Kent Löfgren

More of the same instead of qualitative leaps: A study of inertia in the Swedish sports system

Abstract Between 2007 and 2011, the Swedish government added 50 million Euro per year to the budget of the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) for a Sports for All programme (SfA), Idrottslyftet (The Lift for Sport), with the aim of engaging more children and youth, especially those from underrepresented groups. The programme manifesto stated that all activities should be based on gender and equality perspectives and be permeated by the regular RF policy program, Idrotten vill (What sports want). In this article, we discuss mechanisms of change and inertia in the Swedish sports system by applying path dependency theory on results achieved in Idrottslyftet. Findings are based on three data sources from five National Sports Organisations (NSOs) (Swedish Budo & Martial Arts Federation, Swedish Floorball Federation, Swedish Gymnastics Federation, Swedish Ski Association and Swedish Sports Organisation for the Disabled); the data include their development plans, interviews with key personnel and granted project applications from sports clubs during the programme’s first and third year (N = 2,563). Overall, the study shows that when considering decisions and activities undertaken by the government, RF and the NSOs little has been done to enable change and to avoid inertia. The NSOs have mainly provided funds to applications that focus on recruiting instead of on applications with a qualitative approach focusing on changing activities for children and youth. Furthermore applications focused on only a few of the guidelines in Idrotten vill and lacked in general gender and equality perspectives. Our main conclusion is that projects carried out in sports clubs strengthen ongoing activities rather than being an engine for qualitative leaps in developing activities for engaging more children and youth. Finally, we note that path dependency theory has been a fruitful tool for analysing the results from Idrottslyftet. The theory has significantly contributed to a deeper understanding of inertia within the Swedish sports system.

Competency-Based Corrective Feedback in Higher Education Second Language Teaching: Perspectives from Empirical Research and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

This chapter discusses different forms of teacher-introduced corrective feedback – the backbone of language teaching – and students’ responses to it. How can university teachers use corrective feedback to promote clarity and transparency? And what resource allocations and constraints may affect these teaching-learning processes? The chapter also discusses the link between corrective feedback and the EU’s second language teaching system. It is further argued that student-centered, self-governed learning is important in European higher education, and that this, in turn, calls for learning situations where reflective self-correction among students is encouraged. Consequently, given the importance of, and need for, such learning environments, this chapter reminds the reader that student-introduced feedback should be encouraged and seen as a natural part of the teaching and learning process. Student-introduced feedback provides students with opportunities to offer feedback about the teaching-learning that is taking place, as well as about their perspectives on their own learning experiences. A key point in this chapter, therefore, is that learners may improve their language skills at a faster rate and with higher quality if they are provided with opportunities to reflect on and take active part in their own learning.

Adaptation and adjustment : A theory of the introduction of international grading schemes in higher education

This study is about the introduction of an international grading scheme from the perspective of the educational providers, with the aim of creating a theory that accounts for their problems and act ...