Child Welfare and Protection in Sport – (M.A.)

Contents

Details of Modules

* Sport Organisation, Politcs and the Law

The purpose of the module is to locate forms of sport organisation in the UK within their cultural and political contexts. It examines the role of the state and the effects of legislation on sport organisation and provision, in particular addressing the contemporary role of youth sport within sport development and international development agendas.

The module assesses the significance of national and international politics, nationalism and the role of the law in the regulation of sport. Topics include: sport organisation, politics and the state; sports and policy in the UK; concepts and theories of age, childhood and youth in sport; youth sport policy, development and talent identification; the law, coaching, and child protection; the Modern Olympics; the Paralympics and disability in sport; gender politics, sexuality and sport; the Gay Games; drugs in sport; injury and the law.



* Safeguarding Children and Young People in Sport

Positionality and reflexivity in contemporary social analysis; the place of welfare and protection in ideologies of sport and physical education; child protection and welfare in context: history and policy in the UK; children´s rights, equity and empowerment
Safeguarding in sport - strategy, policy and discourses; the work of the CPSU and the National Standards for Safeguarding Children in Sport; international and national legal frameworks and charters; the place of safeguarding in the international sports policy agenda e.g. IOC, UNICEF, international federations, Panathlon International, British Council, Right to Play; comparative policy development and implementation among different governing bodies and different countries, such as e.g. Talent Development in relation to athlete autonomy, Athlete Career and Education/Lifestyle management initiatives; management and quality assurance issues; monitoring and evaluation case studies.



* Independent Study

The module enables students to pursue an area of interest and relevance within a chosen discipline, in this case youth sport welfare. It gives then the opportunity to negotiate, manage and present their personal learning outcomes. The structure of the student´s study programme will be dependent upon the learner and assessment contract agreed between them, their supervisor and the module leader. The topic chosen must be different from the topic of the MA dissertation. In order to pass this module the student must:

* Submit a learning contract for approval by Week 4
* Attend a minimum of six tutorials with their supervisor
* Produce a written report of masters level work
* Produce an evidence file that incorporates a reflective account of the learning process
* Present their work orally
* Ensure that the work does not replicate any other work being undertaken in any other module.

Failure to comply with any of the above will result in failure of the module.



* Global Agendas on Young People, Rights and Partiocipation

Human rights: history, critiques and mobilisation; theorising children´s rights: child liberation and caretaker views; changing conceptions of children´s rights; the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: history and critiques; alternative conceptions of children´s rights: the African Charter; children´s rights in practice: children´s rights in national laws; claiming rights; participatory development: history and practices
Children´s participation: the arguments; participatory projects with children; problematising children´s participation; youth and participation; youth politics and activism.



* Researching Children, Childhood and Youth

What is research? Philosophical foundations of social research; politics and ethics of social research, including considerations for cross-cultural research; special considerations for researching with children (including ethical issues); designing a research strategy for academic and policy research; designing monitoring and evaluation of projects; researching with/ in organisations; data collection (secondary data sources, fieldwork, collecting quantitative data, collecting qualitative data, visual methods, PAR etc); data analysis (quantitative and qualitative, discourse analysis, policy analysis, programme evaluation); communicating research - writing up and other dissemination strategies

* International Development, Children and Youth

The module will comprise three parts.

Part A will introduce the module, exploring definitions of childhood, youth and international development, and theories of childhood and youth. In particular students will be introduced to the new social studies of childhood. The key tenets of this approach - the social construction of childhood and youth, and the agency of young people - will subsequently be used to examine how theory, policy and practice in international development has accounted for and impacted on young people´s lives.

Specifically, in Part B of the module, the following aspects of theory, policy and practice will be considered, first in general terms and then in relation to young people

* Theories of, and historical approaches to, development
* The contested moral terrain of international development: social justice, responsibility and the construction of passive subjects (including the mobilisation of `the child´ as the ultimate passive, apolitical development object)
* Globalisation, global agendas and global institutions (including the export of a 'global model of childhood' through international conventions and organisations such as UNICEF)
* Policy environments: aid policy and politics, the state and NGOs (including changes in the delivery of education and healthcare to children)
* Development programmes and projects (including programmes and projects for street children)

Part C examines some key conceptual tools that are used in development studies to help understand the lives of the poor.

* Poverty, well-being, vulnerability and resilience
* Intergenerational relations: families and social reproduction
* Livelihoods and sustainability
* Spatialities - urban-rural interactions, urban and rural lives, migration

These concepts will be introduced to students, and their application to children and youth investigated. Critical dialogue between the social studies of childhood and concepts of development studies will both highlight the need for development studies to consider young people and challenge the assumptions embedded in both conceptual fields.



Dissertation

The choice of the topic for the research project is suggested by the individual student, but is subject to the formal agreement of the module leader. In general the topic is likely to be developed from substantive material covered elsewhere in the programme, and related to individual interest, experience and opportunities. The dissertation is usually developed from the research proposal produced in the research methods module, in discussion with a member of staff - the project advisor.

Assessment

Assessment is an integral part of the learning process. Students will encounter a range of assessment methods including: essays, reflexive diaries, examination papers, case studies, forms of oral assessment such as seminar presentations, and individually-researched projects. Teaching Methods

The course has a strong emphasis on student-centred learning. This is evident through its teaching and learning methods, which require the active participation of all members of the group and place importance on independent investigation. Each module includes contact hours and independent learning, which involves individual study using library resources, data collection and other relevant activities connected with the module.