Limits and challenges for the study of the professional intervention in physical education based on the notion of competence

Abstract

The purposes of this work are to discuss and problematize the notion of competence and the complex elements linked to the intervention of the Physical Education professional, in non-educational environments. As for that, some notes were considered about the caution one might have in dealing with the notion of competence in several theoretical bases. The transitive feature that pervades the professional interventions in general and, more specifically, the physical education is, absolutely, the most provocative challenge. In this sense, in order to understand what constitutes the professional interventions/actions in physical education, that is, the “formalized” knowledge, the strategies of action and the representations, it is necessary to recognize the multidimensional nature involved in the professional responses. Finally, it can be considered that the use of the notion of competence may enable the discernment of what guides the decision-making process of the physical education professional, including the understanding of discretionary emphasis of their decisions.