Background: Physical education (PE) research has contributed tolearning-based perspectives on the why, what and how ofteaching PE. Within this context, ball games have been criticizedfor reflecting the traditional sport discourse, which is not alwaysconducive to a PE curriculum that focuses on equity andmovement capability. Furthermore, research highlights thecomplexity of the teacher’s role in the gym, where clear andsimple communication should clarify learning objectives andsupport enhanced student engagement. This article seeks toreinterpret a frequently observed behaviour in the teaching ofball games, namely teachers’ common use of exclamations like‘good!’, ‘great!’ or ‘brilliant!’ Purpose: This article aims to (1) describe and explain how teacherexclamations during a volleyball lesson are pertinent to theteacher’s and students’ creation of purposeful contexts, and (2)identify how the use of exclamations can be conducive tostudents learning specific PE content and aesthetics during avolleyball lesson. This article adopts a transactional perspective ofteaching, framing it as a creative action that shapes the learningenvironment. Method: The data consist of video recordings of volleyball lessonsin Year 9. A video-ethnographic approach enables an in-depthanalysis of teacher–student transactions throughout a full PElesson. In addition to a fixed camera view of the gym, a wirelessGoPro camera attached to the teacher provided a uniqueperspective, capturing the nuances of the teacher’s verbal andnon-verbal communication. Findings: The findings reveal that exclamations are not merelyexpressions of encouragement but integral to creating a cohesiveand purposeful learning environment. Exclamations serve asconfirmations of students’ actions and operate at individual, localand general levels to address diverse student needs. This helpsstudents remain attuned to the flow of the lesson andcontributes to the accumulation of meaning. Conclusions: By reinterpreting a frequently observed behaviour in PE teaching, namely teachers’ common use of exclamations, thisanalysis demonstrates that such exclamations can be importanttools in the art of PE teaching and learning. Through voice, toneand timing, the teacher calls into existence an experience frommultiple and durational educational transactions, guidingstudents towards ‘the good play’ rather than ‘the competitive play’.
Andersson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.