Teacher-student relationships form an integral part of students' learning process in higher education. Using an autobiographical research methodology and critical incident theory, we reflect upon significant episodes during adventure sport fieldwork. We use these to discuss why it is essential for educators to reflect upon this aspect of their…

The need to focus on abuse prevention in sport has been prioritized due to widespread athlete maltreatment occurring across many sports, levels and regions. One recommendation to prevent athlete maltreatment is through evidence-based education. Despite this recommendation, surprisingly little has been done in this area. A recently proposed idea is…

School physical education and health (PEH) has an important role to play in the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of young people [Opstoel, K., Chapelle, L., Prins, F. J., De Meester, A., Haerens, L., van Tartwijk, J., & De Martelaer, K. (2020). Personal and social development in physical education and sports: A review…

From grassroots to mega-event level, the sport sector has long-relied on volunteers to function effectively. While the nature of sport volunteering varies, scholars have identified that volunteerism is built around characteristics (e.g. altruism, civic participation, acquisition of social capital, personal and professional development) that draw…

The Health and Physical Education (HPE) profession has increasingly advocated for caring teacher-student relationships. In this paper, we draw on data from an international research project called 'EDUHEALTH' [Education for Equitable Health Outcomes -- The Promise of School Health and Physical Education] to explore caring teaching and the…

The study examines the association between students' level of physical fitness and experiences of being 'seen' by their physical education (PE) teachers, by interviewing 26 high school students (13 with low physical fitness, and 13 with high physical fitness). The analyses indicated that being 'seen' in PE seems to be related to experienced…

In this article, we investigate 'no touch policies' as a practical teacher concern that includes the body as a location, a source and a means in educational activity. We argue that to understand issues regarding physical touch within school practice we must conceive it as deeply associated with specific teaching techniques. Thus, the didactical…

My aim in this article is to contribute to the discussion about how teachers and coaches come to act in appropriate ways given the complex nature of both practices. I focus on two specific dispositions or qualities from the philosophical literature, namely the virtue of care and the Aristotelian concept of "phronesis" (or practical…

In his most recent piece (Gilbourne et al., 2011) and in the present article, the author revisits the notion of "caring" in applied sport psychology, offering readers the chance to wonder how a word misplaced or a gesture of casual indifference might cause lasting damage. As in his recent book, "Critical Essays in Sport…

In this paper we question the rationality of "no-touch policies" and offer an alternative approach to the matter of physical contact between teachers and students in the context of physical education (PE) in schools. Earlier research has drawn attention to how a discourse of child protection is starting to affect how physical contact is…

This study explores an activist approach for co-creating a prototype pedagogical model of sport for working with boys from socially vulnerable backgrounds. This paper addresses the key features that emerged when we identified what facilitated and hindered the boys' engagement in sport. This study was an activist research project that was conducted…

This paper has three principal purposes. The first involves locating the "politics of touch" as related to coaching within Noddings' theory of pedagogical caring. Noddings' framework is presented not so much as a prescription of "good practice", but as a potential way to raise the profile and somewhat problematise the…

Given that the expectation of the British Educational Research Association Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Special Interest Group Scholar Lecture is to position yourself throughout the paper, I will start with sharing my academic/career biography, acknowledging that our biographies are inextricably linked to our work and life practices. I…

The field of physical education (PE), as it exists in teacher education, is dynamic as ways of preparing teachers to meet the needs of young people in contemporary times change. Such endeavours are underpinned by concerns about school-based PE, the alienation of students from PE, and responsibility for producing healthy students. Concerns also…

Drawing on research conducted in Australian Health' and Physical Education (HPE) and Swedish Physical Education and Health (PEH), this paper demonstrates the analytic possibilities of Foucault's notion of pastoral power to reveal the moral and ethical work conducted by HPE/PEH teachers in producing healthy active citizens. We use the pastoral…