Articles from:February 2025

• Super Bowl LIX: Brock experts talk social justice messaging, pressure on and off the field for football’s big night

  Thursday, February 06, 2025 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY – February 6, 2025 – R0020

  As the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prepare to face off for the second time in three years this Sunday, Brock University experts are weighing in on the storylines poised to make Super Bowl LIX one of the most talked-about championships in recent history.

  Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Sport Management Janelle Joseph has been taking a critical look at the NFL’s messaging and racial justice in the lead-up to the big game. For the first time since 2021, the league will not display the “End Racism” slogan in the end zones, opting instead to display “Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us” — a move Joseph says is emblematic of the NFL’s “performative actions” when it comes to social justice.

  “While the NFL uses these slogans to signal a commitment to racial justice, we must ask whether these messages are backed by meaningful actions, especially in areas like hiring practices and the treatment of athletes,” says Joseph, who is also the Founder and Director of the IDEAS Research Lab at the University of Toronto, which explores issues of Indigeneity, diaspora, equity and anti-racism in sport.

  Joseph says gestures like end zone slogans may be well-meaning, but they often fail to address the deeper structural and cultural barriers that continue to marginalize racialized communities in sport.

  “True change requires more than just shifting symbols,” she says. “It requires dismantling the systems that perpetuate inequality within the league.”

  With Kendrick Lamar poised to headline the halftime show, Joseph says the artist’s long-standing commitment to social justice also provides the league with an opportunity to potentially match its rhetoric with action.

  “Lamar’s voice can be a powerful tool for challenging the status quo, but the NFL needs to match his message with real action that goes beyond spectacle,” Joseph says. “Otherwise, it risks becoming another example of capitalizing on activism without enacting real change.”

  Assistant Professor of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck, an expert in organizational behaviour and sport leadership, also critiques the NFL’s pattern of enacting symbolic gestures over substantive change.

  “The removal of ‘End Racism’ may be influenced by political pressures — including high-profile figures including President Donald Trump attending these events — but ‘Choose Love’ feels like a reaction to the recent terror attacks and violence in New Orleans, aiming for unity but missing the deeper racial justice concerns,” he says.

  Beyond its messaging, Clutterbuck also says the NFL has exhibited a persistent failure in regard to diversity leadership.

  “The league’s player base is predominantly people of colour, yet white executives and coaches still dominate leadership. Despite the Rooney Rule, minority hiring stagnates,” Clutterbuck says of the NFL policy requiring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and other senior positions. “In the latest coaching cycle, only one of six hires was a minority, revealing the gap between rhetoric and action.”

  He also says that while “changing a slogan is easy, the true challenge is shifting the power dynamics that determine leadership opportunities in the sport.”

  Dean of the Goodman School of Business and Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour Barry Wright says players will also be feeling the weight of the history-making potential of the matchup on the field.

  Kansas City, for instance, is seeking to become the first NFL franchise to win three consecutive championships, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes also setting sights on a potential fifth Super Bowl victory.

  “Research on the Yerkes-Dodson Inverted-U Theory suggests that both excessive and insufficient pressure can negatively impact performance,” says Wright, who holds a PhD in Management and a Master of Arts in Psychology of Sport and explores how pressure affects athletic performance in high-stakes situations. “For example, field goal kickers facing a game-winning moment may feel immense pressure, leading to physical and mental tightening that interferes with execution. Conversely, too little pressure may cause lapses in focus, leading to unexpected errors.”

  Wright expects both teams to be well prepared for handling this pressure, however, through a combination of relaxation and activation strategies designed to optimize performance.

  Pressure will also be mounting off the field.

  Viewers will be tuning in to see NFL legend Tom Brady’s highly anticipated Super Bowl debut in the booth, a role the broadcaster deemed valuable enough to warrant a record-breaking 10-year, $375-million contract.

  Assistant Professor of Sport Management Taylor McKee notes that while the Super Bowl remains a football game at its core, its mechanics differ significantly from a typical NFL contest.

  “The broadcast is extended, sometimes exceeding four hours, with frequent reviews and an extended halftime show that disrupts the normal rhythm of play,” McKee says. “Tom Brady, in his Super Bowl broadcasting debut, will have to balance his deep game knowledge with making the broadcast accessible to casual viewers.”

  Despite Brady’s iconic status, McKee says his draw will be limited in this new capacity.

  “While Brady’s presence in the booth will generate buzz, the overall impact on viewership will likely be minimal, as the Super Bowl is an entertainment spectacle first and foremost,” he says.

   

  Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Sport Management Janelle Joseph, Assistant Professors of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck and Taylor McKee, and Dean of the Goodman School of Business and Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour Barry Wright are available for media interviews on this topic.

  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University, [email protected] or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock experts available to comment on Ontario report cards’ new literacy benchmark

  Thursday, February 06, 2025 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY – February 6, 2025 – R0019

  When children’s report cards arrive home in the coming weeks, some parents will notice a new checkbox indicating whether their child has met the provincial literacy benchmark.

  Following the 2022 release of the Right to Read report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, students from kindergarten to Grade 2 now complete a literacy screening, the results of which are reported in the checkbox.

  Brock University Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies and neuroscientist Erin Panda, who has conducted extensive research on the effectiveness of early intervention in improving literacy, says while the screening is a quick snapshot, rather than a full evaluation of reading ability or other learning disabilities, it carries a lot of value.

  “The screening measure is a quick, informal, evidence-based assessment that provides information about possible word-reading difficulties,” she says. “It identifies students who are currently having or are at risk for future word-reading difficulties so they can receive more targeted instruction or immediate intervention.”

  Previously, early literacy testing was not widespread, standardized or evidence-based, which Panda says created challenges, especially if children moved across schools or school boards. This new universal measure means there is not only a consistent record but also that there is no stigma attached to being tested.

  Panda says while there may be some growing pains as the screeners and reporting are implemented, the change marks a step in the right direction for the province’s children.

  “With these systems in place, we can identify the children who are having difficulty early on, when the learning gaps are still small,” she says. “This can avoid bigger challenges later on that are much more difficult to address and could lead to negative mental health outcomes for a child.”

  If a child hasn’t met the benchmark, Panda says parents and teachers can take appropriate action, from small-group or intensive interventions at school to having letter magnets and decodable books available at home to support learning.

  “In an ideal world, parents will not be surprised when they receive their child’s report card and see that their child did not meet the benchmark on the early reading screening because the teacher would have communicated with parents about how it is being addressed in schools and strategies that parents can do at home to help,” says Panda. “If it is a surprise, parents should feel comfortable contacting the school to determine how to move forward.”

  Professor of Educational Studies and policy expert Louis Volante says there will be some students narrowly passing the benchmark, and some narrowly failing, which may create potential for teachers to feel the new requirement is a “high stakes” assessment.

  “The pressure point for teachers will be working with students that are just on the edge of meeting or not meeting the benchmark criteria, and the broader implications of their decision to check the box or not, including the perceived performance of the school,” he says.

  Policies of any kind always have intended positive outcomes, Volante says, as well as unintended negative consequences that emerge.

  “An intended positive outcome could be a general metric within schools to see how students are doing, and ideally, lead to additional supports for schools and students that need it,” he says.

  On the flip side, an unintended consequence may be the pressure felt by teachers to have students pass, as well as the stress of parents and guardians if their child does not meet the benchmark, Volante says.

  “Generally speaking, it is more beneficial for parents to have consistent information along the education continuum versus a narrow assessment,” he says.

    

  Brock University Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies Erin Panda and Professor of Educational Studies Louis Volante are available for media interviews on this topic.

  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University, [email protected] or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases