Ben Dyson

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Exploring students’ perspectives is a democratic method for educational policy-making and practices. Research into primary students’ perspectives on Physical Education (PE) in Aotearoa New Zealand is insufficient. We thus used a qualitative study design to explore 24 students’ perspectives on their PE experiences in four primary schools. Data were...

Evidence has shown that social and emotional learning (SEL) improves students’ behavior, attitudes, peer relationships, and academic outcomes. However, teachers have challenges in promoting SEL due to insufficient professional development and pedagogical strategies. Cooperative learning, a pedagogy promoting student-centered learning, has been sugg...

Drawing on social constructivist learning theory and a conceptual framework for meaningful physical education (MPE), the purpose of this self-study was to present and explore how one teacher-researcher (TR) evolved their approach to implementing pedagogy promoting MPE in an alternative secondary/high school education setting. Utilizing self-study,...

Purpose: This study aimed to explore students’ perspectives and experiences of social and emotional learning (SEL) during physical education high school classes. Method: Using a case study design, focus group and individual interviews were implemented with 42 students. Based on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s SEL fr...

Theoretical foundations are fundamental to research in health and physical education. They reflect historical and cultural ideas and values. In this article, we seek to introduce the philosophy of Bildung from the Nordic-German cultural region to an English-speaking audience as one theoretical foundation for student-centered teaching. Bildung focus...

Introduction School educators’ have a great influence on the adoption, sustainability, and development of school-based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs. The purpose of this school-based research was to investigate educators’ experiences and perspectives on implementing SEL in a high-needs rural elementary school setting. Methods Fiftee...

Purpose : To explore preservice teachers’ (PSTs) implementation of cooperative learning (CL) during their school-based student-teaching after undertaking a CL course in a Chinese physical education teacher education program. Method : An interpretive qualitative case study design gathered data from eight PSTs using classroom observations, semistruct...

Purpose : Utilizing social constructivist learning theory and a conceptual framework for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), this self-study explores how I as a teacher-researcher intentionally evolved my approach to teaching SEL in a high school Physical Education setting. Method : Data were collected over twenty 75-min lessons over 15 weeks. One...

Utilising globalisation theory, the purpose of this paper is to present our experiences and learnings as an instructor and doctoral students from an innovative doctoral pedagogies class involving international scholars and curricular contexts. A self-study design was implemented utilising interviews and focus groups which were collaboratively analy...

When it comes to teaching social and affective outcomes pertaining to health and physical activity within Physical Education (PE) settings, such learning historically has been observed as manifesting itself as hoped-for-by-products rather than intentionally-taught-for curricular outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore understandings and...

Despite growing attention on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education settings (Jones, S. M., McGarrah, M. W., & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1625776), there also has been an increasing con...

The latest issue Empowering Student Learning in Higher Education: Pathways to Possibility has been online! This time, we have researchers from five different countries (China, Chile, Finland, New Zealand and the UK).The special issue breaks down geographical and cultural barriers to take a comprehensive look at how higher education affect student l...

The purpose of this paper was to investigate school educators’ perspectives on Restorative Practices (RP) in Aotearoa, New Zealand elementary schools. Based on a case study design, this study collected qualitative data by interviewing and observing elementary teachers and principals. Five themes were drawn from the data: showing empathy, making dec...

Background It has been widely accepted that Sports-based Youth Development (SBYD) programs are potentially ideal contexts to develop children socially and emotionally. However, there is a limited empirical examination on how validated models-based practices could be harnessed in SBYD programs to promote children’s social and emotional development....

The Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model has been widely utilized in school-based and out-of-school sports and physical activity settings to promote children’s meaningful and transferable life skills. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to identify the process elements and the product outcomes of TPSR-based prog...

In this article, we focus on the contingency between learning and instruction in physical education (PE). We argue that the complex interconnectedness of teachers’ instruction and students’ learning processes should be studied using a unit of analysis that expresses the relationship between the two factors. A contingency perspective foregrounds the...

The purpose of this study was to explore learners' experiences enacting youth/student voice pedagogies (SVP) to promote Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and meaningful physical education (MPE) in an alternative education setting. Drawing on social constructivist learning theory in understanding and implementing a MPE approach, and a systemic fra...

