Sport policy

3 ECTS credits
90 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4018328DNR 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)
Margot Ricour

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.

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 a WPO paper, for which he/she has to develop a policy at the Flemish or international level, with description of policy instruments for one or more (sport)actors in regard to a specific policy problem/theme. The students need to describe the problem/theme, make a stakeholder analysis, describe policy actions and argue the choice, show the policy cycle and process, and define strategic and operational objectives and indicators.
Further information in regard to the paper is available in the slides on CANVAS.

Study material

Slides of the course are available through CANVAS
Additional information, if applicable: articles, policy plans and additional information are available through CANVAS, for tasks and literature

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

The student Master LOBW:

can explain and argue what sport policy is, who organises and how policies is formed
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.
can analyse a policy plan and apply a policy cycle and planning process starting from a specific policy problem
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
The students can formulate their perspective on a policy issue in Flanders, can argue/reason the specific problem and suggest alternatives
The student scan 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:
Other determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other category, the following assignments need to be completed:

examen with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Note: verdere details worden aangevuld door de docent

Additional info regarding evaluation

There is no written exam for sport policy. Students need to apply the courses through intermediate tasks that count for the end exam. The tasks are divided as follows:

WPO policy plan (policy cyclus/policy planning courses) – 60 % of the points
Intermediate exercises on CANVAS, depending on (guest)lecturers : 40 % of the points.
Deadlines need to be respected.
Furthermore:

Guest lectures require obliged attendance; In case of non-attendance without a valid reason (eg doctor or exception approved in advance), the final score is reduced with 10 points for each absence; if there are 3 illegible absences, the student will not receive a final scoreµ
The HOC serve as guidance for WPO and tasks.
To succeed, students need to have submitted all tasks (de large WPO and partial wpo’s). If a student does not submit one part, he/she will not receive a final score.
Partial scores above 10/20 can be moved to the second exam, but not 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