Search

More work is needed on measuring the impact of Sport for Development (SFD) organization and on the managerial structures and processes for change. The purpose of the current study was to analyze the logic model (LM) of a SFD program in Canada that provides training for high school coaches in low socioeconomic communities in Montreal. Methods: Key actors (i.e., coaches, program administrators, school directors, and sport coordinators; N=22) were interviewed about their perceptions of the different components of the organization’s LM, namely the program’s context, the initial problem it addressed, its needs, objectives, input, output, and impacts. Findings: Findings reveal the participants perceived the program as being successful by all key actors. Participants had similar understandings regarding the targeted problem and context, but their views differed regarding their understanding of the program’s activities. In addition, the key actors made suggestions to improve the program, including clarifying its objectives, reinforcing internal communication, and building stronger partnerships with the partner schools. Conclusions: Findings from the present study provide recommendations to help improve the organization’s LM. In addition, these findings can help researchers and SFD administrators reinforce essential organizational program structures and activities for better management, evaluation, and improved impact on communities.

This study focused on lessons learned from the Physical Education Curriculum under the reign of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). We conducted an unprecedented analysis of ISIS primary school physical education curriculum. The research objective focused on describing and analyzing the context and intentions of the document as well as its content (didactic, pedagogy, learning assessment, among others). We also analyzed the general scientific quality of the curriculum of physical education targeting fitness preparation by the instructor in charge of the education of the youth. In addition, our analysis focused on the philosophical and contextual issues of the manual. Findings revealed an incomplete and a rapidly developed textbook where several essential elements related to pedagogy, didactics, learning and assessment were missing or inconsistent. The logic of military preparation under the guise of preparing the student’s physical condition was an important finding without being explicitly mentioned. Integration of religious content was present without being affirmed in the content of the lessons. We argue that the ISIS physical education curriculum appears to be committed to an absolutist/theocratic ideological or propaganda program that, among other things, promotes the preparation of the future soldiers of the ISIS army. Recommendations about secularization and the reconstruction of post-ISIS education systems are formulated.

La littérature n’a pas encore bien documenté les éléments relatifs de l’adoption de saines habitudes de vie (SHV) sur le long terme (LT). Les chercheurs invitent désormais à compléter les nombreuses études quantitatives par des devis qualitatifs ou mixtes qui permettraient de mieux expliquer les conditions nécessaires à l’adoption ou au maintien des SHV sur le LT. La présente étude s’inscrit dans ces perspectives et cherche à comprendre les conditions gagnantes de l’adoption et du maintien de SHV. Des entretiens collectifs semi-structurés ont été menés auprès de trois groupes d’étudiants universitaires habitués à réfléchir sur ce type de questionnement de par leur formation et leurs expériences (deux groupes au baccalauréat en éducation physique et à la santé (EPS) et un groupe à la maîtrise en sciences de l’activité physique (M) dans une université québécoise). Les discussions collectives ont été analysées au travers de la méthode des catégories conceptualisantes. Les résultats identifient des conditions gagnantes dominantes dans l’adoption et le maintien de SHV, tels le rôle du milieu familial, de la diversité et du choix des activités physique lorsqu’on est jeune, l’environnement physique et social, l’autonomie, mais aussi la santé psychologique qui est étroitement liée avec la santé physique. Ces résultats ont été modélisés sous la forme d’un parcours idéal, qui trace l’impact de conditions gagnantes de l’enfance jusqu’à l’âge adulte pour l’adoption et le maintien des SHV. La méthodologie innovante de cette étude « à rebours », inspirée des méthodes de rétroingénieurie de l’industrie, ouvre la porte à de futures recherches qualitatives dans le domaine. Investiguer des parcours, en tenant compte des différentes phases de développement des enfants et adolescents pour identifier des facteurs de changement et de maintien de SHV, semble en effet être une avenue intéressante et nécessaire pour la recherche du domaine.

More research on Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) organizations is needed to better understand their actual contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, the unstable, restricted or even risky contexts in which many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and SDP agencies sometimes operate often leave researchers to face important challenges in order to develop effective or feasible methods to work with such organizations. The purpose of this study is to address ontological and epistemological questions about what should be known about a given context in an organization before setting off on fieldwork. We propose a methodology, based on the Actantial Model, as a method to analyze the nature and context of a project, to assess the actors involved in the project, and to establish if the global cost (i.e., material, temporal, financial, and physical) for conducting fieldwork is realistic and feasible of all parties involved in the potential project. In order to illustrate this process, we analyzed the nature and context of an SDP project in Madagascar as a first step for a potential collaborative research. As researchers, we do not want to invest time and energy to build up a fully developed field research project with an NGO in a context where it would not be realistic or feasible to conduct such research. Actually, in this context, to develop a research protocol without an implementation strategy might not only be detrimental to the researchers, but also to the NGO itself, where resources are often limited. Accordingly, results from this preliminary field research demonstrate that the Actantial Model is a relevant analytical tool for obtaining insights about the context, the actors, and their relationships within an NGO. In conclusion, this model might be a useful instrument for conducting an initial analysis for the preliminary identification of the necessary conditions for the construction of a sustainable empirical research partne

