Abstract
The promotion of Olympic education through Olympic events has received increased attention among researchers. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) as an arena for Olympic education based on the perceptions of the pupils participating in the school programme “Dream Day” during the YOG 2016 in Lillehammer, a former Olympic city in Norway. Didactical principles for Olympic education (Naul, 2008) are adopted as an analytical framework. This is a qualitative case study using interviews, observations and personal essays of participating pupils as the main sources. Based on the findings in this paper, we argue that the YOG have significant potential as an arena for Olympic education. However, this potential is not yet utilized, and the following implications for future practices are presented. First, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to put more effort into the implementation of Olympic education programmes. Second, the implementation of Olympic education programmes should be a collaboration between different groups and disciplines, including youth representatives. Third, corroborating Naul’s (2008), the pupils’ socio-cultural backgrounds have to be taken into account in order to meet the needs of the participating youth. Finally, the Olympic education programme should have a long-term perspective where the Games are used to increase the educational effect.
Highlights
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are a recent creation in the history of the Olympic Movement
The implementation of Dream Day According to LYOGOC representative 1, the main rationale for the Dream Day initiative was to implement the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s vision for the YOG and to “let the local youth take part in the Games.”
The Sporty Norwegian programme was aimed at teaching the high school pupils about the Olympic values through classroom discussions led by the authors based on a book they had read in advance
Summary
The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are a recent creation in the history of the Olympic Movement. The YOG was established in 2007 as an international elite multi-sport event for young athletes aged between 15 and 18 years. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants the YOG to be more than just a sporting event and has an ambition of reaching beyond the participating athletes. The YOG was promoted as a strategy to improve health, increase sports participation and re-establish interest in Olympic sports among the world’s youth (IOC, 2007). The vision is to “inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values” A central strategy to realise the ambitious goals of the YOG involves a variety of cultural and educational programmes. This paper evaluates the YOG as an arena for Olympic education based on the experiences of the pupils’ participating in the largest school programme at the second Winter YOG 2016 in Lillehammer, Dream Day
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
