Professor Jo Harris

Jo attained a Certificate in Education at Dartford College (1973-76) and went on to teach Physical Education and Health Education for 12 years in three state secondary schools. Whilst teaching, Jo obtained a degree with the Open University (1986) followed by a master's degree in Physical Education at the University of Birmingham (1987).

Jo left teaching for Higher Education in 1988 and joined the teacher education team at St Paul and St Mary’s College in Cheltenham.  She moved to 含羞草视频 in 1990 as a Lecturer in Physical Education. In 1997, she obtained her PhD and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1999, Reader in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy in 2015, and Professor of Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy in 2020.  Jo was Director of Physical Education Teacher Education from 1997-2002 and Director of Teacher Education from 2002-2021. During her time as Director of Teacher Education, Jo led four consecutive Ofsted inspections in which teacher education was judged to be ‘outstanding’. She also led the design and development of master's level teacher education programmes at the University.

Jo received a Fellowship from the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom (PEA UK) in 1999 and a Ling Award in 2006 to acknowledge her significant contribution to the subject and profession. She was Vice-President of PEA UK from 2000-02 and President from 2003-06.  Jo served on the Management Board of the newly formed Association for Physical Education (afPE) from 2006-08 and was Vice-Chair from 2008-10. She was Chair of the PE Expert Group from 2015-2020 and has been a board member of afPE since 2019.  Jo became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2007 and was awarded the status of Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2015, becoming the first academic at 含羞草视频 to attain this prestigious award.  Jo also received a Research-Informed Teaching Award from 含羞草视频 in 2015, an award from afPE in 2016 in recognition of her contribution to securing one association, and an award for Outstanding Postgraduate Research Supervision in 2016 and 2018.  In addition, Jo has been President of the Bergman Osterberg Union since 2017 and a School Governor since 2018. Jo received a Distinguished Alumni Award from 含羞草视频 in 2022 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to physical education teacher education.

Jo regularly fulfilled external examining and validation responsibilities and has presented her research and associated developmental work at national and international conferences around the world.

Jo is actively involved in research on health-related policy and practice within the Physical Education curriculum. She has a particular interest in the expression of health in physical education, health in PE pedagogies, and PE’s role in and contribution to public health, including the promotion of active lifestyles in schools. She is also involved in the development of health-related teaching resources and continuing professional development in the area of children’s health, activity and fitness. She has authored and regularly updated the research-informed health position paper for the Association for Physical Education.  In recent years, she has secured enterprise funding to develop promoting active lifestyles (PAL) principles, case studies and paradoxes to influence pedagogical change in schools.

Selected Recent Research Projects and Sources of Funding

• Research England Policy to Practice Initiatives. 2020.
• Promoting Active Lifestyles (PAL) Project. 2015-2020.
• Impact of a SEND school experience on trainee teachers. 2016-18
• Evaluation of Youth Sport Trust ‘Get to the Start Line’ programme. Youth Sport Trust. £10,000. 2015-16
• Supporting secondary schools in the effective promotion of physical activity. British Heart Foundation, £83,600. 2010-2013.
• The impact of the TOPs programmes on teaching and learning in physical education and school sport in primary schools in England. Youth Sport Trust, £87,128. 2003-07.
• Feasibility of fitness testing Welsh children. National Assembly for Wales. £13,250. 2003.
• Best Practice Research Scholarships on 'Continuity and Progression in PE' and 'Effective Teaching and Learning within Physical Education.' Department for Education and Skills (DfES), £11,250. 2003.
• Best Practice Research Scholarships on 'Continuity and Progression in PE', and 'Citizenship in Physical Education.' Department for Education and Skills (DfES), £12,500. 2002.
• The impact of training within the School Sport Co-ordinator Programme. Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom (PEA UK) and British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education (BAALPE). £13,250. 2002.

