The educational purposes of physical education - curricular dialogues between Brazil and Portugal

Background and Purpose: In the past 30 years, there has been an increase in methodological theories for the teaching and learning of Physical Education (PE) at school. It is questioned what to teach and why to teach PE, which... [ view full abstract ]

Background and Purpose: In the past 30 years, there has been an increase in methodological theories for the teaching and learning of Physical Education (PE) at school. It is questioned what to teach and why to teach PE, which has been reflected in new educational objectives of this discipline in the school curriculum and at the national level in educational policies. This study analyses and compares the educational objectives of PE found at the national policy level formulated in Brazil and in Portugal.

Methods: The research used for this study is theoretical-conceptual in nature, sourcing the official documents implemented in both countries for primary education (aged between 6-15): The National Physical Education Programs (NPEP) - 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles in Portugal and The National Curricular Common Base (NCCB) in Brazil. The data is reviewed through content analysis.

Results: In both countries the national curriculum states PE as a discipline responsible for developing competencies acquired through experimentation with the practical activities defined in the national PE programs. The educational objectives of PE are directed towards the formation of competencies with the following values: operational competencies (59.2% Portugal and 54.4% Brazil); conceptual competencies (16.7% in Portugal and 29.1% in Brazil); and axiological / normative competencies (24.1% Portugal and 16.5% Brazil).

Conclusions and Implications: The predominance of operational competencies is limited towards practising PE activities, which is consistent with the pedagogical theory of competency formation. This concept maintains that tacit knowledge and sensory experiences are essential for performance. However, the implementation of cognitive and affective competencies are important tools for performance, particularly with adolescent students.