TEACHING

STRATEGIES
FOR
PHYSICAL
EDUCATION
 Why Different Strategies
for Different Curriculum
Areas?
“Strategies are primarily concerned with how
subject matter is presented.” Learning teaching
strategies for different curriculum areas is a key
component to a developing teachers education.
Teaching strategies play a key role in educating
students, without strategies or a range of
strategies, students are left to educate
themselves. A good definition of a strategy in a
physical
education sense can be taken from Dowell (1975)
where a teaching strategy is an “overall design or
procedure a teacher uses to transmit subject matter
to students, it may include one or more techniques
and methods of teaching process.”

Teaching strategies is a very broad topic, to teach

anything there has to be a strategy. Physical
education is a unique subject because of its
physical component, this uniqueness has a
profound effect on teaching strategies used.
HOW STUDENTS LEARN
MOTOR SKILLS, AN
ESSENTIAL PART OF
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
Motor skills are skills associated with actions
the body performs, for example writing is a
motor skill. Physical education focuses on
motor skills that are based around sports,
leisure and physical education curriculum
because all practical is based on fine and gross
motor skills.
1. THE MOTOR PROGRAM THEORY

This theory believes there is a stored

program for each activity, it is the role of the
teacher to manipulate the program to bring
results.
2. THE MOTOR SHEMAS THEORY
This theory believes there are stored
program for skills but they are not specific
and the teacher has to build upon the initial
foundation to improve the skill.
3. THE DEVELOPMENT MODEL THEORY
This model or theory believes motor learning
and physical education are developmental
and sequential. It is the child that teaches
themselves motor skills it is the teachers role
to refine and improve skills at a faster rate.
4. THE DYNAMIC SYSTEMS MODEL
This model or theory believes motor learning
and physical education are developmental
and sequential. It is the child that teaches
themselves motor skills it is the teachers role
to refine and improve skills at a faster rate.
5. THE DYNAMIC SYSTEMS MODEL
This model incorporates the motor program
and motor shemas theories. The theory
believes movement patterns are inborn and
it is the role of the teacher to massage the
skills out of the child.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
ASSOCIATED WITH
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
 THE LECTURE STRATEGY

This strategy is mainly used when teaching

the theory of physical education. The lecture
strategy is useful when introducing a new
unit of work, it can introduce the rules and
cover basic skill and techniques.
 THE DISCUSSION STRATEGY
The discussion strategy should be used as an
immediate follow up to the lecture. Students
are given the chance to ask questions and
put forward their ideas related to the topic.
To do this the strategy is most useful in small
groups so each student gets a chance to
voice their opinions.
THE LECTURE-DEMONSTRATION
STRATEGY
Another strategy that is closely related to the
lecture strategy is the lecture-demonstration
strategy. This strategy uses all the
techniques of the lecture strategy and
incorporates a physical demonstration. The
demonstration can be taken by a teacher,
student or a group of students. The
important issue with choosing
students to take demonstrations is that they
are doing

the activity correctly and providing a good

example for other students to base their
learning on.
 THE PRACTICE STRATEGY

A strategy that is commonly used in physical

education is the practice strategy. This
strategy utilizes the useful tool of feedback
to improve development in students learning.
The practice strategy is where students get
to physically do the skill put to them in the
lecture or theory.
 THE INQUIRY STRATEGY

This strategy gives students the chance to

become involved in the teaching of the
learning process. It tries to promote
reflective thinking and self refinement.
 THE PROGRESSIVE-PART
STRATEGY

The progressive-part strategy is a strategy that

is used with mainly younger students.
 THE PART- WHOLE STRATEGY

This is similar to the progressive-part except

there isn’t as major emphasis on each stage
and two or more stages can be combined to
one stage.
 THE WHOLE- PART- WHOLE
STRATEGY

The whole-part-whole strategy is a strategy

that is greatly used by teachers of physical
education. As the name of the strategy implies,
students do a skill as a whole, they then learn
the basic in parts and then do skill as a whole
again.
 PUTTING
STRATEGIES INTO
PRACTICE
 THE PART-WHOLE STRATEGY

 Part 1 – the grip: teach students how to grip

the ball.

 Part 2 – the arm movement: the arm is

brought behind the back so the hand is

behind the head, the arm then moves
forwards and is extended out in front of
the body.

 Part 3 – the release: the ball is released as the

arm and wrist are fully extended.

 Part 4 – weight transference: the weight is
shifted from the back leg to the
front leg, simultaneously with
the arm.

 Part 5 – leg movement: as the weight is

transferred to the back leg to the front
leg, simultaneously with the arm.

 Part 6 – doing the skill as a whole.

 THE WHOLE- PART- WHOLE
STRATEGY

 Organize an activity where students can

throw at a target. This is the only instruction
that should be given. The teacher observes
the students from this decides what part of
the skill they will begin their instruction.

 The teacher then follows the part-whole

strategy. Depending on the classes previous
experience of
 throwing and their ability the teacher will
instruct from a part that matches their ability
with one of the parts described in the part –
whole strategy above.

 Once the students have attempted the

skill and been through the skill in parts
they do the skill as a whole again, this time
with the benefit of feedback and
refinement in the part strategy.