Disability! What’s that? Abstract The topic for this case study arose when I was undergoing training for my Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) qualification. In one of my sessions I delivered a lesson that focused heavily on disability sport and found that the majority of the learners did not have any background knowledge or prior learning experience on this topic, but were keen to engage and find out more information. Disability in sport then became embedded in all of my lessons. From this point forward, I created glossaries, showed videos and delivered a whole lesson to all of my learners focused directly on disability in sport. By doing this it also gave them the opportunity to ask questions around this topic that they may not have felt comfortable about asking prior to engaging in the topic. During this time I discovered that the BTEC level 3 and NCFE level 2 learners enjoyed learning about Disability Sport and by developing this knowledge it will be incredibly beneficial for them if they choose to follow a career in the sports industry. The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with one single act. Groups that were covered by previous equality legislation are now protected against discrimination under this new act. The Equality Act 2010 identifies ‘the nine protected characteristics’ which are: disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, belief or religion, age, gender reassignment and pregnancy or maternity. This new act ensures that some groups, for example disabled people and carers, will be more effectively protected against discrimination. The main aim of the new act is to treat people fairly, with dignity and respect (Equality Act, 2010, p2). Key Words Disability Inclusion Equality Diversity Summary and brief overview of context This case study investigates the importance of embedding Disability Sport within sport courses/modules in Further Education and how my own innovative and creative practice has fostered this and created further plans for the future. Innovation is the act of introducing an idea that is new and interesting, it is vital to the continuous improvement of education and the delivery of increased learning outcomes and student satisfaction. OECD (2013) state that the skills we need to be innovative are: subjectbased skills (knowledge and expertise or know-how in a field); skills in thinking and creativity (imagination, curiosity); and behavioural and social skills (self-confidence, passion, leadership, persuasion) (OECD 2013, pg1). Creativity is a teachable skill that can be defined in a number of ways. It has been called a ‘process of developing a new or unique idea’ as well as an experience of thinking ‘characterised by a degree of innovation, originality and risk taking’ (Iowa State University 2011). As represented in the diagram below (figure 1), creativity arises through the coming together of the following three components: Knowledge, Creative thinking and Motivation. Figure One: The Three Components of Creativity (Adams, 2005) Numerous experts have provided frameworks on the sources of creativity, yet it appears that the vast majority of their important contributions to the theory can be categorised as falling within the three intersecting circles above’ (Adams, 2005, p4). Adams describes expertise knowledge as all of the significant information that an individual brings to bear on a problem. However, Howard Gardner (2004) looks deeper into this topic and explains that in-depth knowledge in one specific area (in this case the subject specialism is sport) allows a teacher to build upon the practical expertise that can serve as a foundation for creativity. Furthermore, Adams states that thinking is an important part of the creative process and that key aspects of this process are being comfortable to disagree with others and to be able to persevere through difficult problems. Finally, Adams views motivation as the most important component of creativity; she believes that people will be more creative when they feel more motivated largely by their interest or satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation in the classroom is seen to enhance creativity, whereas extrinsic rewards are seen to hinder it. A learner that is intrinsically motivated will explore various different pathways and will take their time, as well as enjoying the process along the way. Adams states that ‘educational systems should directly teach learners about the field of creativity so they gain an explicit awareness of their own creative potential. Learners need to believe that creativity is determined by motivation and effort to a certain degree’ (Adams 2005, p13). In order to be able to teach creatively, teachers have to apply time and effort to bring out creative thinking in all learners. However, creativity is not the only essential element; teachers must know their subject specialism and have the ability to create an appropriate learning environment. To encourage learners to think creatively teachers are responsible for sharing their thinking and ideas with learners, letting them know that creative ideas are welcome in the classroom and to applaud any creative thinking (Iowa State University, 2011). Teachers can start to encourage creativity in their learners by using activities such as: asking the learners open-ended questions then praising them for the answers they produce, as well as encouraging experimentation and persistence. Brief account of current situation My training for the PGCE course was at a University Centre in South Yorkshire. My placement was undertaken in a further education institution where I taught in the Sport and Public Services department. Over the course of the year I taught learners enrolled onto level two and level three courses including BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science and NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Leisure Operations. I taught