Example 1

Differentiated Instruction in PE  - (DIFFERENTIATE ACCORDING TO INTERESTS)

Differentiated instruction in the PE lessons: Introducing Parkour

When our students filled in their questionnaires about their interests and likes, we found out that a number of them had a real interest in Parkour or Free Running. We came with the idea of setting some lessons for them where they could choose between have a typical PE class in our school gym or a parkour lesson outside. We invited to school Akil Xhura, a Parkour athlete, who has experience in working with children, as part of his voluntary job in Associação Mais Cidadania (AMC) Portugal.

He kindly accepted our invitation and introduced our students to Parkour basics.

In his introductory section he informed students that Parkour - which comes from the French parc and courir, meaning park running - involves clambering and vaulting across "urban furniture". Parkour emphasises speed, directness, efficiency. It centers on overall movement competence. Proper jumping, landing, sprinting, and climbing mechanics, are core competencies in a parkour class. Those skills allow a child to easily transition to other sports over a lifetime. They also gain the movement patterns to help avoid injury.

Parkour training focuses on safety, responsibility, overcoming fear, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior and showing off. Parkour practitioners value community, humility, sharing of knowledge, and the importance of play, while demonstrating respect for all people, places, and spaces.

Finally, the idea of no set rules or correct technique means that children simply cannot fail.

After the introductory section, the students were given the opportunity to test themselves on basic jumping and landing techniques and they enjoyed it a lot.