Understanding China’s School Football Fever in the Post-Beijing Olympic Era, 2009–2016: Policy and Practice

Abstract

This article aims to understand the current policies, practices, and challenges in the sphere of football training in schools of China by investigating campus football development in Anhui province. From 2009 to 2016, China has formulated policies to improve the popularity of football at the school level. With the Chinese government’s investment, the number of primary and secondary schools with specialized football training facilities has increased to 13,382 by 2016. These schools with football as a specialty (SFS) enjoy policy support in teaching, training, competitions, and in many other fields. By employing semistructured interviews, participatory observations as well as an analysis of various policy documents, this article provides an insight into the implementation of China’s school football policies by local government. It shows that these SFS have demonstrated desires and capacities to develop football performance in response to demands from the Chinese government. However, a number of developing issues exist in both SFS and non-SFS, such as lack of football fields for training and shortage of professionally qualified coaches as well as tensions between football training and other subjects learning. China still needs more time to fulfil her task for the promotion of grassroots football on campus and to achieve elite football dreams.     

Public policy,physical education and sport in English-speaking Africa

Background: Physicality in human movement characteristic of indigenous sporting forms in Africa is grounded in a multitude of cultures. During the period of colonial Africa, there was the introduction of British sporting forms, policies, and practices in schools and society. It was through schools and missions that the colonists introduced sport activities, with colonial administrators and officers prioritizing athleticism over other activities, evident in after-school sports and games. Thus, schools along with Christian missions served as the instruments of colonial education, culture, and sport, with resources allocated selectively to advance racialized and classist education.

Purpose: This paper explores how colonialism, particularly British forms of sport physicality, impacted African people and deconstructs how curriculum and teaching in physical education (PE) during the post-colonial era is lost to the politics of knowledge in the school–society nexus, revealing how the school curriculum serves as a contested terrain. This contestation discloses how colonial and post-colonial narratives intertwine to influence public policy and school practices in the development and implementation of PE curriculum.

Themes: Examination of the literature produced themes associated with stratification of school subjects and marginalization of PE in particular – the exam-oriented and elitist-oriented education – which characterized British Africa, and made British education part and parcel of policy development and implementation, influencing the nature of education, and PE in particular. The elitist education influenced public policy initiatives, frameworks, and corresponding reforms resulting in stratification of school subjects, the use of public school expenditure, and in the type of teacher training followed. In addition, negative school-wide practices became apparent with public policy, rules, and regulations being loosely coupled with school realities, leading PE to be considered as a ‘toothless subject' in the school curriculum. Besides physicality and learning in PE are not distinguishable from sporting forms and practices, bringing out the emphasis on competitive school sport that has been used to promote nation's prestige, social engineering, and economic development.

Conclusion: A development of way forward for PE in British Africa is considered critical and warranted for adequate development of children and youth and for promotion of the health welfare of society. PE plays a critical part in the nexus between education and development; including meeting individual and social welfare goals of post-colonial British Africa; and as such the needs of all children should be at the forefront of policy development and implementation. What is warranted is a development of a standard-based reform that is grounded in a strong formulated public policy that acknowledges diversity in the centralized system of education; with its implementation showing a balance of PE with after-school sport programs and incorporation of indigenous sporting forms.     

近10年我国校园足球政策：回顾、审思与建议

运用文献研究、问卷调查、实地调研等方法,对近10年我国校园足球政策的演进历程与总体特征、实施成效和存在问题等进行了全面梳理和分析,进而提出我国校园足球政策的未来发展建议。10年来我国校园足球取得了令人瞩目的发展成效,但基于公共政策发展与运行的整体视角进行全面分析与考察发现,校园足球政策仍存在政策之间内在逻辑衔接不足,校园足球整体与协同性推进受阻;政策传导差异化反应,执行效果产生较大偏差;评估机制不够完善,政策评估实效性不强;基层权益表达渠道不畅,政策调整内生动力不足等问题。据此,提出我国校园足球政策的未来发展建议:加强政策统筹治理,促进校园足球系统性与整体性推进;健全政策监督体系,增强校园足球发展协同效应;建立第三方评估参与机制,提升校园足球政策评估实效;推进科研成果转化应用,助力校园足球政策调整科学。     

