Research Fellow Program

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background, including what drew you into the fields of health and/or physical activity?

I grew up working class in Woonsocket, RI, where I started playing Little League baseball when I was nine and basketball a few years later. Sport was everything to me growing up and certainly through my high school days. When thinking about college, I thought I wanted to become a coach, but there was no major in that, so I selected physical education. I enjoyed sport, being around and working with kids, and wanted to be in a profession where I was active. I didn’t do well my first year in college and almost dropped out. Fortunately, in my second year I started taking pedagogy courses and instantly fell in love with teaching. I knew that I was on the right career path.

I taught three years at the middle and high school level before taking a leave of absence to go to graduate school at Ithaca College (IC). I was drawn to the assistantship that worked with pre-service teachers, even though I had selected studying exercise physiology. After one semester I switched back to pedagogy as that is where my passion was and continues to be. My experiences at IC prompted me to leave a job I really loved (middle school PE and health) to enroll in a doctoral program at UMass-Amherst. Upon graduation from UMass, I was hired as an assistant professor at Kent State University in Ohio. I am currently in my 15th year and have been promoted to full professor and am the Director of Teacher Education for the university.

What is your primary line or lines of research?

After I got tenure and promotion, I compiled a research team to explore how sociocultural issues and social justice was integrated and/or enacted in physical education teacher education (PETE). We had scholars from the U.S., UK, and New Zealand on the team. Since then, my research has focused on social justice and equity issues in PE and PETE with an extended emphasis on policy — policy documents such as standards as well as policy more generally related to PE particularly at the state level. My scholarship will continue to delve in these areas in the near future, but always with a social justice and equity lens.

How you have worked alongside other professionals to promote health and physical activity?

All of my work — through my scholarship, service, profession development provided to teachers — has been in collaboration. Over recent years, I have engaged in research with Sue Sutherland at Ohio State University related to equity, justice, and policy work in PE teacher education. We have written a bunch together, but we also serve on our state association, OAHPERD, and engage in work at the community and state levels. I believe that our research, along with other scholars such as Brian Culp, Tara Blackshear, Dillon Landi, and Sara Flory have worked towards creating equitable, just, and safe spaces for young people to engage in health and physical activity. It is not necessarily the promotion of health and physical activity, rather, engaging with young people based on who they are and exploring the possibilities of an equity and just health-oriented and physically active world.

Can you give an example of how you’ve worked with local community members to promote health and physical activity?

Working collaboratively with our local community is critical as a teacher educator. I have provided professional development opportunities that range from equity and justice, trauma-informed practices, to state standards and assessments. I work with many local PE and health teachers and offer extensive advocacy related to health and PE, especially when it comes to navigating state legislation. I am out in the schools and build strong relationships with our local teachers as they are so critical in the success of our PE teacher education program.

What advice do you have for graduate students and junior faculty members who hope to achieve status as a SHAPE America Research Fellow someday?

It is so important to be true to yourself, to your philosophy, to what you stand for. It is not about seeking every publication possible. It is about engaging in scholarship that is meaningful to you and can have impact on the field — no matter if it is the hot topic or not. It was not ‘in’ when I engaged in activist and embodiment research with adolescent girls. And it certainly was not ‘in’ conducting research on equity and justice in PE when I first started. Getting Fellow status or any other award was not — nor has it ever been — a focus of mine. I just wanted to do good work. Do good work. Do meaningful work. Do work that you are passionate about. If you have the opportunity, find a colleague or two with whom you can collaborate. I mentioned Sue Sutherland earlier, but being able to collaborate on so many levels with her, having a trusting partner to help along the process is so critical. It does not have to be, nor should it be, done alone.

Lastly, what are some hobbies you participate in during your free time?

In my free time I like to be with my family — my wife, Theresa, son Quinn and daughter Harper. I like to exercise — jog, bike, hike. Attend live sporting events, concerts, and Broadway plays. I love traveling (though do not like to fly) and exploring the country and world. I hope to do more of that since it was put on a hiatus for three years. I am an avid Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox and Bruins fan. I also love to support Kent State sports and other events. Taking pictures. Maybe someday I will take photography classes and have a camera that is not an iPhone!

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background, including what drew you into the fields of health and/or physical activity?

My favorite subject in high school was physical education. As an undergraduate student, I was challenged to do more by a professor, so I did a senior thesis on how we learn motor skills. If you try to teach a young child a skill and they can’t do it, you’re immediately struck with why not. (For example, trying to teach a 7-year-old to hit a badminton birdie). So, I became really interested in how we learn motor skills.

After graduation, I worked as an instructor at Purdue University, and they had a program for preschoolers. I taught preschoolers how to swim and it was the best part of my day. Because of my wonderful experience at Purdue and the people that were there, I was pretty sure that I was going to do my Ph.D. in motor development. I went to the University of Wisconsin and got my degree there.

What is your primary line or lines of research?

I’ve studied the development of movement coordination and control. In motor behavior there are three domains: manipulation, locomotion and posture, generally. I’ve done research in all three. My first line of work was the development of walking. If you study walking, then you have to understand posture, so that was my next line of work.

Then, I became interested in studying children who have developmental coordination disorder. That is when I went into motor learning, so I went into adaptation and tasks such as reaching.

How you have worked alongside other professionals to promote health and physical activity?

One of the things I’m proudest of is Active Start, which is a document that NASPE (now SHAPE America) first published in 2002. It has since been modified by Jackie Goodway, Nancy Getchell and others.

When you teach, you touch a future. In all of my years of teaching, I’d say I am proudest of my students. The students in my classes, undergraduate students working in my lab, and those I’ve trained for their master’s and doctoral work.

Can you give an example of how you’ve worked with local and community members to promote health and physical activity?

When you’re first starting in your field, you have a lot more connections with the community. When I was at the University of Pittsburgh, I worked on a project where I went into the preschools in Pittsburgh that were Title I schools.

I helped the preschool teacher figure out what to do in the preschool that would help the children in their physical activity and in their motor skills. By going to the centers, I could see the problems that confronted teachers. I went all over the city of Pittsburgh, and we eventually developed this idea of movement centers.

What advice do you have for graduate students and junior faculty members who hope to achieve status as a SHAPE America Research Fellow someday?

Always be a learner. Be a lifetime learner. If you’re a lifetime learner, you’ll always be curious, you'll always have questions, and you'll always be interested in either pairing with someone who’s doing research to answer those questions or you’ll be interested in developing a different way to do it and then testing it out with other people and coming to the conference and presenting your ideas.

So, think of yourself as a lifetime learner and then always think of yourself as trying to challenge the ideas around you. For those who go off into academics, stay connected to the real world. Don’t forget your roots.

How have you supported SHAPE America, either through service, research, or other ways?

I was recently involved in a virtual session to restart a special interest group. By mentoring people, I have a couple of people that I still work with on paper and I’m still writing and still contributing professionally to the literature. Also, contributing to the development of future leaders.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted (or changed) your research agenda and research productivity?

It’s actually connected me more with people because of Zoom. I’m on Zoom calls about three to four times a week, talking with others about research and organizational things. It’s caused me to be more professionally productive.

For example, we had a meeting in Greece, which was accessible on Zoom. Before the pandemic, grad students would not have been able to afford flying to Greece from Brazil or from Australia. I now have good Greek friends from meeting with them on Zoom. I would have loved to have gone to Greece, but it’s particularly important for people from developing countries to attend for a low price rather than flying there.

Lastly, what are some hobbies you participate in during your free time?

I enjoy reading, listening to audiobooks, and playing bridge, especially during the pandemic.