In the BMBF project ComeSport, the Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport departments are developing training courses for teachers on the subject of social media and body image in physical education. A meeting with other project partners has now taken place at Leipzig University. The first training sessions have already been tested.

At this year's Research Day of the Centre for Educational Research in Sport on 11.09.24, Brigitta Höger (Pädagogische Hochschule Oberösterreich) presented her exciting research on the perspectives of young people on sport-related social media offerings. In addition, Marion Golenia and Kathrin Aschebrock (AB Bildung und Unterricht im Sport) from the project Quality in all day education presented current results on participation opportunities in primary schools, comparing the children's perspective with that of adults (teachers and OGS staff).

The “Quality in all-day education” (QIG) project, which was conducted by the department of Physical Education and Teaching Reseach in collaboration with the Reinhard Mohn Foundation (RMS) has now been successfully completed. Under the direction of Dr. Marion Golenia and Kathrin Aschebrock, a modular online questionnaire instrument was developed and tested. The tool helps all-day schools to optimize the quality of their work in the areas of learning time, participation and room design.

As part of Prof. Nils Neuber's project seminar "School sport and democracy", students carried out practical research projects in schools and sport clubs. Over the course of several weeks, they worked on topics such as participation in performance assessment, children's rights in school sport, federalism in the education system and democratic education throughout the day. They have now presented their results in a poster session and discussed them with external guests.

The 37th annual conference of the sports education section of the German Association for Sports Science took place at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen under the title “Limits and dissolving boundaries in Sports Education”. A total of four days were spent discussing issues of social disadvantage, non-professional physical education, the digitalization of school sport and much more. The Institute was comprehensively represented with the departments of education and culture in sport, physical education and teaching research and sport psychology.

In the summer of 2022, the 35th annual conference of the Sport Pedagogy Section of the German Association for Sport Science took place at the Institute of Sport Science in Münster. The event addressed the question of the extent to which knowledge transfer is a central topic in sports education. Based on selected conference contributions, an anthology on this topic has now been published in the “Education and Sport” series by the Center for Educational Research in Sport (CeBiS). In a total of 17 contributions, the authors present the basics, topics and formats of sports education knowledge transfer.

At the invitation of the head of the school department, Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a lecture on the topic of “Learning needs movement - movement as a principle of school development” at the extended conference of the Münster district government. Based on learning theory, the heads of school administration discussed the importance of a moving school culture and the promotion of self-control skills through movement.

For the seventh time, the City Sports Association and the School Department of the City of Dortmund organized a symposium on the topic of 'education needs movement'. Around 280 professionals discussed the communal interaction in the educational triangle of daycare centers, schools and sports clubs in numerous workshops. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave the keynote speech on the topic of “Anchoring the joy of movement and sport at an early age”. Nils Kaufmann led a workshop on promoting boys in sport.

At the invitation of the German Sports Youth (dsj) and the DFL Foundation, a two-day symposium on the quality of physical activity, play and sports programs in daycare centers and all-day schools took place in Mannheim. Around 140 participants discussed the content and standards for high-quality physical activity and sports programs for children. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a presentation on the quality framework for all-day schooling and participation in all-day schooling.

Around 15 sports scientists met at the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg to establish a Democracy and Sport Network. For two days, the participants discussed previous work in this field and developed perspectives for future activities in research, teaching and transfer. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by Nils Kaufmann and Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber at the kick-off conference.

Franziska Duensing-Knop wrote her dissertation on "Inclusion in physical education teacher training - an explorative study of university didactic concepts to promote an inclusive attitude" as part of the teacher training quality campaign. She has now successfully defended her doctoral thesis. The doctoral committee included Prof. Nils Neuber, Prof. Michael Pfitzner (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Junior Prof. Helga Leineweber. We would like to congratulate Dr. Duensing-Knop on her successful doctorate!

