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Physical activity and sport have significant benefits for health, well-being and youth development. Sport can be a fantastic tool for outcomes such as peace, holistic education and social development. Recognizing the unique potential of sport as an educational and communication tool, the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) is a practical set of learning resources designed to inspire and allow young people to experience life values such as excellence, respect and friendship.

Would you like to learn more about OVEP or share your experience ? Send us a note at ovep@olympic.org

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The Global Challenge

The majority of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion continues to grow. We believe that children and young people deserve the opportunity to play and practice sport in safe and protected environment. Sport organisations are often focus on elite sport and not on sport participation or grassroots sport. Though many countries have a national sport policy, few have a sport participation strategy. The challenge for the Olympic Movement is to create a bridge between Olympic ideals and performance. Between overall participation and elite performance.

The Programme goes beyond geo-political and artificial boundaries and aims to create a sustainable platform to address societal issues such as:

  • Healthy life style
  • Social inclusion
  • Gender balance
  • Physical and academic literacy
  • Rebuilding of local communities

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OVEP Objectives

The programme aims to realize the Olympic ideal of building a better world through sport by means of a curriculum that uses sport pedagogy and focuses on values-based learning.

The cornerstone of the programme is the Olympic ideal that 'learning involves the whole body, not only the mind'. OVEP uses Olympic sport traditions and positive sporting values as the context for teaching life skills, values and life-long participation in sport for a healthy lifestyle.

OVEP can enrich existing educational materials and help improve academic performance in addition to civic responsibility, through its activity-based approach. Respect for cultural diversity and educational systems are integral drivers of the programme.

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The 5 Educational Themes of Olympism

These educational themes, aimed at transmitting a contemporised version of the Olympic principles, are the basis of the OVEP programme.

  • experiencing the Joy of effort
  • learning to Play Fair
  • practising Respect for oneself and others
  • pursuit of Excellence
  • living a Harmonious and Balanced Life of Body, Will and Mind

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Implementing the Programme

The OVEP Toolkit Poster

This poster will give you an overview of the learning objectives of the Programme and the elements that can be implemented by using these materials such as: scheme of work using project-based learning, educational projects, stand-alone activity and more. It is a great tool to help you to implement the Olympic Values Education Programme.

The Olympic Adventure

The Olympic Adventure is an interactive platform that has been designed to encourage students from 6 to 12 years to be active in class or during their free time. Supervised by their teachers, it gives the students the opportunity to visit 10 destinations related to the topic of Olympism while exercising at the same time. Based on a system of points, each student should aim to do at least one hour of physical activities per day, together as a team or individually. You are a teacher and you would like to be part of this adventure? Contact us!
Please be informed it is a pilot project. We are able to accommodate a limited amount of classes on the platform for the time being. Have a look at the video and take a demo tour for more information.

who is it for?

Learning through sport with the help of a teacher

The Programme is a fun & engaging set of activities to draw kids into education. The Programme is not just about sports: it takes a broad, inclusive approach that includes the Arts, Culture, Math, History, and Geography. The Programme also introduces you to new ways of teaching more collaboratively, building new skills and experiencing values-based education.

Practicing sport with an athlete is a good way to learn about the sport values.

The Programme helps you deliver a values-based approach to learning & development, promoting the social growth of individual athletes and students.

It also helps to build athlete performance through a holistic view of sport that aims to develop health and personal development.

Government & Educational Authorities are key players in the realisations of grass roots projects and national policy.

The Programme provides tools & tactics to help you concretely realize existing policies addressing common issues such as:

  • Sedentary behaviour (health)
  • Cultural expression (arts)
  • Getting kids off the streets
  • Urbanisation (space to practice & play)

It also helps build civic literacy and global citizenship through a focus on sport as a tool for peace and cultural understanding.

Volunteering is a good way of making a difference in your community.

The programme provides the opportunity to people to volunteer and facilitate the dissemination of a values-based education in wide-ranged contexts including school, sports clubs, summer camps and many more. Concretely, volunteering can take many forms and enables youth to:

  • Experience a values-based education;
  • Forge prosocial values and behaviors to develop themselves into fulfilled individuals and citizens as well as develop healthy relationships based on values such as respect of others, peace and tolerance;
  • Reinforce competences and life skills for a positive life development and active life habits;
  • Increase Olympic knowledge;

Volunteering opportunities are available under different channels; should you be interested, please contact us for further details.

Related topics

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The Olympic Education initiatives

Find out about the Olympic Education initiatives and application of Olympic values

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What resources are available?

The Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) Toolkit is a free educational resource packed with ideas, stories, activities that can teach values and inspire youth. It also has considerable potential to transform individual lives and whole communities, providing hope and opportunity to those that adopt the core values of Olympism: Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

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