The goal of the service learning component within a collegiate Sport Ethics course was to use physical play as a basis for talking about ethical concepts. Through review of the journal entries submitted by each college student, a snapshot of their experience and application of ethical concepts can be found.
Method:
Twenty college students enrolled in a Sport Ethics course were required to spend 20 hours in a service learning experience within the local community. They were to journal after each experience, apply course concepts (specifically ethical frameworks), and respond to specific prompts. The ethical questions were: what is fair, who decides what is fair, what is cheating, is it acceptable sometimes, what is fun, who decides if an activity is fun, and what is the role of authority figures? The students were placed in afterschool activity programs, YMCA sport settings, and with local Boys & Girls clubs. The journal entries were then reviewed, and coded into themes.
Analysis/Results:
After reviewing journal entries, four themes emerged: cheating, win at all cost mentality, moral education and authority figures. Responses indicated that the win at all cost mentality starts young, and cheating is constant and reduces the enjoyment of physical activities. They found that many of the children involved in sport practice psychological egoism through selfish play or outright cheating. However, moral education can be emphasized through teamwork, where individuals find ways to maximize happiness for the larger group or Utilitarian thinking. As authority figures, the students learned that keeping drills and activities simple increased the chance of success, and thus overall pleasure, a hedonistic concept. The college students believe that emphasizing social values is not enough to foster moral values, but can help lead participants in that direction. Finally, they stated that learning good moral behavior is more important than teaching sport skills.
Conclusions:
Service learning can potentially enhance understanding and appreciation of moral concepts and behavior related to sport activities. It can help bring abstract ethical concepts to life and foster further exploration of personal morality. The college students, as future fans, coaches, parents and athletes have learned that sport without moral values decreases the enjoyment, and thus will hopefully be a resource for continual discussion and exploration of moral behavior within the sporting world and beyond. This experience also emphasizes the need for continual ethical education and discussion among sport participants and leaders.