Factors affecting equity and access in sport and physical activity

Exercise, sport and physical activity play an important role in many people’s lives. Your study in this focus area offers you the opportunity to consider sport and physical activity from different viewpoints and to critically examine its various aspects.

You can apply your analysis and evaluation to many contemporary sporting issues, and propose possible changes and solutions to emerging problems in sport

Access and Equity: Figeuroa’s Framework

Article 26 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognised that ‘everyone has the right to education’. In Australia, the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) has as a central goal the promotion of equity in Australian schooling.

The Queensland Studies Authority (2010) promotes a statement on educational equity in its syllabus documents in which equity is defined as ‘fair treatment for all’.

Various agencies, including the United Nations, different levels of government and key curriculum bodies are obviously concerned with protecting the rights of all students to have access to an education (including Physical Education), regardless of economic status, gender, race, ethnicity or ability.

Access, equity and equality

The issue of equity is about viewing difference as an opportunity to enrich each other’s lives. This explanation suggests that differences should not be considered as problems needing to be resolved or removed, but instead, acknowledged as being important to every individual and to society.

Celebrating difference then becomes a way of breaking down traditional stereotypes , eliminating prejudice and respecting a variety of cultural identities.

Equality is the state of being equal in some respect.

Access, equity and equality

We need to recognise that many people do not have similar opportunities to participate and benefit from involvement in exercise, sport and physical activity. Some barriers might include the availability, provision and location of local facilities, the costs of entry and membership fees, the scheduling of facilities and access to transport.

These barriers may mean that individuals who would like to participate in some form of exercise, sport or physical activity are effectively denied access.

Does providing a right of access ensure equality of opportunity? This key question and the meaning of the phrase ‘equality of opportunity’ will be the central idea of our study in this Focus Area

Barriers

Figueroa’s Framework

The concepts of equity, access and equality are difficult to define and understand. They present complex issues for discussion and provide individuals and society with significant challenges.

The framework developed by Professor Peter Figueroa has been a useful tool in the investigation of issues and ideas surrounding equity, access and equality in exercise, sport and physical activity.

Figueroa’s Framework

The framework is constructed across five separate levels (individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural) with each level strongly interconnected with the others.

Each specific level contributes a role in shaping the adjoining levels. It also indicates the different functions that each of us can play in creating or removing, reinforcing or eliminating barriers, inequities and access in exercise, sport and physical activity.

We cannot overcome all barriers by simply acting at the individual level. Instead, all the different levels of the framework need to work cooperatively to effectively overcome these barriers and challenge the inequities that exist.

Figueroa’s Framework

Personalisation is an important organising principle in our study in Physical Education. It is therefore appropriate that we begin an outline and discussion at Figueroa’s individual level. This also indicates the important personal role that we can play in addressing issues of inequity in exercise, sport and physical activity.

The individual level is involved with our own attitudes, values and beliefs, particularly those related to stereotypes and prejudices. The individual level encourages us to think critically about our own perceptions of exercise, sport and physical activity.

What factors have been involved in shaping our own attitudes, values and beliefs? What factors have been important and influenced our own participation, access and opportunities in exercise, sport and physical activity?

Individual Level

The interpersonal level is concerned with our interactions with others, our relationships with peers and others, as well as our patterns of influence and how these might affect access and equity to exercise, sport and physical activity.

At this level, our attitudes, values and beliefs about difference might be critically evaluated. Inequity through factors such as how we relate to our peers, and prejudices and stereotypes we might construct, as well as discrimination and exclusion of particular groups could be considered.

The interpersonal level encourages us to think critically about our own relationships with our peers and their relationships with others. We should consider the needs and interests of others and encourage a greater understanding of others’ differences.

Consider which people have had the most influence on your participation in exercise, sport and physical activity. Determine how these individuals have influenced the participation of you and your peers. Have they encouraged or discouraged your participation?

Interpersonal Level

Consider the following poem written by A. Ahlberg Picking teams When we pick teams in the playground, Whatever the games may be, There’s always somebody left till last And usually it’s me.

I stand there looking hopeful And tapping myself on the chest But the captains pick the others first, Starting, of course, with the best.

Maybe if teams were sometimes picked Starting with the worst, Once in his life a child like me Could end up being first!

Critique the sentiment behind this poem. Use Figueroa’s framework to suggest how access and equity could be enhanced in this situation.

Learning Experience

The institutional level examines laws, patterns or rules within different agencies. This level of the framework also considers processes or arrangements and organisational structures and how these might impact on access and equity to exercise, sport and physical activity.

It is concerned with the ways in which organisations such as schools or clubs might operate to advantage or disadvantage particular groups with specific needs, which are different from ‘mainstream’ groups. These might include discriminatory rules or regulations, such as dress codes, membership rights, fees charged or scheduling of facilities, which create inequalities among specific groups or marginalise or exclude some people.

The institutional level encourages organisations to think critically about their own rules, policies and procedures which may advantage or disadvantage specific groups who would like to be involved in exercise, sport and physical activity at the institutional level.

Institutional Level

The structural level of Figueroa’s framework examines inequities within society on a much larger scale. It examines how social status might impact on the types and levels of participation by various groups within society.

At the structural level, the framework is concerned with the way in which society considers such factors as race, gender or disability. It also examines the way in which resources, rewards and status are distributed to various sectors, and how the allocation of resources might impact on access and equity. It examines the effects and impact of power and relationships within society.

The structural level encourages us, as active members of society, to think critically about the distribution of power, resources and status that may advantage or disadvantage specific groups who would like to be involved in exercise, sport and physical activity at the structural level.

Structural Level

The cultural level is concerned with shared assumptions, beliefs and values about issues such as gender or race and socioeconomic status and how these issues might affect access and equity to exercise, sport and physical activity.

This level of the framework requires critical analysis of cultural norms and values, and examines how diversity is recognised and treated. These cultural norms, sometimes unknowingly, restrict or influence our perceptions and actions about involvement in exercise, sport and physical activity.

These frames of reference consist of many beliefs, assumptions, values and attitudes that are taken for granted and which are reflected in issues such as the globalisation of sport and the role of politics in sport, as well as the impact of race and ethnicity on participation.

Cultural Level

Multimodal Task:How might the sentiments expressed in the poem ‘Picking teams’ be applied to other levels of Figueroa’s framework? How could the framework be applied to overcome access and equity issues at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural levels? For example, how are the ‘popular’ sports treated at different levels of the framework? Do some sports attract preferential treatment ahead of others?

Learning Experience

There are five distinct levels in Figueroa’s framework that we will use to investigate issues of access and equity in exercise, sport and physical activity within Australian society.

However, it is important to note the interactions between the different levels. Each level in the spiral interacts with the preceding level and the level following. No one level can stand alone as each is interdependent on the others.

Conclusion

Queensland Senior PE (2011 Draft)Focus Area CEquity and access to exercise, sport and physical activity in Australian society

References

Theory: Prac: Physical Performance Assessment

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