Sports Pedagogy & Education
Linda Griffin has taught games-based approaches to teaching and learning for 30 years.
Professor Linda Griffin is an expert in games-centered approaches to teaching and learning sport-related games. In the College of Education, she teaches classes and conducts research that help students understand the connections between contemporary sport and contemporary society and culture.
"By nature, games reflect our society," says Griffin, who serves as Chair of the Department of Student Development. "Since games are social, we have found dynamic and public social issues (i.e., discrimination and inequality) often emerge during gameplay and among students' interaction. Through practical strategies, game scenarios and play situations, you can design games that inspire collaboration, respect, and acceptance among all students."
Sports pedagogy research can take many shapes and forms, says Griffin, including macro-level analyses of teams, communities, and national cultures, as well as micro-level analyses of individual athlete development.
"The pedagogies chosen are a powerful way to influence athletes’ development and sense of themselves as they develop and evolve."
Griffin appreciates working with undergraduate students in classes such as EDUC 190D: Learning Through Play, Games, and Sport. Once instructors figure out how to meet students where they are, says Griffin, they can foster truly engaging lessons and assignments. In EDUC 190D, for example, students are tasked with not only inventing an original sports-based game, but with drawing on pedagogical thinking in order to teach their peers the rules.
"Students appreciate taking ownership in their game and the process," says Griffin. Motivating students to engage thoughtfully with assignments like this requires a combination of approaches, said Griffin, including:
- Determining students' prior knowledge
- Prioritizing small group work
- Being flexible
- Trusting students and the processes that develop in class
- Assigning short videos and readings to frame class discussions
- Creating time during class to accomplish work on class projects
In 2023, Griffin received the Len Almond Award from the Teaching Games for Understanding Special Interest Group (TGfU SIG), part of the International Organization for Physical Education in Higher Education. The Len Almond Award is an accolade recognizing distinguished scholars in the field of sports pedagogy. Griffin delivered the inaugural Len Almond Award Lecture at TGfU's 40th anniversary conference.
