Addressing contemporary issues within vocational areas

Flexibility within Core Skills (Communication) Units is very important and the team value this when it comes to formative and summative assessment. One such area is within the Sports and Exercise curriculum.We have been working on speaking and listening skills with one of the NQ Sports and Exercise groups and they are preparing for summative assessment after the October break. A meeting was held with the Senior Lecturer and tutor from Sports, Leisure and Exercise Studies and a new brief was developed. The students enjoyed having the opportunity to 'shape' the topic of their talks and the following areas of interest will be analysed:

• Drugs in sport
• Match fixing
• Racism in sport
• Cheating rife in professional sport
• Twitter, Facebook and social networking 'issues' within professional sport
• Sport as a catalyst for challenging gender stereotypes
• Fitness and exercise issues in young people (UK study)
• The decline in Scottish football
• The 'Tevez' issue and the knock-on effect this could have within all aspects of sport
• Private vs public sporting facilities
• Are footballers paid too much? A comparative study between football's top earners and those working in the public sector
• Controversy in sport (case studies)
• Kung-fu - the mental and physical benefits of this martial art.

Students have been commended on their timekeeping, aptitude and attitude and seem to be enjoying the classes!