Adopting an interpretivist perspective grounded in symbolic interactionism, this article explores the types of interactional strategies used by K–5 teachers to develop social and emotional learning (SEL) with their students in Aotearoa New Zealand. A case study design was followed using interviews, audio from lesson video recordings, field notes, a...

There exists a need to explore educators’ initial experiences of working to establish Social and Emotional (SEL) pedagogies like Restorative Practices (RP) at elementary school level to help avoid slippage in implementation and inform and sustain long term positive change within school communities. Adopting a social ecological perspective, the purp...

The current study, a part of a bigger study, explored how teachers in Indonesia implemented cooperative learning (CL) in their distinct contexts. This multiple case study design used a qualitative interpretative approach. Following semi-structured interviews with 18 teachers who had attended CL professional development and used CL in their classroo...

Purpose The purpose of this literature review was to investigate how cooperative learning (CL) has been conceptualized and implemented in Chinese physical education (PE). CL is one of the most influential and widespread areas of theory, research, and practice in western education. With the promotion of Chinese government policies, CL has become a p...

The purpose of this scoping review is to critically examine previous research that connects three selected model-based practices (MBPs) to social and emotional learning (SEL) outcomes in K-12 physical education (PE) settings to inform a future research agenda for the field. A methodological framework involving the processes of inductive analysis an...

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to explore primary teachers’ perspectives of implementing cooperative learning (CL) to accomplish social and emotional learning (SEL) in Aotearoa New Zealand physical education. Method : A qualitative case study design gathered data from 21 teachers at four primary schools using interviews, focus groups, and...

Background/purpose: It has been suggested that cooperative learning (CL) is a model-based practice which can develop students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies in physical education (PE) (Casey, Ashley, and Javier Fernandez-Rio. 2019. “Cooperative Learning and the Affective Domain.” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance...

Teacher efficacy influences what and how they teach. This may be particularly important to consider in Aotearoa New Zealand contexts where primary classroom teachers teach health and physical education and use physical activity breaks with little training. It remains unclear how classroom teachers perceive this role and how to better support them....

Childhood obesity remains one of the defining challenges of our time, with government response around the world being largely ineffective. This has been particularly the case in the US, which continues to suffer high rates of childhood obesity despite numerous legislative interventions to combat it. In order to develop insight into this ongoing cat...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study teachers’ perspectives of social and emotional learning (SEL) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) primary schools. Design/methodology/approach – This research was a case study design investigating the phenomenon of SEL in primary schools (elementary school level) in Aotearoa NZ (Stake, 2005). Findings – The...

Whilst globally there has been a great deal of discussion and rhetoric regarding the state of physical education at the primary level, there is a paucity of evidence regarding teachers’ perceptions of quality physical education in practice. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore and interpret primary school teachers’ perceptions of...

The Health and Physical Education curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) provides a unique contribution to the discussion of global re-design of Physical Education. In 1999, the subjects of ‘health education’ and ‘physical education’ were combined into one academic subject (HPE) in the national curriculum (MOE 1999). One purpose of the NZ ‘re-desi...

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

There have been calls to test the potential benefits of different forms of physical activity (PA) to executive function, particularly in authentic settings. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an acute dance session within an existing physical education class on students’ selective attention. The study employed a pre/p...

The purpose of this study was to use the Joint Action Studies in Didactics (JASD) to understand how teachers’ and students’ interactions co-construct knowledge during Cooperative Learning (CL). The basis of CL is that students learn with and from each other through a structured interdependent relationship. A case study approach was used to examine...

Purpose: To examine whether there is an association between students self-reported suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury and exposure to suicidal behaviour among friends, family members or within school communities. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative health and well-being survey of 8500 New Zealand high sc...

The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the teacher's and students' experiences of co-operative learning in a high school setting. A multiple-method design included interviews of the physical education teacher and eighth (year 9) and eleventh grade (year 12) students, nonparticipant observation, field notes, and document analysis. I...

