Preparing to become a Physical Education teacher

Will Swaithes is an experienced teacher, teacher educator and leader of teaching and learning. With over 20 years’ experience in education, he is currently a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at Birmingham City University leading the secondary PGCE programme whilst also contributing to Initial Teacher Education at several other institutions including Loughborough and Buckingham universities. Will is Education Director at PE Scholar, a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) for Redhill Academy, previous Head of Physical Education and Achievement for Youth Sport Trust (YST), previous Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning and author of an OCR GCSE PE textbook. He achieved Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) status in 2006 and also holds a Masters in Educational Leadership. Will has a reputation for high-quality consultancy services, mentoring support and training with an ambition to ensure PE stands for Positive Experiences for all children in all schools.

Liz is a physical education researcher and teacher educator with over 15 years’ experience within education across the primary, secondary and higher education sectors. She is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at the University of Gloucestershire & Bath Spa University. Liz is a qualified teacher and holds a PhD in Physical Literacy, a MA in Education, a MSc in Psychology and a BA (Hons) in Physical Education. Her research interests include Education, Physical Education, Philosophy, Health, Sport and Wellbeing. She has specific expertise in Physical Literacy, Teaching Pedagogy, Curriculum Design and Teacher Professional Development. Liz is an international speaker, passionate educator and physical activity advocate who champions the value of physical activity. Liz is Managing Director and co-founder at PE Scholar.

Nici is Course Leader for PGCE Physical Education at Leeds Beckett University. Her values centre around creating a curriculum to support inclusion and social justice which prepares students to give participation opportunities for the young people they teach. Following qualification from The University of Birmingham PGCE course in 2008, she completed a Master’s in Education in 2010 and went on to teach Physical Education in two inner-city schools in Leeds. This subsequently led on to a position as Head of Physical Education, alongside a whole school senior responsibility of Coordinator for Early Career Teachers. Nici has also led Subject Leader Development Meetings in Leeds to give Heads of Physical Education an opportunity to share best practice. She is currently involved in research in curriculum design, concept mapping in Primary and Secondary PE and injury prevention in Physical Education.

Declan is currently working as a teacher educator at Kingston University and has partnered with numerous London school staff as part of a school sport partnership. He has led school departments and been a Borough Advisor for PE in North London. He is an experienced tutor in teacher and coach education courses, being an Education Tutor for England Athletics and a Youth Sport Trust Tutor, specialising in Inclusive PE. He is former Vice-Chair of the national Association for PE (afPE) and current member of the afPE London Region Committee which he helped establish over 20 years ago. He is a doctoral student interested in researching gender-sensitive pedagogy in physical education.

Nathan is a Lecturer in Physical Education and Teacher Education at Plymouth Marjon University. He was previously a leader and teacher of Physical Education in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, and the UK.

Shrehan Lynch is a physical education researcher and teacher educator with over 12 years’ experience within education across the primary, secondary and higher education sectors. She is a Senior Lecturer in physical education at the University of East London and a Co-Founder of PhysEquity. Shrehan is a qualified teacher and holds a PhD in Sport Pedagogy from the University of Alabama. Her research interests include sociocultural issues in education and teaching for social justice in physical education. She has specific expertise in pedagogies for social justice in physical education and youth sport and has recently co-authored a book for Routledge on this topic. Shrehan is an international speaker, passionate teacher and social justice warrior who advocates for raising critical consciousness so that physical education can be a vehicle for social good. She can be found on Twitter @DrLynchEdu commenting on all things inequitable and championing BEING THE CHANGE.

Alex Beckey is Senior Lecturer in Education at Kingston University and specialises in preparing teachers for primary and secondary school Physical Education. He is Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Top degree in PE, Sport and Physical Activity and also works across the Secondary PGCE PE, Primary PGCE and Primary BA programmes. Alex previously worked in the secondary school sector for 17 years, teaching in and leading PE Departments in a range of schools, as well as holding other leadership and pastoral positions. He moved into Higher Education in 2019.

Mo is a lecturer in PE, Sport and Development at University of East London. He started this role in April 2022 and was previously Head of PE in an all boys school in East London. Mo has been a football coach for West Ham Foundation (and briefly Chelsea Foundation), learning mentor, science and geography teacher as well as a Head of Year since graduating from Kingston University back in 2010. Mo was also the subject lead for PE in the Havering Teacher Training Partnership which enabled him to work with trainee teachers. His main interests are in pedagogy, curriculum design and skill acquisition.

Mark is a Principal Lecturer and Portfolio Leader for Undergraduate provision in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Bedfordshire. He is a former teacher and now teacher educator, working to support teachers in all education phases, but with a specialism in secondary physical education. Mark was previously the course coordinator for the BA (Hons) Physical Education (Secondary) (with QTS) degree, and whilst in that role designed England’s first integrated master’s degree in physical education with QTS (MPhysEd). Mark’s research and scholarly activity has several key themes: he is passionate about promoting healthy active lifestyles in children and young people; he led the development of a new pedagogical model for Health-Based Physical Education as the focus for his PhD; he researches approaches to designing and teaching the physical education curriculum. Mark has presented at national and international conferences on the Health-based Physical Education pedagogical model and has developed influential relationships with organisations including the Association for Physical Education and England Athletics in order to support the teaching workforce.

Paul is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at the University of Bedfordshire. Paul is a passionate teacher educator, who works with both undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers. He also leads on partnership PE-CPD within the School of Teacher Education and currently coordinates a long-standing professional learning programme for primary teachers. His research interests include promoting active lifestyles, Models-based Practice and teacher professional learning and he has both published and presented his work for national and international audiences.

