Results SEDY2 focus group study presented during online ISAPA conference
During the online International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity (ISAPA) on the 18th of June Vera Dekkers presented the results of the SEDY2 focus group study about the meaning of inclusion in sport in practice regarding children with a disability, their parents and sport professionals.
In a mini symposium, led by Peter Downs – Founding Director of The Inclusion Club, about 35 attendees were listening and participating online. The findings of the focus group study on the meaning of inclusion in practice due to children with a disability themselves, their parents and sport professionals in Finland, Lithuania, Portugal and the Netherlands were presented.
Out of the data seven main themes on the meaning of inclusion in sport in practice were identified. For all three stakeholder groups (children, parents and professionals) inclusion in sport is about having a choice regarding sport, the sense of belonging to a group or team, having the same rights as others and feeling equal and that everyone can participate in sport in their own way. Parents and professionals stated that people have to acknowledge that everyone is unique, with or without a disability, and that inclusion is an ongoing process. Professionals added that the terminology regarding sport for people with a disability can be challenging and that it seems that there is no broad consensus in the field about the meaning of inclusion in sport.
After the SEDY2 presentation Maxine de Jonge from the Mulier Institute presented about the meaning of inclusion in sport according to various stakeholder groups in the Netherlands, followed by Sabine Radtke from Paderborn University from a the perspective of elite athletes and coaches. In a lively discussion after the session Catherine Carty, UNESCO chair, shed her light on the meaning of inclusion from the UNESCO perspective.