Éducation physique et éducation informelle à l'école

Abstract

We carried out a research programme in the domain of physical education to test the role played by the teacher during his interventions in a varied number of physical recreational situations (traditional games, sports and obstacle courses), and we questioned whether pupils can obtain any significant learning without the teacher actively intervening with his teaching skills. In other words, can pupils manage to achieve progress in a physical activity in an informal learning setting? Based on an experimental approach, this study tested and analysed two different kinds of teaching: one was recreational (informal learning) and the other was a comprehensive one (formal learning). The results revealed that when there was no particular educational approach by the teacher, the children, nevertheless, progressed. Of course, formal learning favours learning, too, and does so to a greater effect. However the facts support an interpretation which indicates that the precise and structured intervention of a teacher putting his educational skills to work is very useful for his pupils, but not indispensable to their progress in recreational physical activities.