In January, before global travel restrictions became a thing, Janine Coates and Lesley Sharpe were invited to Amsterdam to deliver a days’ worth of research training to the Sport Empowering Disabled Youth (SEDY) team. The SEDY team consists of academics, researchers and national Paralympic Committee members from a number of European countries, including Netherlands, Lithuania, Portugal and Finland, who have received European funding to conduct research exploring the meaning of inclusive sport. The training event, hosted by Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, saw the team come together in person for the first time to launch the new research project, and they sought out the qualitative research expertise of Janine and Lesley to provide guidance about how best to tackle the task ahead.
The training consisted of tailored guidance about designing research and collecting data with a range of stakeholders, including young people with special educational needs and disabilities, within numerous cultural contexts. Lesley Sharpe then took over to provide hands on training about using digital technology to harness the voices of young people with disabilities and to better include them in research. This hands-on approach was showcased through a vlog-style video produced by Lesley and Janine during their 2-day stay which examined perceptions about inclusive sport from the SEDY team. The training resulted in an invitation to participate in a future conference symposium with the team when they have completed their study. Hopefully, international conferences will be back on the menu in the near future so the invitation can be taken up!
Written by Janine Coates
Video by Lesley Sharpe