Conference Program

The increasing trend of schools outsourcing PE to a plurality of private organisations (corporations, sport associations, etc.) along with external consultants, raises a myriad of issues that intersect social, pedagogical and market aspects.
International studies [Williams et al., 2011; Williams, Macdonald 2015] show that the main factors driving schools to outsource PE activities are commonly linked to a deficiency in school resources in terms of sport facilities and equipment, experiences and activities, as well as teachers’ expertise.
Moreover, due to the progressive neo-liberal turn in educational policies (Ball, 1998; DeFeo, Pitzalis, 2017; van Zanten 2004), school are nowadays engaged in competitive dynamics, which focus on a market-driven approach, aimed at satisfy the needs of students as customers. Consequently, the offer of appealing extracurricular sports activities is more and more witnessed as a strategy for attracting new students.
Sport is also a domain where an intensification of market logic can be observed also in its related areas (merchandising, advertising, sponsorship…) (Bifulco, Catone, 2022; Bifulco, Tirino, 2019). These dynamics occur within a socio-cultural context marked by the widespread diffusion of consumer culture (Horne, 2006) which permeates the realm of sport and physical activities. This culture tends to colonise the practices of everyday life and aspires to be incorporated into common sense (Andrews, Silk, 2018), focusing more on the individual experience - in relation, for example, to personal well-being, perhaps through sporting activity - over addressing the crucial social issues of our times (Coakley, 2011).
In this cultural frame, corporations can play a pivotal role, investing and expanding into educational spaces (Kohe, Collison, 2019). In this regard, a significant concern remains the complex and ambiguous relationship between the financial viability of the sport brands and the actual support that corporations can provide to local communities, schools, and the public sector. Thus, while such outsourcing can enhance schools’ facilities and innovation, it is not certain whether the services offered by corporations consistently align with the educational mission of the school (in terms of e.g. social inclusion) and the educational needs of students [Petrie et al. 2014; Powell 2015; Williams, Macdonald 2015; Dyson et al. 2016].
This paper contributes to this debate by introducing an analysis of the relationship between the educational field and sport corporations in Italy, a largely unexplored area in this field of research. Within an analytical framework that examines the commercialisation of sport in the neo-liberal era and the pervasiveness of consumer culture, the authors present an overview of the projects that corporations – with particular regard to those producing sportswear and accessories - propose and implement in Italian secondary schools in order to promote sports among students. The paper focuses on a textual analysis of these projects – available on the web pages of both the corporations and the PTOFs of the involved schools. It highlights their rhetoric and discursive strategies employed, in order to identify the possible articulation of the complex interests at stake between educational field and sport corporations.

Baskin is an inclusive sport that has experienced an increasing development in the last twenty years – in Italy as abroad – and has triggered a change in the philosophical and pedagogical perspective of sport and PE practice (Andriola, Bennici, Bianchi and Grion, 2023). It is strong modification of basketball that promote equity in access to resources and opportunities, widespread participation, the creation of spaces and rules ad hoc, and the enhancement of diversity (cf. Gray, 2000; Young, 2000; Coakley and Donnelly, 2001).

This contribution presents the first results of a research developed in a little village in the South of Italy, where Baskin has been recently introduced to reinforce the social participation of marginalized people. The Baskin team includes dis/abled people, young migrants, and people with mental health and substance abuse problems. All players have been interviewed and some of them have been interviewed in proxy mode, by parents or caregivers.

The research has the main objective of assessing if Baskin has a significant impact on individual and collective well-being (Bianchi and Taddei, 2023; Black and Stevenson 2006 in Black and Williamson, 2011). It is developed by a concurrent transformative mixed method design (Creswell, 2003), theoretically driven to initiate social change and to provide support to the local community (Castro et al., 2010). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected during the same stage, although priority has been given to qualitative ones. Specifically, deepened interviews have been mixed with a brief survey administered face-to-face, and a specific module to detect ego-network data (Salvini, 2005).

Different kinds of data have been collected:

- Socio-demographics and health characteristics.

- Sports history, and first engagement in Baskin.

- Individual, team, and social well-being.

- Perspective of Baskin introduction in schools.

And in a first step, it is possible to underline:

1) the role of time and space in strengthening (or not) social relationships: being together, share common activities and goals can strengthen social relationships, but sometimes players have not so many times and occasions to do it out of the court;

2) the positive impact of Baskin on reinforcing self-confidence and group relationships, impacting on individual and team well-being, but also on family dynamics;

3) the great importance related to the widespread dissemination of Baskin through all levels of the school system.

First findings illustrate, on the one hand, how Baskin in Sant’Arsenio is a complex architecture of practice enacting new social networks and social capital in a remote area, and on the other hand, how it is always a fragile accomplishment balancing between consolidation and misalignment.

Recent data from Eurostat show that one in four people (25.4%) in the EU has a disability ranging from mild to severe (EUROSTAT, 2021). In Italy, there are approximately 3.1 million disabled people (5.2% of the population) (ISTAT, 2019). However, people with disabilities are scarcely visible in Italian mass media. News with a focus on disability when it rarely happens, is often misguided, and tends to perpetuate negative stereotypes. One of the opportunities that exist for the mass media to portray disabled people in an empowering and positive way is through the Paralympic Games.

Based on an Italian National project, in this paper, we explore the views and perceptions of Paralympic athletes themselves on how certain representations make them feel, think or react and ask how sport and disability should be better represented at the Paralympic Games to provide a more positive representation of disability. The core overarching aim of our study is in line with the European Disability Strategy and its key term "self-determination", which reflects the right of disabled people to have a say in how they would like to be represented. The research project provides valuable educational and training resources on the promotion of non-discriminatory, inclusive, and empowering portrayal of disability aimed at: a) media professionals/journalists; b) Paralympic athletes; c) members of the disability community.

Specifically, the project investigates the evolution of the relationship between the media, adapted sports and disability in Italy (from the 1960s to the present) about three specific areas of disability narratives in Paralympic media coverage: 1) Extraordinary normality representation of overcoming disability in discourses of disability inclusion that include the ability to successfully navigate able-bodied institutions; 2) Able-bodied rehabilitation: representation of Paralympic sports to restore 'normal' life; and 3) Able-bodied sport nationalism: promotion of visual images centered on the bodies of successful athletes where disability has been 'overcome' thanks to technological advances.

Through an interdisciplinarity approach between the sociology of sport, media history and disability studies, the project is designed to have a sustainable legacy for future sports editions (such as the PG in Milano-Cortina 2026).