Project
GIRES, the Global Institute for Research, Education & Scholarship, explored a social aspect of modern sports, focusing on the dynamic connection between modern football and education. Modern sports, particularly football, constituted one of the most popular ways to spend free time and entertain oneself worldwide. As both a practice and a spectacle, football offered an invaluable escape from the mundane routine or an opportunity to identify with a fluid yet distinct identity, different from traditional affiliations like family, neighborhood, city, or nation.

In this project, the interdisciplinary research team at GIRES focused on the dynamic and multidimensional relationship that could develop between a common sports product, replica football shirts of famous football clubs/footballers, and the field of special education in Primary Education. The research took place on the beautiful island of Crete, a unique landscape in Greece facing constant and multifaceted educational challenges.

Increasing needs for appropriate psycho-educational support for young students with Special Educational Needs (SpEN), a lack of specialized educational staff, and austerity policies applied by the official state combined to make the pragmatic inclusion of these students difficult and challenging. Thus, innovative ways of inclusion were sought. What could be more satisfying than combining SpEN children’s passion with their educational and social inclusion?

Aim
The aim of this project was to create an innovative and alternative way of supporting children with SpEN through the magical world of football. More specifically, we aimed to research whether and how the symbolic elements of replica football shirts of famous football clubs/footballers could impact the psycho-educational inclusion of students with SpEN. In summary, we aimed to use football and its protagonists as a vehicle for social and educational inclusion.

Outcome
We aimed to shed light on a yet hidden social aspect of modern sports and confirm their uniquely effective power, which could be used for an ultimate social goal.
Moreover, a book will be published by GIRES PRESS after the collection of information is processed and get prepared for the transformation into a book.  

Duration
January 2021 to December 2023