For debate in the Standing Committee — see Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure

Doc. 10647

7 July 2005

Education for leisure activities

Report

Committee on Culture, Science and Education

Rapporteur: Mr Jerzy Smorawinski, Poland, Group of European People’s Party

Summary

Today we spend more time on leisure than on anything else. The way in which we spend it, however, has consequences for ourselves and for society: idleness can lead to delinquency and crime; active participation in sport or music or other leisure activities can contribute to the improvement of health and to the strengthening of social cohesion.

Education for leisure activities is therefore necessary and the Council of Europe should be involved in the drawing up of appropriate guidelines and principles.

I.       Draft recommendation

§ 1.       The amount of time people spend working has been steadily diminishing alongside an equally steady increase in life expectancy with the result that people find themselves with more free time and are not always able to use it in the best way. The Parliamentary Assembly believes that governments are responsible for providing their citizens with conditions for the best possible quality of life. This is related to quality of leisure in its different forms (intellectual, social, physical and mental). Active involvement, for instance in music or sport, is better than passive attendance.

§ 2.       An average human being spends in his entire life more time on leisure than on anything else. Research indicates that a higher level of teenager involvement in delinquency is significantly associated with increased participation in unsupervised socialisation with friends and less frequent participation in organised leisure, sports activities and activities at home. Education for leisure activities will therefore promote social cohesion and help in preventing anti-social behaviour and crime.

§ 3.       The implementation of leisure policies calls for a combined effort of all sectors: the public - central, regional and local -, the private and the non-governmental ones. Leisure policy, as an indispensable element of State social policy, should define the objectives, tasks, means and methods of meeting the leisure needs of the population, taking into consideration demographic and cultural differences and the varying socio-economic status of their inhabitants.

§ 4.       The effective implementation of leisure policy requires appropriate action programmes, appropriate and generally available infrastructure and properly prepared professional and voluntary staff. The success of leisure policies requires that they be monitored and systematically adjusted, that new priorities be identified and that action programmes be adapted and evaluated – all this should be done with the active participation of representatives of different sciences such as sociology, psychology, pedagogy, economics and philosophy.

§ 5.       Education for leisure should aim at enriching the knowledge and skills of those to whom it is addressed and at enabling them to use their leisure time in order to improve their quality of life. Culture, sport and social and recreational activities are concerned. One of the priorities of State social policy should be to enable individuals to utilise the full potential of leisure, gain a rewarding quality of life during free time and learn values important for their own development – intellectual, psychological, physical and social.

§ 6.       Therefore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers draw up guidelines for education for leisure time, including such principles as:

§ 6.1.       education for leisure and the animation of leisure activities and attitudes should include all the stages of human life, from early childhood to old age, and should be an element in programmes of formal and informal systems of social influence;

§ 6.2.       the role and objectives of leisure education should be pursued in school and in the local community and the related need for staff education along the lines of the International Charter for Leisure Education, adopted in 1993 by the World Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA);

§ 6.3.       the role of non-governmental organisations should be recognised and encouraged. Potential animateurs should be qualified but this should not act as a deterrent to initiatives by NGOs;

§ 6.4.       leisure education programmes should support the implementation of this process in families through properly organised counselling, in special management and in the distribution of appropriate leisure institutions in residential areas;

§ 6.5.       leisure education programmes should take into consideration the adult community, which should be offered a wide range of leisure activities, both after work and on non-working days as well as during holidays;

§ 6.6.       special attention should be given to programmes and possibilities for leisure activities by particular groups such as the disabled, people who work in difficult conditions or who do monotonous work, housewives, temporary workers and minority groups, the unemployed and the retired;

§ 6.7.       care for the quality of life of elderly people should, in addition to other benefits for this age group, be expressed in terms of possibilities for making use of a diversified offer of services that stimulate this age group to pursue activities corresponding to their needs; in pre-retirement, counselling should be encouraged in order to demonstrate the importance of varying activities in old age;

§ 6.8.       provision should be made for effective programmes for the training and in-service training of specialists, professionals and voluntary workers to guarantee high quality leisure education.

II.       Explanatory memorandum

      by Mr. Smorawinski

Introduction

Given that care for the public good is the essence of politics and, consequently, the work of politicians, it is necessary to draw governments’ attention to the needs of quality of life in leisure time. This is particularly important in view of the claim, confirmed by research that having nothing to do in leisure time adversely affects lifestyle and personality and can also be a criminogenic factor. The importance of rationally determined leisure policy as a part of state social and educational policy cannot be underestimated. Analysis of current ways in which leisure is made use of in different European countries reveals many examples of true care for quality of life during leisure. However, in many countries this problem is also completely neglected.

1.       Theoretical premises of the importance of leisure education

According to the charter for Leisure Education of the World Leisure and Recreation Association : the basic purpose of education is to develop people’s values and attitudes and equip them with the knowledge and skills which will enable them to feel more secure and get more enjoyment and satisfaction out of life. This statement implies that not only is education relevant to work and the economy, but it is no less important for the development of the individual as a fully participating member of society and for the improvement of the quality of life.

A lifestyle is the typical way of life of an individual or a group, manifested in their characteristic activities, in the needs they feel and the manners in which their needs are satisfied, in the ways they spend their free time, pursue their interests, express opinions as well as in the values which they treat as important in their life and which they aspire to achieve.

Leisure is always connected with the development and improvement of life, both in its social and individual forms. Because of the rate of development of modern civilisation and the dynamic changes in the field of media communication, people are often overwhelmed by their everyday life. Most people spend their leisure time in front of the television. This is regrettable.

Too many opportunities created by leisure are wasted and too many people are deprived of the benefits of leisure for governments to refrain from attempting a policy of recreation. The impact of culture and recreation on developmental processes is too important to be left to itself.

During leisure, being completely free, people should be guided by the criteria of value, interest and their own needs.

According to Alvin Toffler (1986) “Today, in the lives of many people, the old structure has disintegrated and no institutions capable of creating new structures have appeared. This fact and not some personal failure explains why millions of people cannot find any sensible order in their everyday life. Life lacks not only order but also sense. (…) Rapid revaluation of the basic social norms, obliteration of the lines which define roles, status and the extent of power, man’s immersion in “electronic culture” and, first of all, the defeat of the entire “industrial” way of thinking – all this upsets our perception of the existing world. Consequently, surveying the world around them, most people see only chaos and suffer a sense of personal powerlessness and pointlessness.”

In the social and educational policy of individual states there is an urgent need for coordinated activities for the effective implementation of the leisure education process. What is of particular importance is the development of a strategy for the implementation of this process with respect to the entire population with its demographic and socio-economic diversification. The aim is to create an “educational space” with conditions and possibilities for stimulating mental, somatic and social equilibrium – all for a better quality of life.

Leisure education involves several channels of interaction:

2. Spatial development of towns and districts as a factor of leisure education

In a rationally developed spatial environment every inhabitant, from child to elderly person, should have opportunities to be easily and actively involved in a range of activities during their leisure. This relates to generally accessible playing grounds, recreation venues for teenagers and adults, clubs and lounges and entertainment facilities, libraries and reading rooms, sports areas, facilities and equipment, parks, bicycle routes, pedestrian walks, places of recreation preferred by inhabitants, club meetings, fitness centres, etc.

In 1972, at the request of the Council of Europe’s Council for Cultural Cooperation, a study was conducted on the development of space for leisure. The study was part of a broader programme of forward looking studies then pursued by the Council of Europe entitled “Europe - 20 years on”. Its conclusions are valid today and continue to be the recommended regulations on the spatial development necessary to take account of the free time needs of the population.

Lack of properly developed space, where a wide range of activities during leisure can be pursued, is particularly felt in towns. States must urgently define univocally normative dimensions of necessary space and the desired components of its development, for use by the inhabitants. They should create possibilities of offering services to the inhabitants or enable individual or group activity in free time. The minimum normative size of open grounds is 5 m2/inhabitant, and together with green areas – 8.5 m2/inhabitant.

3. Leisure education for children and teenagers

Stimulation of interest as a motivating factor, to enrich learning activity, is one of the basic features of the educational process. It is therefore desirable to create occasions for physical, social and psychological cognitive experiences of the child. These will be the basis on which future passions will be imbued, i.e. behaviours connected with a particularly positive emotional attitude towards them. Such passions are characterised by considerable permanence. Even if at a certain period they are suppressed, they can be revived when favourable conditions reappear.

Conditions for learning experiences should be created for young children as early as possible through a varied repertoire of games and learning experiences as a component of the upbringing process, e.g. reading to children, contact with different types of adult activities such as playing music, tourism, sports, etc. Family home, school and local community have a special significance and exert the greatest influence on leisure education of children and teenagers.

The family home is the main place of leisure education. Parents and guardians should be given support in their roles as teachers of young children so that the process of children’s upbringing can lead to the proper development of psychophysical and social features. Proper conditions for this process must be created so that it is free from unnecessary stress and takes place in an environment that favours unhindered participation in play – physical, creative and social. These conditions entail knowledge, conscious educational influence exerted by parents and teachers, consciously stimulated contacts with peers, proper space in the home and in its direct vicinity (playground) and the overall climate of the educational process.

Schools start to exert influence on the leisure education process as early as the kindergarten. From the very first formal contacts with the child the school should interact with the parents and guardians and actually become at the same time a “school for parents”. Only balanced co-operation in the development and implementation of the educational strategy can help the child to make a proper use of free time and to fill it with substance that helps to develop the child’s personality.

It is worth giving consideration to the beginning of “school-parents” cooperation in the area of education before the child starts formal schooling (e.g. a year before formal schooling).

The tasks and roles of the school in the field of leisure education have been precisely defined in the International Charter for Leisure Education adopted by the World Leisure and Recreation Association in 1993.

The local community creates particular opportunities for stimulating interests and meeting the needs of the individuals and groups living in it. When attempting a solution of problems concerning the quality of life during leisure, the local community addresses its educational initiatives and activities to all the inhabitants. However, it should give priority to the needs of children and teenagers. Properly chosen forms of interaction, the type of offer, its distribution and availability should create conditions for a friendly attitude on the part of the young inhabitants towards the environment in which they live. This relates to the use of playgrounds and playing areas for older children and teenagers, premises or facilities where meetings and different activities during leisure can be organised by the young themselves or by adults, libraries, hobby clubs, etc. It is desirable that at places of residence information systems about the options available are organised and that activities during leisure are animated, new interests are stimulated and participation in recreational programmes is encouraged. Volunteers from among the residents should be recruited, animators should be prepared and a proper attitude to the educational effects during leisure should be created.

4. Leisure education for adults

Education is not only teaching people skills so that they can find employment, the role of education and educational centres is also to pass on the ability to live and work in a society, develop one’s own individuality, use one’s own potential. Teaching people, developing happy, free and responsible people, who know how to use their free time skilfully, are the tasks, which, despite their slight economic bias, cannot be reduced only to economic requirements.

During active life, other priorities related to career, family, looking for stabilisation in life, professional and social promotion affect an individual’s lifestyle. They can push aspirations related to lifestyle during leisure into the background, particularly when they have not been strongly motivated. Sport, music or a hobby pursued at an earlier stage usually leave a permanent trail and stimulate the desire to continue the activity. Even, when at times these desires are throttled by concentration on important life problems, new opportunities, when created, revive them and again make them part of the individual’s lifestyle.

What is extremely important is to create opportunities for adults to participate in different leisure activities and to surround them with a generous offer allowing them to participate, and with a system of information and counselling to stimulate and sustain motivation for this lifestyle. This relates to the whole spectrum of behaviour during free time – intellectual, social, psychological (both emotional and spiritual) and physical. It is, however, often desirable to stress clearly the particular significance of the dominating role of some of them. This need can be rooted in health arguments – as a factor promoting health, prevention of illnesses, primary prevention, or the need of correction in view of unfavourable conditions connected with professional work, living conditions, environment, the need of compensation, balancing the shortage of stimuli in time taken up by various duties professional or family.

In the adult community animation of activity during free time is of particular significance. The animation process comprises influencing by dissemination of information and counselling, stimulation and incentives, guiding and programming. All this is done to make one rethink old habits, to help to discover one’s own potential and developing it, to show new prospects in life and learn new leisure activities.

Activities stimulating adult activity during leisure can and should be offered by different organisational entities, for example:

5. Leisure education for the elderly

The elderly age is usually defined as a post-productive age, normally 60 years and more. However, it is recommended that transition to the lifestyle of retirement take place prior to that period, ideally when people turn fifty. This is when the lifestyle during the retirement age should be planned. Activities targeted at this age group should help identify a new quality of life, satisfy unfulfilled aspirations and develop new interests, which can be accordingly adapted during the period of total free time.

It is recommended to increase sensitivity to the needs of this social group and to look for new forms of organisation and programme influence. The experiences of the Universities of the Third Age, Senior Citizens’ Clubs and retired persons’ clubs at work establishments are very interesting. However, their programmes do not completely solve the problem.

