Sport policy

3 ECTS credits
75 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4024201DNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (D) Master - preliminary level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy

Department

Bewegings- en Sportwetenschappen

Educational team

Veerle De Bosscher (course titular)
Kari Descheemaeker

Activities and contact hours

24 contact hours Lecture
21 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The course starts with the introduction what policy is, who are the sport providers, for who it is organised, for what purpose and in what ways. During this course we try to provide the students with insights in the supply and demand of sport and the role of sport policy. Next the students get insights in the policy cycle and how policy is formed, from agenda setting, policy preparation, implementation to evaluation. The students apply this theory during the course, by working in small groups, where they analyse how the policy topic was formed (eg policy plan ministry – infrastructure), and as such create a policy cycle. Through practical cases, students must analyse barriers, needs, considerations and trends. From a policy problem they apply the phases of policy planning (starting phase, steering group, mission, data collection, data analysis, purposes, action planning, evaluation and feedback) and they evaluate current policy. A next section is concerned with policy instruments that are used to realise policies.

The second part of the course is concerned with specific themes, mostly within the Flemish policy context, where students critically reflect about these themes. The themes in this section can vary yearly and depending on actuality. We invite a few guest speakers for these sessions, from Flanders and internationally; attendance is obliged. Within each theme we attempt to offer insights in the problem setting within a specific context, critical reflections about a theme, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, formulating solutions and arguments. Example themes are: deprived groups in society, and youngsters in vulnerable situations; the meaning of sport and consequences for policies; sport participation and sports clubs; sport policy at a local and Flemish level; elite sport policies; coaching policies. Finally, the course intends to encourage students to think about the future of sport policy.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Slides van de theorie en gastlessen beschikbaar via CANVAS
Practical course material (Recommended) :

Additional info

- This course further builds on the knowledge from the course ‘organisation of sport’ (1BALO).

- Attendance during guest lectures is obliged; absence needs to be announced in advance and requires an accepted reason

- The student receives regularly tasks to apply the policy cycle and reflect the possible impact of societal changes. These tasks are part of the exam.

- In addition, the students develop an assignment, which consists of creating a policy plan for a sports club. They do this in close collaboration with a club of their choice.

Further information in regard to the paper is available in the slides on CANVAS.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

1. The student can explain and argue what sport policy is, who organises and how policies are formed

2. The student has insights in the policy cycle and policy instruments that can be used in sport, policy planning and the fundamentals of Flemish, local or European policies. The students can describe these, explain and argue these.

3. The student can analyse a policy plan and apply a policy cycle and planning process starting from a specific policy problem

4. The students can develop a policy plan; they understand how to apply/include information from the environment (e.g. trends, stakeholders) in the policy plan

5. The students can formulate their perspective on a policy issue in Flanders, can argue/reason the specific problem and suggest alternatives

6. The students can make links between different policy aspects, can analyse a policy plan, create a SWOT of policies, compare with other cases and as such propose a policy planning for a specific theme

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 30% of the final mark.
SELF Practical Assignment determines 70% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Tussentijdse beleidsopdrachten with a relative weight of 70 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Maken van een sportbeleidsplan with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 70% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

There is no written exam for sports policy. Students need to apply the courses through intermediate assignments that count towards the final grade. The assignments are divided as follows: The policy plan (for a sports club, or in relation to a policy issue) accounts for 70% of the points. The intermediate assignments account for 30% of the points. These will be posted on CANVAS and communicated in class. Deadlines must be respected.

Absences during guest lectures will be noted; for each unauthorized absence (e.g., without a doctor's note, or pre-confirmed exception), 10 points will be deducted from the total grade for sports policy (out of 100). If there are 3 illegible absences, the student will not receive a final score. To succeed, students need to submit all components (the WPO and the WPO subtasks). If a student fails to submit one component, they will not receive a final grade. If the student passed this component (from 10/20), this grade can be carried over to the second exam. It cannot be carried over to the next year.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context