Following an invitation of the Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) and the Federal Youth Ministry (BMFSFJ), a threeday conference on all-day education took place in Berlin. Experts from politics, administration, science and the practice discussed the challenges of multi-professional collaboration in all-day schools. Prof. Bernhard Kalicki (DJI), Prof. Miriam Kehne (University of Paderborn), Prof. Jessica Süßenbach (University of Lüneburg) and Prof. Nils Neuber (University of Münster) presented perspectives on the development of all-day schools on behalf of sport. Julian Lagemann (German Sports Youth) moderated the workshop.

In March, the fourth symposium on "Promoting development in school sport - for everyone!?" was held at the Institute of Sports Science. In three lectures and a total of 12 workshops, around 240 participants discussed questions of mental, social and emotional support in physical education. The conference was organized by the Department of Physical Education and Teaching Research (Prof. Neuber) and the Developmental Diagnostics and Support working group (Prof. Tietjens). Partners included the NRW State Chancellery, the NRW Statutory accident insurance institution, the Münster District Government and the Willlibald Gebhardt Institute.

At the invitation of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Health, the 2nd Federal Physical Activity Summit took place in Berlin. After a year of intensive, interdisciplinary work, five working groups had submitted their proposals for a sports development plan. Unfortunately, the federal government, the federal states and organized sport were unable to agree on a mutual final declaration. Nevertheless, the recommendations of the expert groups are helpful for the development of sport in general and children's and youth sport in particular. The working group 4 "Anchoring the joy of exercise and sport at an early age" was led by Prof. Miriam Kehne (Paderborn) and Prof. Nils Neuber (University of Münster).

The German Track and Field Association (DLV) held its third Future Congress in cooperation with the Cologne Sports University. Under the title " Track and Field - Opportunities & Challenges", experts discussed the future of children's and youth track and field. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber opened the conference with a lecture on the topic "Between school, all-day sports and clubs - perspectives for children's and youth sports".

As part of the conference of the 16 state sports youth associations, Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a presentation on "Establishing the joy of exercise and sport at an early age - perspectives for children's and youth sport". In his presentation, he reported on the recommendations of the Federal Ministry of the Interior's Working Group 4 on the Sport Development Plan. Together with Prof. Dr. Miriam Kehne (Paderborn), Prof. Neuber chaired the working group 4. The results of the consultations will be presented on March 12 at the Federal Government's 2nd Physical Activity Summit in Berlin.

The contribution of sport to the fulfillment of the legal entitlement to an all-day school place was part of the agenda at a joint conference between the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and the Conference of Sports Ministers (SMK) in Berlin. Stakeholders from politics, administration, associations and science met at the NRW state representation. Prof. Nils Neuber moderated a workshop on sport-related qualification in all-day education.

For the third time, members of the German Sports Youth Research Association and the Research Association for Child and Youth Sport NRW met with colleagues from the German Youth Institute (DJI) to discuss a child and youth sport study. The event was hosted by the German Sports Youth in Berlin. Stefanie Dahl, Dennis Dreiskämper and Lena Henning represented the IfS Münster.

As part of the BMBF joint project ComeSport, the kick-off meeting of ComeNet 5 on the topic of "Body images and social media in school sport" took place in Münster from November 2nd to 3rd. The meeting focused on deepening the joint research work and preparing the upcoming work phases.
The universities of Leipzig, Münster and Paderborn are involved in the project. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by staff from the departments of Education and Culture in Sport and Physical Education and Teaching in Sport.

Around 40 people from sports administration, sports politics, sports clubs and academia discussed participation opportunities for people with disabilities in sport on November 2 as part of the "Inclusion in sport" trialogue. The event was organized by the Institute of Sports Science in cooperation with the Research Association for Child and Youth Sports NRW, the Münster City Sports Association and the Münster Sports Youth.

During a two-day expert discussion in Frankfurt, representatives of sports associations, sports practice, foundations, and academia explored the question of what role the topic of performance currently plays in children's and youth sports. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by staff from the departments of Education and Culture in Sport, Movement Sciences, and Physical Education and Teaching in Sport. The event was partly organized by the research network for children's and youth sports in North Rhine-Westphalia, whose office is located at the University of Münster.

