Who hasn't experienced those PE lessons where a ball is thrown into the gym and that is considered sufficient preparation? Sport in particular can create bonds and connections between pupils. In order to make the most of these opportunities in PE lessons, Sportunion Tirol is constantly running projects aimed at promoting children and young people. Pupils are given new opportunities that cannot be realized in the normal school day due to a lack of time and budget.
In addition to improving motor skills such as coordination and strength, the Kraxlfreunde climbing project focuses on strengthening the social skills of pupils at Innsbruck's new secondary schools. In order to ensure these improvements, the teachers receive special training. In small groups (8-12 participants), the teaching staff were shown alternative methods in a two-day intensive workshop, which should help them to work with young people in the long term.
The speakers for the Kraxlfreunde project were experts from the fields of climbing (supervisors of the junior climbing team), experiential education and psychology (mental coach for junior snowboarders in slopestyle). An important topic of this training was the improvement of communication within the classes, but also between students and teachers. In addition, the participants learned how they can bring their pupils closer to their goals in the classroom - especially in PE lessons. Particular emphasis was also placed on how the pupils can tackle and solve a task together as a team and how important it is to have trust in the team members.
Based on the feedback from the participants, it can be said in retrospect that the topics covered are very relevant to everyday school life and that many of the exercises can also be adapted for use in lessons. The workshop was therefore able to show teachers new methods that they can use in everyday school life.
Anyone who has questions about the project or would like to make suggestions is welcome to contact Stefanie Knoll (s.knoll@sportunion-tirol.at) or visit our Facebook page .
