A marginalized children’s rights agenda: the role of formal coach education in the recontextualization of children’s rights knowledge in sports

While coach learning occurs across several formal, non-formal, and informal contexts, formal coach education represents a key institutionalized source of knowledge through which policy requirements may be translated into practical knowledge. Drawing on Bernstein's pedagogic device, this study investigates what knowledge is recontextualized and how this process occurs within Swedish ice hockey coach education, with particular attention to how children’s rights knowledge is classified, integrated and elaborated in this process. The study draws on qualitative content analysis of coach education documents, classroom observations, and interviews with coaches and educators in a formal ice hockey coach education program for coaches of children and youth. The findings reveal that coach education is dominated by sport-specific and performance-oriented content, with socio-pedagogical and children’s rights related knowledge marginalized or only implicitly addressed. Teaching materials and course delivery are centrally standardized, resulting in strong classification and framing that limit opportunities for discussion, contextualization, and practical application of children’s rights principles. Although some course content could be aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, these connections are never made explicit or elaborated in pedagogical practice, leaving coaches uncertain about implementation. The study highlights how the structure and delivery of coach education reinforce adult-centered and elite-oriented sport cultures, impeding the meaningful integration of children’s rights. It argues that for coach education to function as an effective agent of rights-based change, children’s rights must be explicitly incorporated into curricula and accompanied by concrete, contextually relevant teaching strategies. The findings call for greater integration of ethical, pedagogical, and children’s rights-based content, as well as more flexible and elaborated teaching approaches that empower coaches to implement children’s rights in practice. The conclusion suggests directions for future research and policy development to bridge the gap between policy and practice in children’s rights implementation in sports.