The purpose of this paper is to report on the pedagogical and research learning I experienced as a physical education student–teacher engaged in an action research project, for which I designed and implemented an innovative teaching model. In my roles as student–teacher and researcher, I wanted to examine the impact of using Sport Education in a Fi...

The purpose of this study was to identify students’ perspectives of the role of healthy behaviours in their well-being and school success. Since a number of studies focused on establishing the link between healthy behaviours and learning have relied on quantitative measures, it was deemed important to provide a different perspective on the topic an...

Background: The current article explores the associations between home gardening and dietary behaviors, physical activity, mental health, and social relationships among secondary school students in New Zealand. Method: Data were drawn from a national youth health and well-being survey, conducted in 2012. In total, 8,500 randomly selected student...

The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the ecology of cooperative learning as an instructional model in two high school physical education classes. One eighth grade (year 9) and one eleventh grade (year 12) class and their teacher were observed during a ten-lesson team handball unit. The following research questions framed the stud...

Objective: To describe the relationship between family meals and adolescent mental health and determine whether the relationship differs by sex. Design: Secondary analyses of a cross-sectional survey. Participants: A total of 8,500 nationally representative students. Main outcome measures: Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale; Strengths and...

The purpose of this study was to investigate generalist classroom elementary teachers' implementation of the Cooperative Learning (CL) pedagogical model into their physical education classes. The study used multiple sources of data drawing on qualitative data collection and data analysis research traditions (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014). Data...

This study examines practicing primary school teacher’s perceptions of the teaching of physical education in their schools. There has been some criticism of primary school physical education but until now this criticism has been largely based on a number of small studies involving limited numbers of teachers and schools. This study involved surveys...

This book introduces Cooperative Learning as a research-informed, practical way of engaging children and young people in lifelong physical activity. Written by authors with over 40 years’ experience as teachers and researchers, it addresses the practicalities of using Cooperative Learning in the teaching of physical education and physical activity...

Learning how to cook is an important skill for developing healthy eating behaviors. Moreover, involvement in home cooking may offer young people opportunities for skill building, identity development and social engagement with their families. Recently, there have been concerns that the current generation of young people may not have the opportuniti...

Within Aotearoa/New Zealand primary schools, External Providers (EPs) have steadily increased their influence on physical education. The purpose of this study was to explore and interpret classroom teachers’ perspectives of EPs in their primary school. The research team obtained questionnaire responses from 487 classroom teachers from 133 different...

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of Finnish in-service physical education teachers when using the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model (TPSR). Eight elementary and middle school physical education teachers participated in a professional development course organized by the university and the course focused on...

Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine the impact of school gardens on student eating behaviors, physical activity and BMI in New Zealand secondary schools. The current study also aimed to determine if school gardens could buffer the association between household poverty and adolescent BMI. Methods: Data were drawn from a natio...

A wealth of school-based interventions report on students’ positive responses to the use of models-based practice in physical education. However, research that examines the effectiveness of models-based practice rarely reports on the fidelity of implementation i.e. when all of the characteristics of a model are implemented. The purpose of this stud...

Background: Around the world, there have been numerous reports of a leveling of the prevalence of obesity. Given that New Zealand has among the highest rates of child and adult obesity in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the aim of the current study was to document the prevalence of, and recent trends in, overweigh...

Objective: To determine the relationship between cooking and selected indicators of diet quality, mental well-being, and family relationships. Design: Data were collected as part of Youth'12, a nationally representative health and well-being survey. Setting: Secondary schools in New Zealand. Participants: A total of 8,500 students. Main out...

Despite calls for a multi-level approach, research on change readiness has focused almost exclusively on the individual. This paper extends change readiness theory by examining the process through which organizational readiness occurs. Drawing on a 3-year longitudinal study of organizational change in public schools, findings here demonstrate that...

In my commentary in response to the 3 articles (McKenzie & Lounsbery, 2013; Rink, 2013; Ward, 2013), I focus on 3 areas: (a) content knowledge, (b) a holistic approach to physical education, and (c) policy impact. I use the term quality teaching rather than "teacher effectiveness." Quality teaching is a term with the potential to move our attention...

