The Sport, Physical Education and Coaching in Health (SPEACH) project has recently come to a close and the project's
modules are now live online.
The goal of the project was to increase awareness and behavioural change in sport professionals and European citizens toward an active and healthy lifestyle. For that, five HEPA-modules were developed that can be offered by physical education teachers and sport coaches during their sport sessions with pupils. The modules focus on several important themes, target groups, behaviours, and competences. Specifically, these modules include:
• Stimulate sport and physical activities for children with special needs towards a bright future:
• Promoting HEPA among children and youth;
• Healthy Lifestyle for the whole family!
• Nutrition, digital technology and HEPA for adults;
• Influencing & monitoring behaviour towards HEPA.
Now, the modules are available for free use and download at http://speach.hanze.nl/
Dr. Karen Petry, President of ENSE, participated in the 2nd International Dead Sea Conference on Sport and Health Science in Jordan from the 1st until the 3rd of November 2017. The conference, which was organized by the Sports Faculty of the University of Jordan in Amman in cooperation with the Sports Institute of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg and the DAAD, was titled "Challenge of Change" and served as a platform for setting up a sports science network with Arab and European partners.
Approximately 120 sports scientists mainly from Jordan and other Arab countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia) as well as from Brazil and Japan participated in the conference. As part of her lecture, Dr. Karen Petry presented the results of the EU-funded SPEACH project (Sport, Education and Coaching in Health) and discussed possibilities of the implementation the SPEACH Modules with the conference delegates.
The SPEACH Project aims to educate future sport professionals by developing ‘Health Enhancing Physical Activity’ (HEPA) modules that can be integrated in existing Physical Education and Sport Coaching programmes. The project is slated to run until the end of 2017 and more information can be found on its website.
Practical Exercise
Late last year, we released an invitation to take part in the the testing of the Health and Physical Activity (HEPA) Modules developed through the SPEACH project. Between the 6 and 10th February 2017, this testing took place.
Over 65 students from eight European countries joined the international SPEACH week hosted at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. After two years of developing content to meet the needs and wishes of students and professionals, three newly-developed HEPA modules were offered by a team of international and trained teachers. Specifically, three modules were tested in a real educational and field setting, namely:
The week was a great success, bringing together people of diverse backgrounds and providing invaluable real-world feedback for the modules.
“The diverse group of students, together with a team of international teachers, developing and trying out the modules in a real teaching context was very interesting to do. Thanks to the additional competences on HEPA content and didactics among the teachers and the different background and culture of the students, and most of all their willingness to learn, it was a motivating experience" said Professor Kristine de Martelaer of the Free University of Brussels.
The next SPEACH project meeting will be held on 17-18 May in Lithuania. Central points on the agenda will then be the further refinement of the HEPA modules based on the evaluation results, elaborating on the sustainability of the SPEACH content and preparation of the ENSE meeting in Aarhus (Denmark) September 2017.
A ten-partner consortium from seven different European countries, the SPEACH project aims to develop HEPA related educational modules that will be included into existing education structures in the areas of sport coaching and physical education.
To stay updated or to find out more about the project visit the SPEACH website or follow @SPEACHproject on Twitter. Interested parties can contact the project organisation through the website.
From 6-10 February 2017, around 90 students from six European countries will join a week in which three newly developed HEPA modules will be offered by teachers from seven EU countries. These modules are part of the ‘Sport Physical Education and Coaching for Health (SPEACH) project, a project that is co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (2015-2017). The feedback generated during this pilot will be used to review and validate the HEPA modules. Aim of the HEPA modules and the SPEACH project is to increase awareness and behavioral change in sport professionals and European citizens towards an active and healthy lifestyle. It is intended that the developed HEPA modules should be able to be integrated in Physical Education Training Education structures and Sport Coaching courses.
Professor Johan de Jong (Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen): “After finishing the need analyses phase, all partners put a great effort in the development of the HEPA modules. Beside that, a teach-the-teacher course was developed and held in Odense (DEN). Ultimately three HEPA modules were selected which will be tested in a real-life setting with physical education and sport coaching students and teachers in February 2017. So, I am very satisfied with the progress we made and really looking forward to the SPEACH week to see teachers and students from different EU countries working together on this important topic”.
During the last project meeting in Lisbon 25-28 October, partners worked intensively together on the detailed preparation of their module. Another important point on the agenda of this meeting was the sustainability of the project results. The European Network of Sport Education (ENSE) formerly known as ENSSEE, will take the lead on this issue. President elect Professor Karen Petry: “It is exciting to have the opportunity to test these modules in a real-world setting. Not only does it show how well this project has been moving forward, but it also gives us an opportunity to integrate invaluable student feedback”.
ENSE will host its next biennial forum in Aarhus, Denmark, from the 11th to the 14th of September 2017 and will be used a platform to further disseminate information about the SPEACH project.
To stay updated or to find out more about the project visit the SPEACH website or follow @SPEACHproject on Twitter. Interested parties can contact the project organisation through the website.
Contact information:
Professor dr. Johan de Jong (project lead): jo.de.jong@pl.hanze.nl / Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen / Zernikeplein 17 / 9747 AS Groningen / the Netherlands / 0031 6 41 74 68 72