ABSTRACT
Sport and Health and Physical Education (HPE) policy makers in NZ have acknowledged that declining rates of participation in sport and physical activity are, in part, attributed to a misalignment of current learners characteristics and the traditionally privileged 20th-century sport skill, mastery approach. This has resulted in HPE and sport policy now reflecting much wider educative aims. These policy documents are underpinned by humanistic principles that emphasise the holistic needs of the learner. Pedagogical models such as Game Sense are considered to align humanistic perspectives of learning with epistemological notions of constructivism and learner-centredness. At face value this has great merit, however, drawing on Kirk’s deliberations on the utility of Models-Based Practice (MBP) in physical education (PE) and sport, and the recent academic attention given to MBP for this purpose, the authors argue for a broader definition of learner-centredness in sport and PE and outline the utility of games models, such as Game Sense, within this broader definition.
