Education Through Games

THE Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games areover but the Olympic movement continues in differentcountries in different ways， inspiring culturalactivities and enabling professionals from differentcountries to exchange ideas and learn from each other’ssuccessful sports education concepts and models.

Ru Xiuying is an Olympic scholar promoting Olympicculture. The director of the social sports teaching andresearch office at the Department of Leisure and SocialSports of Capital University of Physical Education andSports， she considers sporting events to be also vital culturaland educational vehicles. The purpose of participatingin the Olympics is not solely to compete for medals. “TheOlympics are an educational activity， and their fundamentalgoal is to shape a harmonious individual，” she said. “Thismeans balanced development of body and mind — to becomea well-rounded individual. Harmonious individualsconstitute a harmonious society， and a harmonious societyhelps to bring world peace.”

Getting Schools Involved

Schools are an important platform for promoting sportsmanship.Three years ago， Ru formed an Olympic educationteam of graduates to develop a series of interdisciplinarycourses on Olympic education for primary and secondaryschools in China. The pilot courses have been carried outin some schools in Beijing. The Friday afternoon sessions atthe Dianchang Road Primary School in Shijingshan， a districtin Beijing， gives a good idea of what it is like.

The one-hour session is generally divided into two parts.First， the students are told about the Olympics， and for thenext 45 minutes， they go outside the classroom for sports.It is a six-year collaboration with the school， and the newOlympic culture course is already part of the curriculum.“We’ve completed three semesters and are now in thefourth，” Ru said.

Last semester， the team told the children the history ofthe ancient Olympic Games and designed a mini ancientOlympics. “All the students took part. Through activitieslike this， children strengthen their bodies as well developan awareness of fair play and perseverance. These qualitieswill have a lasting impact on their studies， work， and lives.”

Ru is committed to introducing Olympic knowledge inrural schools， ensuring that the children there have equalaccess to Olympic culture. “Sports can boost children’s confidence，”she said. “At first， they might be a bit shy， but aftera few sports activities， we can see a marked improvementin their confidence and their willingness to express themselves.”

Olympic Cultural Exchanges

As an Olympic scholar， Ru has attended many Olympicthemedevents in different countries， from the U.K. toGreece and the Republic of Korea. “When I first startedattending these exchange activities over a decade ago， Inoticed that in many countries， physical education classeswere largely game-based. Those classes focused not only onlearning skills or vying for medals but， more importantly，on fostering children’s interest in sports. The goal was tofoster children’s interest in physical activities， often throughteamwork， teaching them how to cooperate and communicatewith others，” she said. Inspired by these ideas， she laterintegrated them into her own teaching methods.

In 2017， she formed China’s first Olympic education presentationteam of graduates， and they made over 100 presentationson the Winter Olympics in different regions of China.As part of the preparation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics，Ru developed seven sets of educational materials fordifferent groups. One was “general knowledge of the Olympicsports，” which was included in the online training coursesfor the Beijing 2022 volunteers， who were mostly universitygraduates. After the conclusion of Beijing 2022， she producedan official report on the Games.

Each Olympic host city and nation enriches the Olympicculture in its own way. Beijing is the first city to hold both theSummer and Winter Olympic Games and has accumulated arich Olympic legacy. In March 2024， Ru was invited to teacha graduate course on “Beijing’s dual Olympic legacy” at theRussian International Olympic University in Sochi， where sheshared the experience of China’s Olympic development.

Learning about Fair Play

“Sports play an irreplaceable role in cultivating positivevalues and good moral character in a person，” Ru said. Thesoul and foundation of sports lie in fair play. “The first thingthat sports teach participants is awareness of fair competition.In a sport， any violation of rules leads to penalties.Athletes must follow the rules and respect the referees andopponents.”

She has an example from the Paris Olympics to illustratethis idea. “Chinese divers Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxiare partners in the synchronized platform event， but in individualevents， they become competitors. However， theirrelationship is consistently based on mutual respect and mutualsupport.” Ru emphasized that athletes are encouraged tostrive for personal excellence on a level playing field.

Another important quality in sports is resilience and perseverance.How do you respond to a challenge？ Give up orrise to it？ She quoted the founder of the modern Olympics，Pierre de Coubertin： “The most important thing in the OlympicGames is not winning but taking part; the essential thingin life is not conquering but fighting well.”