Australian physical education scholar joins university

Australian academic Prof. Richard Tinning has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Physical Education at The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education.

Prof. Tinning is highly regarded internationally as a scholar and researcher in the fields of human movement and physical education.

He holds the position of Professor of Pedagogy and Physical Education in the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland. He will share his time between this position, and his new role with the School of Critical Studies in Education at Auckland, where he will contribute to research.

Prof. Tinning has educated Health and Physical Education teachers for over four decades. His research interests include the purposes of school physical education, how the subject has developed historically, and the pedagogy of human movement.

“My research is informed by a socially-critical perspective and I’m particularly interested in how the teaching of PE changes in response to educational trends and government initiatives,” Prof. Tinning says.

Previously he held a personal chair in physical education at Deakin University, where he pioneered the use of distance education for inservice teachers of physical education.

He is a fellow of the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education & Recreation, the Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d’Education Physique, the American Association for Kinesiology & Physical Education, and an honorary fellow of Physical Education NZ.

“For many years Prof. Tinning has given generously of his time as an external monitor on the Bachelor of Physical Education programme, and he has supported the doctoral research of a number of our staff,” Dean of the Faculty of Education, Associate Professor Graeme Aitken says.

“His appointment adds further strength to the faculty’s role in leading education research in NZ.”