Figueroa's Framework Analysis

A human’s ability and reasoning to take part in any and all physical activities comes down to three different factors which can be categorised and analysed using Figueroa’s Framework. The Figueroa’s Framework was developed by Professor Peter Figueroa and consists of five different levels; individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural. Figueroa’s Framework was developed as a tool to explore the issues around access, equity and equality in sport and physical activity. This presentation will be focusing on the individual, interpersonal and institutional levels of Figueroa’s Framework and will discuss how these levels have affected my participation and insight on basketball. Figueroa’s Framework plays a significant part when
building access and equity in all physical activities in society.
There are many factors through each level of Figueroa’s Framework that impact access and equity in sports and physical activity in our society. The factors covered by Figueroa’s Framework begin on the individual level. Everyone human has their own values and beliefs that affect their own individual participation in different physical activities. Our own beliefs and values are most commonly affected by our parents, coaches, teachers and the social norms of society. After the individual level, one progresses to the interpersonal level, where our parents, teachers and coaches beliefs and values can enabled participation in different physical activities or affect our participation in physical activities. Lastly, one then progresses to the institutional level. Our participation is highly affected by features such as schools, sporting clubs, the community and the media. Our choices and decisions on sporting pathways can be largely affected by the facilities available around the local area or even by social norms, for example, what genders should play what sport (SPE, 2015–page 1). Some sports and physical activities shown on media and talked about more often in society can also affect ones participation as some sports are known as the “popular” or “more common” sports. Each level shows the different functions that reinforce, create, remove and eliminate barriers and inequities within sport and physical activity (Weebly, 2014 – page 1).
Between the five levels within Figueroa’s Framework, three will be discussed in this presentation; individual, interpersonal and institutional.
The individual level of Figueroa’s Framework, looks at a person’s own attitudes, values and beliefs. It is also essential to look at whether there have been external influences involved in shaping these attitudes, particularly those that relate to stereotypes (Weebly, 2014 – page 2). This level is crucially important as an individual’s choice is the main contributor towards their participation and sporting pathways (Sports Gov, 2013 – page 3). The second level, interpersonal, investigates family, coaches, role model influences as well as the influence of the social norms of society. This level focuses on the way peers and family influence ones participation in different physical activities. The institutional level, being the last level covered in the presentation, focuses on the influence schools, sporting clubs, local community facilities and certain family beliefs and religions. Our participation levels can either be enabled or affected by these different
factors.
There are a variety of factors that enable and prevent my participation and perception towards basketball and it as a potential sporting pathway. In my opinion, the individual and interpersonal levels contain a larger number of affecting factors. Although basketball is offered at my school, it is not a focus area for teachers or myself, which results in lack of experience and practice. This contributes to my individual level, therefore, the individual level factors that affect my participation and perception of basketball come down to my inexperience and low self-esteem in playing basketball. I personally do not find any interests in continuing on with my participation in basketball as it has never been a sport that has been of interest to my family. During my up-bringing, I was not exposed to basketball as it was not a sport that was offered to me at the school I attended nor was it popular sport shown on television. Coaching has been in-adequate and has not been the most encouraging throughout my participation in basketball. These factors have impacted my interpersonal level. Around my local community, basketball is offered as a sport as the local park contains a large basketball court and clubs offer basketball as an activity outside of school. These factors need to be addressed so that my participation and enjoyment of basketball, as well has the communities, is changed.
Three levels of Figueroa’s Framework need to be altered to increase the participation and enjoyment of basketball. The two major affecting levels are the individual and interpersonal levels. A key factor is my lack of confidence and experience, which can easily be solved if the school provided more focus on basketball as a sport itself. Regarding the interpersonal level, basketball can become more enjoyable if it was offered at every school, for children of all ages. If basketball was publicised on television and other media outlets more often, it would have a completely different overview and it would become more popular amongst young kids and adolescents. Coaching is also a major factor as it affects the participants and students more than anything else. A solution for ineffective coaching is either replacing the coach with a coach with more experience or the coach can use different training and coaching methods to encourage participation and enjoyment.
Figueroa’s Framework and its levels within effectively investigate the issues around access, equity and equality in sport and different physical activities.
The three levels of Figueroa’s Framework covered in this presentation, individual, interpersonal and institutional, have successfully shown the factors affecting and enabling my participation and perception of basketball. My enjoyment and participation in basketball can be increased by maximising focus on basketball as a sport, showing more media coverage of basketball and changing the coach or the methods the coach is using to encourage myself and others to consider basketball as a potential sporting
pathway.