The dissertation of Stefanie Dahl deals with the topic of health and physical activity in the field of nursing care. In the thesis she presents a comprehensive evaluation of the successful EU project "Wellbeing and healthy choices for older adults and their carers" (WHOLE). She has now successfully defended her dissertation. The doctoral committee included Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber, Prof. Dr. Michael Brach and Dr. Marion Golenia. We congratulate her warmly!

In the textbook series "Basic Knowledge of Learning in Sport" the third volume on subject didactics by Prof. Nils Neuber has been published. Thus, the subject didactics lecture in M.Ed. is completely covered. While the new volume under the title "Subject didactics sport - fundamentals and models" lays the general foundation, the other two volumes deal with the specific requirement and decision fields of subject didactic concepts.

 

School sports are the stepchild of education policy. It only receives public attention when there are problems, such as the current change to the Bundesjugendspiele. Yet it has an important function for school and culture: motor skills, self-concept, health, integration, playfulness and much more can be promoted by well-done Physical Education. The renowned sports journalist Bianka Schreiber-Rietig has now pointed this out in a commentary worth reading and has also called for a new school sports study. For the article, she interviewed Prof. Nils Neuber, among others.

During a second workshop in Frankfurt, members of the research network of the German Sports Youth and of the research network for children's and youth sports in North Rhine-Westphalia intensified their cooperation with colleagues from the German Youth Institute (DJI). The goal of the cooperation is a collaborative study on children's and youth sports. The event was hosted by the German Sports Youth. Stefanie Dahl, Dennis Dreiskämper, Lena Henning and Nils Neuber participated for IfS Münster.

The Federal Youth Games are to become more child-oriented and less performance-oriented. The Committee for the Federal Youth Games and the Commission for Sport (SpoKo) of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal States in Germany (KMK) have therefore decided on a reform of the games, which is currently being discussed intensively. Prof. Nils Neuber has now given an interview on this issue for Zeit online, in which he argues for a differentiated view.

The departments of Education and Teaching in Sport, Sport Psychology and Education and Culture in Sport attended the 36th Annual Conference of the dvs Section of Sport Education in Hamburg. Posters on current research projects were presented as well as lectures in working groups. The informal parts of the conference offered the opportunity for collegial networking and exploration of the city of Hamburg.

The 8th Self-Determination Theory Conference took place from May 31 to June 3 in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Kathrin Kohake from the Department of Education and Teaching in Sports attended the conference with a presentation on "The Need for Competence in Childrens' Sports". After an opening lecture by SDT co-founder Richard Ryan, more than 600 participants exchanged new concepts, theories, methods and results over the course of 4 days.

Prof. Nils Neuber has further developed the cooperation with the School of Sport and Exercise of the Universita degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo with a one-week Erasmus exchange. In addition to some courses with students in Urbino, he also made agreements on collaborative research activities with Ass. Prof.' Ercia Gobbi. The next meeting will take place at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.
 

With its publication Twelve Months, Twelve People - Portraits the WWU would like to acknowledge the diversity at the University of Münster and present outstanding people of the respective past year. The current issue features a portrait of Prof. Nils Neuber, who has been awarded with the NRW State Prize for Sports Science in September 2022. His primary concern is to harness the educational potential of sport.
 

Workgroup 4 " Embodying the joy of movement and sport at an early age" met for the first time in Berlin as part of the German government's sports development plan. The workgroup was established after the 2022 Physical Activity Summit and is intended to develop guidelines for children's and youth sports. It brings together representatives of the federal ministries, the Conference of Ministers of Sport and Education, sports organizations, and other civil society stakeholders. The workgroup is headed by Prof. Miriam Kehne (Paderborn) and Prof. Nils Neuber (IfS). Kathrin Aschebrock (IfS) is the managing director.
 

