If you’re like me, you’ve probably steered pretty clear of any LUV courses where you don’t have a wealth of background knowledge on a specific subject. For me, a topic like professional (or recreational) athletics would have me awkwardly power-walking in the other direction.
Don’t worry, though! You don’t have to be an expert in “The Big Game” to inspire meaningful connections among students. Sports serve as a universal language that goes beyond technical skills, engaging students in discussions about teamwork, leadership, resilience, and cultural pride. Here’s how you can craft intriguing prompts and foster engaging conversations, all without needing to know the rules of the game.
Focus on Universal Themes
Of course, you’ll have some pretty knowledgeable statisticians and rowdy fans in your class. Therefore, I’d start the whole discussion by framing sports as a metaphor for broader life skills, such as teamwork, perseverance, or dealing with wins and losses. Here are some prompts that emphasize universal lessons:
- “How do you think teamwork in sports compares to teamwork in the classroom or at work?”
- “What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from playing or watching sports?”
- “How do athletes in your culture express their national pride?”
- “What’s one example of a great comeback story in sports, and what can we learn from it?”
These prompts don’t require you to understand the technicalities of any sport. Instead, they steer the conversation toward shared values and experiences. They’ll get your students thinking a little outside the penalty box so they’re not just spouting statistics or talking shop to their international partners. Anyone in the class who shares the same cluelessness I have towards competitive athletics will appreciate the possibility of participating in the conversation more on the intellectual side.
Use Video Clips and Stories to Spark Engagement
Ask your students to find video highlights, documentaries, or even short interviews with athletes that serve as inspiration for them, and share them in your class. You can ask them to select content that showcases:
- Dramatic moments in sports history (e.g., an underdog winning a championship).
- Athlete stories that highlight overcoming challenges (e.g., athletes who have overcome injuries, economic hardships, or social barriers).
- Women in sports, focus on their leadership journey and equal representation.
After watching, encourage students to share their thoughts on a specific question related to the video:
- “How does this athlete’s journey inspire you in your own life?”
- “What role does resilience play in both sports and daily life?”
This way, in their videos, students who are more fans than athletes can include clips (or stills) and refer to these moments.
Highlight Local and Traditional Sports
Sports can be a window into cultural traditions. Ask students from your class and the partner school to share stories or demonstrations of traditional games and explain their significance. Prompts like these in sports-related Level Up Village courses always initiate lively exchanges:
- “What traditional sport or game is unique to your country, and how is it played?”
- “How does this sport reflect your culture’s values or history?”
If not already prompted to do so by the course’s weekly assignments, students can add to their videos by showing how a local game is played or discussing how a popular sport reflects their community’s identity.
Create Role-Playing Scenarios
Use role-play activities to explore sports-related leadership situations. You can guide students to pretend they are coaches or team captains addressing challenges such as:
- Handling conflicts between teammates.
- Motivating a team after a loss.
- Setting goals for a big event.
Ask students to create short video responses:
- “How would you motivate a team that has lost several games in a row?”
- “If you were a coach, how would you promote inclusion in your team?”
These scenarios help students build empathy and communication skills, essential traits in both sports and life. Also, in a language classroom, these questions can spark some unique skits where students can utilize a good variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Explore the Impact of Sports on Society
With more advanced students, don’t hesitate to get a little philosophical! Broaden the conversation to include the social impact of sports:
- “How can sports bring communities together during tough times?”
- “Can sports help bridge cultural gaps? Share an example.”
- “How do sports promote diversity and inclusion?”
Invite students to research and share stories where sports have played a significant role in bringing about positive change, like peace-building initiatives, advocacy for gender equality, or campaigns for racial justice. Bring in that sweet diversity component and challenge students to read up on athletes beyond the household names they know!
Foster Curiosity and Respectful Dialogue
Since the exchanges with Level Up Village are asynchronous, students have time to reflect and craft thoughtful responses in their videos. Encourage them to ask questions about each other’s sports cultures and traditions. Lead them to think along the lines of open-ended prompts like these:
- “What’s one thing you wish people from other countries understood about your favorite sport?”
- “How would you teach someone from another culture to play your sport?”
A genuinely interested approach fosters curiosity and encourages students to step into each other’s shoes.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a whistle or a playbook to facilitate a successful virtual exchange on sports. All you need is a genuine interest in connecting students through universal human experiences. The conversational starters and strategies outlined here can help you create a dynamic environment where students can explore leadership, culture, and identity through the lens of sports—an approach that will not only make the exchange meaningful, but also a lot of fun!
