The IRIS Project. Diagnosis Of Incidents Of Intolerance In School-age Sports From The Perspective Of PE Teachers And Coaches

Author(s):

Almudena Alonso(presenting / submitting)Raul Eirin Nemiña(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

18. Research in Sports Pedagogy

Format:

Paper

Session Information

18 SES 04, Teaching Values through Physical Education and Sport

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-24

09:00-10:30

Room:

OB-E2.38 (ALE 4)

Chair:

Marie Öhman

Contribution

The European Union (EU) has issued guidelines on equal opportunities and social inclusion in the field of sport, which should be adapted and cultivated in European regions. In this sense, the European Commission has published the White Paper on Sport (EC, 2007), which expresses the will to prevent racism and violence in sports.

Despite these initiatives, there continue to be many cases where discrimination and intolerance are present in sport settings. In 2010, the UNICEF Report “Protecting children from violence in sport” warned that a high percentage of children had suffered intimidation in a sport context in industrialized countries.

The IRIS Project emerges out of this context (Innovative learning Resources to foster equal participation in grassroots sports dealing with discrimination, racism and violence incidents) [557/109-EPP-1-2014-1-EL-SPO-SCP] in the framework of Erasmus + EU Program and co-funded by the European Union. It involves six institutions from five different countries: the Regional Center of Vocational Training and Life Long Learning in Achaia (Region of Western Greece) as project coordinator, the University of Shumen (Bulgaria), the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), Oltalom Sport Association (Hungary), the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and the Hellenic Open University (Greece). The project aims to highlight the benefits of team sports and to emphasize the educational aspect of sports. Consequently, the project seeks to promote measures and practices for preventing discrimination, racism and violence in order to provide everyone with equal opportunities for participation in sports activities.

The project objectives are aligned with the revised Code of Sports Ethics (UNESCO, 2010), which encourages physical education teachers and instructors to give sports ethics a central role in the school curricula.

Psychological models were the first to address difficulties involving violence, discrimination and intolerance in physical activities with children (Sáenz Ibáñez, A. et al. 2012). These models focused on the explanations and justifications for violent behaviour in sport. They did not address integral human development, but instead focused on the individual person. In Social Learning Theory, Bandura broadened the range of explanation for violent behaviour by prioritizing the importance of knowledge construction. Knowledge is gained through one’s own experiences, however, the behaviour of other people and its consequences can transform this knowledge.

Complementarily, approaches appeared which considered human beings as social individuals and which focused on the socialization process (Solmon, 2008). From this perspective, involvement in physical activities is relevant. It was understood that the physical, social and cognitive development of children is carried out within the group. Therefore, schools and sport clubs become socialization and learning environments, which produce expectations and roles conforming a sport culture. In addition, in this context parents, teachers, coaches and peers become the first socialization agents with great influence on the child’s later development.

This approach is related to issues involving physical or motor skills, the body, gender and ethnic group, all of which are considered to be relevant in the integral development of children. Therefore, the importance of addressing these issues in these contexts and at school age is emphasized. If we seek attitudinal changes toward violence, discrimination and intolerance, it is critical to address the performance of grassroots sports, the actors who shape them and the contexts where they take place.

Given that the aim is to prevent different kinds of intolerance in sports through innovative educational approaches, schools and amateur sport clubs are an appropriate environment for intervention by means of didactic processes and sport activities. This paper analyses the current reality of various contexts with respect to the manifestation of incidents of intolerance.