Background Climate change impacts are associated with dramatic consequences for human health and threaten physical activity (PA) behaviors. Objective The aims of this systematic review were to present the potential bidirectional associations between climate change impacts and PA behaviors in humans and to propose a synthesis of the literature through a conceptual model of climate change and PA. Methods Studies published before October 2020, were identified through database searches in Pubmed,PsycArticles, CINAHL, SportDiscus, GreenFILE, GeoRef, Scopus, JSTOR and Transportation Research Information Services. Studies examining the associations between PA domains and climate change (e.g., natural disasters, air pollution, carbon footprint) were included. Results A narrative synthesis was performed and the 74 identified articles were classified into 6 topics: air pollution and PA, extreme weather conditions and PA, greenhouse gas emissions and PA, carbon footprint among sport participants, natural disasters and PA and the future of PA and sport practices in a changing world. Then, a conceptual model was proposed to identify the multidimensional associations between climate change and PA as well as sport practices. Results indicated a consistent negative effect of air pollution, extreme temperatures and natural disasters on PA levels. This PA reduction is more severe in adults with chronic diseases, higher body mass index and the elderly. Sport and PA communities can play an important mitigating role in post-natural disaster contexts. However, transport related to sport practices is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Conclusion Climate change impacts affect PA at a worldwide scale. PA is observed to play both a mitigation and an amplification role in climate changes.

A previous paper focuses on the research protocol used to conduct a holistic and complex review on the social dimension of the human being. This theoretical chapter focuses on created a model about the constituent elements of social development of human beings evolving into a contemporary democratic society. From a cross-reading of the thoughts of ancient and contemporary authors, a number of structural, conceptual and dynamic elements related to this subject emerged. The linkage and articulation of these elements gave birth to an integrative model reflecting the complexity of the different components of the social dimension of human beings and their development. This chapter, based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological approach, unveils the process of developing this grid as well as the justification of the constituent elements that it comprises. It establishes a first foundation of knowledge synthesis on the social dimension of human beings.

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) is an international movement that began in the 2000s with the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) and is currently continuing around the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030, driven by international organizations such as UNESCO. Often located in an international development context, organizations and associations use sport as a vehicle to reach several social and humanitarian missions (e.g., education, social cohesion, health, reintegration, diplomacy, peace). This chapter presents the origins and objectives of the SDP, but it also looks at current research in the field. Since 2010, studies have significantly increased in the field around four main areas (macrosociological, field explorations, program management and evaluation, and literature reviews). This chapter also provides illustrations of SDP research projects, axis of tensions between practice and theory, and perspectives for future research in the field.

A previous paper focuses on the research protocol used to conduct a holistic and complex review on the social dimension of the human being. This theoretical chapter focuses on created a model about the constituent elements of social development of human beings evolving into a contemporary democratic society. From a cross-reading of the thoughts of ancient and contemporary authors, a number of structural, conceptual and dynamic elements related to this subject emerged. The linkage and articulation of these elements gave birth to an integrative model reflecting the complexity of the different components of the social dimension of human beings and their development. This chapter, based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological approach, unveils the process of developing this grid as well as the justification of the constituent elements that it comprises. It establishes a first foundation of knowledge synthesis on the social dimension of human beings.

Introduction: This study contributes to the advancement of the field of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) research in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). There are still few studies on SDP programs in this region and it is important to document and understand the impacts of these programs on participants. Methods: The present study is the result of a collaborative research that aims to describe the experiences and perceptions of Colombian youth and program managers who participated in an SDP program that took them from a local community sports club to the Olympic Games. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with key actors (administrators, coaches, and athletes) who participated in a triple and transversal (local, district and national) Olympic walking training program. Results: The results provided a better understanding of the program dynamics in the local, regional, and national level, as well as of the short- and long-term effects perceived by the actors of the process on their development, education, health, and career. Recommendations are made for SDP organizations in LAC. Discussion: Future studies should continue to investigate the SDP initiative in LAC to understand how sport can help development and peace building in this region.