PhD Supervisions

• Gemma Leggett (2009): A Changing Picture of Health: Health-Related Exercise Policy and Practice in Physical Education Curricula in Secondary Schools in England and Wales.
• Ming-Hung Chen (2012): Monitoring Health, Activity and Fitness in Secondary Schools in England.
• Rashid Jassas (2012): The Promotion of Physical Activity within Secondary Boys’ Schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Oliver Hooper (2018): Health(y) talk: pupils’ conceptions of health within physical education.
• Anna Chalkley (2020): Implementation evaluation of a primary school-based running programme.

To date, Jo has examined 18 PhDs.

• School Governor (2019, ongoing).
• Elected Board Member of the Association for Physical Education (2019, ongoing).
• Elected President of the Bergman Osterberg Union (2017, ongoing).
• Invited Chair of the National Physical Education Expert group (2015-2020).
• Elected Vice-Chair (2008-10) of the Association for Physical Education (afPE).
• External Examiner Posts: Leeds Metropolitan University (1996-2000); West Midlands Consortium (1999-2004); De Montfort University (2001-2004); Birmingham University (2005-09); University of Limerick (2007-10); Cardiff Metropolitan University (2011-2016).
• Elected Member of the Management Board (2006-08) of the Association for Physical Education (afPE).
• Elected President (2003-06) of the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom (PEA UK).
• Elected Vice-President (2000-02) of the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom (PEA UK).
• Member of the International Association of Sport and Physical Education (AIESEP) Executive Board (1999-2004).

Selected Invited Conference Keynote and Speaker Presentations 

• Invited keynote on ‘Promoting Active Lifestyles in Schools’ at ACHPER Annual Conference, Canberra, January 2019.
• Invited keynote on ‘Healthy, Active Lifestyles’, Malta, March 2019.
• Invited keynote on the ‘Promoting Active Lifestyles Project’, University of Liege, Belgium, April 2018.
• Invited presentation at the Westminster Education Forum on ‘Raising the Quality of Physical Education in Schools: Improving Access and Diversity, the Role of Staff Training and Promoting Innovation in Teaching’ on 30^th November 2017.
• Invited presentation at the Westminster briefing on ‘UK Sports Policy - Funding, Participation and Strategic Priorities’ on 22^nd September 2015.
• Invited keynote on ‘Fitness Testing: UK Perspectives’. Cooper International Planning Meeting, Budapest, Hungary, September, 2014.
• Specialist Adviser to the Government’s Education Select Committee on ‘School Sport following London 2012’ – see report School Sport Following London 2012: No More Political Football (2013).
• Invited presentation at the Westminster briefing on ‘Improving Children's Health Outcomes: Addressing Childhood Obesity’ on 14^th November 2013.
• Invited presentation at the Westminster Education Forum on the ‘Future for Sport in Schools’ on 26^th November 2013.
• How well does PE promote active lifestyles? Recommendations for physical educators and physical education teacher educators. Annual Association of Physical Educators of Quebec Conference, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 2012.
• Promoting healthy, active lifestyles. Sports College Conference, International Centre, Telford, England, February 2010.
• Fitness testing in physical education - a misdirected effort in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity? International Physical Activity and Health Promotion Conference, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, November 2007.
• Links from Initial Teacher Training into career-long professional development. AIESEP Specialist Seminar on Teachers' Career-Long Professional Development, 含羞草视频, England, September 2007.
• The best in physical education in England. Pre-Commonwealth Conference, Melbourne, Australia, March 2006.
• Inspection of initial teacher training in England and its impact. Nara University of Education and at Hiroshima University, Japan, August 2005.
• Encouraging physical activity in schools. Physical Education and School Sports Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 2004.
• To test or not to test? Does fitness testing promote physical activity? British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health Annual National Conference, Birmingham, November 2003.

