Push to scrap words like sportsmanship from the classroom

Academics say words like “sportsmanship” and “man on” are discriminatory and need to be scrapped from schools and sports clubs.

Sporting terms such as “man on” are under fire from Monash University education experts.

Sportsmanship is a discriminatory word that should be scrapped and an acknowledgment of country should be incorporated into all school lessons, two academics say.

Sporting terms such as “man on” are also under fire from Monash University education experts Laura Alfrey and Ruth Jeans for supposedly excluding students.

The pair made their comments in an article for the Australian Council for Educational Research’s magazine.

They write that they have developed eight strategies for “inclusive” physical education lessons and have considered it from an “intersectional perspective”, including sexuality, race, class and culture.

Their article said the continued use of terms such as “sportsmanship” provided “an excellent opportunity to talk about” discrimination and its effects.

The article also suggested that physical education teachers “share an acknowledgement of country and invite learners to … learn its significance”.

Dr Alfrey said an acknowledgment of country during lessons would be a “great first step” to learning about indigenous issues and did not object to it being performed during all school classes.

The term ‘batsman’ has come underfire in recent years. Picture: iStock.

She also said words such as sportsmanship excluded “anyone who does not identify as a man and are therefore examples of exclusive language often used in a sporting ­context”.

“Instead of ‘sportsmanship’ you could use the term ‘sportspersonship’ or discuss ‘fair play’,” Dr Alfrey said. “Instead of ‘man on’ you could say ‘player on’.”

She said such terms were “so ingrained in particular contexts that some children might not notice or care” but “some children, however, do notice and feel excluded and discriminated against as a result”.

“A small change in language can make a big difference in terms of children feeling safe and like they ­belong,” Dr Alfrey said.

She also suggested PE teachers instruct students on yoga and dancing because these were more likely to be “lifelong” activities than sports.

Bella d’Abrera, director of the Foundations of Western Civilisation program at the Institute of Public Affairs, said it was “overreach from academia” that had to be “called out before it ends up in our classrooms like so many other warped ideas”.

“Academia is no longer about the pursuit of knowledge but rather social engineering,” Dr d’Abrera said.

“Identity politics seems to be the only thing that academics in Australia are interested in.

“Mainstream Australians are not offended by the word ‘sportsmanship’ and would rather the English language be left alone.”