Aspirational Reflections: The Future of Sport History

Abstract

This article provides a scrambled form of SWOT analysis of the ideas contained in the various contributions to this special issue on sport historians and the field of sport history. The market for sport history, pure and simple, is not in good shape in many places. Yet we must be careful not to confuse trends in employment prospects with shorter term fluctuations in demand. Nor should we conflate national issues with the international situation. One thing is certain: worldwide academia is expanding; surely, there must be opportunities somewhere for sport history. Sport historians may have to be prepared to move geographically or to get a job. Nonetheless, the field of sport history also has many strengths highlighted, and opportunities abound for collaborations, public engagement, and supporting our fellow sport historians across the globe. Instead of allowing the external threats and weaknesses to continue to grow, sport historians should draw on the encouraging aspects contained herein and take advantage of our field’s strengths and opportunities to develop new and creative initiatives which demonstrate the vibrancy and breadth of sport history.     

Creating the KM mindset: why is it so difficult?

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - The knowledge management (KM) mindset is a precursor to a knowledge-sharing culture. It is often assumed that developing a KM mindset is somewhat...     

European Approaches to Widening Participation in Higher Education: A Commentary in Light of the Role of the Society for Research into Higher Education

This article derives its arguments from case studies reflecting the situations of Estonia, Bulgaria, and the United Kingdom, the access and equity agenda in each country being viewed in the light of its own social concerns and financial priorities. Local institutions, in their turn, reinterpret the agendas of their respective countries in the light of their own missions and objectives. The role of the Society for Research into Higher Education is shown to be of importance, along with that of other NGOs, in ensuring that the cross‐fertilization of ideas and approaches takes place as effectively and as efficiently as possible.     

Graduate pathways: A longitudinal study of graduates in outdoor studies in the U.K.

A longitudinal study provides a more detailed analysis of the career pathways of graduates than the First Destination Survey can achieve. This survey of 41% of graduates from a BSc (Honours) Outdoor Studies degree also examines the importance of named skills to their careers and the success of the degree in developing each skill. Two thirds of graduates surveyed were in careers related to Outdoor Studies and there is an increasing relevance of employment activity to degree and work satisfaction with time in the workplace. However, there is no trend towards increasing graduate level employment in the workplace with indications that the majority of Outdoor Studies graduates seem to make choices based on interest, values or work satisfaction rather than salary or status, beyond a baseline of earnings (which contributes to a low unemployment rate). Personal and process skills, often poorly developed in other degree programmes, are developed successfully within the Outdoor Studies degree and applied in the workplace. It is suggested that suitably qualified Outdoor Studies graduates are able to find employment in the outdoor industry but that this will need monitoring in the future. The need for, and the development of, outdoor technical skills may be illustrative of a circular argument but graduates report the need for further National Governing Body award opportunities and professional experience at undergraduate level.     

The global teaching profession: how treating teachers as knowledge workers improves the esteem of the teaching profession

To better understand the status of the teaching profession, we present a conceptual framework outlining the 4 domains of knowledge-worker professionals: professional benchmarks, professional discretion, room for promotion, and workplace conditions and use the TALIS 2013 survey data to show that these domains exist globally and vary within countries. Across more than 30 school systems, we address the question: To what extent does the level and type of professionalism afforded to individual teachers shape their perceptions of the esteem of their profession? The strongest domain traits that correlate with feeling valued as a teacher are teachers’ satisfaction with their working conditions, involvement in school decision making, and the chance to be recognized for good work. This framework shapes an actionable set of concepts that policymakers can use to address attraction and retention to the profession system-wide and that school leaders can use to improve working conditions in their own schools.