Theoretical Perspectives

Physical educators need to be critically thinking when delivering information of a motor skill

or task to the learner to ensure that the learning component is achieved. Physical educators

are usually the main source of providing information of a motor skill to the learner and

therefore must ensure that the information is delivered appropriately. Spittle (2013) describes

teaching or coaching motor skills as the process that involves providing information of a

skill, providing opportunities to enhance skill with appropriate practice and assisting the

learner in the development and refinement of a skill. Presentation of a motor skill describes

how the physical educator explains the information of a motor skill/s and its form of

presentation to the learner. There are two types of presentations that physical educators

should focus on when delivering information to the learner. One of these includes skill

presentation which provides information on how to perform the motor skill. Demonstrating

how to throw a cricket ball is an example of skill presentation as it provides information on

how to perform the skill. The other type of presentation to be considered by physical

educators is task presentation which is communicating to the learner how to perform a task

and how to perform the motor skill in the given task or activity. Explaining how far to throw

a cricket ball in a game of cricket is an example of task presentation due to the information it

reveals about performing the skill in the selected task. Skill presentation and task presentation

should interconnect with each other when educating a learner on a motor skill so that the

learner understands what is expected of the motor skill when executed and the application

and relevance of the motor skill to the task.

Physical educators should consider the position of the learner throughout the presentation of

the motor skill so that they can visually see and hear. Limiting any distractions to maintain

focus should also be considered to achieve optimal attention of the learner. Equipment is an

example of a distraction that may disrupt the learners from the presentation, therefore, a
physical educators consideration into removing distractive equipment out of reach or sight is

crucial to determining the effect of the learning experience of motor skills. By ensuring that

the learners are focused, the physical educator should ask frequent key questions, make eye

contact and keep verbal presentations short and simple. Hall, Heidorn, and Welch (2011)

describe an effective presentation of a motor skill to be brief and precise as well as

transferred and displayed to the learner both verbally and visually. Physical demonstration of

a soccer kick and short, verbal instruction is an example of an effective motor skill

presentation. Hall et al. (2011) explain that physical educators who lack the appropriate

knowledge and pedagogy to a motor skill can lead to overload within the learner and the focal

learning experience is dismissed. This can cause the learner to disengage from the learning of

the motor skill and reflects the importance of short, verbal instructions. Physical educators

must also promote interest in the learner which involves the educator being enthusiastic when

presenting the motor skill. Lack of interest in the students will limit their ability to retain

information of the skill and learning can be limited. Williams & Hodges (2005) explain the

role that environmental factors such as coaches and parents can have an impact on motivating

the students to learn and practise motor skills. The use of motivation and enthusiasm by

physical educators should gain interest within the learner and therefore promote additional

practise through motivation which will further enhance and develop the learners

performance. The educator must also check for understanding in the learner to ensure that the

information and goal of the motor skill is understood. Spittle (2013) promotes the need for

physical educators to ask questions in relation to key characteristics of the demonstration

rather than general questions. Questions such as Do you understand the how to do it? is an

example of a general question which will deter learners to provide a false answer in front of a

group to reduce feelings of embarrassment. Key questions such as How do you hold the ball

in basketball? allows learners to direct their attention to key characteristics of the motor skill
and enable them to provide an answer that enables physical educators to observe their

understanding.

Task presentation is providing learners with the information on how to perform the motor

skill in a given task or how to perform a specific task. Hall et al. (2011) explores task

presentation and its need for a cognitive focus to improve the motor skill, therefore an

emphasis on the qualitative critical elements of the movement should be presented in a short

and accurate manner. The explanation of how to throw a ball to a player in a game of

basketball is an example of linking a motor skill to a task. Spittle (2013) explains that task

presentation should be presented through considering an anticipatory set, duration, location,

space, rules, goals, and understanding the activity. Anticipatory set describes what learners

will be doing in the lesson and the importance and relevance of the motor skill to the activity.

Without the knowledge of the relevance of the motor skill to the task can deter students from

the task altogether due to a lack of awareness of its importance. Letting learners know the

duration of the learning activity allows them to keep on task and manage their time in the

activity more efficiently. Lack of awareness of task duration may cause the learners mental

and physical stress to complete the task or in contrast, lead to boredom. Learners need an

understanding of the location and space for the activity and awareness of any boundaries that

may apply. Rules and goals of the learning activity need to be determined and explained so

that the learners know what is expected of the activity. Physical educators should check for

learners understanding of the task by asking key questions about the task to ensure they are

prepared for the activity and understand what is required in the task. An example of a key

task presentation question is How do you pass the ball to another player in a game of

netball? which looks at key characteristics of the task. Physical educators must have a

knowledgeable understanding of skill and task presentation in order to achieve the goal of

the learning experience.