Academic Journals

• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Hooper, ). (2020). The promoting active lifestyles (PAL) project: A principle-based approach to pedagogical change. The Curriculum Journal, Special Issue. DOI: 10.1002/curj.99
• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Hooper, O. (2020). Prompting pedagogical change through promoting active lifestyles paradoxes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 7965; doi. 10/3390/ijerph 17217965
• Coates, J., Waring, M., & Harris, J. (2020).The effectiveness of a special school experience for improving preservice teachers’ efficacy to teach children with special educational needs and disabilities. British Educational Research Journal. DOI: 10.1002/berj.3605.
• Cale, L., Harris, J., & Hooper, O. (2020). Get(ting) to the Start Line – the evaluation of an innovative intervention to address adolescents’ school-related stress and anxiety. European Physical Education Review, 26(3), 642-663; doi.10.1177/1356336X20902487.
• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2018). The role of knowledge and understanding in fostering physical literacy.  Journal of Teaching Physical Education (Special Edition on Physical Literacy), 37: 280-287.
• Harris, J., Cale, L., Duncombe, R., & Musson, H. (2016). Young people’s knowledge and understanding of health, fitness and physical activity: issues, divides and dilemmas. Sport, Education and Society, DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2016.1228047
• Duncombe, R., Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2016). Strengthening ‘the foundations’ of the primary school curriculum. Education 3-13. International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education. http://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03004279.2016.1185137.
• Cale, L., Harris, J., Duncombe, R., & Musson, H. (2016). Promoting physical activity in secondary schools: Growing expectations, ‘same old’ issues? European Journal of Physical Education, 1-19. DOI: 10.1177/1356336X15623774.
• Harris, J., & Leggett, G. (2015). Influences on the expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales.  Sport, Education and Society, 20(7), 908-923.
• Harris, J., & Leggett, G. (2015). Testing, training and tensions: The expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales.Sport, Education and Society, 20 (3-4): 423-441.
• Harris, J., & Leggett, G. (2013). Influences on the expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales. Sport, Education and Society. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2013.853659.
• Armour, K., & Harris, J. (2013). Making the case for developing new PE-for-health pedagogies. Quest, 65(2): 201-219.
• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2009). Fitness testing in physical education – a misdirected effort in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity? Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 14 (1): 89-108.
• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2011). ‘Every child (of every size) matters’ in physical education! Physical education’s role in childhood obesity. Sport, Education and Society. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2011.601734.
• Cale, L., Harris, J., & Musson, H. (2012). Monitoring health, activity and fitness in physical education: Its current and future state of health. Sport, Education and Society. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2012.681298.
• Harris, J. (2013). Physical education teacher education students' knowledge, perceptions and experiences of promoting healthy, active lifestyles in secondary schools. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, DOI:10.1080/17408989.2013.769506.
• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Musson, H. (2011). The effects of a professional development programme on primary school teachers’ perceptions of physical education. Professional Development in Education, 37(2): 291-305.
• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Musson, H. (2012). The predicament of primary physical education: A consequence of ‘insufficient’ ITT and ‘ineffective’ CPD? Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 17(4): 367-381.
• Harris, J., & Leggett, G. (2013). Testing, training and tensions: The expression of health within physical education curricula in secondary schools in England and Wales. Sport, Education and Society. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2013.779241.

Books

• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2022). Physical education pedagogies for health. Routledge.
• Harris, J., & Cale, L. (2018). Promoting Active Lifestyles in Schools. Champaign, IL; Human Kinetics.

