Putting Children First…

The Legacy Before the (Olympic) Legacy

Professor Kathleen Armour

Head of the School of Sport, Exercise (and Rehabilitation) Sciences

I will address three questions:

1. What is the problem that ‘legacy’ tries to

solve?

2. What do I mean by ‘putting children first’?

3. What is the legacy that should come before the (Olympic) Legacy?

What is the problem that ‘legacy’ tries to solve?

Answer…low levels of lifetime physical activity/sport

engagement

Start Active – Stay Active, July 2011 (UK Government)

Despite the widely reported benefits of physical activity, the majority of adults and many

children across the UK are insufficiently active to meet the previous recommendations. There are

clear and significant health inequalities in relation to physical inactivity according to

income, gender, age, ethnicity and disability.

...the problem to be solved...

The problem to be solved…

In PE, we claim to educate young people for lifelong engagement in physical activity...

...something is not

working!

...the problem to be solved...

Youth voices… ‘We do the same

thing [in physical education] every week, over and over exactly like there’s no difference…’

(Amy, 5th grade primary school student, McMahon, 2007).

‘PE didn’t make me good at anything. It just made me realize how slow I was and how fat I am….I really dreaded it because I could never do a push-up [or] a curl-up…’

(Lucas, young adolescent boy, Trout & Graber, 2009)

...the problem to be solved...

What about youth sport coaching?

Coaching? Teaching?

Instructing?……

…the problem to be solved.

What do I mean by ‘putting children first’?

Answer (a) …Children don’t need the Olympic Games to make them physically active - either now or when they become

adults

Answer (b)… Children do need learning experiences in physical education, physical activity and sport that meet their specific

learning needs

When we need to solve a difficult problem that

requires specialist expertise...what do we do?

Putting children first?

Call a professional!

What does it mean to be a professional?

'A disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are

accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organised body of

learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge

and these skills in the interest of others.

Inherent in this definition is the concept that the responsibility for the welfare, health and safety of the

community shall take precedence over other considerations.'

Putting children first?

A professional PE teacher or youth sport coach:

Is client focused Takes professional responsibility Continually updates knowledge

and skills (CPD) Is evidence-based Can be held accountable

Putting children first?

Limited large-scale

research Inadequate evaluation

CPD not in authentic settings

No time or support for CPD

Attending CPD is evidence of

learning

Informal CPD dominates

Weak link between CPD and pupil

learning

Research evidence on CPD problems...

Putting children first?

So…what is the legacy that should come before the

(Olympic) Legacy?

Answer…Access to expert, professional sport and exercise pedagogues for all children and

young people.

Consider the following questions:

Is existing expertise adequate to

meet the needs of all children? How do you support teachers and

coaches to learn across a career? How and where is new knowledge

developed? How does theory and research in

Sport and Exercise Sciences inform the practices of youth sport, physical education, and physical activity/exercise?

The legacy before the legacy…

What is the role of universities?

‘society has needs and problems, universities have

disciplines and departments’

Seidentop (1998)

…the legacy before the legacy…

Examples of relevant research in pedagogy:

Urban high school girls’ sense of relatedness and engagement in PE (Shen et al 2012, USA)

Development of junior high school students’ fundamental movement skills and physical activity… (Kalaja et al, 2012, Finland)

Positive Youth Development through a Physical Activity/Sport Programme: Evidence from a Four-Year Evaluation (Armour & Sandford, 2012, UK) ...the legacy before the legacy...

BUT…we need more interdisciplinary and translational research to inform

teachers and coaches…

…look out for ‘Pedagogical Cases’ in

Sport, PA and PE… (Armour Ed, 2013)

…the legacy before the legacy…

Conclusions re the legacy before the (Olympic) legacy:

1. We need to Prioritise children’s educational needs by giving them access to professional PE teachers and coaches

2. We can ensure PE teachers and coaches are truly professional by finding new ways to support their career-long learning

3. Professional teachers and coaches can meet children’s individual learning needs…so more children will enjoy, succeed and continue rather than fail and drop out

4. This is a legacy that our children, young people and future adults need and deserve.

…the legacy before the legacy.