Adaptive Competence in Physical Education: Preparing Teachers for Uncertain Futures

The notion of adaptive competence most often appears in the physical education research literature in relation to classroom practice, and to teachers’ capacities to adapt their planned teaching in the moment, as circumstances change, for the best educational benefits of their pupils. We might agree that this focus on adaptive competence in this micro context is essential. In this lecture, Professor Kirk’s use of the concept of adaptive competence has a wider, more macro, range, over school years and indeed, over whole careers. This notion of adaptive competence is particularly concerned with uncertain futures, where it is difficult to predict and therefore plan for what might happen over time. This is important because we know teachers increasingly are likely to encounter curriculum reform from national to local levels in the course of their careers. Also important to consider are the future known unknowns, the various crises that beset societies at an increasing rate; we know there will be crises, we just don’t know the exact form they will take. Professor Kirk will explain the concept of adaptive competence in this macro sense, then illustrate its importance for teachers in relation to curriculum innovation and to unpredicted events such as the covid lockdowns, precarity and the ongoing mental health crisis among young people, and the rising prevalence of neurodivergence among children. He will conclude with a consideration of the critical components of adaptive competence and how they might be fostered within physical education teacher education.

Join Prof David Kirk to find out more.