This study focused on lessons learned from the Physical Education Curriculum under the reign of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). We conducted an unprecedented analysis of ISIS primary school physical education curriculum. The research objective focused on describing and analyzing the context and intentions of the document as well as its content (didactic, pedagogy, learning assessment, among others). We also analyzed the general scientific quality of the curriculum of physical education targeting fitness preparation by the instructor in charge of the education of the youth. In addition, our analysis focused on the philosophical and contextual issues of the manual. Findings revealed an incomplete and a rapidly developed textbook where several essential elements related to pedagogy, didactics, learning and assessment were missing or inconsistent. The logic of military preparation under the guise of preparing the student’s physical condition was an important finding without being explicitly mentioned. Integration of religious content was present without being affirmed in the content of the lessons. We argue that the ISIS physical education curriculum appears to be committed to an absolutist/theocratic ideological or propaganda program that, among other things, promotes the preparation of the future soldiers of the ISIS army. Recommendations about secularization and the reconstruction of post-ISIS education systems are formulated.

Introduction: Recent research investigating the benefits of being outdoors and contact with nature in children showed strong associations with children’s health and development. More teachers are choosing to integrate outdoor learning (OL) into their practice in Quebec, but few studies have focused on OL in the school environment, particularly in Canada and more specifically in Quebec, despite the fact that the school context lends itself favorably to this practice. Objective: The purpose of this study was to portray OL in preschool and primary schools in Québec by identifying three key elements: (1) teachers’ perception of the outdoors, (2) the uses of OL in schools, and (3) teaching strategies and factors that influence teachers’ integration of OL. Methodology: Semi-structured group interviews (n = 4) conducted with 14 teachers and participant observations (n = 4) were used for data collection. Inclusion criteria were to be a preschool or primary school teacher, to have taught at least eight sessions of OL in the past year, and to have no connection or contact with the research team prior to the start of the study. Results: First, the results showed that teachers commonly understood the outdoors as being in the open air, practicing a physical activity, having the presence of nature, providing physical freedom and targeting a pedagogical intention. Second, teachers appeared to incorporate a variety of pedagogical intentions in OL (e.g., environmental awareness, interdisciplinary learning), in a variety of settings (e.g., city parks, woodlands), and with a variety of academic subjects (e.g., French, mathematics) and learning tasks (e.g., walking, nature shelter building). Third, teachers used a wide range of teaching strategies in OL (e.g., flexible planning, well-established routines). Participants also identified multiple factors specific to their setting that appeared to facilitate (e.g., parental support) or limit (e.g., storage of materials) their integration o

More work is needed on measuring the impact of Sport for Development (SFD) organization and on the managerial structures and processes for change. The purpose of the current study was to analyze the logic model (LM) of a SFD program in Canada that provides training for high school coaches in low socioeconomic communities in Montreal. Methods: Key actors (i.e., coaches, program administrators, school directors, and sport coordinators; N=22) were interviewed about their perceptions of the different components of the organization’s LM, namely the program’s context, the initial problem it addressed, its needs, objectives, input, output, and impacts. Findings: Findings reveal the participants perceived the program as being successful by all key actors. Participants had similar understandings regarding the targeted problem and context, but their views differed regarding their understanding of the program’s activities. In addition, the key actors made suggestions to improve the program, including clarifying its objectives, reinforcing internal communication, and building stronger partnerships with the partner schools. Conclusions: Findings from the present study provide recommendations to help improve the organization’s LM. In addition, these findings can help researchers and SFD administrators reinforce essential organizational program structures and activities for better management, evaluation, and improved impact on communities.

The literature has not yet well documented the relative elements of the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits (HLHs) over the long term. More especially, researchers are calling to complete the corpus with qualitative or mixed estimates that would allow them to better explain the conditions necessary for the adoption or maintenance of HLHs over the long term. The present study seeks to understand the winning conditions for the adoption and maintenance of HLHs. Semi-structured group interviews were conducted with three groups of university students (two in Bachelor’s degree in physical education (PE) and one in Master’s degree in physical activity science), all in favor with HLHs. The results identify some dominant winning conditions in the adoption and maintenance of HLHs, such as the role of the family environment, the role of diversity and choice in physical activities during youth, the physical and social environment, autonomy and also mental health, which is closely linked with physical health. Results were modelled in the form of an ideal pathway, which traces the impact of winning conditions from childhood to adulthood. The originality of this study stands out, among other things, because of its innovative methodology; therefore, this study opens the door to future qualitative research in the field. Investigating pathways, considering the different phases of development of children and adolescents to identify factors of change and maintenance of HLHs now seems to be an interesting and necessary avenue for research in the field.