Method

The project methodology is based on an approach described as the Deming Wheel (Moen and Norman, 2011) with an additional observation phase. This is described by an iterative process: Observer-Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). For broaching these phases the project is divided into five Work Packages (WP). In this paper we focus on the second WP. The purpose of the study was to clarify the various national contexts and specific characteristics in the manifestations of violence, racism and discrimination in grassroots sport at schools and sport clubs from the perspective of coaches and physical education teachers. To do so, a diagnostic study of the situation in each of the five countries was carried out by means of a questionnaire addressed to professionals (PE teachers and coaches). Questionnaires are considered to be a relevant method for collecting evaluation data (Stake, 2006), in this case, diagnostic evaluation. In addition, 28 interviews were conducted with key informants from various institutions. The questionnaire was administered through the Internet during the months of May and June 2015. As is common in this type of instrument, the questionnaire began with several identification items, and consisted of 24 items organized into three blocks of content. The first block was about instances of violence or discrimination observed in the context and their frequency (8 items). The second content block dealt with the handling of these issues in education (10 items). And finally, the third content block was about professional development regarding violence and discrimination in sports (6 items). Most of these questions provided response options based on a Likert-type scale from 1 (nothing / low) to 5 (very much/ high), although there were also dichotomous and open-ended questions. A total of 222 responses were obtained from teachers and coaches in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and Spain. The survey data was analysed using the computer-assisted quantitative data analysis software SPSS v. 20, which was useful for frequency analysis and descriptive statistics. The interviews were about issues such as policies and strategies for the prevention of discrimination in grassroots sports and their effectiveness in real cases, and about difficulties involving violence. These interviews were recorded in audio and then transcribed. The data was analysed using content analysis (Glaser, 2002).

Expected Outcomes

The results show that there is a response pattern among PE teachers and coaches, who consider the schools and sports club where they work to be the setting with the lowest level of physical violence manifestations (Av = 1.80); while the highest levels correspond to broader and more distant physical spaces; the region and the country. Following a similar pattern, respondents reported a greater presence of psychological violence manifestations at schools and clubs (Av = 2.31), as in the rest of spaces, with much greater force in social networks (Av = 3.01). In these virtual environments there is an increase of intolerant reactions, because emotions are magnified (Lázaro, 2013). Regarding the degree of manifestations of discrimination (involving gender, race, sexual identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, people with special needs, religion, social status, age, physical appearance and motor disabilities), the responses by PE teachers and coaches follow the aforementioned pattern. They considered these acts of discrimination to be more common in locations such as the country or the region, with an average of over 2 points (Av> 2). However, these acts were considered to be less common in places such as schools, clubs, the neighbourhood or the place of residence of the respondents. It should be pointed out that according to PE teachers and coaches, the most common manifestation of intolerance, psychological violence, occurs most often among spectators (Av = 1.55 at school, Av = 1.96 in clubs). Moreover, this aspect is problematic in Hungary and Spain with averages exceeding 2 points (Av = 2.49 and Av = 2.12). The interviews conducted in Spain highlight that the attitude of parents in the stands is a critical problem. This is particularly worrying from a socialization standpoint (Solmon, 2008), because families are among the first socialization agents that help shape students’ self-worth and self-esteem.

References

European Commission (2007). White Paper on Sport, COM (2007) 391 final, Brussels, 11 July 2007. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/sport/white-paper/whitepaper104_en.htm. Glaser, B. (2002). Constructivist Grounded Theory? Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(3), 12. Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/825/1793 Lázaro, A. (2013). Violencia juvenil. En J. C. M. Adán & M. R. D. de Revenga (Eds.), El malestar de los jóvenes: Contextos, raíces y experiencias (pp. 209-226). Madrid: Ediciones Díaz de Santos. Moen, R.D. & Norman, C.L. (2011). Circling Back: Clearing Up Myths About the Deming Cycle and Seeing How It Keeps Envolving. Quality Progress, 22-28. Sáenz Ibáñez, A., Gimeno Marco, F., Gutiérrez Pablo, H., & Garay Ibáñez de Elejalde, B. (2012). Prevención de la agresividad y la violencia en el deporte en edad escolar: Un estudio de revisión. Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte, 12(2), 57-72. Solmon, M. (2008). Research on social issues in elementary school physical education. The Elementary School Journal, 108(3), 229-239. doi:10.1086/529105 Stake, R. E. (2006). Multiple Case Study Analysis. New York: The Guilford Press. UNESCO (2010). Code of Sports Ethics (Education. Physical Education and Sport). Retrieved from http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2223&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNICEF (2010). Protecting children from violence in sport . A Review with a focus on industrialized countries. Retrieved from http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/violence_in_sport.pdf

Author Information

Almudena Alonso (presenting / submitting)

Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Raul Eirin Nemiña (presenting)

University Santiago de Compostela

Education

Santiago de Compostela

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