Move More - Reconceptualising Competition

The latest iteration of the national curriculum for physical education (Department for Education, 2013) places a large emphasis on providing competitive opportunities for the young people in our schools. The addition of the School Games programme has provided a formal structure for many of these opportunities, but what about the competitions we create in our day-to-day teaching? In their recent work on meaningful experiences in physical education Beni et al. (2017) identified competition as a point of contention for many young people, with very mixed views towards its use. This workshop will examine some of the benefits and risks of exposing young people to competition, examine some underpinning theory surrounding motivation and competition (self-efficacy and physical self-perception) , and finally go on to suggest some practical ways we can structure competition to make it a positive experience for all of our pupils. Space will be provided for delegates to share some of their own practices surrounding competition and begin to prepare an action plan/policy around the use of competition in physical education. This workshop is linked to the article published in PE Matters, Autumn, 2018