Olympic Education in France: A Legacy Issue or the Promotion of a Model in Crisis?

Michaël Attali,François Le Yondre

doi:10.3390/socsci11020062

Michaël Attali, François Le Yondre

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11020062

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Journal: Social Sciences	Publication Date: Feb 8, 2022
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Rennes 2, University of Rennes

Abstract

Both the promoters of Olympism and the organisers of the Olympic Games regularly employ the term legacy. In this context, the use of education as a tool constitutes an important stake. We have analysed the position of French actors in education with regard to Olympism and the measures implemented. In this respect, we have studied, on the one hand, the texts of the IOC and OCOGs from the 1960s to those concerning Paris 2024, in order to identify the concepts of education. On the other hand, we have focused on the professional texts of Physical Education and Sport (PES) teachers. Finally, in order to complete this analysis, we have examined the contents of projects labelled as part of the “Olympic Class” scheme, designed as one of the main channels for rolling out Olympic education in schools. This study has made it possible to identify the ways in which PES teachers engage in and take ownership of the concept of Olympic education, sometimes to the point of validating its ideological foundations or transforming them. Our study thus ponders the means used to make Olympism a universal subject and demonstrates that, far from offering real pedagogical treatment of Olympic facts, current practices aim rather to form generations of spectators attached to Olympism and guarantee the success of future Olympiads.

Highlights

Behind the reinstatement of the Olympic Games by Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the end of the 19th century lay the conviction that sport embodied values conducive to building a new social model around universalism, hierarchy and surpassment
The European project for Sport, Schools and Olympic Values in Europe was explicit on the subject: “Olympic education strengthens the cultural identity of individuals in a globalised world and promotes the well-being of each one
This study aimed to grasp the policies implemented around Olympism in France over a long period of time, in order to understand the choices made since the 2024 Olympic Games were awarded to Paris

Summary

Introduction

Behind the reinstatement of the Olympic Games by Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the end of the 19th century lay the conviction that sport embodied values conducive to building a new social model around universalism, hierarchy and surpassment. ] the concept of a strong muscular culture based, on the one hand, on the chivalrous spirit, what you call here [in Great Britain] fair play and, on the other hand, on the aesthetic idea, the cult of beauty and grace” (Coubertin 1908). Whether media-based, institutional or political, they must enable the diffusion of an ideal that should be enacted. This is the case for education, which constitutes one of the essential foundations of Olympism and which has become a fundamental component of the Olympic ideal (Naul et al 2018). Going beyond the mere proceedings of sports events, it presumes effects over individuals and corresponds to a political project (Piggin 2019)

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