Soccer across Cultures: An Innovative Course to Develop Physical Education Teachers' Cultural Competence

Overview & Synopsis

Cultural competence is essential for physical education teachers due to the increased cultural diversity in today's student populations. As a consequence, teacher education programs should aim to facilitate the development of cultural competence. The purpose of this article is to introduce an innovative course called Soccer Across Cultures, which aims to enhance physical education teachers' coaching skills, soccer skills and cultural competence simultaneously. Soccer is influenced by the surrounding culture and is played and taught differently around the world, which allows students to experiment with culturally diverse coaching and playing styles. Students in the course develop (1) cultural knowledge of four different soccer cultures (England, Italy, Brazil and Spain); (2) the ability to plan and carry out culturally appropriate soccer coaching sessions; and (3) cultural awareness and a greater sensitivity to differences and similarities between cultures -- all of which helps them to be more inclusive when teaching physical education in a multicultural setting.