This flyer is presented to you by:
German Olympic Sports Confederation
Otto-Fleck-Schneise 12 · 60528 Frankfurt am Main
P +49 69 6700-0 · F +49 69 674906
[email protected] · www.dosb.de
EDUCATION AND
QUALIFICATION
Qualification System at German
Sports Organizations
„It is said that sport is a mirror of our
society. This is true - but it is never­
theless only a half-truth. Sport is a
part of our society.
It not only mirrors our society it shapes and influences it as a
whole. That is why it is ­important
that we maintain and promote the
values intimately ­associated with
sport: achievement and perfor­
mance, competition, fair play, discipline, team spirit and repudiation of
Mr Horst Köhler
­violence.“
SPORT MOVES
More than 28 million people are members in 91,000
sports clubs and 98 associations under the umbrella
of the German Olympic Sports Confederation
(DOSB), thus constituting the largest association of
persons in Germany.
The joy of life, achievement and performance, health
and the conveyance of values such as tolerance, fair
play and team spirit - these are all elements making
up the fabric of club sports. Opportunities for people
to take part in civil society activities moreover
motivate many people to get involved in the work of
sports clubs.
No matter whether somebody coaches a youth
team, is an exercise instructor for a gymnastics
group, a helper at a club festival or a member of the
Association’s Executive Board, in an honorary
capacity in a voluntary position or working as a
part-time or full-time employee – making a
personal commitment to a sports club enriches an
individual’s everyday life and is a many-faceted and
demanding activity. Free from the usual constraints
of business life and everyday routine, people
involved in club work can together put into practice
their ideas, make friends and – last but not least
– experience sports together.
As diverse as sports programmes and commitments
to club activities may be, just as wide-ranging are
the qualifications needed for them. For this reason,
sports organizations offer a wide range of
qualifications as well as advanced and continuing
training.
Mr Horst Köhler, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany
and personal member of the DOSB. © Bundesbildstelle
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SPORT EDUCATES
The sports organizations organized under the
umbrella of the DOSB, have a differentiated system
of quali­fications setting high standards in basic,
advanced and continuing training. They determine
the criteria for acquiring a DOSB licence, laid down
in the Framework Guidelines for Qualification
(Rahmenrichtlinien für Q
­ ualifizierung). By employing
these criteria as a common foundation, sport
organizations develop respective training strategies
according to which they qualify and train coaches,
exercise instructors, club managers and youth
leaders.
There are more than 730 different training
programmes, sports, sport disciplines and profiles
for basic and advanced training offered by sports
organizations leading to a DOSB licence. According
to current statistics, more than 580,000 persons hold
a valid DOSB licence. Every year more than 45,000
club members complete a training programme with
a DOSB licence.
In addition to these training programmes, the sports
organizations offer numerous advanced training
courses in their educational programmes that do
not lead to a DOSB licence but nonetheless reflect
trends and special topics relating to sports club
work. This makes organized sport one of the largest
education providers in German civil society.
Sport not only provides education in terms of its
formal education systems, however. It also educates
people as they participate in sports and get
involved in a club. Informal learning processes are
inherent in active sports and while participating in
the activities of the club, thus facilitating the
acquisition of social skills also sorely needed in
other areas of society, e. g. at schools or “on the job”
in professional life.
„Sport has a sizable educational
impact which includes, first of all,
direct body-related skills and abilities (body experience, aesthetics
and expression), but also indirect
sport-related skills in social, political
and cognitive areas (team-play,
self-confidence/assurance, self-organization, the ability to assume
responsibility).“ ­
Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (­ 2005: 376): 12th Report on Children
and Young People.
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EDUCATION IN
SPORT – EDUCATION
THROUGH SPORT
Qualification in organized sport primarily revolves
around task requirements and people‘s motivation
to make a commitment to a club.
Experiencing one‘s own body and treating other
persons with respect in a responsible way are essential educational factors and influential elements
in individual development. Commitment to and on
behalf of the club moreover fosters the acquisition
of personal and social skills.
communication abilities, goal orientation, fairness,
the endeavour to achieve and perform, and health
awareness.
