FRILUFTSLIV IN THE CURRICULUM. COMPARE WITH YOUR HOME COUNTRY.
Physical education as a general study subject shall inspire physical activity in all aspects of life and inspire lifelong enjoyment of being physical active. Physical activity is important for everyone as this fosters good health. The physical activity culture, such as play, sports, dance and outdoor life is part of how we establish our identity in society and what we have in common. The subject shall stimulate physical use of the body to enhance individual sensing, experiencing, learning and creating. The social aspects of physical activities mean that physical education is important for promoting fair play and respect for one another.
Teaching in the subject shall contribute to helping the pupils experience joy, inspiration and a sense of mastery by being physically active and by interacting with others. The subject shall also contribute to helping children and young people develop a sense of self awareness, a positive perception of the body and their own developing identity. It shall help pupils understand the ideas of an ideal body and healthy physical activity, which can influence their sense of self and ideas about health, nutrition, training and lifestyle. Pupils shall learn to understand how their own efforts can help them reach their goals, and what factors can motivate activity and training.
The subject shall help pupils acquire knowledge about exercise and training, lifestyle and health, and motivate them to have an active life and continue physical training into adulthood. The subject shall provide pupils with physical challenges and the courage to test their own limits during spontaneous and organized activities. Learning in the subject of Physical Education shall attend to traditional and alternative physical activities in the subject and stimulate experimentation and creative development. Key elements of the subject are movement and play, versatile sports, fair play, dance and outdoor life. Learning in the subject shall provide pupils with a point of departure for lifelong enjoyment of physical activity and a sense of mastery based on own skills and ability levels. This subject is assessed using a special scheme that includes evaluating pupil effort as a part of basic subject assessment. Many of the competence aims for the subject take the pupils’ own physical limitations and skills levels into consideration for assessment.
All this corresponds to both curriculums. The Norwegian and, in this case, the Spanish, have as fundamental pillars of the subject: health and active leisure time occupation.
In the Norwegian curriculum we can see how there is a special attention for outdoor life, while in Spain the main content is motor skills, games and sports. There isn’t anything about nature, outdoor life, etc. in the Spanish curriculum.
The Norwegian curriculum introduce the outdoor life when the pupils are 7 years while in Spain is not mentioned almost nothing. All children 7 years old know, per example, how to use maps and compass while in Spain nobody knows. “The Norwegian culture is the Norwegian nature” and you can see it wherever you are, of course, also in the school. So as we see, traditions, history and culture have been designers and long term collaborators with nature.
Analyze the curriculum by years:
- The early years:
In Spain there are 5 contents.
- The body: image and perception. (El cuerpo: imagen y percepción)
- Motor Skills. (Habilidades motrices.)
- Artistic and expressive physical activities. (Actividades físicas artístico-expresivas.)
- Physical activity and health. (Actividad física y salud.)
- Games and sports activities. (Juegos y actividades deportivas)
Where is the nature? Where is the Outdoor life? There isn’t outdoor education. Only once o twice a year the pupils go to a school trip but it can be wherever (forest, monuments, city, parks, etc). It’s not necessary go the forest.
However, in Norway from childhood they are involved in the outdoors. They teach specific concepts like: “feel safe in water and be able to swim”, “travel by and on water and explain the dangers”, “make and use simple maps for orientation in the local neighbourhood”, “use clothing, equipment and simple aids and tools when outdoors in a safe and functional manner”, “talk about rules that apply to being in a natural environment and being able to move in the countryside without leaving tracks”, “comply with traffic rules for pedestrians and bicyclists”, etc.
Even in the 7 years they have a specific content named “Outdoor life”. We can’t see this word in the Spanish curriculum.
The Norwegian kids with 7 years old know more things about friluftsliv than the Spaniards at 30.
- Secondary school:
However, in the secondary education curriculum of Spain there is a content named: Sports in the nature. It isn’t the same as outdoor life but at least there is something related with the nature and outdoor.
Outdoor life is also chiefly to do with the nature and culture of the country. In Spain the people practice more indoor sports so sports culture and education are focused on that aspect.
In conclusion, there are a lot of differences between countries. Norway has a lot of nature. It is his culture. His life. Humans are meant to be social, to belong to a group and to a society, the best engagement and encouragement we can have to stimulate this feeling is through keeping the essence of what we are and of what we come from. In this way of thinking, we can conclude this part saying that mixing past, present and future gives a solid foundation for national identity or, with the words of Renan (1990), “to have common glories in the past and to have common will in the present, to have performed great deeds together, to wish to perform still more – these are the essential conditions for being a people”. The Norwegian people love their country.
In Spain, in return, the society in general is more interested in soccer, basketball, etc (indoor sports). So the Spanish culture and education is aimed at that.