OLYMPIC EDUCATION IN GREECE (original) (raw)
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Paradoxes and contestations of Olympism in the history of the modern Olympic Movement
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 17430437 2011 557269, 2011
Olympism has been criticised for being inherently contradictory and in my work I have illustrated that the nature of this philosophy has been a contested one in the discourse of the modern Olympic Movement. Olympism's rhetoric called for universal ideals and equal opportunities for all people and all nations, but at the same time it may be seen as exclusionary, elitist and racist. The changing background against which this philosophy has developed and evolved is however one which is not simply a matter of changing economic, political and cultural circumstances. It is in effect against the background of changing worldviews/ epistemologies that the philosophy has developed. This shift in epistemological frameworks is captured best perhaps in two discussions. The first is that of a shift from the certainty of modernity and the Enlightenment project to a more fragmented, pluralist and uncertain set of worldviews variously expressed in what have been termed 'late', 'high' or 'post'-modernity. The second is the growing recognition in the post-colonial era of the western-centric (occidental) nature of many of the claims and assumptions implicit in the 'common sense' notions or espoused philosophies evident throughout the 20 th century. This blog will discuss such paradoxes and contestations of the ideology of Olympism in the modern global Olympic era and will encourage debates on the following questions: Has Olympism changed over time? If yes, what have been the reasons underpinning such changes? Do the Olympic Games need the moral agenda of Olympism or would they be more 'honest' without it? How Olympism can be best used for maximising the benefits from such an association with the Olympic and Paralympic Games? How do you envisage any future changes in the light of current challenges such as the financial crisis, betting etc.? Routledge Online Studies on the Olympic and Paralympic Games www.routledgeonlinestudies.com Vassil Girginov, Managing Editor Taylor & Francis Group, Informa UK Limited Routledge Online Studies on the Olympic and Paralympic Games
“Olympism“ and Olympic Education in Greek Antiquity
Studia sportiva
This paper deals with basic points which comprise Olympic and “sport“ education in the Greek antiquity. Until the emergence of professionalism in ancient athletics was the essence of "sport" education and Olympism the areas known as free “sport“, nudity, construction of “sports“ buildings, organizing of many games and relation of society to the Olympic winners as well as leading the citizens to cultural and philosophical ideals. The education itself to the Olympic Games and “sport“ had an important role in ancient Greece. Victory in the Panhellenic Games was very important not only for the victors as individuals, but also for their lineage and the city-state. Each victor entered the next level, which was close to the heroes and gods. They acquired semi-divine status and the homages for them by all society and mainly by the city-states were greatly important for cultural outputs and conception of all society. The influence of victors on youth was huge and this influence was...
2021
The text corresponds to the lecture given by Prof. Kidd as part the programme of activities during his stay in Barcelona in 1996 as invited professor of the International Chair in Olympism (IOC-UAB).Aquest text correspon a la conferència donada pel Prof. Kidd com a part del programa d'activitats durant la seva estada a Barcelona el 1996, com a professor convidat per la Càtedra Internacional d'Olimpisme (COI-UAB).Este texto corresponde a la conferencia dada por el Prof. Kidd como parte del programa de actividades durante su estancia en Barcelona el 1996, como profesor invitado por la Cátedra Internacional de Olimpismo (COI-UAB)
Thinking of Olympic Studies: Research, synergies and convergence of cultures on Olympism
Sport Libraries Worldwide-Exampleas and & Best Practices, 2014
This paper discusses the role of the Olympic Studies Centre at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (CEO-UAB) as a research, dissemination, and documentation center, where these three main activities feedback on, and mutually enrich, each other. One of the biggest challenges of research on this subject is to combine multidisciplinarity with transdisciplinarity. While a multidisciplinary approach is already taken, a transdisciplinary approach would allow for a greater integration of methodologies and perspectives to enrich the knowledge thus created. Key Olympic studies topics now, and in the near future, are ecology and sustainability, education in values, the need to bring youths closer to sports practice, and gender-related issues in the Olympic Movement. Over the coming years, there will be new challenges connected with the governance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and with an equitable distribution of power within the Olympic Family. The modern Olympic Movement has developed on the basis of late 19th-century Western and European cultural parameters and a Eurocentric view of the world. Traditional Western thinking and all of its cultural derivatives (objects, institutions, imaginaries) have been constructed in a linear, minimally interconnected and very hierarchical way, with a center and a periphery and, on occasions, very little flexibility. Modern Western thinking, shaped by a manifest individualistic and rational sense of existence, has led to major leaps forward in human progress thanks to scientific advances and the development of democracy and human rights, all of which are inseparable from the idea of progress. The East, however, draws its inspiration from other sources. Its way of thinking is circular; everything is relative, nothing is central or peripheral and everything changes, though the essence remains the same. It also has a more collective view of existence. The globalised world has not yet managed to erase the differences between these two major ways of viewing the world, which leave their mark on countless manifestations of daily life. An Olympic Movement that really wants to be universal should seek out a blend of East and West. However, that the West alone should adapt to and integrate some of the parameters of the East is one thing, and the other is that the East should endeavor to make the most of the undeniable achievements of Western cultures, especially on matters of democratic rights.
Olympic Games, Olympism and Internationalism : a Historical Perspective
2009
The Olympic Games and sports are today a basic constituent of world mass, international and everyday culture. This may be confirmed by the place occupied by sports in printed and electronic information, the importance of sports and gymnastics in the educational process within and outside school, the extremely rapid spread of special premises for exercise and training, the football fans, sport advertising and the economic weight possessed by sport enterprises, as well as the increasingly sophisticated and elaborated spectacle of the modern Olympic Games. No one disputes, in any event, that the modern Olympic Games are one of the most important institutions of the twentieth century in which world-wide developments have been reflected. In the light of these observations, we can in fact argue that sport is a 'global' or 'holistic' phenomenon, an epitome of the society which ‘produces’ it. Consequently, it is meaningful for the study of sport to be integrated into its his...
PRINCIPLES OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 2010
The aim of this article is to clarify, review and reflect on the importance of the Olympic movement main principles on nowadays sporting society. For this purpose, the paper goes through the contents of the Olympic Charter, the threats to humanist thinking, the Olympic Games history and the most recent contributions to the Olympic philosophy. Similarly, this article goes deep on the figure of Pierre de Coubertin as the precursor of modern Olympic Games leading to the development of a relationship between the Olympic phenomenon and the need to establish an ethic conduct that embraces all the sports grandeur. Thus, the contribution of this Olympic education is used, through its principles of peace, personal development, equality and ecology in the next generations to come.
Results or Participation?: Reconsidering Olympism's Approach to Competition
Quest, 2006
In spite of the privileged position that Olympism arguably occupies within the Olympic Movement, its understanding and implementation have been a challenging task. This is due to a lack of specifi city, conceptual lacunas, and inconsistencies in the interpretation and elucidation of Olympism. One inconsistency pertains to the meaning and emphasis of results in Olympic contests. In this regard, the Olympic creed and the Olympic motto seem to send contradictory messages. This paper investigates the role that results should have in Olympic contests and, more broadly, in an enlightened sporting life. It argues that the most developed approach to the sporting and Olympic life is one in which the process of contesting and its ensuing results come together to form a meaningful unity.