EDUCATION IN
SPORT IN THE
LIGHT OF SOCIAL
REQUIREMENTS
As a consequence, above and beyond specific
technical qualifications, our notion of education is
also centred on the development of individuals. It is
along these lines that we also address the development of key skills like, for example, teaming and
Sports clubs are faced with numerous socio-­political
tasks and challenges. Be it social and cultural
integra­tion, protection of the climate and environment, prevention of doping, the establishment of
all-day schools or demo­graphic change - sports
clubs have to cope with demands reflecting pressing
social challenges. Qualification concepts in organized sport thus address not only sport-specific topics
- they also embrace s­ ocio-political issues.
INSTITUTIONS IN THE DOSB
IN CHARGE OF EDUCATION
Many associations are reacting to aspects of demo­
graphic change, for example, by gearing their qualification programmes towards senior citizens. Other
sports organizations base their strategies on the
health-improving aspects of sport or the training of
exercise instructors for all-day schools.
Under the DOSB umbrella, the institutions in
charge of basic, advanced and continuing training are the Regional Sports Confederations,
the National Sports Federations and the Federations with Special Tasks at their respective
levels and areas of competence.
One special aim of organized sport is to interest
young people in voluntary work at clubs already
at an early stage. It is to this end that many sports
organizations offer special training programmes for
young people to become youth leaders.
For contact addresses of the DOSB member
organizations cited, please see the DOSB
homepage at www.dosb.de/de/organisation/
mitgliedsorganisationen
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STRUCTURE OF THE DOSB QUALIFICATION SYSTEM
Exercise Instructor (EI) popular
sport
Trainer popular
sport (specific
discipline)
4th LICENCE LEVEL
Youth
Leader (YL)
Club Manager
(CM)
Graduate
trainer **
(trainer with a
diploma recognized by the state)
3rd LICENCE LEVEL (A)
min. 90 LU *
2nd LICENCE LEVEL (B)
min. 60 LU
Trainer competitive sport
(specific discipline)
Exercise instructor B popular
sport in several
disciplines
Trainer A
popular sport
(in a specific
­discipline)
Trainer A
competitive
sport (in a specific ­discipline)
Trainer B
popular sport
(in a specific
discipline)
Trainer B
competitive
sport
(in a specific
­discipline)
Trainer C
popular sport
(in a specific
­discipline)
Trainer C
competitive
sport (in a specific ­discipline)
DOSB Sports
Physiotherapy
DOSB Sports
Physiotherapy **
Club Manager B
EI B preventive
health sports
EI B rehabilitative
health sports
1st LICENCE LEVEL (C)
min. 120 LU
Exercise
instructor C
popular sport in
several disciplines
Youth Leader
Club Manager C
EIs, Trainers, YLs: A share of at least 30 LUs is required as basic qualification
in several disciplines
LOWER LEVELQUALIFICATIONS
(without DOSB
licence)
*
e. g. Assistant
Trainer popular
sport / competitive sport, Group
Assistant
e. g. Youth
Leader Assistant,
Group Assistant
One Learning Unit (LU) is equivalent to 45 minutes
**
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e. g. Exercise Instructor Assistant
Group Assistant
These training programmes are subject to special conditions
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QUALITY ASSURANCE
THROUGH LIFELONG
LEARNING
A person who has been issued a DOSB licence does
not look upon his or her learning process as finished.
In everyday work in the club, trainers, exercise instructors, club managers and youth leaders put their
acquired skills to test in actual practice, thereby expanding their range of skills in supervising training
and exercise groups as well as activities relating to
general, non-sport-specific work at their club.
Above and beyond this, they are required to take
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part in advanced training courses at regular intervals in order to renew their licence and ensure that
they are always abreast of the latest requirements
and findings in their training and instruction work.
It is to this end that licences acquired have to be
renewed or confirmed on a regular basis. As a rule,
holders of a licence have to attend weekend courses
offering at least 15 learning units every four years.
