Sharing education innovations in Singapore

Collaboration across countries is one of the ways we advocate for high and consistently applied standards in anti-doping across the globe. And our Education Team did just that at the recent Southeast Asia/Oceania Regional Anti-Doping (SERADO) Education Symposium in Singapore.

The Symposium, ‘International Standard of Education (ISE) in Action’, focused on turning theory into purposeful practice. The aim was to share knowledge and skills – but also practical and innovative ideas for anti-doping education programs. And the DFSNZ team came prepared, presenting on our athlete-centred education, Para inclusivity, and showcasing a heap of innovative educational activities, from VR to giant quiz jenga.

Athletes educating athletes

One hallmark of our education programme is our team of Athlete Educators. All our education sessions are presented by trained educators who are or were themselves athletes. As our Education Quality and Innovation Advisor Jodi Brown shared, this approach brings enormous value to our education. Athlete educators have lived experience of life as an athlete. As such, they connect to athletes on a deeper level than an educator with no athlete experience. And from that experience come the authentic anecdotes and examples that bring an education session to life and bring home the relevance of key education messages.

Para inclusivity

Para inclusivity is an important consideration for our education team. Education Manager Sally Lowe presented on the unique needs of Para athletes in anti-doping education. Having led our research in this area, Sally shared her findings from our consulatations with Para athletes, raising awareness about the realities of life as Para athlete in New Zealand as well as the work we’ve done to ensure our education programmes are accessible for all athletes.

Education innovations

The DFSNZ education programme is highly interactive, so our team came prepared with a heap of practical and innovative activities to share. We encouraged participants to compete for top place by playing our online clean sport quiz, laid down an anti-doping crossword challenge and showcased our virtual reality testing experience. But perhaps the most popular activity was our crowd-pleasing giant quiz jenga game. Designed for youth outreaches, the game engages rangatahi in building a balanced tower of wooden blocks while addressing values-based quiz questions on anti-doping topics. In fact, Nikki Hamblin from the International Testing Agency was so impressed she decided to take a set along to the Gangwon Youth Olympic Games.

Interactive and fun activities are key to engaging youth athletes and their entourage in clean sport education. The SEARADO Anti-Doping Education Symposium provided some great examples of values-based activities for young athletes, including Clean Sport Jenga from Drug Free Sport New Zealand. Thanks to the DFSNZ team’s willingness to share and collaborate, the International Testing Agency will have Clean Sport Jenga onsite at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024, where we will provide clean sport education to over 3000 athletes and their entourage.

After the conferences, Sally and Jodi teamed up to take coaches from Singapore’s Game For Life Community of Practice through our Youth Education Programme, integrating a values-based crossword and scenario-based learning.

DFSNZ Chief Executive Nick Paterson commented on the importance of collaboration in setting and supporting high education standards worldwide.

Sharing our education innovations allows others to learn from our successes. This kind of collaboration helps to maintain high and consistently-applied standards of education across the global anti-doping landscape.