Members of the Research Network of the German Sports Youth as well as of the Research Network Child and Youth Sports NRW discussed with colleagues of the German Youth Institute (DJI) in Munich about possibilities of systematic child and youth sports research. Stefanie Dahl, Dennis Dreiskämper, Lena Henning and Nils Neuber represented the IfS.

A new anthology by Petra Gieß-Stüber and Berndt Tausch has been published in the series of the Center for Educational Research in Sport (CeBiS). The volume, entitled "Social Cohesion in and through Sport - Education for Diversity and Sustainable Development for Diversity and Sustainable Development" is a diverse mix of theoretical and practical, scientific and implementation-related, pedagogical and political and political contributions, which vividly describes the idea of a "Sport for Development".
 

At the CeBiS Research Day on April 19, 2023 (3:30 p.m. in Ho 101), Dr. Christiane Fischer-Ontrup and Eva Schönweitz will be giving a presentation at the Institute of Sport Science on the topic "BeSt! - A  movement-based self-regulation training in the classroom for the grades 4 to 6".
 

At the state sports conference held in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, the regional sports development plan for the state was launched. The concept had previously been agreed by the state, the state sports association and the association of cities. A key element is the promotion of children's and youth sports. Prof. Nils Neuber gave a presentation entitled "No child without sport - promoting physical activity as a task for society as a whole".
 

The importance of movement, play and sport for children growing up is undisputed in sports science circles. However, the Permanent Scientific Commission of the KMK has so far not taken up this insight and demands, among other things, an increase in core subject hours. Prof. Nils Neuber and Prof. Klaus Zierer (University of Augsburg) criticize this in a guest article for the F.A.Z. and demand more exercise for elementary school.
 

In December, the Research Association for Children's and Youth Sports in North Rhine-Westphalia published a position paper on the topic of "More movement at all-day schools!". The paper was received with great interest by both associations and ministries as well as in the press. An interview with Prof. Nils Neuber has now been published on the BMBF platform Ganztagsschulen.org.
 

Following the invitation of the District Sport Federation of Emsland, Prof. Nils Neuber gave a lecture on the subject of children's and youth sport after Corona at the sports school in Sögel during the conference "Strong children through sport!". In the following discussion it became clear that movement, play and sport were missing in many areas of young people's lives. The project seminar "Perceiving the body, developing movement skills" also takes place at the sports school in Sögel.
 

The German government's first Physical Activity Summit on December 13 in Berlin is intended to send a signal of change for sports development in Germany. To this end, a sports development plan will be drawn up in which the federal government, the states and municipalities, as well as civil society and the state, science and practice will work together. At the invitation of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Prof. Nils Neuber gave a keynote speech on the challenges and prospects of children's and youth sports at the kick-off event.
 

In the series "Education and Sport" of the Center for Educational Research in Sports (CeBiS), the volume "Qualitative Research in Sports Education - Contributions to a Reflexive Methodology" has now been published. The volume was published by Benjamin Zander, Daniel Rode, Daniel Schiller and Dennis Wolff and illustrates the current spectrum of qualitative research in sport pedagogy in 20 contributions written by about 40 authors.
 

The Corona pandemic has made it clear how important exercise, play and sports activities are for children and young people to grow up healthy. As spokesman for the NRW Research Association for Children's and Youth Sports, Professor Nils Neuber is therefore currently on the road a lot. For example, he spoke at the quality circle "Offener Ganztag" of the city of Krefeld, at the discussion event "Out of the starting blocks" with the SSB Münster, at the symposium "Learning requires movement" of the Ostfriesische Landschaft in Emden as well as at a conference of the association "Movement and Social Work" in Marburg.
 

From the hand of the President of the State Parliament, André Kuper, and the State Secretary for Sport and Volunteer Work, Andrea Milz, Professor Nils Neuber has received the State Prize "Sports Science North Rhine-Westphalia 2022" in the category "Social, Educational and Cultural Sciences". The prize is awarded every four years by a jury for outstanding achievements in sports science. The award ceremony took place in the state parliament in Düsseldorf. The laudatory speech was given by Professor Maike Tietjens. 

