Melbourne Fritz Duras Lecture

'Mind the (Collaboration) Gap': Ongoing learning and capacity building in physical education and physical teacher education

The Melbourne Fritz Duras Lecture proudly supported by:

In an evolving landscape of policy and practice, international collaborations are central to meeting the physical activity, sport, and health-related needs of children and youth world-wide. But how can the potential inherent to partnerships and professional cultures be harnessed in order to make the necessary critical contributions? In this lecture the need for an international framework for strategic planning, proactive leadership, and adaptive designs is proposed, one which takes into consideration the many stakeholder positions involved, especially those focused on education. Three considerations are shared (i) roles, responsibilities and the weakening boundaries of, and between, stakeholders, (ii) support structures and networking as effective practice, and (iii) true partnership and communication across physical education and teacher education. The lecture concludes by considering the centrality of establishing an evidence base through international collaboration and transnational and comparative research.

Professor Ann MacPhail, University of Limerick

Professor Ann MacPhail works in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Her research and teaching interests reside in the areas of (physical education) teacher education, instructional alignment, curriculum development and curriculum and instruction models. She was awarded the Association of Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP) Lifetime Achievement Fellowship Award in 2015 in recognition of scholarly excellence in research and professional practice in physical education, physical activity and sport pedagogy across the lifespan. She presented the British Education Research Association (BERA) Physical Education Sport Pedagogy (PESP) Special Interest Group Scholar Lecture in 2016 in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy research community.