There is more to life than sport: Debating popular culture to develop critical thinking skills

Contemporary universities are compelled to produce efficient graduates who comply with the dominant hegemony, instead of the autonomous critical thinkers envisaged by pioneering pedagogic philosophers such as Dewey and Freire (Tabensky, 2023). However, in an era of diminished opportunities, AI, culture wars, and information saturation, graduates who can combine theoretical knowledge and advanced critical thinking skills with a global outlook and multicultural awareness are more attractive to international sport organizations (Cook, 2022). In this article, I adopt a story analysis approach to reflect upon the co-creation of a learning environment designed to enhance Sport Management students' critical thinking skills and their employability. We began by adopting Freire's (1970) critical pedagogy framework to co-produce a series of debates enabling first-year students to explore and resolve contentious popular culture issues. The initial response was unenthusiastic, sports management students asked why they were debating global politics and popular culture. However, through constant encouragement, we achieved the desired pedagogic outcomes where first-year students quickly progressed from information takers to critical thinkers with global awareness.