Aims and objectives

Member states have now transposed the EC Equality Directives into national legislation to combat racism, but legislation by itself is not enough to address racism in society and its institutions. Educational institutions, alongside the media and sports organisations are expected to take a lead in promoting anti-racism. Consequently there is a vast expectation on teachers to tackle racism at both the school and broader societal levels. However, there is very little information, training and support available for teachers to address these issues. Additionally, tackling racism needs to be understood within the context of intercultural understanding and competence, which teachers are charged with developing amongst all young people under the key competences framework. However, few opportunities exist for teachers themselves to develop such competence.

The specific needs the project will meet are:
• The need for a theoretical and action learning based research overview on the use of sport and education to combat racism and exclusion
• The need to develop suitable training opportunities for teachers to acquire appropriate knowledge and skills in promoting anti-discrimination and intercultural competence
• The need for suitable teaching guidance, materials and resources
• The creation of opportunities to test out new ideas and learning
• The need for wide dissemination and forums for networking/information exchange

The proposed project seeks to address these gaps by:
1. Developing and piloting an in-service training course for teachers from the particular perspective of learning and teaching anti-discrimination and co-operation principles through sport.
2. Developing and piloting a schools curriculum with a programme of sports activities involving teachers, pupils and representatives of sports bodies and voluntary organisations
3. Producing a series of publications and teaching resources for wider dissemination across the education and sports communities
4. Organising a European conference on Equality in Sport, Schools and Society with key education and sports experts, teachers, pupils and policy makers in the field
5. Organising a summer soccer competition to alternate between the four different countries