It is necessary to focus the attention of local communities, public administration and non-government associations on the development of an appropriate, differentiated and versatile offer of activities targeted at the elderly and old people.

6. The role of leisure education and promotion specialists

The educational system should guarantee the effectiveness of leisure education and train specialists able to create conditions for the stimulation of motivation to participate in recreation and create programmes that meet the needs of people during leisure.

Provision of proper conditions for participation in recreation requires preparation of highly qualified specialists, able to perform different roles. We need:

It is necessary to update the educational system so that it prepares better specialists in the development and implementation of leisure policy at different levels of social life. It is necessary to create a system, which will be capable of exerting effective influence with regard to:

Reporting committee: Committee on Culture, Science and Education

Reference to committee: Doc. 9950, Reference No 2885 of 25 November 2003

Draft recommendation unanimously adopted by the committee on 22 June 2005

Members of the Committee: Mr Jacques Legendre (Chairman), Baroness Hooper Mr Josef Jařab, Mr Wolfgang Wodarg, (Vice-Chairpersons), Mr Hans Ager, Mr Toomas Alatalu, Mr Gaqo Apostoli, Mr Tony Banks (Alternate: Lord Russell-Johnston), Mr Rony Bargetze, Mr Emerenzio Barbieri, Mrs Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc, Mr Radu-Mircea Berceanu, Mr Levan Berdzenishvili, Mr Božidar Bojović (Alternate: Mrs Valentina Radulović-Šćepanović), Mrs Anne Brasseur, Mr Osman Coşkunoğlu, Mr Vlad Cubreacov, Mrs Maria Damanaki, Mr Joseph Debono Grech (Alternate: Mr Joseph Falzon), Mr Ferdinand Devinsky, Mrs Kaarina Dromberg, Mrs Anke Eymer, Mr Relu Fenechiu, Mrs Blanca Fernández-Capel, Mrs Maria Emelina Fernández-Soriano, Mr José Freire Antunes, Mrs Siv Frieđleifsdóttir, Mr Piotr Gadzinowski, Mr Eamon Gilmore, Mr Stefan Glǎvan, Mr Luc Goutry, Mr Vladimir Grachev (Alternate: Mr Igor Chernyshenko), Mr Andreas Gross (Alternate: Mr Maximilian Reimann) Mrs Azra Hadžiahmetović, Mr Jean-Pol Henry, Mr Rafael Huseynov, Mr Raffaele Iannuzzi, Mrs Halide İncekara, Mr Shavarsh Kocharyan, Mr József Kozma, Jean-Pierre Kucheida, Mr Guy Lengagne, Mr Peter Letzgus, Mrs Christine Lucyga, Mr Gennaro Malgieri, Mrs Jagoda Majska-Martincevic, Mr Bernard Marquet, Mr Kevin McNamara (Alternate: Mr Robert Walter), Mrs Giovanna Melandri, Mr Ivan Melnikov, Mr Loutvi Mestan, Mrs Milena Milotinova, Mrs Fausta Morganti, Mrs Kim Mortensen, Mrs Christine Muttonen, Mrs Miroslava Nĕmcová, Mr Edward O’Hara (Alternate: Mr Syd Rapson), Mr Guilherme de Oliveira Martins, Mrs Elsa Papadimitriou, Mrs Antigoni Pericleous Papadopoulos, Mrs Eleonora Petrova-Mitevska, Mrs Majda Potrata, Mr Lluis Maria de Puig, Mr Anatoliy Rakhansky, Mr Johannes Randegger, Mr Zoltán Rockenbauer, Mrs Anta Rugāte, Mr Volodymyr Rybak, Mr Pär-Axel Sahlberg, Mr André Schneider, Mr Vitaliy Shybko, Mrs Elsa Skarbřvik, Mr Andrey Skoch (Alternate: Mr Anatoliy Korobeynikov), Mr Jerzy Smorawiński, Mr Ninoslav Stojadinović, Mr Valeriy Sudarenkov, Mr Aleksander Szczygło, Mr Mehmet Tekelioğlu, Mr Ed van Thijn, Mr Vagif Vakilov, Mrs Majléne Westerlund Panke, Mr Emanuelis Zingeris, N….

NB. The names of those present at the meeting are printed in bold

Head of Secretariat: Mr Christopher Grayson

Committee secretariat: Mr Joăo Ary, Mr Rüdiger Dossow, Mr Chemavon Chahbazian