The influence of school context on the implementation of TGfU across a secondary school physical education department

There has been a number of studies on teacher and pre-service teacher responses and implementation of game-based approaches conducted across a range of countries that have identified the ways in which deeply embedded beliefs about teaching and learning can conflict with games-based pedagogy (see, for example, Butler 1996; Light 2002; Light and Tan 2006 and Chapter 6 by Jarrett and Harvey). A few have also highlighted how the cultural, social and institutional contexts within which pre-service and early service teachers attempt to implement GBA critically shape their experiences and interpretation of this pedagogy (see, for example, Light and Butler 2005; Light and Tan 2006). While this research identifies some common challenges that might explain implementation challenges, there have been few, if any, longitudinal studies on the implementation of game-based teaching that have inquired into the ways in which socio-cultural and/or institutional contexts influence the implementation of TGfU and other GBA. This chapter redresses this oversight in the literature by drawing on a two-year study that looked into the implementation of TGfU across a large HPE (health and physical education) department in an Australian, elite, independent secondary school to focus on how the specific context of the school shaped teachers’ experiences of it.