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Sport Health Education Research Community

About this research community

The Sport Health and Education Research Community (SHEdRC) undertakes educational research with links to sport, health, and learning in and through movement. Our research spans formal and informal settings for learning and participation and is associated with education, sport, physical activity, recreation, outdoor learning and health promotion. As a community, we are committed to advancing equity and inclusion through our work as researchers, tertiary educators, professional advocates, and active contributors to industry and community organisations.

We have three areas of research:

  • Sport Policy, Participation and Education – exploring informal sport; gender equity in sport and education; physical literacy development; sport coaching and leadership; and outdoor learning.
  • Health, Bodies, Sport and Education – exploring fat-shaming and skinny-shaming in sport and coaching; healthy eating and healthy exercise; migrant and refugee engagement with health education, physical activity and sport; bodies and body image in HPE; and sun safety in schools and communities.
  • Health and Physical Education (HPE) Policy, Pedagogy and Equity – exploring inclusion and equity; policy and pedagogy; assessment; and HPE Teacher Education.

Research community leader


  • More sport, Their way! Promoting women's informal sport participation in WA, Healthway (WA Health Promotion Foundation), Health Promotion Research - Exploratory Research Grants, 2024 ‑ 2025, $88,154.
  • Optimising the implementation of an evidence-based school program to engage adolescents in muscle-strengthening activities consistent with national guidelines, National Health and Medical Research Council, Partnership Projects, 2022 ‑ 2024, $50,695.
  • Shame on you too! Exploring skinny-shaming in masculinity-connoted sports, Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, Social sciences, 2022-2023, SEK 392,680.
  • Educational clash or educational potential? School aged asylum seekers’ encounters with Swedish health education, Swedish Research Council, Educational call, 2021-2023, SEK 4,356,000.
  • Shame on you! Exploring fat-shaming in coaching practice, Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, Social sciences, 2021-2022, SEK 266,000.
  • Informal sport as a health and social resource for diverse young people, Australian Research Council, Grant - Linkage (Projects), 2019 ‑ 2024, $249,421.

Book Chapters

  • Piedra, J., Varea, V. (2023). Sexual diversity and sport in Ibero-America and the Caribbean: review. Mujer, Educación Física y Deporte en Iberoamérica [Women, Physical Education and Sport in IberoAmerica] Armenia, Quindío: Kinesis. (129-156). Kinesis.