More research on Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) organizations is needed to better understand their actual contributions to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, the unstable, restricted or even risky contexts in which many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and SDP agencies sometimes operate often leave researchers to face important challenges in order to develop effective or feasible methods to work with such organizations. The purpose of this study is to address ontological and epistemological questions about what should be known about a given context in an organization before setting off on fieldwork. We propose a methodology, based on the Actantial Model, as a method to analyze the nature and context of a project, to assess the actors involved in the project, and to establish if the global cost (i.e., material, temporal, financial, and physical) for conducting fieldwork is realistic and feasible of all parties involved in the potential project. In order to illustrate this process, we analyzed the nature and context of an SDP project in Madagascar as a first step for a potential collaborative research. As researchers, we do not want to invest time and energy to build up a fully developed field research project with an NGO in a context where it would not be realistic or feasible to conduct such research. Actually, in this context, to develop a research protocol without an implementation strategy might not only be detrimental to the researchers, but also to the NGO itself, where resources are often limited. Accordingly, results from this preliminary field research demonstrate that the Actantial Model is a relevant analytical tool for obtaining insights about the context, the actors, and their relationships within an NGO. In conclusion, this model might be a useful instrument for conducting an initial analysis for the preliminary identification of the necessary conditions for the construction of a sustainable empirical research partne

Background Climate change impacts are associated with dramatic consequences for human health and threaten physical activity (PA) behaviors. Objective The aims of this systematic review were to present the potential bidirectional associations between climate change impacts and PA behaviors in humans and to propose a synthesis of the literature through a conceptual model of climate change and PA. Methods Studies published before October 2020, were identified through database searches in Pubmed,PsycArticles, CINAHL, SportDiscus, GreenFILE, GeoRef, Scopus, JSTOR and Transportation Research Information Services. Studies examining the associations between PA domains and climate change (e.g., natural disasters, air pollution, carbon footprint) were included. Results A narrative synthesis was performed and the 74 identified articles were classified into 6 topics: air pollution and PA, extreme weather conditions and PA, greenhouse gas emissions and PA, carbon footprint among sport participants, natural disasters and PA and the future of PA and sport practices in a changing world. Then, a conceptual model was proposed to identify the multidimensional associations between climate change and PA as well as sport practices. Results indicated a consistent negative effect of air pollution, extreme temperatures and natural disasters on PA levels. This PA reduction is more severe in adults with chronic diseases, higher body mass index and the elderly. Sport and PA communities can play an important mitigating role in post-natural disaster contexts. However, transport related to sport practices is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Conclusion Climate change impacts affect PA at a worldwide scale. PA is observed to play both a mitigation and an amplification role in climate changes.

La littérature n’a pas encore bien documenté les éléments relatifs de l’adoption de saines habitudes de vie (SHV) sur le long terme (LT). Les chercheurs invitent désormais à compléter les nombreuses études quantitatives par des devis qualitatifs ou mixtes qui permettraient de mieux expliquer les conditions nécessaires à l’adoption ou au maintien des SHV sur le LT. La présente étude s’inscrit dans ces perspectives et cherche à comprendre les conditions gagnantes de l’adoption et du maintien de SHV. Des entretiens collectifs semi-structurés ont été menés auprès de trois groupes d’étudiants universitaires habitués à réfléchir sur ce type de questionnement de par leur formation et leurs expériences (deux groupes au baccalauréat en éducation physique et à la santé (EPS) et un groupe à la maîtrise en sciences de l’activité physique (M) dans une université québécoise). Les discussions collectives ont été analysées au travers de la méthode des catégories conceptualisantes. Les résultats identifient des conditions gagnantes dominantes dans l’adoption et le maintien de SHV, tels le rôle du milieu familial, de la diversité et du choix des activités physique lorsqu’on est jeune, l’environnement physique et social, l’autonomie, mais aussi la santé psychologique qui est étroitement liée avec la santé physique. Ces résultats ont été modélisés sous la forme d’un parcours idéal, qui trace l’impact de conditions gagnantes de l’enfance jusqu’à l’âge adulte pour l’adoption et le maintien des SHV. La méthodologie innovante de cette étude « à rebours », inspirée des méthodes de rétroingénieurie de l’industrie, ouvre la porte à de futures recherches qualitatives dans le domaine. Investiguer des parcours, en tenant compte des différentes phases de développement des enfants et adolescents pour identifier des facteurs de changement et de maintien de SHV, semble en effet être une avenue intéressante et nécessaire pour la recherche du domaine.

A previous paper focuses on the research protocol used to conduct a holistic and complex review on the social dimension of the human being. This theoretical chapter focuses on created a model about the constituent elements of social development of human beings evolving into a contemporary democratic society. From a cross-reading of the thoughts of ancient and contemporary authors, a number of structural, conceptual and dynamic elements related to this subject emerged. The linkage and articulation of these elements gave birth to an integrative model reflecting the complexity of the different components of the social dimension of human beings and their development. This chapter, based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological approach, unveils the process of developing this grid as well as the justification of the constituent elements that it comprises. It establishes a first foundation of knowledge synthesis on the social dimension of human beings.