Do our expectations of sport in schools reflect "folk wisdom" where we think "students will eventually engage with something they like, hopefully sufficiently to pursue it now or in their future"? 

If so, shouldn't we working to get sport OUT of schools?

https://t.co/iHu30PC7tu

Backing up: some on the outside of schools & education might still anticipate finding engagement with a "Multi Activity Curriculum" that gives pupils a "bit-of-this" & a "bit-of-that"... perhaps because that's what so many of us genuinely experienced ourselves so very long ago!
Of course, if that had worked well back-in-the-day... we'd be a nation of sporting nuts, having each found our own way of making some sporting-pastime or another a major stabilising influence on our life - & the world would never have needed "Towards An Active Nation" & the rest.
Anyone not familiar with the context might want to glance at this piece by @pilly66 - which gets us a little way into why we might avoid getting school PE & sport delivered by sports coaches & in connection with a culturally dominant mainstream sport.

https://t.co/M1xoiIaiHh
@coachnateb gets to one issue in this recent piece:

** PE, in a Democratic society, should not primarily be for Sport, Fitness, Movement Skill, or even a future “Physically Active” life **

Key thing: kids doing "sport" in school is NOT inherently good!

https://t.co/MJQKebQjua
Is sport IN schools our priority? Or do we need to rally behind @justenoconnor, @Greg_Dryer, @ImSporticus & others working to help young people find meaning in movement & their way into pursuits for life beyond the school gate? To PE beyond Sport Coaching?
https://t.co/q3yoDtAhSE
Now we have a dystopian vision of the FA working to "help girls [...] fall in love with our game at a young age"...

That's "embedding football for girls in schools, as part of the PE curriculum and in after-school sessions" 🧐

Safeguarding alert: NGB GROOMING 5-11 year olds 🤬
The FAs (quite terrifying) "measure of success" is "90% of schools (primary/secondary) in England to be part of THE FA Girls' Football School Partnership network" - which means what, exactly, in terms of diversity of school PE & career paths for aspiring school teachers?
Already, we have this sort of thing appearing: inspiring in the way it celebrates #thisgirlcan - but where are the big voices we might expect to see rallying around to support PE teaching staff in the midst of this corporate assault on their world?

https://t.co/pRaNw0NyW0
In fairness, many who know soccer very well (including @markstkhlm) are already embroiled in even greater battles as @FAIreland is proposing "putting unbelievable pressure on kids to give up other sports so they can train for soccer 3-4 night a week" 🤬

https://t.co/bHLS8D68XY
Many of us grew up in an era dominated by football hooliganism - eventually culminating in the Heysel Stadium disaster - but what we are now seeing is across football is vandalism with targets who are much more vulnerable - & being carried out by Boards in the name of the sport!

More from Society

So, as the #MegaMillions jackpot reaches a record $1.6B and #Powerball reaches $620M, here's my advice about how to spend the money in a way that will truly set you, your children and their kids up for life.

Ready?

Create a private foundation and give it all away. 1/

Let's stipulate first that lottery winners often have a hard time. Being publicly identified makes you a target for "friends" and "family" who want your money, as well as for non-family grifters and con men. 2/

The stress can be damaging, even deadly, and Uncle Sam takes his huge cut. Plus, having a big pool of disposable income can be irresistible to people not accustomed to managing wealth.
https://t.co/fiHsuJyZwz 3/

Meanwhile, the private foundation is as close as we come to Downton Abbey and the landed aristocracy in this country. It's a largely untaxed pot of money that grows significantly over time, and those who control them tend to entrench their own privileges and those of their kin. 4

Here's how it works for a big lotto winner:

1. Win the prize.
2. Announce that you are donating it to the YOUR NAME HERE Family Foundation.
3. Receive massive plaudits in the press. You will be a folk hero for this decision.
4. Appoint only trusted friends/family to board. 5/
Imagine if Christians actually had to live according to their Bibles.


Imagine if Christians actually sacrificed themselves for the good of those they considered their enemies, with no thought of any recompense or reward, but only to honor the essential humanity of all people.

Imagine if Christians sold all their possessions and gave it to the poor.

Imagine if they relentlessly stood up for the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.

Imagine if they worshipped a God whose response to political power was to reject it.

Or cancelled all debt owed them?

Imagine if the primary orientation of Christians was what others needed, not what they deserved.

Imagine Christians with no interest in protecting what they had.

Imagine Christians who made room for other beliefs, and honored the truths they found there.

Imagine Christians who saved their forgiveness and mercy for others, rather than saving it for themselves.

Whose empathy went first to the abused, not the abuser.

Who didn't see tax as theft; who didn't need to control distribution of public good to the deserving.

You May Also Like