Karate at School: Reflections on Teaching Possibilities

Abstract

This essay aims to reflect on the possibilities of teaching karate at school, considering the School Physical Education class, the extracurricular sports activity and the school selection. We emphasize that these three teaching possibilities have specific dynamics. The School Physical Education teacher should not be exclusively concerned with teaching specific karate movements, but rather ensure that students build knowledge and critical reflections on political, social, cultural and economic aspects that permeate karate. At this stage, teachers must have a degree in Physical Education. In extracurricular sports activities, teachers must consider the initial insertion of students into the sports context, making it necessary to teach specific fundamentals. In this case, the law in force does not require them to have a degree in Physical Education, but rather experience in practicing and teaching karate. In school selection, teachers must work, in more depth, on the elements guided by the competition. At this stage, a degree in Physical Education is also not required, but experience in teaching karate. Although in extracurricular sports activities and school selection, teachers do not need a degree in Physical Education, as these teaching modalities are extracurricular activities, it is argued in this essay that these teachers have a degree in Physical Education, since they are dealing directly with students in complex situations triggered by competition. In this sense, teachers need to build knowledge that involves psychological, physiological, cultural and social aspects, in order to enhance the development of these students.