Journal Articles

  • Fjellner, R., Varea, V., Barker, D. (2024). How physical education teachers are positioned in models scholarship: a scoping review. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 29(4), 329-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2022.2083098.
  • Varea, V., Caldeborg, A., Barker, D., Quennerstedt, M. (2024). Health education in Swedish schools – what’s on offer?. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2024(Article in press), 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2024.2360905.
  • Spaaij, R., Magee, J., Jeanes, R., Penney, D., O'Connor, J. (2023). Informal sport and (non)belonging among Hazara migrants in Australia. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(17), 4352-4371. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2206002.
  • Wilkinson, S., Penney, D. (2023). A national survey of gendered grouping practices in secondary school physical education in England. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 2023(Article in press), -. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2023.2236642.
  • Wilkinson, SD., Penney, D. (2023). A national survey of ability grouping practices in secondary school physical education in England. Research Papers in Education, 2023(Article in press), 20 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2023.2217819.
  • Hogan, J., Penney, D., O'Hara, E., Scott, J. (2023). Stakeholder perceptions of the feasibility of e-portfolio-based assessment of physical literacy in primary health and physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 2023(Article in press), 17 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2023.2287523.
  • Barwood, D., O'Rourke, J., Penney, D., Jones, A., Thomas, J. (2023). Professional teaching standards and inclusion in teacher education: insights from a hearing-impaired Health and Physical Education pre-service teacher’s professional experience. Sport, Education and Society, 28(2), 173-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2021.2004394.
  • Ives, B., Penney, D., O'Gorman, J., Nichol, AJ., Potrac, P., Nelson, L. (2023). Investigating policy enactment in community sport coaching: directions for future research. Sports Coaching Review, 2023(Article in press), 20 pages. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2023.2291253.
  • Pill, S., Penney, D., Williams, J., Cruickshank, V., Hyndman, B. (2023). A Figurational Perspective on the Influence of the Sport Education Model in Australia. Quest, 75(1), 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2022.2124183.
  • Varea, V., Öhman, M. (2023). ‘Break the rules or quit the job’: physical education teachers’ experiences of physical contact in their teaching practice. Sport, Education and Society, 28(4), 395-406. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2022.2036119.
  • Barker-Ruchti, N., Varea, V. (2023). Surviving child sexual abuse in women's artistic gymnastics: ‘It's beautiful, because had I stayed in the past, I wouldn’t have evolved as a person’. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2023(Article in press), 19 pages. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902231218180.
  • Barker, D., Varea, V., Bergentoft, H., Schubring, A. (2023). Body image in physical education: a narrative review. Sport, Education and Society, 28(7), 824-841. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2022.2076665.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V., García-Monge, A. (2023). Children’s Experiences of Lockdown and Social Distancing in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of Family Issues, 44(9), 2422-2445. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X221094038.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V. (2023). Lesbian, anorexic, disabled, and big: other ways of being a female physical education teacher. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 2023(Article in press), 16 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2277380.
  • Alfrey, L., Lambert, K., Aldous, D., Marttinen, R. (2023). The problematization of the (im)possible subject: an analysis of Health and Physical Education policy from Australia, USA and Wales. Sport, Education and Society, 28(4), 353-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2021.2016682.
  • Stirrup, J., Aldous, D., Gray, S., Sandford, R., Hooper, O., Hardley, S., Bryant, AS., Carse, NR. (2023). Exploring the re-legitimisation of messages for health and physical education within contemporary English and Welsh curricula reform. Sport, Education and Society, 2023(Article in press), 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2023.2240822.
  • Aldous, D., Evans, V., Penney, D. (2022). Curriculum reform in Wales: Physical education teacher educators' negotiation of policy positions. Curriculum Journal, 33(3), 495-514. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.149.
  • Gray, S., Hooper, O., Hardley, S., Sandford, R., Aldous, D., Stirrup, J., Carse, N., Bryant, A. (2022). A health(y) subject? Examining discourses of health in physical education curricula across the UK. British Educational Research Journal, 48(6), 1161-1182. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3820.
  • Gray, S., Sandford, R., Stirrup, J., Aldous, D., Hardley, S., Carse, N., Hooper, O., Bryant, A. (2022). A comparative analysis of discourses shaping physical education provision within and across the UK. European Physical Education Review, 28(3), 575-593. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X211059440.

Podcasts

ECU_AIESEP Specialist Seminar 2025: Body Politics in and through Movement

This specialist seminar promises engaging and informative professional development and networking for researchers and professionals working in a range of settings and roles where bodies and movement are in focus! This includes Health and Physical Education, Teacher Education, Coach Education, Outdoor Education, Health and Fitness, and Dance Education.

The ECU_AIESEP specialist seminar highlights how perceptions of which bodies are welcomed, valued, desired, or marginalised significantly influence participation and learning opportunities in movement across the lifespan, both in formal education and in community settings. The seminar will provide informative research insights, stimulating debate, and learnings that delegates can apply in their professional and personal lives to enhance the reach, quality and impact of movement experiences they are providers of and participants in.

The 3-day program will include keynote presentations from national and international leaders, delegates’ research presentations, interactive workshop activities, networking and social events, and a concluding Masterclass. Full program details coming soon!

For more information about the specialist seminar, check out the AIESEPConnect: Body Politics in and through Movement video.

When

Monday 8 December - Wednesday 10 December 2025
8.30 am - 4.30 pm

Where

ECU South West Campus
585 Robertson Drive,
East Bunbury, WA 6230.

Further Information

For more information, pricing, and to register, please select the link below.
To subscribe to event mailings and for all inquiries, please email: SHEdRC@ecu.edu.au

Register Here

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