Background: The previous two decades have witnessed an increasing number of policymakers and practitioners using sport programmes to achieve broader social development aims, particularly in countries in the Global South. A core element of these programmes has been the use of sport as a context to provide young people with social, personal and health education. However, despite the educative focus of the ‘sport for development and peace’ (SDP) movement, there has been limited analysis within the existing literature of the pedagogies used and whether these are appropriate for achieving the aims of SDP programmes. This article seeks to review and critique the core pedagogical strategies used in SDP initiatives. Theoretical framework: This article draws on Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework to examine education through sport in the Global South. The authors consider Freire's work to provide a number of aspects that are relevant to SDP education. Freire has long been established as the standard-bearer of critical pedagogy globally including contexts relevant to where SDP education takes place. His work offers a conceptual framework that challenges the status quo and offers marginalized groups the opportunity to enhance their agency, outcomes that are at the heart of the SDP movement. This article outlines key themes associated with Freirean pedagogy including the politicization of education, the possibility of transformation through education and the importance of dialogical education for creating ‘critically transitive consciousness’. Discussion: We use these core foundational concepts to critique existing pedagogical strategies in SDP and outline how they currently do not go far enough in providing a truly transformative educational experience for participants. The discussion considers the use of traditional didactic, peer education and relationship-building pedagogies in SDP and analyses the limitations of each of these using the critical lens of Freire's pedagogy. Conclusion: We conclude by outlining how Freirean pedagogy could be better utilized within SDP education and outline some of the practical implications of doing so. The need for flexibility in SDP curriculum development is highlighted and the importance of ensuring that this is grounded within a local context, dealing with specific local issues, is also noted. This is at odds with the current movement within SDP to standardize the education that takes place within this context. We also consider the implications for recruiting and training educators to deliver a more critical pedagogy, outlining some of the qualities such individuals should be seeking to develop in order to engage in a more transformative education process through sport.

This article critically examines the role of informal sport within attempts to increase sport participation. Informal sport is a contested concept that government and non-government agencies are grappling with. In this article, the focus is on participation that is self-organised and not club based. The research reported reflects that at present, policy makers and practitioners have not seriously considered how informal sport may be positioned as a central facet in efforts to respond to participation objectives and associated health and social policy agendas. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with stakeholders responsible for promoting community sport participation in Victoria, Australia, the authors explore some of the tensions and challenges that stakeholders experience in supporting and managing informal sport. The findings indicate that current practices limit the potential of informal sport. Drawing on concepts from collaborative governance, the article concludes that changes to both culture and practices within sport development systems are required in order for stakeholders to harness the potential of informal participation.

The value of sport as a vehicle for social development and progressive social change has been much debated, yet what tends to get missed in this debate is the way education may foster, enable or impede the transformative action that underpins the social outcomes to which the ‘sport for development and peace’ (SDP) sector aspires. This article draws on the critical pedagogy of Paulo Freire and his contemporaries to examine the nature of transformative action and how it may be fostered within SDP programs. Insights from critical pedagogy are applied to, and illustrated through, qualitative research undertaken with SDP programs located in Cameroon and Kenya. The findings show the complexities of designing and implementing critical pedagogy in a SDP context and, in particular, the challenges of creating and mobilizing for transformative action. Opportunities and lessons for embedding critical pedagogy within SDP programs are also presented.