To describe indicators of health and well-being for New Zealand secondary school students; explore changes between 2001, 2007 and 2012; and compare these findings to international estimates. Three national health and well-being surveys of randomly selected New Zealand secondary school students were conducted. Data are presented as prevalence and va...

Youth development programs are built upon the assumption that individual participants have a unique set of strengths, needs, and developmental opportunities. The same is true of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model. Although TPSR calls for individualized curricula and differentiated instruction, these topics have not been su...

Interpreting organizational change initiatives as controllable can mean the difference between achieving positive or negative outcomes. However, little is known about the factors that underpin such interpretations. This study examines how interpretations of controllability are influenced by individual centrality in social networks and change-relate...

Our purpose was to investigate the processes involved in, and outcomes of, implementing 3 new state-level, school-oriented childhood obesity policies enacted between 2004 and 2007. We followed policy implementation in 8 high schools in Mississippi and Tennessee. We collected data between 2006 and 2009 from interviews with policymakers, administrato...

2 . Considerable resources have been channelled into health programmes based in New Zealand education settings which purport to enhance the health of students; however, there is modest evidence to support the effectiveness of these initiatives in bringing about the health gains they seek to promote. This may not be solely a reflection on the initia...

Physical education has historically held an important place as an identified learning area within the wider New Zealand curriculum. While consistently present, the way that physical education has been conceptualised and implemented has evolved and changed over time. This paper considers the changes that have occurred in the teaching of physical edu...

The purpose of this study was to explore the production, communication, interpretation and contestation of new physical education (PE) and physical activity (PA) policy initiatives introduced in Mississippi and Tennessee for the academic year 2006-2007. These states provide a relevant context to study such issues, since Mississippi has the highest...

The purpose of this study was to develop and calibrate an assessment system, or bank, using the latest measurement theories and methods to promote valid and reliable student assessment in physical education. Using an anchor-test equating design, a total of 30 items or assessments were administered to 5,021 (2,568 boys and 2,453 girls) students in K...

This article describes how assessments in PE Metrics were developed following six steps: (a) determining test blueprint, (b) writing assessment tasks and scoring rubrics, (c) establishing content validity, (d) piloting assessments, (e) conducting item analysis, and (f) modifying the assessments based on analysis and expert opinion. A task force, co...

New testing theories, concepts, and psychometric methods (e.g., item response theory, test equating, and item bank) developed during the past several decades have many advantages over previous theories and methods. In spite of their introduction to the field, they have not been fully accepted by physical educators. Further, the manner in which many...

In addition to validity and reliability evidence, other psychometric qualities of the PE Metrics assessments needed to be examined. This article describes how those critical psychometric issues were addressed during the PE Metrics assessment bank construction. Specifically, issues included (a) number of items or assessments needed, (b) training pro...

The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret the instructional ecology of Cooperative Learning in elementary physical education classes. Data collection included a modified version of the task structure system (Siedentop, 1994), interviews, field notes, and a teacher's journal. T-tests of the quantitative data revealed that instruction t...

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of action research as a framework to investigate cooperative learning and tactical games as instructional models in physical education (PE). The teacher/researcher taught a tennis unit using a combination of Cooperative Learning and Teaching Games for Understanding to three classes of boys aged 11—12...

The download option below is for the full issue of this publication.

This paper reports on the pedagogical changes that I experienced as a teacher engaged in an action research project in which I designed and implemented an indirect, developmentally appropriate and child-centred approach to my teaching. There have been repeated calls to expunge--or at least rationalise--the use of traditional, teacher-led practice i...

The download option below is for the full issue of this publication.

An effective teaching strategy, cooperative learning promotes student interaction, benefiting students with and without disabilities.

This book is a collection of essays written by teacher educators with a passion for sharing knowledge, research, and insights about the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach. The intended audience for this collection is teacher educators and graduate and undergraduate students in physical education and sport pedagogy as well as practicin...

The purpose of this article is to present Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning as valuable instructional models in physical education. Situated learning is used as a theoretical framework and connection between Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Cooperative Learning. The structures of Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Coop...