Abstract

The following contribution is a summary of the main chapters of the author’s dissertation at Mainz University in 2011. It presents some of the results of a historical, critical incorporation and analysis of Olympic educational programmes for schools, elaborated by host cities of Olympic Games, National Olympic Academies, international institutions and the CIPC’s long-term project of an International Network of Coubertin Schools. The aim of the author’s study, presented in chapter 1, is a systematic examination of Olympic educational models and programmes in schools during the period 1976–2010. The terms “Olympism” and “Olympic education” are defined in chapter 2 on the basis of the educational works of Pierre de Coubertin (1863–1937), and the value definitions derived from these. Chapter 3, the largest section, presents an analysis of 18 Olympic educational programmes of twelve Olympic cities since 1976. Covering approx. 5,500 pages, the analysis evaluates a wide range of materials, for the most part in English and French, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. While the programmes were found to be similar in many respects, such as in terms of objectives, target groups, content and methodical implementation, a very different picture emerged with regard to the commu-nication of Olympic values. In the majority of Olympic educational programmes run by Olympic Games hosts, for instance, the communication of Olympic knowledge prevails over the imparting of Olympic values. More than two thirds of all programmes in this category offer texts, exercises and activities that address all seven individual values (according to Grupe/Müller 20037) of an Olympic educational programme in a number of different ways. In just five of the programmes analysed was any shortfall identified in the representation of individual values. It was notable that, in most educational programmes, more is written concerning sport than opportunities are offered to experience sport for oneself. Often, these even come last in the frequency scale of Olympic individual values. To date, school sports, trumpeted as the “core subject of Olympic education”, have thus had only limited impact in implementing these values effectively. Applying the same methodology used for the study of Olympic educational programmes of host cities of the Olympic Games, exemplarily, three international programmes have been analysed in chapter 4. It could be stated that these programmes focus on teaching the main aspects of the Olympic Movement. Consequently, the authors prefer a neutral presentation of all topics without moving the one or other nation into the limelight. Three of the national initiatives instituted since 1990 (Germany, Australia and Estonia) are analysed as examples to illustrate models of a particularly exemplary standing (see chapter 5). The research results document that the development, coordination and implementation of Olympic education is from the outset dependent on specific national and regional, historical and cultural as well as personnel-determined require-ments. Chapter 6 concerns a multi-year evaluation study of the author on Olympic education at over 20 schools named after Coubertin, and which belong to a worldwide association. Every two years representatives from all schools compete for the Pierre de Coubertin Award during a one-week youth forum, including the following five learning areas for an Olympic education: sporting efforts, social conduct, moral behaviour, Olympic knowledge and artistic creativity. The comparison results of the two youth forums, for instance, substantiate that the “learning organisation” of the network of Coubertin schools contributed significantly to supporting the content-specific aspects of Olym-pic education in all five areas of learning, both in the course of the youth forum and at the individual schools themselves. Quantitative and qualitative progress has been acknowledged in Olympic educational work. In terms of the organisational dimension of the study, institutionalisation, the international and multicultural character, and the event character and competitor character aspects helped increase the effectiveness of implementation. As regards long-term perspectives, the effects can certainly be verified as more sustainable compared with previous models, although not accurately measurable in all cases. However, it is also clear that any further expansion of the network, despite the many positive trends experienced, is at present pitted against a range of limitations, first and foremost of a financial and personnel-related nature. The final chapter includes a summary on the value of Olympic education; opportunities, challenges and the possible further development of Coubertin’s original educational mission are discussed. The author offers ten basic recommendations for the effective implementation of different Olympic educa-tional models based on her own 27 years of experience as a teacher, which might also be helpful for future hosts of Olympic Games. Verf.-Referat