In the current study published in the Journal of Sport for Development, researchers evaluated a sport plus intervention with the goal of using football as a medium to teach children concepts such as citizenship, conflict resolution and leadership skills. The programme focused on teaching Jordanian grassroots coaches how to create a positive environment within their football teams.
Using a train-the-trainer approach, this study was designed to assess two sets of in-country workshops provided through the Sport for Peace and Understanding in Jordan (SPUJ) programme. This programme was designed to teach coaches how to develop citizenship behaviours and conflict resolution skills in young people, through the game of football. The evaluation involved measuring coaches’ knowledge gains, mutual understanding, perceived abilities, and satisfaction through a pre/post-test descriptive design.
The study’s focal points were:
- The results determining individual participant increases in observed scores of content knowledge. This included overall improvement on the post-test, and improvements on the post-test items specific to football content and peace curricula
- The observed decreases in social distance scores which indicate increased mutual understanding
- Measures showing improved participant’s self-perceived preparedness and confidence to apply the taught skills. This extended to feeling more comfortable when working with someone of another gender, but not another culture
Visit the Journal of Sport for Development website to view the article
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