Health and Physical Education: Preparing Educators for the Future

Health and Physical Education provides the knowledge, understanding and skills required to successfully teach HPE in Australia.

Judith Miller is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of New England, New South Wales. After gaining her undergraduate teaching degrees from Portland State University, Oregon, where Dr Don Hellison was formulating his Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model, Judith taught physical education in a K-7 school in Oregon. These learning and teaching experiences were augmented by nine years of secondary school teaching in rural Australia. She then pursued higher degrees in research, with a focus on coordination and skill levels of primary school-aged children, and has been making major contributions to HPE Teacher Education for three decades at UNE. Judith has been an active contributor to a range of international professional Health and Physical Education communities and is currently focused on the facilitation of the research agenda of the Bhutanese Ph.D. scholars she is continuing to supervise.

Susan Wilson-Gahan is a Health and Physical Education Program Coordinator, Bachelor of Education, Health and Physical Education specialisation programs, and Lecturer in the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts, School of Education Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). She is a PhD candidate examining sociocultural influences on the development of super-elite sports performance people. Prior to entering academia, Susan was a curriculum leader and secondary school teacher of Health Education and Physical Education for over 30 years 33 years, with additional experience in primary school teaching and special education. She worked at the Queensland Studies Authority on the Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Framework, including as part of the Years 1-9 Essential Learnings and Standards curriculum development team and as a writer for the QCAR Assessment Bank. Susan is passionate about the holistic nature of health and wellbeing and the contribution of health and wellbeing to enhanced educational outcomes. Part played by health in academic engagement. She has a continuing involvement in sports administration at all levels. Susan is an active contributor to the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER), as well as to the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE).

Robyne Garrett is Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, dance and teaching methodologies in the Education Futures Academic Unit, University of South Australia. Her undergraduate teaching degree specialised in Physical Education and Dance and she taught for a number of years at diverse secondary schools before furthering her dance background at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London. After this time she was integral to introducing Dance as a subject within the curriculum and served as both a curriculum writer and professional educator in the field. Her teaching experiences in Australia and England include age groups from early childhood to Year 12 as well as experience in special education and with students at risk. Her doctoral studies focused on the construction of gender in physical activity contexts and she has since worked in the tertiary sector where her creative and body-based methodologies are widely utilised as strategies for developing teaching pedagogy. She is committed to socially just and culturally sustainable practice within Health and Physical Education as well as classroom practice and her ongoing research interests include gender and inclusive pedagogies, as informed by critical, culturally responsive and affect theories.

John Haynes has recently been appointed as an Adjunct Lecturer for the School of Education at the University of New England. After teaching Physical Education, Health and Personal Development for 30 years, 15 of which as Head Teacher in NSW public secondary schools, he spent 20 years lecturing at the University of New England. His first tertiary qualification was a three year Diploma in Physical Education from Wollongong Teachers College. He started teaching in Sydney and then moved to a country appointment. Whilst teaching, he gained a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Master of Education (Physical Education). His PhD was undertaken whilst lecturing at UNE. During his 20 year academic career John has written, delivered and coordinated many preservice teacher education units designed to prepare primary teachers for the challenges associated with teaching Physical Education. Also during this time he: was an elected member of the University academic board; undertook course coordination; was selected to write the NSW HSC PDHPE examinations; worked for several years with a local school to assess and then assist students with developmental coordination disorder; and, served as President of the Armidale sub branch of ACHPER. John has written and published numerous academic articles, and has presented his research findings at many International and National Conferences. He has an ongoing consultancy with the Royal University of Bhutan(RUB), which initially involved researching the feasibility for the implementation of a Diploma in Sports Coaching and Administration, and then assisting with writing curriculum. The success of the Diploma has since led to the introduction a new Degree in Physical Education at RUB.