Dr John Williams
Position
Associate Professor - Health & PE and Teacher Education
Contact details
E: john.williams@canberra.edu.au
T: +61 2 62015261
L: Building 6 Room D27
Biography
In my current role I teach in the Health and Physical Education (HPE) specialist primary and secondary degree programs at the University of Canberra. I teach and convene units in HPE pedagogy, HPE sociology and physical skills acquisition. I also teach non-specialist units in the broader suite of education degree programs offered within the Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics. In addition to my teaching and convening role I promote the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) to our pre-service teachers and local in-service teachers. I am also a member of the organizing committee for the 30th ACHPER International Conference being held at the University of Canberra in January 2017.
Originally from Scotland I migrated to Australia in 2009, and taught HPE and outdoor education at one of the largest government high schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for four years. I was subsequently seconded by the ACT Education and Training Directorate to the University of Canberra as a Clinical Teaching Specialist in HPE and worked in this capacity till the end of 2015. Prior to moving to Australia I was a lecturer and senior lecturer in sports coaching at tertiary colleges of further and higher education for 15 years, following five years employment as a sports development officer at the outset of my career.
I completed my PhD in 2016 at the University of Canberra and my thesis was a figurational sociology study into how Indigenous students experience physical education and school sport. My dissertation was an extension of my interest in the sociology of sport after completing an MSc at the University of Leicester in the Sociology of Sport and Sports Management. I am currently completing a Master of Physical and Health Education, and previously I studied at a post-graduate level at the Scottish Centre for Physical Education, Movement and Leisure Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
I am interested, and still involved in teaching and coaching a number of sports, although my main area of interest and specialism is Alpine ski teaching and racing. I am qualified at Level 4 in the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) teaching scheme and hold a Carte Professionnelle allowing me to teach and work in France as a ski teacher. I have been a full and active member of BASI for more than 20 years.
Research interests
- Decolonizing the Australian physical education curriculum
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in physical education and school sport
- Racialization in physical education and school sport