PE at TUM

Campus news

7/5/2024
Reading time 3 min.

On Thursday, around 250 schoolchildren competed in various athletics disciplines on the TUM Campus at the Olympic Park. The central event for the "Jugend trainiert" elementary school competition was the first of its kind in Bavaria. Teacher candidates from TUM actively supported the sporting competition. At a subsequent discussion event with guests from politics, science and practice talked about the issue of Physical Education in elementary school.

Schoolchildren at the "Jugend trainiert" competition on the TUM campus in the Olympic Park — At the five competition stations of the "Jugend trainiert" competition, student teachers from TUM instructed the participating schoolchildren.

The German School Sports Foundation introduced the "Jugend trainiert" format for elementary schools in the 2022/23 school year. The goal of “Jugend trainiert” is to get even the youngest schoolchildren excited about exercise and introduce them to the idea of teamwork. In contrast to its big brother "Jugend trainiert für Olympia & Paralympics", the competition can be held by all elementary schools on their own grounds at any time. However, it is also possible, as in this case, to organize a central competition with several schools.

"The way the components of this program are adapted is ideally suited for elementary schools – both in order to organize the competition in a class group and to promote a broad basic sports motor training for school children," says Georg Clarke, Vice President of the German Handball Federation (DHB), which was involved in the conception of the primary school competition as a participating top sports association in the German Olympic Sports Confederation. "In addition to our DHB Elementary School Action Day, the competition is a successful field of action for elementary school. We have found a perfect partner for this in the Technical University of Munich."

TUM students assist in competition

The five competition stations will be supported by teacher candidates from TUM, who will also take part in the parallel training course for the "Jugend trainiert" primary school competition and gain practical experience for their future field of work. "Elementary school often lays the foundation for health in later life. Teachers who can inspire enthusiasm for exercise thus contribute to health promotion and prevention," says Filip Mess, Professor of Didactics in Sport and Health at TUM. "We are delighted that our students can use the occasion to apply their knowledge and at the same time gain important experience." At TUM, around 950 persons are currently studying sport for a teaching degree or are registered in a sports teaching subject.

Dominic Ullrich, board member of the German School Sports Foundation and co-founder of the elementary school competition, said: "Through such cooperation between associations or clubs with schools or universities, we achieve particularly sustainable structures for the nationwide implementation of the primary school competition. We inform and qualify future teachers here in order to multiply the primary school competition. In this way, we can reach more children with more exercise to get them excited about 'Jugend trainiert'."

Round table on sport in elementary school

In addition to Dominic Ulrich and DHB Vice President Georg Clarke, Katrin Braun, sports officer of the government of Upper Bavaria, Dr. Thomas Froschmeier, lecturer at the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the TUM School of Medicine and Health, former national handball player Isabell Klein and Katharina Trost, former top athlete and now primary school teacher, also spoke in the panel discussion on the topic of "Sport in elementary school".

Technical University of Munich

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