Context: promoting the concept
Sport England is the brand name of the English Sports Council - a non-departmental body committed to creating opportunities for people to start, stay and succeed in sport. Sport England provides the strategic lead for sport in England and is responsible for delivering the Government's sporting objectives and the distribution of lottery funding to both national and community bodies across the country. Sport England provides advice, support and knowledge to a network of partners and customers including the national governing bodies of sport (for example the Football Association) and county sports partnerships.
In November 2004, Lord Carter, Chair of Sport England, launched The Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport. The Standard is intended to be a vehicle for widening access and increasing the participation and involvement in sport and physical activities from under-represented individuals, groups and communities, especially women and girls, ethnic minorities and disabled individuals. It will also assist organisations involved in sport develop policies, structures and processes, and allow performance and progress to be assessed. The introduction of the standard was a collaborative effort involving all four UK Sport Councils and a number of partner organisations. The Standard identifies four levels of achievement (foundation, preliminary, intermediate and advanced), with Sport England and the major partner organisations being committed to attaining the first two levels by March 2006.
The e-learning module
Tom Harlow was appointed to his current role of Learning and Development Manager of Sport England in July 2004. To assist the awareness and implementation of the standard, he has produced an e-learning module called Fairness and Inclusion.
Although funded by Sport England and intended as a learning vehicle for their staff, it was recognised from the outset that an e-learning solution would be of wider value. It could assist governing bodies and other organisations and individuals with an interest in fairness and inclusion in sport. Accordingly the module is available for access to all at www.fairnessandinclusion.org
Fairness and Inclusion is a good example of the case of customised or bespoke e-learning - a web-based learning module which can be accessed through the Internet or intranet at an individual's PC. Tom Harlow chose the e-learning option because the engaging content would be available for all at any time and easily updated with additional scenarios and legislative changes.
There are three sub-modules in Fairness and Inclusion: basic awareness; making fairness and inclusion a reality; and positive management of a diverse workforce. The content was specified by Tom Harlow and subject experts on equality within Sport England. The product was produced by software house, Atticmedia.
The three modules would take the user some 90 minutes to complete. As well as basic text information, the module contains scenario-based information which invites the learner to answer questions which produce feedback. It contains exercises but not video streaming clips.
At the end of the module, learners are invited to produce an action plan based on their learning. There is a facility to allow them to email it to themselves and to their manager. When this occurs an email is also sent to Tom Harlow. This simply tells him that an action plan is produced. To protect confidentiality, nothing is disclosed in the content or its author.
Fairness and Inclusion went live on December 16 2004. So far much of Tom Harlow's efforts have concentrated on increasing awareness through marketing. The launch date coincided with the Christmas Party so it featured as a question in a treasure hunt.
Using the module within Sports England
There are 290 staff employed by Sport England, of whom half work at the Support Centre in Holborn, London, and the majority of the remainder at one of nine regional offices. So far use of the module is voluntary and four of the regional offices have shown a strong commitment and this sort of pattern is reflected in the Support Centre. Tom Harlow currently has three ways of monitoring progress:
- the number of hits on the site,
- the number of action plans produced,
- the comments offered by users on an online evaluation which is sent to him when users have completed the final module
The first, the number of hits, is, as Tom Harlow would admit, a crude indicator. It reflects activity not learning. Individuals could access the site through curiosity or even mistake. The number of action plans produced is an interesting measure and a far better guide to acceptance.
By mid March, three months after the site had been introduced, there had been over 1,200 hits on the home page, 233 users had viewed the action plan and 85 had taken advantage of the action plan e-mail facility. 281 copies of a team exercise had been downloaded.
The assumption is that, at this stage, all action plans had been prepared by Sport England employees. As noted above, the email to Tom Harlow does not indicate the role of the originator of the plan and this must limit the capability, at the centre, to measure the impact of the initiative. However, as Tom Harlow says, "This is a necessary limitation to ensure confidentiality is maintained regarding the content of the plan, as was requested by users."
So far, at these early stages, the emphasis has been on effective marketing of the concept. Tom Harlow has spoken at team meetings and met with managers at all levels. He is considering whether more positive encouragement should be introduced or even a compliance element, probably linked to the performance appraisal system.
"While every effort is being made to ensure line managers encourage and monitor use within their teams, until completion is an essential part of performance review, this initiative will always be seen as an add on rather than an integral part of what we do."
Using the module outside Sport England
The policies and procedures outlined in the e-learning module are relevant to any situation or organisation where sports activity takes place. The promotion of the module to this wider community will be mainly managed by the regional offices and National Governing Body client managers. Some success has already been achieved with partner organisations in London. Representatives from Governing Bodies of sports organisations at a recent London conference were required to complete the programme beforehand.
The design of the module has been constructed with the intention of giving a wide appeal. One scenario for example involves discussion at a local swimming pool. Clearly there, the use and implementation of the e-learning tool is a matter for the partner organisation - it cannot be imposed from outside.
According to Tom Harlow:
"The content of the programme will be dynamic with changes regularly being made following feedback. Changing behaviour at an individual level can underpin organisational behaviour change and the way we work in sport."