The 35th annual conference of the dvs section of sports pedagogy from June 16-18 in Münster was held under the heading "Knowledge Transfer - a Central Topic in Sports Pedagogy". The diverse program offered the approximately 300 conference participants various formats around the conference theme, including three keynote lectures, four dialogue forums, an educational policy evening, a sports science forum together with the asp conference, and a total of 76 lectures and 29 posters. As a venue, the SportCampus Münster offered numerous opportunities for the long-missed professional and personal exchange.

The legal Entitlement to an all-day place in elementary school as from 2026 was the occasion for an expert hearing regarding all-day education in the Bavarian State Parliament. At the invitation of the Education and Social Affairs Committees, quality criteria, cooperation models and staff qualifications were discussed. Prof. Nils Neuber emphasized, among other things, the significance of movement, play and sport for a healthy adolescence of children and expressed his support for cooperation with Bavarian sports clubs on an equal footing. A more detailed report on the hearing about all-day education can be found on the website of the Bavarian State Parliament.

 

The new certificate course (ZL) at sport-lernen combines topics from the ZL "More movement in elementary schools" with those from the ZL "Learning and movement". For children and adolescents, movement is a basic need. Children of all ages have increasing difficulties in following school rules, sitting still for longer periods of time, or controlling impulses. The positive effects of movement in terms of cognitive performance and executive functions have already been empirically proven by several studies. Unfortunately, these results are rarely put into practice.
 

The volume "Kinder- und Jugendsportforschung in Deutschland - Bilanz und Perspektive" (Children's and Youth Sports Research in Germany - Review and Perspectives) has been published in the series "Bildung und Sport" (Education and Sport) of the Center for Educational Research in Sport (CeBiS). The volume was edited by Prof. Nils Neuber and includes 19 research and transfer contributions on current topics such as participation, integration, prevention, inclusion, intercultural learning or informal learning in childhood and adolescence. The IfS is represented in the volume with a total of ten authors.

At its 45th meeting in November, the Conference of Ministers of Sport decided to set up a working group with representatives from the education, health, sports and science systems to improve the networking of children's and youth sports in Germany. The occasion is the publication of the 4th German Children's and Youth Sports Report. The main topics are the effects of the Corona pandemic and the legal demand for an all-day place. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber was also appointed to the working group as he´s the spokesperson for the NRW Research Association for Children's and Youth Sports.

The board of the German Sports Youth has appointed Prof. Nils Neuber to its expert pools "Pedagogical Quality in Child and Youth Sports" and "dsj Research Network" for another four years. In addition, Nele Welling from the AB Bildung und Unterricht im Sport was appointed to the dsj research network as a "member under 27".The two working and advisory committees focus on quality development in children's and youth sports in Germany. The Research Network also publishes the journal forum Child and Youth Sport - journal for research, transfer and practical dialogue.

The Institute for Sports Science at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster will once again organize in cooperation with the FLVW (Fußball- und Leichtathletik Verband Westfalen e.V.) a course in 2022 for the acquisition of the Soccer Coach B-License. The B-License Soccer is aimed at all interested parties who want to work as a performance-oriented trainer. The scope is a total of 80 learning units basic training and 40 learning units profile (juniors) plus an exam. Further information about the B-License can be found on the website of the FLVW.

In cooperation with the SSB Münster, the event offers students of the Institute for Sports Science at the WWU Münster the opportunity to acquire the DOSB Exercise Leader C License "Breitensport" after completing their bachelor's degree.
The aim of the measure is to facilitate the possible entry into a collaboration in organized club sports and to obtain an additional qualification. The registration can be done here.

At this year's award ceremony for the promotional prizes of the German Sports Teachers' Association (DSLV) of NRW, Sina Hinternesch won second place for her master's thesis on promoting health literacy in physical education. The award comes with a cash and non-cash prize. At the award ceremony at the headquarters of Unfallkasse NRW in Düsseldorf, Prof. Nils Neuber gave a talk entitled "School sport 'after' Corona - On the importance of exercise, play and sport for growing up healthy".

