The next model we are going to look at is the Sports Education (SE) model. This was developed by Siedentop in 1994. This is a curriculum and instruction model designed to provide students with an authentic experience which is enjoyable and that contribute to their desire to become and stay physically active throughout their life (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars, 2011). I have chosen to include this model because this is a model that all of you, teachers, can use within your lessons and increase long-term participation in Physical Activity (PA) outside of the school settings. This specific model has 6 main features that tells how sport is conducted in the communities and in interschool contexts. These features are seasons, affiliation, formal competition, culminating events, record keeping, and festivity (Siedentop, 1998). The six features are as follows:

​

1) Seasons – The unit in SE is often two or three times longer than the typical PE units. This means that there are fewer activities covered in greater depth which results in better educational outcomes (less is more).

​

2) Affiliation – Students become members of teams at the start of the season and retain their team affiliation throughout the season. Student’s plan, practice and compete as a team.

​

3) Formal Competition – Sport seasons are typically defined by a schedule of a formal competition combined with practice sessions. This provide the opportunity for planning and goal setting that creates the context for pursuing important outcomes that have real meaning for students.

​

4) Culminating event – It is in the nature of sport to find out who is best for particular season and for others to mark their progress in relationship to that outcome. These events (track and field finals or  Basketball  championships) create the opportunity for festival and celebration of accomplishment.

​

5) Record keeping – Records (points scored, times, blocks etc.) provide feedback for individual and groups. Records help to define students and are fundamental to defining goals (reducing turnovers).

​

6) Festivity – Sports Competitions are occasions for festivity, from the major festivals like the Olympic Games to the Friday night festival of a high school football game. In SE, teachers and students work together to create a continual festival that celebrates improvement, trying hard and playing fairly.

​

                                                                                                                                                                  (Siedentop, 1998)

​

The basic aim of this model is to provide all students in PE with meaningful sporting experiences to become competent, literate and enthusiastic sportspeople (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). Competent is for the students to have sufficient skills to participate, be knowledgeable and apply appropriate strategies (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). This is where they learn to grow in their abilities and confidence to learn to be comfortable performing in increasingly complex forms of sport, dance and fitness activities (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). Literate is where the students understand and appreciate rules, rituals and traditions around sport (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). Students become both a more able participant and a more discerning consumer as a spectator and as a fan. Enthusiasm focuses on the student being able to ttransmit value and meaning of the sport experience in order to find additional outlets (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). Students in this would want to partake in physical activity because they have come to value the experience and enjoyment that comes from participation in sports. The students also have a strong sense of self efficacy which is a major factor to allow them to become and stay physically active throughout their lives (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011). These would be considered as the long-term goals for SE.

There are 10 short-term goals for SE that can be used throughout the seasons. These are as follows:

​

1) Develop sport specific technique and fitness – Students should gradually learn to master the techniques for the activity, have sufficient level of fitness to perform the technique and have a sufficient level of fitness to preserve on performing them for the length of the competition.

​

2) Appreciate and execute sport-specific strategy plays – In SE, teaching tactics is as important as teaching techniques. Students have to learn the basic tactic of play to understand what the game/activity is all about.

​

3) Participate at a developmentally appropriate level - Contest formats are developed to allow students to gradually understand + be able to execute the key techniques and tactics for that activity.

​

4) Share planning and administration of sport experience – Students learn a variety of roles other than performer e.g., coach, referee + manager. They develop and show a sense of ownership for the success of their own experience and their own class.

​

5) Provide responsible leadership – For a SE to be successful students must provide leadership within their teams thus, leadership becomes important. The teacher will start small leadership tasks and then gradually broaden the roles as students develop leadership skills.

​

6) Work efficiently with their team to pursue common goals – Students are members of their team for the duration of the season. Teams cannot be successful unless each member of the team contributes. A major educational benefit of SE is that the students have to work together to achieve common goals. If this does not happen then the team will fail.

​

7) Appreciate the rituals and conventions that give sports their unique meanings – This shows that SE goes beyond the techniques and tactics of an activity in order to provide students with a broader understanding of the activity in terms of behaviour expected of a good sportsperson when they compete.

​

8) Develop the capacity to make reasoned decisions – Students will inevitably will experience conflicts that arise within and/or between teams. Teachers generally develop a system for resolving these conflicts and that system includes student involvement in the resolution.

​

9) Develop and apply knowledge about umpiring, refereeing, and training - Every student will umpire / referee or judge during a sport/activity season. By performing as a referee, students quickly learn the rules and violations and they begin to understand how important a good referee is to the quality of the game and to the enjoyment of the competitions.

​

10) Become involved with sports + Physical Activity (PA) outside of school – The most difficult task is to have the PE experience motivate the students to look out and take part in PA opportunities within the community. Thus, when the teachers/coaches use SE that involves seasons of the sport, they can not only encourage regular PA outside of school.

​

                                                                                                                           (Siedentop, Hastie and Van de Mars 2011)

​

So, you have a better understanding of this pedagogical model, the only problem now is how do you apply this in your lessons or curriculum. Sports education has evolved into the model that we now see in research and practitioner literatures (Casey and Kirk, 2020). If you include the six features of this model (mentioned above) within your curriculum then this may help you implement this into your lessons and help the students.