Malcolm Thorburn
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Contemporary education and guiding pedagogical principals: the prospects for an embodied and intersubjective interpretation of phenomenology Open
This critical paper posits that an ongoing reconceptualising of educational aims and values is necessary and desirable, especially so given the multiple complexities of current times and the associated need to reappraise the overarching pe…
Potentialities in health and physical education: professional boundaries and change agendas Open
This special issue raises some demanding issues about the future of health and physical education (HPE) at a time when arguments for enhanced curriculum prominence exist alongside the possibility of increased marketization in school govern…
Can physical education be meaningful: the role of embodied subjectivity in enhancing self and social learning? Open
This paper critically considers the pragmatic and phenomenological-informed conceptual possibilities for increasing meaningfulness in physical education via a greater emphasis on embodied subjectivity. The paper begins by considering why g…
Committing to Pragmatic Informed Pedagogical Action: Theory and Practice Considered Open
At a time in education where restrictive pedagogical ‘what works’ approaches often require teachers to state with some certainty and conviction what ‘by the end of the lesson students will understand’, there is a need for restatements of p…
EMPHASISING AN EMBODIED PHENOMENOLOGICAL SENSE OF THE SELF AND THE SOCIAL IN EDUCATION Open
This paper reviews the theoretical underpinnings of phenomenology-related writings which support claims that the self and the social (the ‘I’ and the ‘We’) can plausibly be integrated and nurtured together in education. We begin by analysi…
A critical review of the Daily Mile programme as a contributor to lifelong physical activity Open
This critical paper investigates one influential post millennial initiative – the Daily Mile programme – which is designed to promote the multifarious lifelong enhancing benefits of running-based experiences. A textually orientated discour…
Privatisation reforms and health work in schools: the end of the beginning Open
This discursive paper selectively reviews the empirical papers informing the major part of the special issue. In doing so it focuses particularly on issues which are apparent across many papers. One major point of contrast is the advanced …
Embodied experiences: Critical insights from Dewey for contemporary education Open
Background: Reflecting increased cross-disciplinary interest in the significance of the body in education, this paper considers that a greater appreciation of John Dewey’s conceptualisations of experience and habit would benefit contempora…
Understanding experience better in educational contexts: the phenomenology of embodied subjectivity Open
We consider in this critical paper that claims that human agents experience things-in-the-world as the same are deeply flawed as these accounts misconstrue and fail to appreciate the phenomenology of embodied subjectivity. To overcome thes…
Creating thriving and sustainable futures in physical education, health and sport Open
The idea for this Special Issue, ‘Creating thriving and sustainable futures in physical education, health and sport’ arose from the Association Internationale des Écoles Supérieures d’Éducation Physique (AIESEP) World Congress in Edinburgh…
Sisyphus, crisis discourse, and the theory-practice gap in physical education: a polemic Open
The constant and perennial plea by academics in the field to reform or change physical education share some similarities with the myth of Sisyphus from Greek mythology. Just as Sisyphus was condemned to an eternity of endless frustration o…
Personal well-being and curriculum planning: a critical comparative review of theory, policy and practice coherence Open
There is a heightened interest nowadays in educating for personal well-being based on the belief that schools can be a civilising force for good and help make young people’s lives more fulfilling and meaningful. At the same time, there is …
Social democracy, economic liberalism and physical education: a Dewey-informed review of philosophical and pedagogical possibilities Open
This historical-themed critical paper utilises selective education writings by John Dewey to review how constructions of participatory social democracy might benefit conceptions of contemporary physical education which are informed by soci…
‘When an old cricketer leaves the crease’: bittersweet reflections on examination awards in physical education Open
The paper reflects on the development of examination awards in physical education from a predominantly autobiographical research perspective. The paper draws on experiences and reflections from inside examinations as a teacher, part of the…
Reconstructing Dewey: Habit, Embodiment and Health and Well-Being Open
This critical paper utilises selective education writings by John Dewey as the basis for considering how a strengths-based and personalised view of habit and embodiment could effectively thrive as part of an enhanced health and well-being …
Intelligence, Practice and Virtue: A Critical Review of the Educational Benefits of Expertise in Physical Education and Sport Open
The paper calls for a re-evaluation of physical education’s cognitive value claims, as this issue is fundamental to many of the conceptual difficulties the subject faces. Current epistemological challenges are reviewed before analyzing the…
Moral deliberation and environmental awareness: reviewing Deweyan-informed possibilities for contemporary outdoor learning Open
The recent surge in interest in progressive education ideas has often been accompanied by an increased advocacy for learning outdoors, with experiential and holistic learning approaches considered the most beneficial method for cultivating…
Dewey, democracy, and interdisciplinary learning: a Scottish perspective Open
Interest in progressive education ideas has often been accompanied by advocacy for greater use of interdisciplinary and holistic learning approaches, as these are considered beneficial in conceptual, curriculum and pedagogical terms. The p…
John Dewey, William Wirt and the Gary Schools Plan: a centennial reappraisal Open
A century on from the height of John Dewey’s educational writings and the reputation of the Gary Schools Plan as a model of progressive education, the paper reappraises two key matters: the relationship between John Dewey and William Wirt,…
Evaluating efforts to enhance health and wellbeing in Scottish secondary schools Open
Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland outlines a policy vision of a more progressive, integrated and holistic form of education; a commitment which contains an obligation for health and wellbeing to be a responsibility of all teachers. A c…
Understanding professional issues in physical education - a Scottish insight Open
Key to the effective enactment of policy and high quality learning and teaching in schools is a contemporary understanding of teachers’ beliefs, and an awareness of the professional issues which are particularly important to them. Despite …