制度环境视角下我国校园足球政策执行纠偏策略研究

我国校园足球新政执行至今,虽然取得了一定的阶段性成果,但是,政策执行过程中出现的走样、跑偏现象不容忽视。引入政策执行偏差解释理论的制度环境视角,运用理论分析结合具体案例和访谈材料,探讨了当前我国校园足球政策执行偏差问题产生的机制。研究认为,我国校园足球政策在执行过程中之所以出现偏差,是在应试教育和学校安全事故规避背景制度的阻力制约下校园足球政策本身提供的激励程度不足导致的。要想改变这一局面,一方面需要通过背景制度设计,提高学校体育的资源获得能力,明晰学校安全事故的责任担当,另一方面需要提升校园足球政策本身的激励程度。     

When Will China Win the World Cup? A Study of China’s Youth Football Development

Abstract

What is embarrassing for Chinese sports is that the supply of the sports cannot meet the needs of people with the rapid development in almost every field of sport in China. Furthermore, teenage sport has deteriorated year on year and is very short of backup talents in competitive sports. Faced with China’s devastated football, the appropriate attitude is neither seeking quick success and instant benefits nor ignoring it; the urgent thing for this moment is to establish a feasible and sustainable football system. An analysis of the history of Chinese football, the strategy of football development by the country’s leaders, and the policy of Youth Campus Football in 2009, coupled with sports humanism, suggests that the future lies in instilling a sharing sports concept, promoting the joint efforts of school, society, and family.     

Cross-Impact Computer Simulation of Physical Education Program Priorities: A Systems Perspective

Abstract

This study explores some of the links between the physical education system and its socioeconomic environment, with examples drawn from Canadian experience. A cross-impact simulation was constructed and experiments were conducted to develop 20-year scenarios for a variety of economic conditions, government policies, community action, and changes in educational philosophies. Of particular interest was the observation that external changes had more impact upon the development of school programs than did pressures from within the system. One experiment suggested that changes in economic conditions, government policy, and public opinion were more influential than changes emanating from teacher-training institutions. To the designer of physical education programs, the simulation provides an indication of the environmental conditions which may favor the implementation of health-related, participative activities and those conditions which promote an emphasis upon competitive sports. Given such kinds of information the curriculum expert can design programs that attempt to accommodate needs at all levels of the system.     

我国校园足球政策的三维协同研究

采用内容分析法,构建集“政策工具-政策制定主体-时间数量”一体化的校园足球三维分析框架,对2009—2018年国务院以及各部委发布的校园足球相关政策进行计量分析,并构建了我国校园足球政策的协同模型。研究表明,校园足球政策制定主体以单一部门为主,联合部门发文量较少,政策制定主体协同度仍需提升。在政策工具的使用上存在较大差异,政府偏向于环境型政策的使用,供给型政策比例有待提高,需求型政策相对匮乏。随着校园足球的深入发展,应该进一步提高政策制定主体的协同性,适当调整环境型政策工具,增加税收金融类;合理匹配供给型政策工具,加强校园足球的推动力;增加需求型政策工具,提高校园足球的拉动力。     

Xi Jin-Ping’s World Cup Dreams: From a Major Sports Country to a World Sports Power

Abstract

Football is among the world’s most popular sports. It is also one which China has sought to develop in the field of global professional sport. Nevertheless, the professionalization of football in China has not to date actually improved China’s Olympic achievement in the sport. In stark contrast to the glory of being the country that won most gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, China’s poor football performance has been troublesome for the country’s leader. In 2009, newly elected Xi Jin-Ping made a public statement about promoting elite football and expressed his personal hope that China would be capable of both qualifying for the final stages and winning the FIFA World Cup. With such concern on the part of the state leader, attention turned to football, with many private enterprises beginning to echo government policy by demonstrating a willingness to promote elite football. In addition, to accelerate football development, the Chinese Government promised to take action on the separation of government football associations. Research on this process was based on the theoretical framework of state corporatism derived from Schmitter’s work of 1974. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as the method of data collection aimed at helping us understand how Chinese Government either integrated or controlled relevant stakeholders such as NGOs and private enterprises, and further, to discuss the interactions between them.     

