Kathy Armour University of Birmingham

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 pushup [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?

Research evidence on CPD problems...

Limited large-scale research

Attending CPD is evidence of learning

Weak link between CPD and pupil learning

No time or support for CPD

Inadequate evaluation

CPD not in authentic settings

Informal CPD dominates

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.