There are a variety of strategies that physical educators should use to present motor skill and

task information to the learner. Instructor explanation and demonstration is where the

instructor is the dominant person delivering the information the learner. Darden (1997)

explains that learning should be encouraged through exploration for the task as students have

differing physical and cognitive abilities. Learning through exploration allows for students to

trial and error tasks and find the best way that works for their capabilities to perform the skill.

Physical educators need to allow for learning exploration to occur to encourage the diversity

of learners. An example of learning through exploration could be getting learners in a group

of four and giving them a basketball to pass to each other, exploring a variety of ways to pass

the ball. Video demonstrations are another strategy used to demonstrate a motor skill or task

which is the the visual recording presented to the learner. It has been suggested by Darden

(1997) that video demonstration can limit the variations in ways to perform a skill. Therefore,

it is important for physical educators to consider the use of a variety of videos that

demonstrate the skill to cater for the diversity of learners abilities and physical capabilities.

Peer explanation is where a learner describes the information to another learner or group of

learners. Peer explanation is effective strategy to use as it enables the educator to observe and

assess their understanding of the motor skill or task. Cervantes, Lieberman, Magnesio, and

Wood (2013) explain that peer explanation can improve social interaction, social skill

development, motivation and performance. Peer explanation can be used in small groups after

the initial physical educator instruction to improve understanding of the motor skill and task.

It enables the skill to be presented again to learners as well promoting a socially inclusive

environment which promotes learning and improves social connectedness within activities.

The complexity of teaching a motor skill or task is evident as physical educators need to find

the equilibrium of being the instructor of the demonstration but also allowing for exploration

of the skill to encourage diversity in performance.

In any form of physical activity, the use of verbal communication is thoroughly used to

present information. Verbal instruction is how a physical educator should communicate to the

learner when providing instructions of a motor skill or given task. Complementary to this,

Schmidt and Lee (2011) explain the use of verbal instruction and how it can introduce the

learner to a new motor skill and activity, enables learners to understand the overall goal of the

motor skill and therefore an overall idea of the motor skill. Verbal communication should be

delivered to the learner in a clear, direct and appropriate way that the learner can understand

and therefore apply to the motor skill or activity. The duration of verbal instruction should be

short so that the learner can understand the direct intention and purpose of the task. To

elaborate on short verbal instructions, Spittle (2013) explains that overload of instruction can

overwhelm the learner and therefore can prevent the instructions to be understood. Presenting

key information of the skill at the beginning and end of instructions is important to consider

to reinforce the main idea. This is because learners are more likely to retain instructions that

are given at the first and last instruction. It is also important to consider implicit and explicit

instruction when delivering verbal instruction to learners. Explicit learning is learning

through the direct instruction of the motor skill and implicit instruction is learning the skill

through practice without direct instruction. Implicit learning, however enables the learner to

explore the options of performing a skill which promotes the diversity of learners abilities

and capabilities. To compliment this theory, Spittle (2013) explains learning development of a

motor skill is more effective in performance through implicit instruction as the learner is able

explore the skill in a less stressful situation by trialling a range of ways to perform the skill.

As a physical educator, it is important that the choice of implicit and explicit learning is used

appropriately when applying verbal instruction for the given activity so that it can cater for

the diversity of learners and is appropriate for the task.

Verbal cues are short prompts that convey information to the learner and promotes the

learners attention towards the skill. Verbal cues facilitate learning through the reinforcement

and memory of information in relation to learning a motor skill. Valentini (2004) further

enhances the notion of verbal cues by defining them as short phrases that reinforce the skill,

the sequence of skill and ways to achieve the goal of the skill. An example of a verbal cue for

a cricket player could be eyes on the ball and follow through with the arm. Verbal cues can

be presented before and during the task but it must be short and action orientated to be

achieved. McCullagh, Stiehl, and Weiss (1990) promote the importance of physical

demonstration of the skill alongside verbal cues as it enables learners to identify the critical

components of the skill and therefore apply it to practise. For example, demonstrating how to

throw a ball with the use of verbal cues such as follow through with the arm enables the

learner to visualise and cognitively understand how to apply the skill and verbal cue to

practise. Physical educators can promote the learner to use verbal cues as self-talk. Self-talk

refers to the learner communicating a response to themselves to encourage the skill to be

completed. Hatzigeorgiadis, Theodorakis, and Zourbanos (2004) enlightens this notion by

explaining that learners can produce self-talk cues that their instructors use to facilitate

learning. An example of self talk in a learner is a basketball player saying Ive done his shot

before and follow through with push off my feet to execute the movement. Learners can

then draw upon these verbal cues and apply them to practise through self-talk to encourage,

enable and explore learning.

Demonstrations feature heavily throughout all parts of education in particular the Health and

Physical Education faculty. It was originally thought that demonstrations were essential to

understanding fundamental motor skills although as types of teaching and pedagogy have

developed, this need for demonstration has been investigated and critiqued heavily within the

area of Health and Physical Education (Spittle, 2013). When demonstration is performed
inadequately, students can suffer and levels of skill acquisition can plateau or even worsen.

