Send us Fan Mail When Dr. Katie Novak was a student early in life, she did what was required by her teachers, handing in her work on time and following rules and expectations set by the school, but she never genuinely developed a deep love of learning. She didn’t feel that she really had what it took to be a great student, but all that changed when a teacher that she had truly believed in her capabilities and pushed for Katie to be moved into advanced classes in high school. This genuinely chang...
May 01, 2021•58 min
Send us Fan Mail As a child, Anthony Calvillo absorbed himself in sport. Whether it be baseball, basketball, track and field or football, sport provided Anthony with an escape from a troubling home environment that was plagued by domestic violence and alcoholism. He grew up in a tough neighborhood about 20-minutes from central Los Angeles and knew that choosing sport over a life of street gang crime was his only way out. The natural gifts and abilities that Anthony possessed allowed him to thriv...
Apr 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Send us Fan Mail What is meaningful PE and what conditions need to be present for students to find joy and meaning in their PE experiences? Jorge Rodriguez and I sit down this week to make deeper sense of the meaningful PE framework and explore what it is we are wondering about and the major considerations that we need to think about in order to plant the seeds for students to be intrinsically motivated to pursue different forms of physical activity in their lives. Each week, we will have a disc...
Apr 16, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Send us Fan Mail In the episode, Professor Kirk shares his deep insight related to critical pedagogies of affect and also gives us a glimpse into two of his latest books, the first one Precarity, Critical Pedagogy and Physical Education and Models-based Practice in Physical Education that was co-authored with Dr. Ash Casey. We begin this discussion talking about early days in David's life and how moving from Scotland to Australia really helped to shape his world view and the way came to better u...
Apr 10, 2021•1 hr 33 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, three-time best-selling author and professional learning facilitator, Dr. Jenni Donahoo, joins me to discuss the work she does related to helping to develop collective efficacy in schools and capacity building for school improvement by strengthening the link between theory and practice. If you are a leader in education, Jenni shares valuable insight into how those responsible for leading can build collective efficacy among staff and how they can create the condi...
Apr 02, 2021•35 min
Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, well-known consultants, Anne Van Dam and Kath Murdoch, talk about The Changing Face of Professional Development, especially during the time of COVID, We discuss how the pandemic has changed the way we approach professional development, but also what hasn’t changed. As schools around the world try to navigate the tricky waters of the pandemic, what do they want to keep? What has worked well? But also how might they repackage PD to be more meaningful and purpos...
Mar 20, 2021•55 min
Send us Fan Mail As an elite amateur golfer and tour professional, Sam Jarman enjoyed nothing more that practicing the game he loved and striving for mastery of his craft. His lifetime pursuit of excellence in golf was a journey of ups and downs that forced him to take a hard look at what it was he was missing from his tool kit that ultimately held him back from playing his very best and reaching his potential. He felt trapped in the belief that better golf was the only way that he could feel be...
Mar 14, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jim speaks about important mentors and the support that they gave him in helping him to find his true calling in life. In particular it was Dr. Bob Boucher, the former Dean of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor, who really believed in Jim and helped to navigate and guide him on his trajectory into academic leadership. Although Jim has had a deep impact in the field of academics, his work in leadership has really been the main source of inspiration and m...
Feb 20, 2021•1 hr 15 min
Send us Fan Mail While growing up in the projects of Portsmouth, Ohio, Chuck Ealey realized very early in life that sport was the only vehicle that would help him rise above poverty and be THE driving force that would lead him to getting an education. His mother Earlene was an influential figure in his life and although she only had an eighth grade education herself, she instilled in Chuck a firm belief that staying in school would allow him to find a better life for himself and to provide for h...
Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 17 min
Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, British sailor, Tracy Edwards, and I sit down to discuss her extraordinary journey and the life lessons she has learned through her passion for sailing and making a difference in the world. Tracy was the first woman to win the Yachtsman of the Year Award in the United Kingdom and assembled the first all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread Around the World Race, a treacherous 33000-mile course consisting of 6 different legs. Not only did they finish second...
Jan 14, 2021•1 hr
Send us Fan Mail In today's show, Dr. Jim Knight and I have a discussion about his journey in life and the key experiences that helped to shape the work he has done developing the Instructional Coaching framework. Jim and his team have deeply committed themselves to working with partners around the globe to improve the education of all students. In this episode, Jim unpacks different styles of coaching and their impact on teaching and learning. As well, he shares his insight into the 7 Partnersh...
Jan 09, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I bring Morris Ervin Jr back on my show for a second time. In our first episode together, Morris shared his inspiring story —a journey of self-discovery, passion, and overcoming many obstacles in his life to be able to do the amazing work he now does. Morris is a talented speaker, mentor, healer, and deeply committed educator. If you didn’t get a chance to listen to my first episode with Morris, I highly encourage you to have a listen as it will help to bette...
Jan 01, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is a special one as I had the opportunity to reconnect with an old teammate and friend from university. My guest, Warren Christie and I played football together at the University of Windsor in Canada many years ago. Warren has a very unique story and is a great example of somebody willing to leap into the unknown to pursue a dream. You will learn all about his story in today’s episode. Warren has been a film actor for nearly 2 decades and has earned roles in seve...
