A1 Journal article (refereed)
Learning in sport : from life skills to existential learning (2021)
Ronkainen, Noora J.; Aggerholm, Kenneth; Ryba, Tatiana V.; Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn (2021). Learning in sport : from life skills to existential learning. Sport Education and Society, 26 (2), 214-227. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2020.1712655
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Ronkainen, Noora J.; Aggerholm, Kenneth; Ryba, Tatiana V.; Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn
Journal or series: Sport Education and Society
ISSN: 1357-3322
eISSN: 1470-1243
Publication year: 2021
Volume: 26
Issue number: 2
Pages range: 214-227
Publisher: Routledge
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1712655
Open Access: Publication channel is not openly available
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/67220
Abstract
Youth sport is habitually promoted as an important context for learning that contributes to a person’s broader development beyond sport-specific skills. A growing body of research in this area has operated within a life skills discourse that focuses on useful, positive and decontextualised skills in the production of successful and adaptive citizens. In this paper, we argue that the ideological discourse of life skills, underpinned by ideas about sport-based positive youth development, has unduly narrowed the research on learning in sport to only what is deemed functional, teachable, and economically productive. After considering the problems associated with the currently dominant life skills approach, we explore existential learning as an alternative perspective on conceptualising and studying learning in sport. An existential approach provides a non-instrumental theory of learning with an emphasis on discontinuity, relational self and ‘becoming’, opening an avenue for exploring various forms of informal learning under-explored in sport. We discuss the applications of this alternative approach for future research and practice in learning in youth sport.
Keywords: athletes; young people; informal learning; psychological development; social development; identity (mental objects); art of living
Free keywords: positive youth development; athletes; discontinuity; informal learning; identity
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Learning and Being in Sport: A Phenomenological Investigation
- Ryba, Tatiana
- European Commission
Ministry reporting: Yes
Preliminary JUFO rating: 1