Analysis of the use of a sporting activity in the learning of quality approaches in master's degree. The point of view of the students involved[Analyse de l’utilisation d’une activité sportive dans l’apprentissage des démarches qualité en master. Le point de vue des étudiants impliqués]

Today, the implementation and control of management systems are integrated into the functioning of organizations and require actors able to have a global vision of these organizations, to bring their knowledge to the strategic level, to set up performance measurement systems and to present their results, while leading the process at the operational level. The need for graduates to have acquired these skills beyond those more specific to the job of Quality Manager has led the pedagogical team of the Master Quality of Aix Marseille University to adopt a systemic approach and to insert a personal development module into its curriculum. In this context, an educational system based on an adapted sporting practice of kendo (fencing where the weapon is held with both hands), has been integrated. The aim is to raise awareness and develop skills that students should reuse in other more theoretical modules. Based on the analysis of rational facts (touching the opponent with his weapon), the need to plan actions to achieve an objective emerges (touching the opponent requires a specific organization) and allows a comparison with quality tools (here PDCA). The approach allows students to reconstruct through analysis/reflection the functioning and organization of a unknown system to them: that of this fencing. Annual satisfaction surveys and student work show that this goal has been achieved. They underline the value of exchanges and cooperation but also the usability of the learning achieved in the overall context of their training, and in particular on the safety aspect. Beyond the use of sports practices to develop cohesion and understanding in a group, our objective is also to enable the transfer of skills acquired through sports practice to quality management, project management and safety management skills.