William and Hodges (2005), state that many factors influence a demonstration including but

not limited to; who performs the demonstration, the demonstrations duration, frequency of

the demonstration and using the demonstration in game context.

The individual providing the demonstration in class is more often than not the teacher, for

example in a Health and Physical Education setting a teacher may provide an example of a

tennis serve to their class. This may seem like the correct option when providing a

demonstration, however learners in this class may not relate or understand the complex

movement patterns in this movement (Hall et al., 2011). This may result in more uncertainty

from the learner and a lack of understanding of the key elements. Conversely, another option

would be to choose a student in the class which is known to have the movement skill already

developed to demonstrate their tennis serve. This is an example of a demonstration that could

engage the learners as they can see a peer performing the skill and raise confidence levels of

those watching the demonstration as an achievable skill at their own development (William

and Hodges, 2005). The time taken to perform a demonstration is critical to students

engagement and understanding of the skill. Too often demonstrations are drawn out and lose

the engagement of the viewers, who may become a distraction to those who are still trying to

listen and observe. William and Hodges (2005), discusses the need of appropriate time

considerations when planning lessons with multiple demonstrations included. The use of

different techniques such as guided discovery and problem solving based learning may

provide a more effective strategy when trying to help learners grasp skills, as well as provide

more time for teacher observation and lessen the likelihood of students disengaging.

Frequency of the demonstration is an interesting and vital part of planning an effective Health

and Physical Education lesson. Teachers and educators must be aware of the balance that is
required in sessions including the amount of the time students need to develop a skill

understanding and how much time needs to be given to the learner to apply and develop these

skills (Spittle, 2013). Traditionally students would spend large amounts of time watching a

demonstration then little time applying it and moving on to another more difficult skill,

accompanied by more demonstration. Students in classes like this would experience limited

time to develop skills as the class would shift to a more complicated skill often including the

one that had been covered over to fast. Cervantes et al., (2013) discuss the importance of

having lessons that develop skills through trial and error as well as peer assistance. Students

work together in groups to improve movement patterns and develop leadership skills as they

share the role of the demonstrator. Students have the opportunity to spend class time

developing skills as well as relying on each other in class to further develop engagement in

class activities.

The use of demonstration has been a cornerstone in Health and Physical Education classes for

decades, although over more recent times demonstrations have been critiqued as developing

skills for students that are not only out of context but not adaptable to a changing

environment (Spittle, 2013). Sports and games in Health and Physical Education are often

dynamic and involve skills which are constantly changing. Factors such as distance, space,

objects, team-mates, opponents and the environment itself influence the participants. The

critique on demonstration based learning is that it develops a perfect movement for each skill,

and does not consider the learner themselves in the environment as well as the constraints

that impose themselves on the individual. William and Hodges (2005) state that the goal

should be centred around the learner and that environmental constraints that apply to that

person in context. Teachers should avoid developing students skills which are based on a one

size fits all approach that assumes that there is a perfect way to perform a skill. An alternative

technique is for learners to be encouraged to find different techniques that work best for their
own personal constraints. This way students may develop a movement pattern that suits their

own bodily constraints encompassing their own individual development. This viewpoint is

developed around the premise that there are multiple different ways to achieve an end goal,

where students can develop more flexible and adaptable movement patterns which in time

will work better in a game context (William and Hodges, 2005).

Guidance is a further component to Health and Physical Education lessons, although it is

often seen as an afterthought for teachers who are concentrating on the skills/drills or

activities involved in their lesson. There are two main types of guidance that are used in a

Health and Physical Education setting, assistive and restrictive guidance. These two types are

both complicated as they vary depending on skill being performed. Teachers often use

assistive guidance as a means to assist the skill being performed and forcing the learning into

the movement. This technique has been critiqued and argued against as teachers focus more

on trying to find unique ways for the individual performer to overcome particular constraints,

developing skills that best suit their own movement (Spittle, 2013). One instance where

guidance can be useful is when students are performing skills which could be seen as a risk

and incorrect movement could cause injury. A teacher may assist students with various

movements during a gymnastics lessons as to assist the learner into more safe positions

mainly looking out for the head and spine areas. This must be approached with caution as

teachers will need to think about their own legal obligation and permission from the

appropriate people when working with children and relying on physical contact.

Discovery learning relies on the environment set by the teacher or instructor whereby learners

have the opportunity to develop their skills in context (Spittle, 2013). This approach relies on

learners exploring the environment and being creative when problem solving how to best

perform a skill. This is aligned closely with constraints led approach and allows the learner to
move from basic solution onto more complex movements. This approach also frees up time

for the teacher to be a facilitator to the class and reach students that would otherwise

disengage with the lesson. The learners would feel a greater sense of ownership over the

lesson and the teacher can use other methods such as demonstration and feedback to further

refine their skills.

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