Olympic Education: An International Review

A fundamental component of the Olympic ideal is the concept of Olympic education. This is the notion that sport can help children and young people develop essential life skills. Olympic Education: An international review is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of the diffusion and implementation of Olympic education programmes around the world.

The book includes 28 chapters with 21 national case studies of countries on every major continent, including Australia, Brasil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain, the UK, the US and Zambia. Each chapter examines the cultural, pedagogical, political and societal challenges of teaching Olympic education, as well as the national, individual and institutional programmes that have emerged. It explores key practical and conceptual issues, such as the incorporation of Olympic values in PE curricula, sport coaching and coach education programmes, while also taking into account the collaborative efforts of the governmental bodies, sport federations and Olympic institutions responsible for policy and implementation.

This is important reading for all students, researchers and professionals with an interest in the Olympics, sport education, sports coaching, sport policy or physical education.

Roland Naul is a Professor of EU Studies on PE and Youth Sports in the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences. He also serves as a Director of the Willibald Gebhardt Research Institute (Olympic Study Centre) at the University of Münster, Germany. He has published numerous articles and four books on Olympic education.

Deanna Binder is the former Director of the International Institute of Olympic Education, University of Alberta and an Adjunct Professor at Royal Roads University, Canada. For many years, she was an IOC consultant for the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in Africa and South America and a Visiting Professor of Olympic Pedagogy at the International Olympic Academy in Greece. She has published several teaching materials on Olympic education in the last 25 years and is a Fellow of the Willibald Gebhardt Research Institute (Olympic Study Centre), Münster, Germany.

Antonín Rychtecký is a Professor in Sport Pedagogy and Sport Psychology in the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science at Charles University, Czech Republic. For more than ten years he served as President of the Czech Olympic Academy and was a member of the NOC. He has conducted several cohort studies on youth sport and Olympic values and has supervised MA and PhD theses on Olympic education. Currently, he is Vice-President of NOA and a Fellow of the Willibald Gebhardt Research Institute (Olympic Study Centre), Münster, Germany.

Ian Culpan is a Professor of Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy in the New Zealand Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is also the former Director of the New Zealand National Olympic Academy. He has supervised several MA and PhD theses on Olympic education.