Teaching Olympism in Schools: Olympic Education as a Focus on Values Education

The Olympic Committee of Israel`s `Teaching Olympism in Schools` program aims to promote the values of Olympism in schools throughout the country. Olympism serves as a philosophy of life by teaching the values of excellence, respect and friendship, and the belief that sport is a universal language young people can use to create a better world. The program also encourages students to use physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The program is implemented by physical education teachers and includes three lectures at schools: The Olympic Games, The Israel Olympic heritage including the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at Munich 1972 Games, and Olympic values. The highlight of the program is a visit to the Olympic Experience Museum, where students take part in a nutrition workshop and meet an Olympic athlete. In the final part of the project, the students are responsible for organizing an Olympic day at their schools.

The program encourages each student to be creative, respectful and an independent thinker, as well as to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The goal of the project is to contribute to the building of a better world by educating youth through the values of sport.

This project was created with help from the Olympic Solidarity Fund and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. In 2015, 15 pilot schools were chosen to participate in this program and 700 students were exposed to it. In 2016, this project will be provided to 4,000 students in 55 schools and 1,000 students in three colleges.