Game sense is an approach to teaching physical education that uses modified games to engage students and encourage the development of skills. It focuses on student participation, cooperation, and reflection. Through playing games, students learn skills and strategies and discuss their experiences. This helps students progressively improve their abilities. Game sense appeals to students' innate desire to play, which maximizes their engagement and learning. It also allows teachers to tailor games to meet different ability levels. Overall, game sense fosters student inclusion and meets the goals of the physical education curriculum by engaging students in physical activity and developing their physical, cognitive, and social skills.

1. A GAME SENSE
APPROACH TO
TEACHING
BY RHYS CONNEALLY

2. WHAT IS GAME SENSE?
• At its most basic level, game sense involves designing a game to meet particular
outcomes & stimulate thinking and reflection through questioning and discussion
(Light, 2013).
• The foundations of Game Sense are consistent with the theory of social
constructivism, which states that learning emerges as a social interaction, rather
than a transmission of knowledge from one to another (Light & Georgakis, 2007).
• Game Sense aims to encourages students to develop their skills in a realistic
context, become more tactically aware and, ultimately, have fun! (Castro, 2013).

3. HOW DOES GAME SENSE WORK?
• Game sense focuses on using modified games that model an aspect of a full-sized
game to engage students and encourage them to develop a particular skill.
• Once the game is concluded, students discuss and reflect on what skills and strategies
they learned and how the can apply them to future games (Light & Georgakis, 2007).
• Students continue to build upon their retinue of skills and strategies and progressively
apply them as they work their way up to a full-sized game.
• By maximising engagement and cooperation, and breaking the game down to
explicitly focus on particular skills and strategies, game sense approach maximises
students’ learning opportunities.

4. THE STRENGTHS OF USING A GAME SENSE
APPROACH
• Game sense appeals to children’s desire to participate and play and physical activity.
By appealing to this innate desire, students become completely engaged within the
game and their learning. Engagement is one of the most determining factors of
learning, higher levels of engagement result in higher retention rates and increased
critical thinking.
• Utilising game sense allows the teacher to modify the game to encourage particular
learning outcomes or to better suit the needs of their students. This modification
creates a more inclusive learning environment as games can be differentiated to suit
the needs of a wide range of ability levels.
• Game sense focuses on inclusion, collaboration and reflection. Game sense fosters
interactions between players and encourages them to formulate tactics and strategies
to improve their performance. Players are encouraged to test these tactics and adjust
them based on levels of success (light, 2013)

5. HOW GAME SENSE MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF
THE PDHPE SYLLABUS RATIONALE
• By encouraging student inclusion and participation through modified games, students
are engaging in a wide range of physical activities confidently, competently and
creatively (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018).
• Through fostering player interaction and cooperation, game sense encourages
students to treat each other respectfully and foster the development of qualities such
as empathy, resilience and inclusivity (NESA, 2018).
• Through collaboratively formulating, testing and reflecting on tactics and strategies
within games, students are practicing, developing and refining physical, cognitive and
social skills that are important for engaging in movement and leading a healthy
lifestyle (NESA, 2018).

6. REFERENCES
• Castro, J. (2012). Game sense: Pedagogy for performance, participation and
enjoyment. Sports Coaching Review, 1(2), 157-1Castro, J. (2012). Game sense:
Pedagogy for performance, participation and enjoyment. Sports Coaching Review,
1(2), 157-159.59.
• Georgakis, Steve, & Light, Richard. (2007). The effect of Game Sense pedagogy on
primary school pre-service teachers' attitudes to teaching physical education.
ACHPER Australia Healthy Lifestyles Journal, 54(1), 24-28.
• Light, R. (2013). Game Sense: Pedagogy for Performance, Participation and Enjoyment.
Routledge Studies in Physical Education and Youth Sport.
• NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). NSW Syllabus for the Australian
Curriculum: PDHPE K-10 Syllabus (Rev. ed.). Sydney, Australia : Author. Retrieved
from https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-
areas/pdhpe/pdhpe-k-10-2018