Abstract

This work sets out a proposal for an introduction to alpine skiing in primary and secondary schools, using teaching units which encourage vertical movement. Precisely, the suggestion is a sequencing of tasks in which learning accomplished in the first place can make it easier to learn similar tasks later, but more complex. The first phase puts the emphasis on doing leisure activities with home-made skis; then continuing to a phase of activities sliding on rollerblades and then a mono-skate and, finally, the process culminates in the practical experience of skiing on snow. The methodological keys are the following: design of a teaching unit longer than the traditional, using a game as a resource for search and amusement, making one’s own materials, use of combined teaching styles (by search when the conditions are favourable, and direct instruction in situations of greater risk), practising rollerblade skating and mono-skating (as popular forms of transition which allow the feeling of sliding on slippery surfaces), and a flexible group organization.