The common misunderstanding with the ‘game as the teacher’ approach
Coach | Approach | Keith Davids | 2.12.21
Teaching through games does not involve the coach ‘standing at the side with a cup of tea’, says Keith Davids, Professor of motor learning at Sheffield Hallam University. Getty images/Vgajic
Learning:
- Common misunderstandings of the ‘game as a teacher’ approach
- How coaches can support individuals to ‘self organise’
- Identifying individual difference and changing task constraints
Teaching through games isn’t a case of ‘setting up an activity, sitting at the side with a cup of tea and a newspaper and letting the players self-organise’, says Keith Davids, Professor of motor learning at Sheffield Hallam University.
“I came across that misconception a long time ago,” says Davids, who has over 30 years’ experience in skill acquisition and ecological dynamics.
“Back in the 90s I was just introducing these ideas from the ecological approach to sports science - that was my academic goal at the time- and there was this sort of misunderstanding when I talked about the concepts of ‘self-organisation’.”
