As always, this year’s Forum will provide an opportunity for those involved in research related to physical education, physical activity and youth sport to share their work with colleagues. The Forum has been rescheduled and will now take place in the PESS building at UL on Saturday 24th November 2018.
Given the recent monumental changes in Irish school physical education, the focus of this year’s Forum will be on the enactment of such changes. Across all related physical education curriculum developments, implementation (outcome, learning experiences and assessment) is a common area of interest for physical education teachers and teacher educators. This will be discussed further during the Forum with an opportunity for attendees to engage with the realities of implementing the various curricula in schools and identifying how best they can be supported to maintain this work.
Sessions include;
Keynote: Experiencing unprecedented changes in school physical education:
Suzanne Hargreaves, a physical education teacher for 26 years before working at Education Scotland, shares her experiences of navigating considerable changes to the physical education curriculum in the Scottish school system that are closely aligned to, and in some instances informed, the recent changes to school physical education in Ireland. Suzanne will share her experiences of dealing with the reality of such changes as a physical education teacher. She will consider how her work as a Senior Education Officer with Education Scotland heightens her awareness of the plights of physical education teachers as they negotiate unprecedented changes in school physical education provision. Suzanne will also consider the extent to which evidence has been collected in the Scottish context to inform support practices and structures to those dealing with such changes in school physical education.
Principles of effective assessment:
This session will share what research determines as principles of effective assessment and examples of such in international physical education contexts. The focus will then turn to focusing on the assessment of Irish school physical education given the recent introduction of classroom-based assessments, portfolios, written exams, practical performance and physical activity project.
Parallel research presentations:
An opportunity for those involved in research related to physical education, physical activity and youth sport to share their work with colleagues.
Panel meeting with representation from IPPEA, JCT, NCCA, PEAI, PETE Ireland and PDST:
This session will provide an opportunity for attendees to hear from stakeholders involved in Irish physical education and to pose questions to panel members.
Researching primary physical education, junior cycle PE, SCPE and LCPE:
This session will provide updates on current research and initial findings being undertaken in primary physical education, junior cycle physical education, SCPE and LCPE. This will not only update attendees on current research activity but also begin to identify further research opportunities as we continue to understand and evaluate the reality of teaching Irish physical education curricula. The session will also encourage consideration of associated changes that need to be made in Irish physical education teacher education programmes.
Active research opportunities for physical education teachers and stakeholders:
This session will encourage attendees to consider opportunities to undertake small-scale research projects aligned to their ongoing experiences with teaching physical education. Some examples of such research will be shared with attendees. Consideration will also be given to how teachers wishing to undertake such work could gain recognition for their work under the Cosán, the national framework for teachers’ learning.
Register on Eventbrite for the PEPAYS Forum 2018
Ann MacPhail is Professor in Physical Education and Co-Director of the Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport Research Centre (PE-PAYS) in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick. Her main research interests include physical education teacher education, young people in sport, curriculum development in physical education, teaching, learning and assessment issues within school physical education. You can contact Professor MacPhail vial email at Ann.MacPhail@ul.ie or view Ann’s research profile on Researchgate
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