Fair Play: Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes of 5th-6th Grade Lithuanian Pupils

Background: Sport is associated with a broad range of positive psychosocial, physical health, and educational benefits (Andermo et al., 2020; García-Hermoso et al., 2020). Sport can also teach values such as team building, equality, discipline, inclusion, perseverance, and respect (UNESCO, 2021). However, sport is also confronted with new threats and challenges which have emerged in European society, such as commercial pressure, exploitation of young players, doping, racism, violence, corruption, and money laundering (White Paper on Sport, 2007). In the process of education, children must be directed towards the internalization of fair play so that it becomes an integral part of their being, motivating and regulating their behavior and activities.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards the Olympic value of fair play in 5th-6th grade pupils.

Methods: The survey was conducted online from February to June 2020 (http://www.manoapklausa.lt/surveys). Pupils in grades 5–6 (aged 11–13) participated in the study. The research sample consisted of 4412 respondents. Some questionnaires were incomplete; therefore, they were nullified. Data from 3378 participants (45.9% girls) were analyzed; 48.3% (n = 1633) were 5th graders and 51.7% (n = 1745) were 6th graders.

The Olympic Values Survey Questionnaire consisted of two parts: demographics and the Olympic values knowledge, skills and attitudes. In the latter part, five core Olympic values were singled out: Excellence, Respect, Friendship, Joy of Effort, and Fair Play. Six questions were assigned to assess each value, with the first two reflecting the pupils’ knowledge, followed by two questions about skills, and the remaining questions concerning attitudes.

Results: Most pupils correctly identified the definition of fair play (94.2%) and the example of noble behavior (88.4%) from the presented options. More than half (62.7%) of the survey participants chose the answer “strongly agree” when answering the question, almost a third (31.8%) "agree". The results regarding attitudes were not as good. The children were given a situation: "Imagine that your opponent has a torn sneaker. You have spare shoes you can lend. Would you help your opponent?" 34.0 percent chose the statement “strongly agree”, 38.6 percent – “agree”, 20.9 percent – “undecided”. If a teammate was cheating, 37.8 percent of children claimed they would report his/her misconduct, 54.4 percent “would talk to the teammate [themselves] and warn him/her”, 7.8 percent would say nothing as they are teammates.

Conclusion: Most pupils know what the Olympic value of fair play is, but their skills and attitudes towards it are insufficient.