Curriculum Development in Physical Education and Health across Europe
On the 20th and 21st of June the first CIDREE expert meeting on curriculum development in physical education and health across Europe was held in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Delegates from eleven countries all across Europe gathered to exchange information, experience and expertise. The meeting was an initiative of SLO in the Netherlands together with Education Scotland and was made possible by a CIDREE grant for collaborative work.
Before the meeting started all countries had already presented a selection of relevant information on PE, sport and health and on the educational system and curricula in their countries in general in a Dropbox. During the expert meeting each delegate gave a presentation with a focus on one of five themes:
- What does the PE curriculum ‘look like’ in your country?
- Who is involved in developing the curriculum/who are the stakeholders?
- What is working well? Exchange of good examples.
- What have been/are the challenges in developing and rolling out a national programme/framework?
- What mechanisms have you used /do you use to engage teachers in change?
After the last session on Friday we looked back on a very inspiring and fruitful meeting. Despite our cultural, historical and regional differences there was a distinct feeling that we all share the same challenges. Everyone agreed that a sequel to this meeting would be most welcome. There are plenty of themes to be explored into more depth than this first meeting allowed us to. Two examples were ‘assessment for PE’ and ‘how curricula are formulated’.
More information on this expert meeting on physical education and health across Europe can be obtained with Suzanne Hargreaves or Berend Brouwer.