on a number of different modules including: Instructing Physical Activity, Knowing How to Support Clients (in a Gym Environment) and Anatomy and Physiology. The issue that arose whilst I was on my placement was the lack of knowledge and understanding that learners appear to have about Disability Sport. I became aware of this issue during my second observation. It was evident that learners did not seem to have any background knowledge on disability, but were interested to explore this in greater depth. The session began to stray on to the topic of Disability Sport. Learners spent fifteen minutes talking about the topic of Disability Sport, and asked questions and engaged in we were having a class discussion around this topic. It is incredibly important for sports students to have knowledge and understanding of Disability Sport because future sport-related employment become in will require them to have knowledge of disabilities. For example, a gym instructor may have to plan an exercise session for a disabled person, or a sports coach may have to plan a coaching session for a disabled athlete. It was essential to address this issue by introducing Disability Sport into all or most theory sessions taught at the within vocational qualifications. Equality and diversity within education is now integral, Cohen et al., (2010, p292) state that ‘there has been a move towards increasing inclusion, whereby social exclusion for whatever reason is minimised.’ My subject specialism lends itself to the embedding of some practical activities for learners to get involved in, including wheelchair basketball and blind football. The institution already had the equipment for blind football so this could be easily set up for the learners. The English Institute of Sport in Sheffield (EIS) has wheelchair basketball equipment so ideally a trip could be arranged for the learners to experiment with this sport. By undertaking both of these activities the learners could develop their subject specialist knowledge in the topic of Disability Sport, thus developing an insight into what it is like to actually play disability sport and be disabled. This would also develop a range of different transferable skills including empathy, motivation and enthusiasm in order to become more involved within disability sport and more employable in industry. Rationale for change Due to this issue arising, I created a SWOT analysis in order to determine what the strengths and areas for improvement would be if I were to introduce more theory and practical work (based on disability sport) into the lessons. A SWOT analysis is a useful tool to highlight strengths, weaknesses, opportunities open to you and any threats you may face (Mind Tools 2013). The strengths and weaknesses tend to be internal, whereas the opportunities and threats are often external factors. My SWOT analysis is shown below. Strengths Increased knowledge for learners Increased understanding for learners Weaknesses May be a sensitive area for some learners to cover Employability skills are developed More awareness of disability and how to plan exercise programmes for them Opportunities London Paralympic Games 2012 Facilities/equipment already at the College Surrounding area facilities such as EIS Threats Risk assessments to carry out practical sessions on disability sport Learners motivation to learn about this topic Writing about a disabled athlete in assignments (2 exercise programmes for contrasting clients) Figure Two: SWOT Analysis As part of my university studies, I presented (at a Professional Conference) a brief study of this issue. I investigated ways to make my existing practice more innovative and creative. Taking into consideration some of the peer feedback provided during this initial presentation, it was highlighted that the Paralympic Games footage would be a suitable opening to the presentation to both set the scene and gain audience attention. The London 2012 Paralympic Games showed the world the achievements and abilities of disabled people; this started to raise the profile of disabled sport and to change people’s attitudes towards it (Gov.uk, 2013). The Government are dedicated to deliver a legacy that builds upon the momentum that the Olympic Games provided. The Paralympic legacy set out work ‘to build on the positive impact the Games had on perceptions of disabled people, increased funding for Paralympics GB through to Rio 2016, improved accessibility on transport systems and worked to ensure that the number of disabled people participating in sport continued to increase, and had established the Inclusive Sports Fund to boost disability sports projects’ (Gov.uk, 2013, p1). Another key theme that the Paralympic legacy introduced is the Built Environment Education Project; this project was developed with an aim to make inclusive design a key element of education and training. Inclusive design is a procedure that makes sure all buildings and spaces can be easily accessed by disabled users. When I delivered my presentation I added the SWOT analysis for my peers to see, the SWOT analysis identified that learner’s motivation to learn about the topic of disability sport, especially if this was something that they were not interested in. A method to overcome this barrier was to use McClelland's Theory which is based on Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs (Mind Tools 2013). McClelland states that, regardless of our gender, culture, or age, we all have three different motivating drivers and one of these will be our main motivating driver. This motivator will be largely dependent on our culture and life experiences. The three different motivators are achievement, affiliation, and power (Mind Tools, 2013, p1). The learners in my classes were all motivated in different ways; firstly those motivated by achievement needed challenging tasks as they thrive on overcoming complicated problems, those motivated by affiliation worked best