Course Objectives

Aims and target areas

The course qualifies candidates to teach gymnastics in primary and secondary schools, and physical education in secondary schools. The objective is to train skilled teachers who have mastered and are able to reflect on both the practical field and the relevant theoretical aspects. Consequently, the target areas for this course will be closely related to specific applications to the four educational levels:

• Primary school
• Lower secondary school (5th-7th grades)
• Lower secondary school (8th-10th grades)
• Upper secondary school

With regards to each of these educational levels, the course will focus on the following aspects: approaches to physical education and the subject’s distinct character, development and legitimisation, curricula at the various levels, organisation of teaching, assessment and supervision of pupils and research and development activities related to the field as outlined in the relevant curriculum from the Ministry of Education and Research.

Course Description

Introduction

Human beings are designed for movement. Small children develop quickly and we stimulate them to exploit their potential. They first learn to crawl diagonally, then they learn to stand, and it’s not long before they take their first hesitant steps. Crawling, hopping, jumping and running are basic human skills that are important to a child’s overall development. We encourage children to develop their movement skills, and we think it is a fine thing when children are active and strongly coordinated. Then the child starts school and is systematically taught to sit still. Children with a great need of movement, or who greatly enjoy movement, are tamed and learn discipline. Some children do not learn this discipline and become a ‘problem’ in the discipline-oriented school; others learn it all too quickly and become physically inactive; others manage to combine the joy of participating in movement activities, while managing to adhere to periods of inactivity. Once a child has learnt to sit still, it is not unusual to regard them as being listless. Why are young people so inactive we may ask? We have taught them to be this way. We have not listened to the child and what he/she is ready for, or to what opportunities for movement development young people really want.

Of course, reality is more nuanced than the above description, but the paradoxes inherent in such a description are nevertheless of great relevance. Physical Education as a school subject is part of a larger educational context, both in and outside of the school, and may contribute greatly to stimulating the overall development of each individual. Those of us who work within the subject field can contribute to recognising movement as a personal form of expression, playing, expressing oneself in movement and the joy of mastering challenges in free play and teamwork.

Physical Education Didactics at Telemark University College aims to relate to practice as far as possible. The practice aspect is also related to theoretical perspectives, discussion and reflection, but it is the field of practice that determines the focus of the study. If, in addition, we adopt the belief that learning is active then the students in the Physical Education Didactics course will learn to be good teachers in Physical Education through active participation in relation to practice.

Learning Methods

The course at Notodden places the subject in context and is organised around the following four target areas (themes):

• Play
• Adapted teaching
• The discipline - disciplinary/interdisciplinary aspects
• Outdoor activities

The course is organised so that it is closely related to practice. The instruction will be associated with the four target areas, which in turn are related to the four educational levels in primary and secondary schools. Each theme is intended to form a basis for:

• Subject specialisation, including individual studies.
• Theoretical and practical preparation of specific assignments for a given pupil group.
• Actual execution of the assignments.
• Oral and written evaluation of the completed assignments.
• Oral and written reflections on the subject and the didactic aspects of the theme.

Each of the four themes corresponds to 6 ECTS. Two of the four themes will form a framework for an individual course assignment in the form of a written article on the subject. Each course assignment corresponds to 3 ECTS.

The course requires a high degree of student participation. If we are serious in our claim that teaching requires active initiative, then we must assume that the students will also become actively engaged. The course assignments are a fundamental part of the course. The approach known as problem-based learning (PBL) will pervade our working methods. We will also, in some situations, approach what is known as ‘investigative learning’. We will raise questions and acquire experience. We cannot always expect to find ‘textbook’ answers, and there are more questions than answers. Our objective is to stimulate independence, cooperation and practical competence to understand the subject and recognise overall approaches and interdisciplinary opportunities, while practising adapted-learning techniques. This requires that students participate in drafting assignments within a given framework; that there is more dialogue than monologue; and that more time is dedicated to supervision and seminars than to ordinary lectures implying that parts of the syllabus texts are decided upon in advance while other parts will be selected by the students.

Students’ work

Each of the four target areas includes two student assignments: 1) course assignment for written submission and 2) subject didactics training assignment, which students should plan, execute and evaluate individually or in groups with other course students.

