Positive Pedagogy for sport coaching

The literature suggests that, despite some challenges in their implementation, player/athlete-centred, inquiry-based approaches to teaching games and coaching team sport can improving game playing ability, increase player/athlete motivation and provide positive affective experiences of learning. A range of these approaches, including Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), Game Sense, Play Practice and the Tactical-Decision Learning Model vary in detail but share enough in common to be referred as game based (GBA) or game centred (GCA) approaches. This includes the central role that dialogue, reflection and purposeful social interaction play in facilitating learning and the deep understanding that can they promote. While these approaches are widely referred to as an instructional model for teaching and coaching consideration of the common pedagogical features they share offers an alternative conception that creates possibilities for promoting the same positive learning outcomes in sports beyond team games. In this article we examine the concept of Positive Pedagogy as an extension of Game Sense pedagogy beyond games and team sports to explore what it has to offer coaching across a range of sports