Competence-Orientation in Teaching Physical Education

Introduction

In recent years, curriculum development has shifted to competence-oriented approaches in many European countries and beyond. Contents of a competence-oriented curricula may vary depending on the specific cultural, social, and political background, and accordingly also on the individual decision-makers. They may however comprehensively be defined as “a curriculum that emphasizes the complex outcomes of a learning process (i.e., knowledge, skills and attitudes to be applied by learners), rather than mainly focused on what learners are expected to learn about in terms of traditionally defined content” (UNESCO-International Bureau of Education 2012). Competence-based curricula are thus criteria-based and goals-oriented, flexible, and adaptive to students’ and school contexts. They have in common that learning outcomes are considered as an essential evidence of having acquired competencies. Further, they attest to the effectiveness of education systems at delivering quality...