OLYMPIC EDUCATION AS THE FACTOR OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNGER ADOLESCENTS: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Abstract

The article provides brief theoretical analysis of the concept of ‘Olympic education’, which generally has two main approaches. The first views Olympic education in a very broad sense, which includes physical education. The second view point is a very narrow understanding of Olympic education as the knowledge about the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. In this study we view Olympic education as a factor of personal development and as a kind of education, which includes certain knowledge, skills, and moral values of the Olympic culture. The article presents the results of the first stage of the survey conducted among 432 secondary school students of the 5 th and the 6 th grades [1] . Younger adolescents’ socialization and tolerance level were estimated with the help of M.I. Rozhkov’s methods and the questionnaire ‘Index of Tolerance’ (by G.U. Soldatova and coauthors). As the result of the survey more than a half of the respondents showed above average level of socialization. Although a very small number of respondents have below average level of socialization, students with the average level of socialization amounted to more than a third of the respondents. Regarding the tolerance the vast majority of students showed the average level. The number of students with the level of tolerance above average is not significant. The level of ethnic tolerance is particularly low. We conclude that there are grounds for advancing and proving the hypothesis of the positive influence of Olympic education on socialization and tolerance among young adolescents. [1] Translator’s note: In the Russian secondary school education system the 5 th and the 6 th grades approximately correspond to the age of 11-13.