What do we know about pedagogical models in physical education so far? An umbrella review

ABSTRACT

Background

Research on pedagogical models in physical education has exponentially increased over the last two decades [Casey, A., and D. Kirk. 2020. Models-Based Practice in Physical Education. London: Routledge]. Moreover, several literature reviews on the effectiveness of the different pedagogical models have been conducted. Due to the large amount of research conducted on pedagogical models, there seems to be a need to organize and evaluate the existing evidence to assimilate the main ideas, produce higher-level synthesis of evidence and provide a more solid identification of strengths, weaknesses and gaps of this methodological approach.

Purpose

To critically examine what is currently known on pedagogical models to provide a broader and contemporary picture on their implementation conducting an umbrella review. This paper aimed to answer the following research questions: (RQ1) Which pedagogical models have been systematically reviewed? (RQ2) Which strengths have been observed? (RQ3) Which weaknesses have been perceived? (RQ4) Finally, which research gaps have been identified?

Method

The protocol was registered at the International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (INPLASY) with the number 202130025 and the DOI number 10.37766/inplasy2021.3.0025. Review studies met the following inclusion criteria: (1) Peer-reviewed journal articles (Journal Citation Reports) published and written in English before 31 December 2020, (2) included participants from elementary, middle and/or high school, (3) conducted in the physical education context, and (4) interventions studies implementing one, several or combined pedagogical models. Exclusion criteria were (1) Not review studies, and (2) Not about pedagogical models’ implementation.

Findings and conclusion

Seventeen review articles were identified, involving 22,109 students (elementary, middle, high school), 1050 teachers and 171 preservice teachers. Two hundred and nine studies involved Sport Education, 84 Games-Centred Approach, 74 Cooperative Learning, 48 Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility, and 23 hybridizations among pedagogical models. A comprehensive literature synthesis is presented on the different pedagogical models and their learning outcomes. Findings showed strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of pedagogical models’ implementation to improve students’ learning in the different domains (cognitive, social, physical, affective). Nevertheless, some weaknesses were also uncovered by the umbrella review: length of the implementation, time for skilful play, struggle to implement pedagogical models, poor performance of student-coaches and model fidelity. Teachers and researchers must be aware of these weaknesses uncovered to conduct intervention programs that can really work and produce the claimed outcomes. Finally, reviews also identified several gaps in our understanding of pedagogical models: individuals with special educational needs, girls, low-skilled children, the dynamics of the peer-teaching tasks, body expression and individual sports, and what happens after the initial unit of implementation. They are all discussed to provide guidelines and future lines of research.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical education
• pedagogical models
• strengths
• weaknesses
• gaps

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).