2010 Vancouver Olympics, What to Teach Students
Modern Olympics Begun by Peace-Minded Educator
Oct 11, 2009
It's no accident that it was an educator who revived the ancient Olympic Games. In the late 1800s, a French educator named Baron Pierre de Coubertin sought to reinstate the international sporting competition, not for the sake of sports, but in order to foster international cooperation. Looking ahead to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, teachers can use the Games for many different kinds of lessons, not just training for excellence in athletics.
Like the Nobel Peace Prize, the Olympic Games offer a "teachable" moment for classroom teachers with students at all levels of the academic spectrum to explore sportsmanship as a path to international cooperation, and to learn about the Olympic values, including the inspiring Olympic Truce for peace.
Materials for Educators
Excellent materials will soon be available for teachers online at the "Canadian School Portal for Vancouver 2010", for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The goal of these materials will be to encourage students to learn and practice peaceful behavior, organize peace projects. It's geared for teachers, community youth leaders, and school administrators.
The teacher guide is called Make Your Peace: An Olympic Truce Guide for Educators. And, it's advisable to register online to receive updates, new information and learn about what other students and schools are doing.
Ancient Greeks Connected Sports and Peace via "Olympic Truce"
In ancient Greece, the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Games were intimately connected. The Truce was called for a period of time before, during and after the game, to provide travelers to the Olympic festival safe passage. The tradition lasted for over 1000 years.
The Olympic Games, begun in 3rd or 4th century Greece, ceased during the Roman Empire. They were considered pagan rites by the early Christians, and were abandoned for centuries, a relic of ancient history.
However, in the late 19th century, an early version of what we today call "globalization" was underway. A progressive French educator, de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 to revive the international Games. An activist himself, he worked tirelessly to bring the Olympics into the modern era.
Modern Olympic Charter Advocates Peace
As in ancient times, the modern Olympics were conceived as being about far more than just sport, or even sport and commerce. Coubertin and his hand-selected cadre of 15 original IOC members modeled the IOC organizationally after an exclusive all-male club (IOC membership is still by invitation only) and invested the Olympic Games with modern humanist values of peace and the moral improvement. Olympic historian Dietrich R. Quant notes that Pierre de Coubertin had close relations to famous pacifists of his day, and concludes that Pierre de Coubertin’s real aim of the IOC Foundation in 1894 was the peace of nations.
The Olympic Charter, the founding document of the modern Olympic Games, established by de Coubertin and published for the first time in 1908, states that Olympism is a “philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind,” went on to describe how the Olympics were meant to be more than just a sporting competition.
According to the Olympic Charter, the second principle of Olympism states that sport is at the service of mankind, peace and human dignity — and not vice-versa. It says, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
The third principle establishes responsibility for stewardship of the concept of the Olympic Truce. It states that the IOC has authority over all people and entities, across five continents, who are invovled with the Olympic Games.
Finally, the Olympic Charter tasks the IOC with the following: “To cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace.”
Activist Opportunity: Olympic Truce
The 2010 Vancouver Games offer a springboard for middle and high school lessons. Use student interest in the
The 2010 Vancouver Games offer a rare chance to use sporting events to teach about and the values of peace underlying the Olympic Games. Advanced students and those preparing for college may be inspired to do study projects related to modern challenges of globalization and international conflict. Some students may be inspired to become involved in extracurricular activities related to international conflict resolution, the Model UN, and activism, as well.
Sources:
International Olympic Committee.
"Power Of The IOC Founding: The Birth Of A New Peace Movement" by Prof. Dr. Dietrich R. Quant, Speech given at the International Olympic Academy 34th Session July 1994.
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