The interplay between formal advanced training
courses and informal learning processes is at the heart of what lifelong learning is all about and which
forms the foundation of education in organized
sport.
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TRAINING
PROGRAMMES WITH
DOSB LICENCE
The following training programmes are exam­ples
of qualifications leading to a DOSB licence:
• Trainer for competitive sport in a specific discipline
• Trainer for popular sport in a specific discipline
• Exercise Instructor „popular sport in several
disciplines“
• Exercise Instructor „preventive health sports„
• Exercise Instructor „rehabilitative health sports„
• Youth Leader
• Club Manager
Training as such is provided at federal (national),
­federal state and regional levels by the respective
sport organizations in charge, which issue the respective DOSB licence after a trainee has successfully
completed the training programme.
There are four levels, starting at the first licence
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level (C) and progressively building up to the fourth
licence level (graduate level).
Not all training programmes can be completed at
all four levels. The training organi­sation responsible
for the graduate level is the German Olympic Sport
Federation‘s Coach Academy of Cologne) (Trainerakademie Köln) 1 .
Specific criteria have to be met at each licence level.
The first licence level (C), for example, requires at
least 120 learning units2 of training as well as membership in a sports club. At least 60 additional learning units have to be completed in a licence-related
training program at the second licence level (B).
At the third licence level (A), another 90 additional
learning units have to be completed. Holders of
licence A thus have to undergo a total of at least 270
learning units in their training.
1
Access to „Graduate Trainer“ studies is subject to special conditions.
2
One learning unit is equivalent to 45 minutes.
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ADVANTAGES
OFFERED BY DOSB
LICENCES
Additional advantages in DOSB-licenced
training include:
4.Cost-Saving and Nation-Wide Qualification
Offers
Sports associations and clubs in Germany are non-­
profit organizations. Their object and aims in their
training and qualification programmes are not of a
commercial nature, which is why they charge „socially acceptable“, i.e. relatively low, participation fees.
By virtue of decentralized structures, it is possible
to offer training courses close to people‘s homes
throughout the country.
1. Sound education by qualified teachers
Anyone deciding to undergo a DOSB-licenced
training programme is supervised by qualified and
competent teachers. In addition to their specialised
qualification in sports they also wield pedagogical,
social and ­methodological skills.
5.DOSB Licences: a Symbol of Quality
Many government agencies as well as social institu­
tions recognize DOSB licences in their own systems.
This facilitates access to subsidies for sports clubs
(e. g. from public resources) when there are persons
holding DOSB licences at the club.
Organized sport’s qualification system helps ensure
the comparability of training courses staged by
different sports organizations while taking into account sports clubs’ wide-ranging needs at the same
time.
2.Transparency and comparability thanks to the
four-level licence system
Thanks to the four-level licence system, qualifications acquired can be assessed in a transparent way,
while training programmes are placed on a comparative footing throughout Germany. Beyond all this
incentives are provided for gradual development
which syste­matically alternates between formal
acquisition of skills and stages in which these skills
are put into practice.
3.Career Opportunities
The qualification system offers individual development opportunities outside one‘s job or vocational
training, studies or school education. A person
starting with a C licence in the DOSB system can
move up one notch at a time in continuing training,
ultimately arriving at the level of a graduate trainer
licence - the highest vocational training level for
male and female coaches recognised by the state
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in Germany. It is of course self evident that the skills
and competences acquired t­ hrough education in
sport can be exploited outside the realm of sport as
well, e. g. in professional life.
Imprint
Publisher: German Olympic Sports Confederation · Otto-­FleckSchneise 12 · 60528 Frankfurt am Main · P +49 69 6700-0
F +49 69 674906 · [email protected] · www.dosb.de
Picture credit: Jörg Obernolte
Layout: 2Sinn · Königstein im Taunus · www.2sinn.com
Production: Akzidenz-Druckerei Becker · Merenberg
www.druckerei-becker.eu
2nd updated edition: 500 copies · September 2014
Printed on 100 % Recycled Paper, certified with the Label
“Blue Angel” (“Der Blaue Engel”)
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