Policy neglect is normative in physical education given the lack of preparation for policy engagement in initial teacher education, continuing professional development, and graduate programmes (Lorusso, et al., 2020; van der Mars, 2019). The consequences of policy neglect in physical education are serious. Without policy expertise, physical education stakeholders are significantly limited in their advocacy for curriculum and other policy reforms that challenge the status quo and move the field forward (O’Sullivan, 2018). Should this neglect continue, it is likely that physical education professionals will continue to report the management of constant policy change as one of the greatest challenges facing their practice (Brown, et al., 2017). Furthermore, with threats to the status and survival of school and university physical education in many countries, experts have warned that failure to engage in the public policy spaces of education, sport, and health may put the future of physical education, and its contributions to students’ wellbeing, at risk (Lorusso & Richards, 2018).Enhancing physical education stakeholders’ preparedness (i.e., awareness, know-how, motivation, and confidence) for policy engagement is the focus of Dr. Jenna R. Lorusso’s postdoctoral fellowship research, along with her supervisors Professor Ann MacPhail (EHS Assistant Dean Research and Professor in PESS) and Professor Hal A. Lawson (Professor in Educational Policy and Leadership at the University at Albany, SUNY). To do so, this research project has engaged an interprofessional group of 10 Irish physical education stakeholders (i.e., physical education teachers, teacher educators, policymakers, professional development providers, professional association directors, etc.) in a sustained, policy-focused research-practice partnership (Cairney, 2015; Coburn & Penuel, 2016). In this partnership, participants are: (a) sharing information and stories about their physical education policy engagement; (b) working together to identify policy problems of practice that the group will work to address; (c) considering how policy theories might relate to the selected policy problems; (d) identifying practical lessons from the group’s reflection on policy theory; and (e) reflecting on how this partnership has influenced the group’s policy preparedness.The aims of this research project are two-fold and include: (a) identifying and mobilizing the aspects of a policy-focused research-practice partnership that stimulate participants to become empowered and adept in their policy engagement; and (b) identifying and mobilizing evidence- and theory-based practical policy lessons. The intention is that the practical nature of these two sets of findings will be used to inform the development of larger-scale policy preparation initiatives in initial teacher education, continuing professional development, and graduate education within physical education, education, and other public sector arenas, as well as enhance the policy engagement of other physical educators, educators, and policy practitioners in various contexts.This project is supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. References:
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A research-practice partnership for enhancing policy preparedness in physical education – Jenna R. Lorusso
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