Child protection training in sport-related degrees amd initial teacher training for physical education: an audit

Abstract

This article reports on the results of an online survey of child protection training for students on sport-related degrees and Initial Teacher Training Physical Education courses, and on the views of recently-graduated teachers of the usefulness of such training in their everyday work. The results indicate that child protection training is provided on most courses but in varying amounts. Respondents to the survey reported positively, in the main, about the effects of new requirements for teacher training (Every Child Matters: Change for Children, DfES, 2004). Reasons given for not including child protection in courses were: lack of time; the perceived vocational nature of the topic; lack of fit with course aims and objectives; lack of relevance; and, the research rather than professional orientation of the course. Recently graduated teachers’ views on their pre-service child protection training differed from the claims made about this in the survey. In particular, they raised concerns about their lack of preparation for reporting and dealing with potential child protection situations. The paper concludes that child protection training within sport-related higher education courses is deficient in both consistency of delivery and in content, and that, in addition to preparing students to recognise signs and indicators of abuse, curricula should also address undergraduates’ confidence and skills for responding to abuse issues in their everyday professional practice.