Implementing TGfU in an Australian independent school : an affective journey

Among a range of factors influencing the adoption of game-based approaches (GBA) pedagogy in schools, teacher’s personal and professional responses and ways in which they adapt to student-centred pedagogy figures significantly. Studies that have inquired into teacher experiences of GBA have all been limited to relatively short-term interventions that have been unable to provide adequate understanding of how previous beliefs and experiences shape interpretation of GBA and how teachers can adapt over time. This chapter redresses this gap in the literature by drawing on a two and a half-year ethnographic study on the implementation of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in an Australian Independent School aimed at providing quality teaching in physical education. It provides insight into the ways in which individual teachers adopted, embraced or alternatively resisted TGfU as an innovative pedagogy. The findings highlight the complexity of the challenges involved in changing teachers’ practice while identifying the importance of contextual factors such as established beliefs about, and dispositions towards teaching, the school’s profile, history and tradition, and the ways in which the management of the implementation of GBA can influence teacher responses and uptake.