我国校园足球改革中的政策工具选择与优化研究

采用文献资料法、专家访谈法和内容分析法,基于政策工具视角,对2013年后我国25个省市出台的《XX省(市)关于加快发展青少年校园足球的实施意见》进行计量分析。首先从宏观、中观和微观3个层面分析校园足球政策工具选择的适度边界,进而从层面-作用-工具三维框架研究我国校园足球政策工具运用效果。研究结果表明:在X维度上,我国校园足球政策工具选择是以供给型和环境型政策工具为主体,需求型政策工具为辅的模式。人才培养备受重视,但文化建设未受到足够关注。服务外包、外资引入、海外交流等方面被忽视。在X维度-Y维度上,我国校园足球培养体系和管理体系在供给型、环境型和需求型政策工具类型上均有较多体现,培养体系和管理体系成为重点政策目标,但仍需要细化,而文化体系、竞赛体系、组织体系指导性政策相对较弱。在X维度-Y维度-Z维度上,宏观层面和微观层面政策相对较少,中观层面政策较多,符合政策工具“橄榄型”分布特征;在中观层面上,供给、环境、需求3个类型中均欠缺文化体系和竞赛体系的支持。     

省域校园足球推进的审视与未来发展——基于H省的实地调研

面对2020年校园足球特色学校达4万所的政府"承诺"，校园足球改革发展向纵深推进已刻不容缓。运用文献研究、实地考察与问卷调查等研究方法，对H省校园足球开展总体情况进行梳理，指出省域校园足球推进中存在着重视程度不够、各层级校园足球发展不平衡、基础保障条件有待进一步完善、"刚"性政策不足、安全保险制度和督导评价体系亟需健全与完善、教育与体育部门缺乏深度融合的工作机制等问题。据此提出省域校园足球未来推进的发展策略：健全法规制度建设，建立协同工作机制；探索多措并举方式，夯实师资保障条件；完善政策配套，加大政府购买力度，因地制宜，保障经费与场地；深化认识，全员参与，协调发展，促进学校体育深入开展；厘清职责，创新机制，促进教体融合。     

Implementing physically active learning: Future directions for research,policy, and practice

PurposeTo identify co-produced multi-stakeholder perspectives important for successful widespread physically active learning (PAL) adoption and implementation.MethodsA total of 35 stakeholders (policymakers n = 9; commercial education sector, n = 8; teachers, n = 3; researchers, n = 15) attended a design thinking PAL workshop. Participants formed 5 multi-disciplinary groups with at least 1 representative from each stakeholder group. Each group, facilitated by a researcher, undertook 2 tasks: (1) using Post-it Notes, the following question was answered: within the school day, what are the opportunities for learning combined with movement? and (2) structured as a washing-line task, the following question was answered: how can we establish PAL as the norm? All discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Inductive analyses were conducted by 4 authors. After the analyses were complete, the main themes and subthemes were assigned to 4 predetermined categories: (1) PAL design and implementation, (2) priorities for practice, (3) priorities for policy, and (4) priorities for research.ResultsThe following were the main themes for PAL implementation: opportunities for PAL within the school day, delivery environments, learning approaches, and the intensity of PAL. The main themes for the priorities for practice included teacher confidence and competence, resources to support delivery, and community of practice. The main themes for the policy for priorities included self-governance, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services, and Skill, policy investment in initial teacher training, and curriculum reform. The main themes for the research priorities included establishing a strong evidence base, school-based PAL implementation, and a whole-systems approach.ConclusionThe present study is the first to identify PAL implementation factors using a combined multi-stakeholder perspective. To achieve wider PAL adoption and implementation, future interventions should be evidence based and address implementation factors at the classroom level (e.g., approaches and delivery environments), school level (e.g., communities of practice), and policy level (e.g., initial teacher training).     