within group situations. Within my placement I organised group tasks in my lessons such as creating a poster on disability sport. Finally those learners motivated by power worked best when they were in charge of a situation and they enjoyed competition - a way of incorporating this into my lessons was to create a quiz as a plenary activity at the end of the session. Overview of research undertaken and evidence/data collected and analysed and the ethical procedures adopted Secondary research is the analysis of information that has already been collected by another party, whereas, primary research takes place when the research has never been collected before. The research that I have undertaken is primary research. This was most suitable to my case study because it involved collecting data on the subject of disability sport directly from the ‘real world’ (Brizee and Driscoll, 2013). There is a vast amount of evidence that has been collected and collated which supports my innovative and creative practice. For the first time the UK Government specifically recognised the importance of the Paralympic Games for people with disabilities and published the document ‘London 2012: A legacy for disabled people’ (Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2011). ‘The Paralympic Games and sport for people with a disability is one of the emerging areas of scientific enquiry, which has largely been neglected for many years. Interestingly, academic and political interest in the field of the Paralympic Games and sport for people with a disability has grown exponentially in the past few years’ (Routledge Online, 2013, p1). The report stated that during and after the Paralympic Games in London, the government wanted three different changes to happen; to change the way that people thought and acted towards disabled people, to support the chances disabled people have to take part in sport and to support local areas to ensure disabled people could take part in sport where they live (DCMS, 2011). The Paralympic Games and its legacy enabled people to think about the barriers that stop people with a disability taking part in sport. This underpins my innovative practice as previous research identifies that people with disabilities do not have the same opportunities as able bodied athletes and they are interpreted differently. My practice aims to encourage more young people studying sport to open their minds to the limitations and opportunities for disabled sport. Sport England (2013) identified that disabled people are less likely to take part in sport with only one in six playing sport regularly compared to one in three non-disabled people. They believe that opportunities to play sport should be open to all. Equality and diversity is an important part of teaching in further education not only is it a positive element to embed, it is a requirement. The consequences of not embedding equality and diversity into further education lessons could result in an ‘inadequate’ score in an Ofsted inspection for the overall effectiveness of provision (Bannerman, 2011, p1). The Equality Framework for Further Education was developed in order to meet the needs of all staff and learners, as well as advancing equality within lifelong learning. It covers the equality areas of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation. Equality and diversity should be embedded into all areas of the curriculum including planning sessions, teaching methods and different assessment procedures. Embedding includes producing materials and resources that are inclusive and exploring the nature and impact of discrimination, harassment and victimisation relating to disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, transgender, religion or belief, age when teaching (Bannerman, 2011). Supporting learners effectively is an important to ensure that learners in the further education sector are successful; learner support impacts on learner achievement, recruitment and retention. It will help further education organisations to achieve the outcomes expected of providers, including those related to Every Child Matters. Every Child Matters is a UK government initiative for England and Wales that was launched in 2003. There are five key outcomes of Every Child Matters which are: for every child to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being (Jones, 2007, p1). With an increase in the number of learners attending a college when leaving school, the Every Child Matters outcomes now also apply to colleges and training providers. Colleges are now expected to implement strategies in order to meet the needs of these learners especially those that are identified as being vulnerable. Every Child Matters identifies vulnerable learners as: those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, who are looked after, who are young carers, who are at risk of underachieving and who are statemented (Jones, 2007, p10). All of the National Curriculum subjects, including sport, provide learners with the opportunity to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A learner’s spiritual development involves them understanding their strengths and weaknesses, their potential and their willingness to achieve. The concept involves learners developing knowledge, understanding and qualities needed to foster their own inner lives. This links directly to equality and diversity where learners understand that everyone should be included in sport no matter what (in this case) their disability. A learner’s moral development involves them ‘acquiring an understanding of the difference between right and wrong and of moral conflict, a concern for others and the will to do what is right’ (Department for Education, 2013, p1). Learners can begin to reflect on the consequences of their actions and how to forgive others around them. This links to the creative and innovative practice within disability sport as learners start to develop a sense