In Petersberg near Bonn at the symposium "Health, Sport, Exercise in Times of Pandemic", Prof. Nils Neuber and Dr. Dennis Dreiskämper gave a keynote-presentation on the importance of exercise, play and sport for children and adolescents growing up healthily. They also presented results of a recent IfS study on children’s physical activity behaviour during the Corona pandemic. The symposium was organised by the State Chancellery of NRW and the DSHS Cologne. Other experts from Münster were Prof. Maike Tietjens, Prof. Claudia Voelker-Rehage and Prof. Michael Brach.

A conference on the future of children's and youth sport was held at the IfS under the title "Generation Workout - Children's and Youth Sport in Transition". The organisers were the Research Association for Children's and Youth Sport NRW and the Research Association of the German Sports Youth. Around 50 participants discussed topics such as motor skills, digitalisation and understanding the body. The conference was moderated by Dr Kathrin Kohake and Prof. Nils Neuber. Stefanie Dahl and Kathrin Aschebrock were responsible for the organisation. You can find a detailed report on the conference here.

The new homepage of the NRW Research Association for Children's and Youth Sport has been launched. The research association was founded in cooperation between the NRW Sports Science Faculty Association and the NRW State Chancellery. Its aim is to bundle the research activities on children's and youth sport of the eight NRW locations and to facilitate the transfer into practice. The office of the research association is located at the WWU Münster. The speakers of the network are Prof. Nils Neuber (Münster) and Prof. Christine Joisten (Cologne).

The Faculty 07 and the Institute of Sport Science have awarded an honorary doctorate for the first time. The honouree was Dr. h.c. Peter Lautenbach for his extraordinary services to children's and youth sports research in Germany. The long-standing head of department of the German Sports Youth (dsj) has, among other things, been responsible for establishing the dsj research network, carrying out numerous research projects and founding the journal Forum Kinder- und Jugendsport. For more photos please click on the headline and the laudation can be found here. 

The NRW swimming congress took place in digital form at the Cologne Sports University in September. The aim was to intensify the acquisition of swimming as a skill for children and adolescents in NRW. Prof. Nils Neuber contributed to the congress with a lecture on the fundamentals of movement, activity, and sport at young age. All lectures are now available digitally.

Entiteld "Recognizing potential, developing talent, shaping education sustainably", the 7th Münster Education Congress was successfully held in the DigitalPlus format. Once again, the organizing committee featured Prof. Nils Neuber from the IfS. In his lecture "What Webex, Teams and Zoom can't do" he elaborated on the importance of corporeality and movement in times of digital learning. Katharina Ludwig contributed a digital movement break for intrigued participants.

The corona pandemic has greatly influenced growing up of children and adolescents as well as their movement and sports behavior. The increase of motor deficits, psychosocial stress and health impairments has been well-documented. Against this backdrop the research association children and youth sports NRW demands twelve concrete measures in a position paper to enable easy access to movements, play and sports offers for young people. In the research association eight NRW locations combine their works on children and youth sports.

As part of the public lecture series "Studies in old age", Prof. Nils Neuber gave a lecture on the topic "Sport as a school of tolerance?" In addition to questions of social learning, he also addressed the discussion of values in sports. In addition, Prof. Michael Krüger contributed basic ideas on Olympic education as a surprise guest. Against the backdrop of the current debate on diversity in the context of the European Soccer Championship, the topic took on additional relevance.

The second course book by Prof. Nils Neuber about the Master lecture “Fachdidaktische Konzepte” (subject-didactic concepts) has been published. Given the title “Fachdidaktische Konzepte II – Themenfelder und Perspektiven” (subject-didactic concepts II – topics and perspectives) it deals with sport-didactic fields of decision along the six pedagogic perspectives impression, expression, venture, performance, social affairs and health. WWU students and teachers can access the first and second volume for free using the VPN connection of the ULB. The sports didactics exam literature contains links to the individual chapters as well.