我国学校体育线性政策执行模式研究

学校体育政策执行模式是学校体育政策执行的理念、思路和实践方式及基本路径研究的逻辑起点。目前我国学校体育政策执行“由上至下”和“由下至上”的线性模式,这种模式存在研究维度狭隘,研究学校体育政策执行视角单一;缺乏有效的学校体育政策执行工具;不能清晰地反映政府教育部门与学校之间关系的变化;学校体育政策的执行成本不断增加等问题。当前学校体育线性政策执行模式的自身缺陷,严重影响着学校体育事业的发展和目标实现,迫切需要构建新的学校体育政策执行模式。     

Football Museums: History,Identity, and Connection

Abstract

With an increasing number of museums of popular culture, the portrayal of the ‘pop’ and everyday life experiences has linked museums more closely with projections of identities. Engaging with one of world’s most popular sports, football museums enhance the possibilities of reaching a wider public and of providing forums for issues of history and identity. Based on research conducted at the National Football Museum in Manchester and the Linzi Football Museum in Zibo, a cross-cultural study of how football museums represent the history of football, construct identities, and promote communications between different football cultures is provided. By examining the exhibiting practices, activity programmes, cultural settings of the two football museums, as well as connections between them, this article joins continuing efforts to understand the interpretations of football culture, with objectives of introducing the usually ignored Linzi Football Museum to the football world and communicating the development of football museums to a wider audience.     

Young People,Schools, Sport and Government Policies

Abstract

This paper compares the policies and assumptions in Sport: Raising the Game, with the findings of three recent national surveys. These show, contrary to the assumptions in the government policy statement, that England's schools have been increasing, not cutting back on their sports teaching and facilities, and that young people are now playing more sport in and out of school than in earlier decades. Also, the drop‐out rate in late‐adolescence has declined substantially over the last generation which seems to be due mainly to the spread of community provisions rather than the school‐club links whose importance is emphasised in the policy statement. This statement makes no reference to equal opportunities, which may be considered justified by the research findings that social class differences have become blurred, that girls now receive equal treatment in school sport, and the persistence of sex differences in out of school participation is caused by the sexes’ prior orientations rather than their different experiences in school. However, the recent evidence also shows that there are still pronounced social class and gender differences in sport participation, and that equal opportunities issues remain unresolved.     

The evidence for the impact of policy on physical activity outcomes within the school setting: A systematic review

BackgroundDespite the well-established health benefits of physical activity (PA) for young people (aged 4–19 years), most do not meet PA guidelines. Policies that support PA in schools may be promising, but their impact on PA behavior is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to ascertain the level and type of evidence reported in the international scientific literature for policies within the school setting that contribute directly or indirectly to increasing PA.MethodsThis systematic review is compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Six databases were searched using key concepts of policy, school, evaluation, and PA. Following title and abstract screening of 2323 studies, 25 progressed to data synthesis. Methodological quality was assessed using standardized tools, and the strength of the evidence of policy impact was described based on pre-determined codes: positive, negative, inconclusive, or untested statistically.ResultsEvidence emerged for 9 policy areas that had a direct or indirect effect on PA within the school setting. These were whole school PA policy, physical education, sport/extracurricular PA, classroom-based PA, active breaks/recess, physical environment, shared use agreements, active school transport, and surveillance. The bulk of the evidence was significantly positive (54%), 27% was inconclusive, 9% was significantly negative, and 11% was untested (due to rounding, some numbers add to 99% or 101%). Frequency of evidence was highest in the primary setting (41%), 34% in the secondary setting, and 24% in primary/secondary combined school settings. By policy area, frequency of evidence was highest for sport/extracurricular PA (35%), 17% for physical education, and 12% for whole school PA policy, with evidence for shared use agreements between schools and local communities rarely reported (2%). Comparing relative strength of evidence, the evidence for shared use agreements, though sparse, was 100% positive, while 60% of the evidence for whole school PA policy, 59% of the evidence for sport/extracurricular PA, 57% of the evidence for physical education, 50% of the evidence for PA in classroom, and 50% of the evidence for active breaks/recess were positive.ConclusionThe current evidence base supports the effectiveness of PA policy actions within the school setting but cautions against a “one-size-fits-all” approach and emphasizes the need to examine policy implementation to maximize translation into practice. Greater clarity regarding terminology, measurement, and methods for evaluation of policy interventions is needed.     