Danny Burton is currently a Lead Practitioner for PE in Suffolk, after previously leading Sport and PE Provision at a Specialist Sports College. He has worked in the PE environment for 15 years, and is actively involved in training ECTs and trainee teachers from a range of providers, as well as providing support to schools to help develop teaching and learning within PE. Danny has vast experience developing student leadership, as well as embedding the impact of PE wider across schools. Danny previously worked with the Youth Sport Trust, as their National Secondary PE lead, as well as authoring ‘Teach Now! PE’ to support people entering the PE Teaching profession.

Paul Ogilvie is a PE specialist and the Course Director for Secondary PGCE at Leeds Beckett University. His expertise in PE, physical activity, school sport and young people spans over 20 years as a teacher, consultant, advisor, researcher, author and mentor. Paul has previously led the PE strand of the Primary PGCE (PE Specialist) Course at LBU and, in his capacity as Youth Sport Trust National Faculty Tutor, stays up to date with all aspects of PE and school sport by delivering highly-rated and engaging professional development opportunities for current practitioners. His research has included the impact of CPD and NGB programmes on children’s basic movement skills, enjoyment and PA levels and has presented his findings both nationally and internationally. Recently he has written resources for organisations such as NIKE Made to Play and The Brownlee Foundation and is currently researching how sound processing and full sensory integration can help improve children’s learning capacities.

Grant is a senior lecturer in Physical Education and course leader of secondary education with QTS. He has been working in initial teacher education since 2017, working as subject leader for Physical Education across primary and secondary education on the BA (QTS) Primary Education, PGCE Primary Education (QTS), and PGCE Secondary Physical Education (QTS) courses. Prior to working in initial teacher education, Grant has 14 years teaching experience in and around Birmingham. He has specialist experience in teaching and managing school PE from key stage one through to key stage five, including all areas of the PE National Curriculum and a variety of qualification PE courses. Grant managed the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme for 10 years, supporting thousands of students in his school/university to complete the different levels of the award.

Gemma is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at Birmingham City University teaching on the Undergraduate Secondary PE QTS course. She is a qualified Secondary PE teacher and has 10 years experience in education. Within her previous role, Gemma was Assistant Head of PE for a number of years whilst also taking shared responsibility for running the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme in school. Her teaching philosophy strongly focuses on improving the physical and mental health of children through Physical Education, whilst exploring a range of activities to continue into adulthood. Whilst in her early days as a teacher educator, Gemma is keen to develop her research interests surrounding LGBTQ experiences in PE and outdoor education.

Holly has over 12 years’ experience in education as a previous Director of Sport and Head of PE and has recently moved into leading the Secondary PE PGCE at the University of Buckingham. Holly has recently completed the England Hockey Advanced Coach Programme and is head coach to a men’s National League team. An interest in research stemmed from completing her Masters in Education with a focus on lesson observations. Alongside teaching, playing and coaching, Holly is undertaking a professional doctorate in education with a specific focus on professional development. Her research interests include early career teachers, professional learning communities and teacher learning.

Karl completed his Secondary PGCE in Physical Education at Loughborough in 2005, having previously graduated from Loughborough with a Sport and Exercise Science Degree. He taught PE at Beauchamp College in Leicestershire before becoming an SSCo and an Internal AST responsible for ITE and NQT’s at John Taylor High school in Barton-Under-Needwood. Whilst working in school, Karl undertook an MA in Educational Leadership and Innovation. Karl is currently a module leader for two of the PGCE PE modules at Loughborough University and leads on the recruitment and selection process. Karl also leads undergraduate modules in teaching and coaching and he was part of a working group to develop the new Sports Coaching and Physical Education Degree. Karl has recently completed the HEA Professional Development Course for External Examiners and he is also looking forward to some new work as a University Assessor.

Dr Ash Casey is Senior Lecturer in Pedagogy at Loughborough University. His research focuses on Models-Based Practice, teacher learning/research and the use of new technologies in learning. Ash in an Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (Routledge) and is the author, co-author or editor of four Routledge books and publishes regularly in leading education research journals. He is active on social media where he writes and blogs about Models-Based Practice, teacher learning and new technologies. Ash started his PhD in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy at Leeds Metropolitan University in early 2005 whilst maintaining his dual role as teacher-as-researcher, Ash’s PhD explored his transformation as a teacher of physical education from a teacher-led to a student-centred practitioner through the use of the pedagogical models Cooperative Learning, Teaching Games for Understanding and Sport Education. Ash took up his first lecturing post at the University of Bedfordshire (2009-2014) and completed his PhD in January 2010. Having served as course leader for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees Ash joined the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University in March 2014. Ash has a vibrant social media presence on Twitter (@DrAshCasey) and writes and presents a twice month blog on PEPRN focused on translating research into practice.

Dr Vicky Randall is a Senior Fellow (Education) at the University of Winchester, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). She is subject coordinator for Physical Education, co-convenor for the Centre for Professional Learning in Education (with Dr Marnie Seymour), -Faculty co-Head of RKE for the Faculty of Education (with Dr Alasdair Richardson). She was UoA co-lead for Education for the REF 2021 submission (with Prof. Emile Bojesen). Prior to working in higher education, Vicky was a Physical Education teacher, a Regional Subject Adviser for Physical Education in south London (AfPE/CfBT) and an England Netball performance coach. She has worked across a number of national and European professional networks to promote and develop primary Physical Education teacher education, including the Department for Education-formed Physical Education Expert Subject Advisory Group, the European Primary Physical Education Network and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood. She is convenor of the Primary Physical Education Teacher Education Network (PETEN), co-founder of the Primary Physical Education Assembley (PPEA) (with Dr Gerlad Griggs) and Director of Teaching and Learning for the child mental health charity Stormbreak.