Racism and Hooliganism in English Football Coursework

Racism and Hooliganism in English Football - Coursework Example A questionnaire to assess the perception of racism in football was distributed to football clubs and their spectators in the North East of England, and 10% of these questionnaires were returned. The results of this research seem to demonstrate that racism has little influence and plays a minimal role in the production of hooliganism within English professional football at least as a simple causal agent. Racism - the theory that people of one race are superior to another race, and this theory often results in hostility towards the supposed inferior race, and practices of discrimination (Williams 1991). Hooliganism - Although the exact definition of hooligans is rather open-ended, it can be characterised as violence toward opposing fans, players, and referee's or destruction of objects inside or around the stadium. Violent incidents that occur following a game that fans perpetrate is also often considered acts of hooliganism (University of Leicester 2002). Professional football in England still suffers from incidents, trends and traditions which suggest that racism is very much a part of the game. For instance, comments by individuals involved in playing, managing and mediating football in England are suggestive of an acceptability of racism in and around the game (Metro 2007). This has largely been attributed to Britain's colonial past, where it was common place for racial stereotypes to prevail (University of Leicester 2002). Whilst most of this racism has been targeted towards black players, it is also affecting England's reputation for international matches with its European counterparts (University of Leicester 2002, Giulianotti and Armstrong 2003, Spaaij 2006). The fact that black players and white, but foreign, players are the subject of racist comments shows the at the term "racist" is not as simple as it might at least superficially seem. The black players may be targeted because of their "blackness", while the other foreign players are targeted for their "foreignness": but "black" and "foreign" are not synonymous. Some black players are targeted for racist comments by supposedly 'friendly' supporters, i.e. supporters of the team that the black player is playing on. Added to this mix is the element of "hooliganism" in which the hurling of racial epithets from one group of supporters to another is often the precursor to violence, then a complex situation arises. This situation has further been exploited by right wing groups who use football grounds to distribute their paraphernalia; examples include the 1982 World Cup Finals, where right wing organisers were actively recruiting sympathisers, before and

The use standardized testing in the areas of cognitive ability, Essay

The use standardized testing in the areas of cognitive ability, aptitude, measure of standards-based achievement - Essay Example ed to improve students test scores have little or no effect on their cognitive abilities and aptitude to reason and logically solve abstract issues or problems. However, standardized testing permits students from different schools to compete fairly. In absence of standardized testing in schools, this comparison would not be probable (Carr, 2002). When students are allowed to take similar or common tests, it implies that students in one district or State can be compared with students in another district or State. Being in a position to compare information is valuable and is the main reason why the common core State standards have been implemented. In turn, this would permit for a more detailed and accurate comparison of students in different States. Secondly, standardized testing is more objective and reliable measure of the achievement of students. In absence of standardized testing, policy makers would have to base on tests done by students in individual schools that have certain interests in generating favorable results. Thirdly, standardized testing are very significant in that standardized tests are non-discriminatory and inclusive since they ensure that content learned is similar to all students. Using other tests or excusing disable children would not be fair to those students as this would create an unequal system without accountability (Smith, 2008). Lastly, standardized testing holds schools and teachers accountable in the sense that schools and teachers are responsible teaching pupils what they need to know and understand for standardized tests. This is due to the fact that scores are made public and schools and teachers who fail to perform can come under tight scrutiny. This scrutiny can make a teacher lose his or h er job and in some instances, it can lead to the closure of the school or being taken by the State (Carr, 2002). On the other hand, standardized testing has negative impact on students in that it evaluates the performance of a student on a