Students who have 30 ECTS credits in Physical Education must write a article on two of the four target areas, each comprising 3 ECTS. For the other two target areas a written report must be submitted, but without the academic requirements of the scientific articles.

Students doing 15 ECTS in Physical Education must complete two course assignments; one of these must be an article corresponding to 3 ECTS.

Written documentation of student work

For each of the training assignments’ subject didactics training assignment, students must submit a written plan beforehand and an evaluation after carrying out the assignment.

The course assignments for each of the four themes for written submission are directly linked to the practical-methodological assignments.

Theme 1: Play

Primary target group: grades 1-4 in the primary school

Training assignment: Play with children

Plan, execute and evaluate a session playing on skates for grades 1-4

Course assignment: Play, children, motor development and learning

Alternative 1: Students formulate an assignment question and then complete the assignment

Alternative 2: Physical Education for grades 1-4 in the national Curriculum (L 97) is divided into four topics: Development of the Senses, Me and the Others, The Culture of Play, The Local Community/Nature. Consider the four topics critically and discuss the goals, as well as the possibility of realising goals within the plan.

Theme 2: Adapted teaching

Primary target group: grades 5-7 in the lower secondary school

Training assignment: Climbing with children

Plan, execute and evaluate a session with climbing for 5th–7th grade class

Course assignment: Adapted teaching

Alternative 1: Provide a description of the sport of climbing and how it is practised as an outdoor activity and sport in Norway today

Alternative 2: In the Curriculum, L97, Physical Education is divided into four topics: Awareness of the Body and Joy of Movement, Cooperation and Being Together, Sport and Dance and Out in Nature. Discuss which adjustments should be made so that a particular sport/branch of athletics/various outdoors activities will be suited to children with varying needs and different levels of maturity, and so that the training may contribute to the aims of L97; use climbing or another sport as an example.

Alternative 3: Students formulate an assignment question and then complete the assignment

Theme 3: The discipline - disciplinary/interdisciplinary aspects

Primary target group: 8th-10th grades in the lower secondary school/upper secondary school

Training assignment: Winter activities with young people

Plan, execute and evaluate a session with winter activities, sledging, and skiing and snowboard games for the 8th to 10th grades in the lower secondary school or the upper secondary school.

Course assignment: Discipline – interdisciplinary, trend sports and youth culture

Alternative 1: Students formulate an assignment question and then complete the assignment

Alternative 2: Discuss the role of the subject in the curriculum and the possibilities which the curriculum provides for interdisciplinary cooperation in which physical education/sport is included.

Theme 4: Outdoor activities

Primary target group: 8th – 10th grades in the lower secondary school/upper secondary school

Training assignment: Outdoor activities with young people

Plan, execute and evaluate a camping trip in the countryside with a class (8th to 10th grades), or a class from an upper secondary school.

Course assignment: Outdoor activities

Alternative 1: Discuss the relationship between sport and outdoor activities from a historical perspective.

Alternative 2: Consider outdoor activities as they are described in the curriculum. Discuss the pedagogical potential associated with outdoor activities.

Alternative 3: Formulate an assignment question within the field of outdoor activities and then complete the assignment.

Subject seminar

One of the four target areas will be selected for a subject seminar. Students will prepare presentations for the seminar related to a theme. The presentation manuscript must be submitted.

Assessment Methods

Students are required to keep their assignments in a portfolio. Both the training assignments and the written course assignments, apart from the articles, are assessed as pass/fail as part of the continuous assessment aspect of the course. The articles will be awarded a graded mark. The manuscript for the subject seminar may be used as a written submission for the target area which the seminar covers. All of the student work must be submitted and have received a passing mark before students may take the examination.

Students doing 15 ECTS in Physical Education will sit an individual 4-hour final written examination which is awarded a graded mark. Students doing 30 ECTS in Physical Education will take an individual 6-hour final written examination which is awarded a graded mark.

The continuous assessment counts for 40% of the final grade, and the final examination for 60%.

A single grade is entered on the diploma, graded from A to F, where A represents the highest grade, and E the lowest passing grade. Each part of the assessment must receive a passing grade in order for the candidate to receive a final passing grade for the course.

Please refer to Telemark University College’s Examination Regulations for further information.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean