Capturing Olympic and Paralympic Values in Practice

1. Capturing Olympic and Paralympic Values in Practice Dr Dikaia Chatziefstathiou Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport and Leisure Email: dc130@canterbury.ac.uk

2. Aim of this presentation • To critically explore what Olympism and Olympic/ Paralympic values are • Reflect upon the educational value of Olympism • Suggest ways how the Olympic and Paralympic values can be captured in education

3. Olympism “school of nobility and of moral purity as well as of endurance and physical energy – but only if…honesty and sportsman-like unselfishness are as highly developed as the strength of muscles” (Coubertin, 1931: p. 208).

4. Olympism and education • 1880s educational reform for the French government • Travels to England, Germany, America and Canada • Olympism, for Coubertin, aimed at the harmonious development of the intellectual, moral and physical aspects of a human being through athletic competition (Segrave and Chu, 1981)

5. Olympism “Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.” (Olympic Charter, 2007; Fundamental Principle 1: p. 9)

6. Olympism (cont.) “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity. (Olympic Charter 2007, Fundamental Principle 2; p. 9)

7. Goals of Olympism • a) to educate and cultivate the individual through sport • b) to cultivate the relations of men (sic) in society • c) to promote international understanding and peace, and • d) to worship human greatness and possibility Loland, 1994

8. Eclectic philosophy What lasting undertaking can be founded on the basis of fashion?[...]The only way to ensure any relative long-term survival of the athletic renaissance then still in its infancy was to superimpose the immense prestige of antiquity on the passing fad of Anglomania, thereby undercutting, to some extent, any opposition from the students of classicism, and to impose on the world a system whose fame spread beyond all national borders. (Coubertin 1929: lines 131 - 144)

9. The critiques of Olympism • the rise of nationalisms • the involvement of politics in sport and the advent of successive Olympic boycotts • accelerating commercialization • the professionalization of athletes • evidence of discrimination in the areas of race, gender and ethnicity in the Olympic arena • the Eurocentric and western character of the Olympic Movement, and • the scandals concerning bribery of the IOC members

10. The Olympic Ideals • philosophy of life • balance/ harmony • strength/ perseverance • competitiveness • participation • teamwork • excellence • body and mind (mens sana in corpore sano) • friendship, excellence, respect • youth/ independent active citizens • peace • universalism • internationalism • understanding • ‘brotherhood’ and ‘fraternity’ • cosmopolitanism • environmentalism • sustainability • social responsibility Different layers: • personal/ individual • collective • culture-specific • multiculturalism/ interculturalism • pluralism/ diversity

11. Olympic Values defined today • Respect – fair play; knowing one’s own limits; and taking care of one’s health and the environment • excellence – how to give the best of oneself, on the field of play or in life; • taking part; and progressing according to one’s own objectives • friendship – how, through sport, to understand each other despite any differences

12. Paralympic Values defined today • courage • determination • inspiration • Equality Olympic & Paralympic values Video

14. Descriptions of Olympic Education

15. Olympic Education programmes Naul, 2008

16. Most common forms of OE: • Theoretical approaches eg. History of OG • Olympic education as pedagogy through culture • Olympic education as physical education / sport pedagogy • Olympic education as values education / interdisciplinary learning

17. So what really is Olympic Education? OR BETTER ASK THE QUESTION... How can the Olympic and Paralympic values be captured in practice?

18. “Journey to the West”

22. “Journey to the East” • BBC Olympic Monkey Movie

23. “Olympism, which was considered a static and closed philosophy, has gradually been transformed to a more open network of ideas accommodating a degree of pluralist vision, and critique, with reference to its values. Although this may be interpreted as fragmentation in the culturally diverse context of the Olympic Movement, it may also be described in terms of the ‘flexibility’ of Olympism and its capacity to constitute a terrain for exchange of different worldviews and ideas” Chatziefstathiou, 2005

24. “Olympism as an ‘ideal’ may in such circumstances be defined, not as a set of immutable values, but as a process for consensus construction in terms of values in the world of global sport” Chatziefstathiou, 2005

25. Olympic Games as ‘magic dust’ • The Olympics as “Doureios Ippos” (the Trojan Horse) • to carry images, symbols, values which will ultimately capture the imagination of people

26. Capturing the Olympic & Paralympic values • Across the School Curriculum • Specifically in PE (education about/through/of the physical) • Higher Education • Art competitions/ exhibitions • Youth festivals/ camps • Olympic academies/ groups of interest • Social media

27. Olympic Physical Activity, Sport and Health (OPASH) Legacy Project • Demonstration effect • Festival effect Active Celebration project

28. Values as “Hooks” • ‘Value-match’ initiatives • Matched to groups’ pre-existing values such as sport, lifestyle, family, community or eco related values Active Celebration Initiatives

29. Initiative 1: YOU NEVER LOSE IT! Initiative 2: RAISE YOUR GAME! Initiative 3: GENERATION GAMES Initiative 4: CROSS OVER

35. Initiative 5: GOING FOR GREEN Initiative 6: FAMILY FUN WORKS Initiative 7: CHANCE TO DANCE Initiative 8: CITY SPIN Initiative 9: LET’S PLAY Initiative 10: STROLL ‘n’ ROLL Initiative 11: CULTURAL CARNIVALS Initiative 12: ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE Initiative 13: SILVER SPIRIT

40. Concluding remarks The Olympic & Paralympic values are: • Not a coherent system of values uniquely associated with the Olympic Games but are unique in combining several layers of values in an eclectic way which is adaptable to several contexts • inside or outside the school curriculum, through PE or any other knowledge subject, through cultural activities or lifelong learning, as well as through social media or international sport development programmes (eg Olympic Solidarity and the International Inspiration Project

41. International Inspiration Project

42. Gentlemen, this is the order of ideas from which I intend to draw the elements of moral strength that must guide and protect the renaissance of athletics. Healthy democracy and wise and peaceful internationalism will make their way into the new stadium. There they will glorify the honour and selflessness that will enable athletics to carry out its task of moral betterment and social peace, as well as physical development. That is why every four years the restored Olympic Games must provide a happy and fraternal meeting place for the youth of the world, a place where, gradually, the ignorance of each other in which people live will disappear. This ignorance perpetuates ancient hatreds, increases misunderstandings, and precipitates such barbaric events as fights to the finish. (Coubertin 1894: lines 336 - 350)

43. Thank you Dr Dikaia Chatziefstathiou Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport and Leisure Email: dc130@canterbury.ac.uk

44. Links with Foucault and governmentality? • IN CANADA/ Vancouver experience / part of the curriculum / interdisciplinary