21世纪我国学校体育政策的情景、问题及优化——基于政策过程的视角

采用文献资料、专家访谈、问卷调查及政策分析方法,对我国学校体育政策进行了研究。结果显示：（1）我国学校体育政策在制定过程中,程序规范、层次性较好,呈自上而下的精英决策特征,但民主参与度不够,协调性不强,约束力较弱。（2）执行过程是"运动式"和"碎片式"的,梗阻现象严重。（3）评估阶段则反馈通道单一,以内部评估为主。为对学校体育政策过程进行优化,文章提出了扩大政策制定的民主参与性、创新执行方法、完善学校体育政策评估体系等措施,实现学校体育政策的科学化和效益化。     

Soccer,Science, and Socialism in the German Democratic Republic, 1950s–1960s

Abstract

Today, science has become indispensable in professional (association) football. As applying science in football promises a greater sporting success, football training is based on scientific knowledge. Hence, the use of science in football is taken for granted and seems to be commonplace. However, scientific knowledge was hardly employed in football until the early 1950s. In fact, its use needed legitimacy. By taking the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as an example, this study traces the legitimization of science in football in the 1950s and 1960s. The results suggest that the future promise of science as well as the Soviet Union and Soviet football played a substantial role in the scientification of GDR football.     

‘If God Be for Us,Who Can Be Against Us?’: Religion and Religiousness in Polish Football, 2008–2017

Abstract

Relations between sport and religion constitute an intriguing field of research. The aim of this paper is to analyze the historical development of a religious face of Polish sport (mostly football). Religion – meaning here the Catholic Church, since Poland is an almost completely Catholic country – pervades sport in different ways. The teachings of Pope John Paul II, who appreciated the role of sport in developing the all-around integrated personality, are still often recalled in Poland. The paper includes several sections. First, the policy of the Church towards sport in the last decades is discussed; then, the question of sports chaplaincy in Poland is presented. Next, public manifestations of religious beliefs of football players, managers, and fans (for example, crossing oneself or fans’ choreographies with religious overtones) are analyzed. The main focus of interest is, however, very popular religious pilgrimages organized (since 2008) by the fans of most Polish clubs. The main objective is to examine some selected cases, representative of Polish football fandom of the last decades, showing the phenomenon clearly. The study has largely been based on historical and statistical data. The information about this period (2008–2017) was garnered mainly from newspapers and fans’ publications.     

Does english football warrant the rooney rule? assessing the thoughts of british asian coaches

This article examines the Rooney Rule and offers the thoughts of British Asian football coaches working in English football in response to this policy implementation. The Rooney Rule, first piloted by English Football League (EFL) clubs during the 2016–17 season, makes it compulsory for all 72 EFL clubs to interview at least one black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) candidate (if an application has been received) for all managerial and first-team coaching roles. And, on 9 January 2018, the Football Association revealed that they had also adopted the Rooney Rule for all coaching jobs relating to the England national team. Because English football harbours so few BAME coaches, calls for the Rooney Rule to be introduced in English football had started to increase in volume, and led to its trial inception. But, is this policy welcomed or opposed among British Asian coaches? What fundamental barriers does this policy overlook? Is English football ready for the Rooney Rule? And, do British Asian coaches, a group believed to benefit from this positive action policy, deem that this rule is the answer to help facilitate positive change? With the aid of empirical research, this article critically examines and assesses the potential impact of the Rooney Rule and recommends additional inclusionary practices.

Abbreviations: BAME: Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic; CBP: The Coach Bursary Programme; EFL: English Football League; EPL: English Premier League; HLCE: Higher Level Coach Education; FA: Football Association; FBL: Football Bowl Subdivision; LMA: League Managers Association; NFL: National Football League; PFA: Professional Footballers' Association; UEFA: Union of European Football Associations.     

'A Passion for Football': Dominant Masculinities and Primary Schooling

Football occupies a central place in many of the strategies aimed at counteracting boys' underachievement in Western schools. At the same time, the significance of football in the construction and negotiation of dominant masculinities has been shown in several studies of British primary schooling. This paper provides an overview of the literature which identifies how football in schools is more than 'just a game' but is often inscribed with broader structural issues. It then goes on to illustrate, through data collected in an ethnographic study of a middle-class primary school, how football was central to the gender regime of the school, particularly in relation to the construction of a dominant mode of masculinity. Here, football did not serve solely as a means of generating male camaraderie but defined relationships between males and females in the classroom and took a central place in the classroom management strategies of the male teachers. The paper concludes by considering the options open to schools who wish to draw on football as a means of motivating and enthusing boys.