Books - Contributions

• Harris, J. (2020). Health-related learning in physical education. In: S. Capel, J. Cliffe & J. Lawrence, A Practical Guide to Teaching Physical Education in the Secondary School (3^rd Ed.), pp. 70-81. London: Routledge.
• Harris, J. (2020). Health in physical education. In: S. Capel, J. Cliffe & J. Lawrence, Learning to Teach Physical Education in the Secondary School. A Companion to School Experience (5^th Ed.), pp. 216-226. London: Routledge.
• Harris, J., Cloes, M., & Wilson, K. (2020). The alignment and coherence challenge: developing university-school partnerships for the simultaneous improvement and redesign of school programmes and teacher education. In: A. MacPhail & H. A. Lawson (Eds.), School Physical Education and Teacher Education. Collaborative Redesign for the Twenty-First Century, pp. 34-45. London: Routledge.
• Cale, L., Harris, J., & Hooper, O. (2020). Debating health knowledge and health pedagogies in physical education. In: S. Capel & R. Blair (Eds.), Debates in Physical Education (2^nd Ed.), pp. 256-277.
• Harris, J., Cloes, M., & Wilson, K. (2020). The alignment and coherence challenge: Developing university-school partnerships for the simultaneous improvement and redesign of school programs and teacher education. In: A. MacPhail & H. Lawson & (Eds.), School Physical Education and Teacher Education. Collaborative Redesign for the 21st Century (pp. 34-45). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
• Cale, L., Harris, J., & Hooper, O. (2020). Debating health knowledge and health pedagogies in physical education. In S. Capel and R. Blair (Eds.), Debates in Physical Education, 2^nd edition. (pp. 256-277). London: Routledge.
• Green, K., Cale, L, & Harris, J. (2018). Re-imagination and re-design in physical education: Implicit and explicit models in England and Wales. In H. A. Lawson (Ed.), Redesigning Physical Education: An Equity Agenda in which Every Child Matters. (pp.156-170). London & New York: Routledge.
• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2012). Physical education and health. Considerations and Issues. In S. Capel and M. Whitehead (Eds.), Debates in Physical Education. (pp. 74-88). London: Routledge.
• Cale, L. & Harris, J. (2011). Learning about health through physical education and youth sport. In K. Armour (ed). Sport Pedagogy. An Introduction for Teaching and Coaching. Pearson Education, pp. 53-64.
• Harris, J. (2010). Health-Related Physical Education. In R. Bailey (ed.), Physical Education for Learning: A Guide for Secondary Schools (pp. 26-36). London: Continuum.

Professional Journals

• Harris, J. (2020). The role of physical education in promoting active lifestyles. Physical Education Matters, Spring 2020: 86-87.
• Harris, J. (2020). The Association for Physical Education’s health position paper. Available at: www.afpe.org.uk
• Harris, J. (2018). The case for physical education becoming a core subject in the National Curriculum. Physical Education Matters 13(2): 9-12.
• Chalkley, A., Routen, A., Cale, L., Harris, J., Gorely, T.,& Shearer, L. (2017). “We’re running ourselves towards a fitter, healthier and happier school”. Lessons learnt from using running programmes in primary schools. Physical Education Matters, 12(3): 34-36.
• Hooper, O., Harris, J., & Cale, L. (2017). Having their say: Young people on healthy, active lifestyles. Physical Education Matters, 12(3): 51-52.
• Harris, J. (2016). The Association for Physical Education’s response to Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action. Physical Education Matters,11 (3): 10-11.
• Harris, J., Cale, L., Casey, A., Tyne, A., & Samarai, B. (2016). Promoting active lifestyles in schools: the PAL project. Physical Education Matters, 11 (3): 52-53.
• Harris, J. (2016). Definition of physical activity, physical education and school sport. Physical Education Matters, 11 91): 20-21.
• Cale, L., Casey, A., & Harris, J. (2016). An advocacy paper for physical education and school sport. Physical Education Matters, 11 (1): 18-19.
• Harris, J. (2015).afPE’s position on health. Physical Education Matters, Autumn, 10 (3): 87-90.
• Harris, J. & Cale, L.(2015). Fitness testing: An educationist perspective. Physical Education Matters, Autumn, 10 (3): 16.
• Harris, J. & Cale, L.(2015). Association for Physical Education Response to Generation Inactive. Physical Education Matters, Autumn, 10 (3): 11.
• Harris, J., & Leggett, G. (2014). Testing, training and tensions: a persistently disappointing picture of ‘health’ in secondary physical education? Physical Education Matters, 9 (2): 58-62.
• Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2010). Children’s fitness testing. Feasibility study summary. Physical Education Matters, 5 (2): 30-32.
• Harris, J. (2013). afPE’s position on health. Physical Education Matters, 8 (1): 82-87.
• Harris, J., & Cale, L. (2010). The Association for Physical Education’s Response to Recommendations within the 2009 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer. Physical Education Matters, 5 (2): 10-11.