of empathy and will appreciate, in more depth, the importance of equality and diversity. Social development involves learners acquiring knowledge of the responsibilities needed to become a member of a community, as well as creating a sense of belonging and an enthusiasm to participate. Finally, a learner’s cultural development involves them having to develop an understanding of cultural traditions, and respect their own culture and that of others. Learners begin to include people with a disability and those from different cultures into their sporting practice, whether it is in a gym environment or in a games situation. Further education and sixth form colleges play an important role in maintaining and developing their learner’s interest in sport and physical activity, alongside providing them with opportunities for them to experiment with new sports. Teaching staff within colleges are vital to ensure that learners make a smooth transition from school to college and then on to full-time employment or further study at university. ‘As a result they can also have a huge effect on reducing the number of young people that drop out of sport as they move through these key transition points’ (Sport England 2013, p1). Sport England work very closely with the Association of Colleges and British Colleges Sport on the delivery of the National FE Sport Strategy - Growing Sport, Growing Colleges (2014). The main aim of this strategy is for all learners in colleges to have access to sporting opportunities. Consideration of key concepts and ideas informing change proposals After identifying the issue of lack of knowledge on disability sport within my placement, I made some slight changes so learners had the opportunity to develop their understanding about this topic. My mentor supported this and I started to embed inclusive practice within as many lessons as possible, ensuring that I spoke about disability sport within all of them. My planning included group discussions within my lessons, so learners were able to ask questions about disability. Some examples of the questions that were asked by my learners were: ‘How would you help a person in a wheelchair in the gym?’, ‘If a person was blind, how would you help them to use the treadmill?’ and ‘What activities would you plan for disabled people for a football session?’ For level three and level two learners I taught one lesson specifically on disability sport. I started the lesson with a short video on the highlights of the Paralympic Games; this gave the learners a reminder or an insight if they had not seen it before of how successful and inspiring the games were. The lesson included a definition of the term disability, the importance of inclusion within a sports environment and discussing acceptable terms when talking about disabled people (watching a short film on the ‘Last Leg’ which was shown on television when the Paralympic Games in London were being screened). Watching this video (Paralympic Games, 2012) gave the learners the opportunity to see which politically correct terms to use when talking about disabled people. The show also highlighted the fact that it is acceptable to talk and joke about disability, as long as you are aware of what is politically correct to say. It gave viewers the opportunity to talk openly about issues that they may not have usually spoken about in regards to disability sport. We also investigated how we could include disabled learners in coaching sessions. Finally, I created a glossary for all of my learners that included terms that are used when talking about disability sport, so if we came across a new vocabulary in a lesson, learners were able to add this to their own glossary. In order to make the topic of disability sport more innovative and creative within my practice I planned to play blind football with the learners. My placement had the equipment so it would have been a simple exercise to set up. Although suitable, it was not possible to take the learners to the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield to play Wheelchair Basketball due to the timetabling of the days I was in placement. I previously engaged in this when I was at university so I am aware it is an activity that can be set up in one and a half hour time slots. These activities give the learners an insight into what it is like for disabled athletes and provide a better understanding of the different sports available and perhaps encourage them to play. Finally, to arrange a trip to the EIS would allow the learners to see disabled sport matches. This would link to assessments, allowing where learners to write an assignment detailing how they would plan an exercise session in the gym for disabled people. Consideration of how the change can reduce barriers to learning and an evaluation and assessment of the impact on learners and the quality of teaching and learning The innovative and creative practice that has been discussed can reduce the barriers to learning for learners aged between 16-19 that have chosen to study sport within further education as it develops a wider range of knowledge and provides a broader understanding of disability sport. Developing employability skills within further education is important as it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to find a job. BBC News (2014) states that the number of 16 to 24 year olds that are unemployed stood at 912,000 in the three months leading up to January 2014, a drop of 29,000 and the lowest level since 2011. SkillsYouNeed (2014) state that employers are looking for skills that go beyond having certain qualifications and a range of experience. To be successful in certain jobs candidates need to exhibit a range of employability skills. This means that young people need technical and specialist skills that are associated with the different roles of a job. Different roles require different skill sets and abilities; however, the skills covered by SkillsYouNeed