game Sense Pedagogy
Game sense pedagogy is made up of four basic principles that will aid
a teacher in implementing a game sense approach to leaning in
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. The four basic
pedagogical features to the Game Sense Approach are:
• Designing the learning environment
• Emphasizing questioning to generate dialogue
• Providing opportunities for collaborative formulation, testing and
evaluation of solutions
• Developing a supportive environment

4. Designing the learning environment
Game Sense takes a holistic view of learning as it focuses on other
aspects, not just the skills, technique and tactics. Learning involves
taking key skills and the dynamics of the sport. To gain successful
understanding of a sport and its skills the game sense approach
teaches the fundamental skills of movement.
Emphasizing questioning to generate dialogue
This area focuses on asking open ended questions to the students to
get the children engaged and begin to question the reasons behind
certain skills this view also enables the children to reflect upon what
they have learnt and question why they need a particular skill.

5. Providing opportunities for collaborative formulation, testing and
evaluation of solutions
This aspect enables children the chance to develop strategies for the
game they are playing, this step will also enable the teacher to make
modifications to the game to increase or decrease the level of difficulty.
Developing a supportive environment
To develop a supportive relationship the Game sense approach
strengthens relationship between the students and teacher as they are
all working in a cohesive manner where all participants are learning and
strengthening new skills or knowledge.

6. Games Sense Approach and the
Syllabus
The game sense approach is appropriate to teaching physical
education as it is key to teaching students the fundamental skills of a
particular sport. The fundamental skills to a game as stated in the K-6
PDHPE Syllabus include safety, teamwork / cooperation, fair play, rules
and tactics, effort and practice. The skills that are also enhanced
through playing games are manipulative skills (catching/throwing),
Locomotor (running, walking, jumping, dodging) and Non Locomotor
skills (balance, stretching, bending, etc.). These skills are captured
within the Games Sense Approach and using the approach makes
teaching and learning a more fun and enjoyable time.

7. References
Light, R. (2012). Game Sense: Pedagogy for Performance,
Participation and Enjoyment, Chapter 5: Game Sense Pedagogy,
48-58, Taylor & Francis.