psikologi olahraga

Culture, education and sport

(7 halaman)

Ferliansyah

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to place sport in a social, cultural and educationalcontext. This implies definitions of culture, education and sport, and theacademic juxtaposition of each to the others. However, it will be seen thatculture, education and sport have commonly-held meanings which, in somecases, eradicate the need for further clarification. So, apart from defining these

important concepts, this chapter will also deal with the pervading nature ofsport in society, sport as a system of sub-cultures and the degree to which sporthas become an important symbol for individuals and societies worldwide. Sporthas a variety of functions for different segments of society and therefore differentmeanings to those different populations.

Everyone knows what a culture is. Everyone knows what education is. And everyone knows what sport is. But everyone has slightly different definitions ofculture, education and sport. What we require are commonly understood definitions of terms for the purpose of this chapter. The mere fact that we need to define these terms for the purposes of this analysis highlights the problem that definitions and meanings are context specific and will vary as the contexts of their usage changes. The potential differences in the meanings of sport have already been touched upon, but culture as a term can evoke different interpretations.

There is an inevitable and symbiotic relationship between culture, education and sport. Education and sport are two of the major institutions of our society. As such, they interact with each other, and of course other institutions, to contribute to what we commonly regard as culture and society. In this way, neither education  nor sport are ideologically neutral because they have implicit values which we incorporate into recognition of both culture and society. This incorporation of sport and education into the meaning of society and culture legitimates them and gives them both a value and a place. Although we have only referred to sport and education here, it can be seen how the various societal and cultural components(such as religion, work and the family) are constructed through systems of meaning that are legitimated through practice and adoption and perpetuate the commonly-held view of culture and society.

The above argument indicates the real value of sport and education; that is, they have importance in many of our everyday lives, and they are a part of the fabric of our society. The emotions, particularly those of parents, raised by education and the number of newspaper pages devoted to sport are a testament to this importance.

Culture

There is a commonly-held view that culture is art; paintings, sculptures, drama and the like, but that is mistaken. The artistic view of culture is limited by its narrowness of application—it is only one aspect of culture, and is sometimes referred to as ‘high’ culture. The converse is that a ‘low’ culture also exists and refers to football, pop music, and TV. This élitist view has little appeal in academic debate and, as theboundaries between these two opposing cultural dichotomies becomes ever more blurred, the currency of this framework is devalued.

A culture is a system of shared values, meanings and symbols that enables societies and individuals to operate effectively without continually redefining these values, meanings, symbols and points of reference. Imagine the impossibility of having to say what we meant by religion, for example, every time we used the term; or what morality meant to us; or what we understood by the word sport. Take thesymbol of the cross. In one context it indicates religion, spirituality, and the religious claim that Jesus died on a cross to grant us salvation. In another context, as a traffic sign, a cross means two roads intersecting, and we must therefore drive with care. A cross on its side, in yet another context, indicates that something is wrong, incorrect and possibly needs to be done again. The meaning of the symbol clearly depends upon the context in which the symbol is placed

As well as being things and items, symbols can be found in actions and language. Hand gestures, facial expressions, body language and head movements sometimes have specific meanings in different cultural contexts. In western society, we commonly throw paper and small pieces of household rubbish on afire. However in Nepal, the Hindu and Buddhist household gods live in the hearth and it is an insult to throw rubbish at them. Giving or receiving items with one’s left hand is poorly regarded in some Asian and eastern cultures because of  the sanitary function for which the left hand is used. It is far better to offer and receive with both hands. Nearer to our own western experience, Churchill’s V for victory hand gesture has come to be interpreted as a peace symbol. Although connections can be made between victory and peace, these are different concepts located in different times but represented by the same symbol.

These differences within shared meanings are what make separate cultures unique. People within the culture do not have to define their symbols at every social interaction. The commonly-held perception of meaning lubricates the social process. Within cultures there are sub-cultures. These smaller groupings of individuals also share systems of values and meanings and this develops their clear and separate identities. Some of the most obvious examples are surfers and bikers. Each of these groups has very distinctive ways of dressing, talking and behaving that are clearly identified as being peculiar to the group. The distinctnature of language, appearance and actions is what binds the fabric of sub-culturestogether and makes them strong in their separateness and individuality. A subculturemust have at least one unifying characteristic. For the surfing sub-culture,one of the unique characteristics of that community is that they go into the sea andride waves, they surf. There is also an exclusionary nature to sub-cultures whichmeans that without possessing the unique characteristic one could never join thesub-culture. So one could never be included in the surfing sub-culture if one didnot surf. There are undoubtedly privileged groups who enjoy limited access to thesub-culture. In the case of surfing, board and wetsuit manufacturers, journalists,photographers and the like will be allowed this access, but they will not be part ofthe core group, the essential sub-culture.

Education

We all have a view of what education means. In one role or another, we have all experienced education. We have been children at school so we know what it is like to be a pupil. We know what goes on in schools, even if only superficially, so we know what schools are like to work in. And many of us have seen school through our own children’s eyes, so we think we know a lot about school, and thereforeabout education. This interpretation is similar to other people’s interpretation because they have also been through the same process and experiences. Therefore, this interpretation gets reinforced and every time we use the word education, we do not have to explain what we mean. The meaning of education is a commonly-held meaning that is the culturally acceptable one.

 Mention education to most people and they will get a mental image of a school; a lesser number will also think of higher education, perhaps in a university.