Case study on evaluation in the formative dynamics of school soccer: results-driven arbitrariness

ABSTRACT

Many primary school pupils broaden their education through extracurricular activities and sports, among which school soccer stands out due to its high levels of participation and its significant impact. The kind of learning imparted fluctuates between a priori pedagogical desires and the evaluations that family members and coaches bring to bear on the activity. This study aims to understand these evaluation strategies, their meaning, and their capitalization by schoolchildren. A multiple case study was conducted, making use of participant observation among 101 schoolchildren aged six years (3 girls and 54 boys) and seven years (2 girls and 42 boys) over one academic year and interviews with 21 teachers from their schools. Family members who were involved on site on a daily basis and the teams’ 10 coaches are included. 204 observation sessions were recorded, including matches and training sessions. The findings highlight a results-driven arbitrariness in the adults’ evaluations, favoring concurrent hetero-evaluation and the comparison of schoolchildren’s performances. This gives rise to situations of symbolic violence and to the child’s self-evaluation being linked to victory over their peers. This study encourages the planning of evaluative spaces for the co-participation of instructors, families, and schools, taking into account the child’s personal growth. To this end, we recommend the harmonization of formative opportunities regardless of schoolchildren’s individual skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Evaluation
• extracurricular activities
• educational improvement
• soccer
• sports initiation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).