The physical education pedagogical approaches in nurturing physical literacy among primary and secondary school students: A scoping review

Abstract

Physical education discourse has increasingly discussed the importance of physical literacy, but this discourse has not been fully incorporated into physical education programs around the world. Together with the emphasis from the Future Education 2030 Physical Education Development Report, the inclusion of physical literacy should be upheld. Hence, how the physical education pedagogy is applied to achieve physical literacy effectively should be discussed. Using a scoping review, the current study aimed to investigate the pedagogical approaches adopted in enhancing students’ physical literacy and its association with physical literacy. The review (N = 21) has summarized the definition of physical literacy, mainly defined by the International Physical Literacy Association and Whitehead (2007). It has also captured various pedagogical approaches, including Teaching Games for Understanding, Non-linear Pedagogy, Integrated Approach going beyond physical education lessons, and other student-centered methods. The results indicated that Non-linear Pedagogy showed a better effect on students’ physical literacy compared to Linear Pedagogy and Performance-based Pedagogy. It is highly recommended that a student-centered with autonomy-supportive pedagogical approach was considered as the most effective form of pedagogy for promoting and enhancing children's physical literacy. In addition, the curriculum and assessment of physical education must also be reviewed in order to align and expand the role of pedagogy in delivering physical literacy. Moreover, more evidence-based research utilizing lesson observation and randomized control trials should be conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of different pedagogies, thereby raising the level of awareness and utilization of pedagogy in classrooms.