are desirable across all employment sectors. They are as follows: interpersonal skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, personal development, presentation skills, leadership and IT skills (SkillsYouNeed, 2014, p1). All of these skills are developed through my creative and innovative practice, with the activities that I have planned and delivered around disability sport. By educating my learners in this area, it has the potential to impact on society, In the DCMS (2011) Paralympic legacy report, it states that the National Governing Bodies of Sport (organisations that are in charge of different sports for the whole country e.g. England Hockey is responsible for all hockey clubs in England) are not able to give all disabled people the opportunity to take part in sport. This is because there are not enough coaches, trainers or volunteers to help at local sports clubs. Chris Holmes (won a gold medal in swimming at the Paralympic Games) is producing a report about how disability sport provision can be improved. Sport England will review this and see how they can support, currently they are spending £8 million on encouraging more disabled people to take part in sport and physical activity, but they need more coaches and volunteers to help support this (DCMS 2011). By providing learners with a broader understanding of what disability sport is, giving them knowledge and experience on how to involve disabled people within sporting situations and showing them how to plan and lead sessions around everyone’s needs, learners may have enhanced job prospects when seeking employment within this area in the future. Conclusion With the changes that were implemented within my teaching, knowledge on disability sport was already starting to improve within the classroom. Learners now have the tools and experience to empathise with disabled individuals, they can use the correct terminology when talking about disability sport and they can voice their own views and opinions relating to this area. Introducing the practical activities to the learners within my placement would have given them an insight into being a disabled athlete, and to learn the essential skills and techniques for playing these sports. Having the opportunity to undertake an educational visit would allow the learners to see live disabled sport, and relate this specifically to their assignments meaning that they would have to pay close attention and take notes so they could start to write their assignment once they were back at College. This links directly to situated learning theory as Lave and Wenger (1991) state that learning is embedded within certain activities; it is usually unintentional rather than deliberate. ‘Social interaction and collaboration are essential components of situated learning, learners become involved in a “community of practice” which embodies certain beliefs and behaviours to be acquired’ (Lave and Wenger, 1991, p1). This would provide learners with more motivation to complete their assignments as they would write about a topic that they have been involved in. All of these experiences would develop their subject specialist knowledge in the topic of disability sport; it would prepare them for issues that may arise when they are employed in the near future. A few areas for improvement in my future teaching practice would be to include more class discussions within my lessons to help encourage all learners to voice their own views and opinions. I could also highlight statistics related to disabled sport, for example, disability sport participation in the UK, coverage of disability sport in the media and whether the Paralympic legacy has made any impact. It could possibly be beneficial for learners studying sport in further education to have a module based specifically on disabled Sport. This would prepare them for roles in the sports industry and for progression to university. It could be included in all vocational qualifications across the country; this is highly relevant as the country is still working on the legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Links to networking and communities of practice ‘LinkedIn is a social networking website for people in professional occupations and it is mainly used for professional networking’ (LinkedIn, 2014, p1). By being a part of this networking site I have researched into disability sport and have followed a number of groups including ‘Disability Sports Coaching’, ‘English Federation of Disability Sport’ and ‘Disability Sport group’. TES is an online network of teachers, it provides teaching resources which are available to download, and they are developed by teachers for teachers. ‘The wealth of free resources on TES allows education professionals to share and benefit from each other’s resources and lesson plans in order to drive excellence in the education sector’ (TES Connect 2013). By being part of the TES community I have access to their forums which provide information on ‘Physical Education and School Sport Development: Disability and SEN’ and a discussion between teachers on ‘Why aren’t the Paralympic Games more popular?’ Reference List Adams, Karlyn (2005). The Sources of Innovation and Creativity. [online]. Last accessed 10 May 2013 at: http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Sources-of-InnovationCreativity.pdf BBC News (2014). UK unemployment falls by 63,000 to 2.3 million. [online]. Last accessed 10 May 2013 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26644758 Brizee, Allen and Driscoll, Dana Lynn (2013). Purdue OWL. What is Primary Research and How do I get Started? [online]. Last accessed 23 November 2013 at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/559/ Cohen, Louis and Manion, Lawrence and Morrison, Keith (2010). Research methods in education. 6th ed., Routledge, London. Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2011). 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