Physical education and sport in early childhood and its challenges for teachers

So-called “Bolonia Process” has reformed national education systems in Europe and introduced the figure of a general teacher in primary schools and kindergartens. This has also happened in Italy, where early childhood educators and primary teachers are Educational Sciences to become general educators and teachers schools without any specific training, for example, in physical/ sports education. This lack in the preparation of kindergarten educators and primary school teachers is causing a decrease of interest for the teaching of physical activity and sports education by kindergartens educators. Usually, an educator who has scarce or not-enough developed competencies in a specific subject like to be involved in such a kind of activities. The consequences of this can be seen in the reduction of the level of physical and motor competencies and skills in the children attending kindergartens. Starting from this genesis, the primary aim of this paper is to reflect upon the consequences of the new reform of European educational systems on the teaching of physical activity in the kindergarten and early childhood, and upon the educational challenges they imply for t role that the generalteacher with specific competencies and skills in physical and sports education can play, along with family, to foster physical and sports education in early childhood and sketch a possible model for teaching it