Child Protection Training in Sport-Related Degrees and Initial Teacher Training for Physical Education: An Audit

• NCJ Number: 227055
• Journal: Child Abuse Review Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2009 Pages: 81-93
• Author(s): Claire Rossato; Celia Brackenridge
• Date Published: April 2009
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Guideline
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This article reports on the findings of an online survey of college personnel in the United Kingdom responsible for curriculum and course content for sports-related and physical education degrees, in order to determine the prevalence and content of child-protection (CP) training for students in these courses; findings are presented from group interviews with recently graduated teachers in these fields regarding the usefulness of such training in their work.

Abstract

The article concludes that CP training in sports-related and physical-education curricula in British colleges is deficient in both consistency of delivery and in content. Recently graduated teachers in these fields raised concerns about their lack of preparation for dealing with child-protection cases. The authors recommend that in addition to preparing students in these fields to recognize indicators that a student has been abused, curricula should prepare undergraduates with the confidence and skills for responding to suspected child abuse. Of the respondents to the online survey, 67 percent of the course leaders (those responsible for determining curricula and course content) reported that they included CP training in their course curricula, and all of these respondents indicated such training was compulsory; however, the responding teachers of the CP training were not sure how and what they were supposed to be teaching about CP in their courses, suggesting a lack of comprehensive knowledge about CP within core staff. Reasons given by course leaders for not including CP in courses were lack of time, lack of fit with course objectives, and lack of relevance to the core activities of the profession. Responses were received from representatives of 20 of the 55 institutions invited to participate in the survey (33-percent response rate). Two groups, each consisting of two recent graduates with sports/physical education degrees, were involved in questioning about their preparation for CP professional responsibilities. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 31 references