Curriculum Analysis of Sports Management Education in Japanese Universities

Abstract

In this study, data based on resources available for public access were collected from 138 sports universities throughout the country in Japan in order to quantitatively grasp the ways in which curricula are being implemented. The aim of the study was to reveal the characteristics of the existing curriculum organizations in these universities. The results showed that in 25% of the departments, the subjects and courses related to sports did not provide students with the opportunity to learn about sports management as part of the curriculum. Even when sports management was studied, only 25% offered lectures on the subject, clearly indicating that such curricula are not intended for the development of the human resources of those who would become assets in the field. However, in curricula that incorporated the study of sports management, over 70% used lectures and seminars and they most often took the form of a synthesized curriculum, which moves between theory and practice through multiple lectures and seminars. When we looked at the various departments, we realized that multiple lectures and seminars form the core of the curriculum organization for many of them. Nonetheless, we clarified that in the departments of economics and management, lectures on subjects related to economics and management are compulsory. In curriculum organization, the relevance of one subject in relation to others must be taken into consideration. Moreover, the relationship between lectures （theory） and seminars （practice） is of great significance. Therefore, a future task would be to analyze what individual classroom practice involves and to examine the links between the various classes.