Dec 20, 2020•1 hr 34 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jorge Rodriguez, Aaron Beighle, Greg Dryer and myself dive deeply into a discussion about the role of feedback on professional growth and learning in the field of physical education. Using the Harvard Business Review article The Feedback Fallacy as a starting point for our discussion, we all share what resonated the most with us in regards to the article. This led nicely into a deeper discussion about the impact that feedback can have on teacher practice, the ob...
Dec 05, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, my good friend and colleague, Jorge Rodriguez, and I sit down to have a conversation about the role of feedback in regards to professional growth and how feedback can be used in a positive way to consistently reflect on our teacher practice in order to continually grow and learn. Not only do we share our own curiosities and wonderings around feedback, but also what we have come to learn about our own teacher and leadership practice through critical feedback f...
Nov 28, 2020•54 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Stephen Rollnick and I have a discussion about Motivational Interviewing which is a counseling approach he co-developed with Dr. William R. Miller. Motivational interviewing is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence. Our conversation digs deeply into the roles of empathy and compassion with a specific focus on the skill of empathic listening. We also discuss the reason...
Nov 27, 2020•1 hr 18 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I feel very lucky to have had an in-depth discussion with Dr. Tony Chan, the current president of KAUST. Tony has had great achievements in leadership and academics, but remains a genuinely down-to-earth person who is very curious about the world and its people. In our discussion, we dive deeply into early days in Tony’s academic life, his trajectory into leadership, and his core belief that having a broad world view is essential, regardless of one’s chosen fiel...
Oct 29, 2020•1 hr
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Justen O'Connor and I dive deeply into a discussion about autonomy, differentiation, assessment and curriculum and some key ideas that teachers might consider when planning for the most meaningful learning experiences possible in physical education. Justen's research work utilises systems thinking, social ecology and strengths-based approaches to explore curriculum and pedagogy associated with health, physical education, sport and lifetime physical activity....
Oct 25, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Greg Dryer and I have an in-depth discussion about relevance, autonomy, meaning and purpose in physical education. Greg is the Director of the Centre for Physical Education, Sport and Activity at Kingston University in the UK and has devoted himself to better understanding the role of physical activity and sport in young people's lives. He is the developer of the MiMove app which is currently being used by being used by over 130 schools across 20 countries to ce...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 32 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I feel very grateful to have had a conversation with Dr. Richard Ryan, the co-developer of the Self-Determination Theory. Dr. Ryan's work has been instrumental in the field of human motivation over the last 4 decades. He has won 3 lifetime achievement awards in the profession and has dedicated himself to better understanding the conditions necessary for all humans to flourish. His team's work has been accessed and applied by many researchers/writers around the w...
Oct 03, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Miranda Rose and myself have an in-depth discussion about how her organization, The American School of Warsaw, prepared itself for a return to face-to-face teaching and learning during these times of uncertainty due to COVID-19. Miranda speaks, in detail, about her school's journey in opening up and the health protocols that are in place to ensure that all staff and students are kept as safe as possible during this unpredictable time. Miranda also shares the suc...
Sep 13, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I interview Dr. Bob Pangrazi and Dr. Aaron Beighle about the work that they have done together for the past 20 years. In particular, we discuss the journey of writing their well-known book Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children (now in its 19th edition) and how they constantly strive to refine and improve each edition of the book. We also dive into a discussion about what quality physical education is and what it is not. Both Bob and Aaron rem...
Sep 05, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Kellen Milad, a fitness and health professional based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin joins me for an in-depth discussion about his Movement Parallels Life YouTube series which is all about helping people find joy and flow through purpose, yet playful forms of sequenced movement patterns. Kellen's unique approach fuses his background in counseling psychology with extensive education and expertise in movement and nutrition. Kellen is a very deep thinker and has the abili...
Aug 29, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Send us Fan Mail My guest today has an amazing story of resilience and truly embodies what it means to live a life of purpose and passion. James Wythe was an elite golfer competing nationally in the UK and had aspirations to turn professional. However, at the age of 21, he was struck down with myalgic encephalomyelitis which left him bedridden for two straight years, barely able to move and speak in the first few months. It took another 4 years of healing and recovery, but even though housebound...
Aug 21, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Send us Fan Mail In today's podcast episode, I have an in-depth discussion with Dr. Helen Street, the author of the well-known book Contextual Well-Being. This conversation with Helen is very timely in nature as many schools around the world face an uncertain, stressful time as they make important decisions about whether to return to face-to-face, virtual or a hybrid model of teaching and learning. Helen's work around contextual well-being has been recognized and praised by leading educators aro...
Aug 18, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Scott Kretchmar is a leading sports philosopher world wide with more than four decades of experience in the field of exercise and sport science. His research interests include the role of games and play in human evolution and theory of mind and the intellectual requirements of sporting activity. He has played a key role in making sport philosophy a legitimate field of scholarship and study and has had a huge impact on the physical education/health profession. In today's epis...
Aug 09, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Aaron Beighle and I have an in-depth discussion about quality teaching and learning in physical education. In particular, we dive into a conversation about what teachers need to think more deeply about when planning for high quality virtual learning lessons. As well, we discuss our thoughts about how teachers might reframe what's possible in regards to the learning experiences they offer students in relation to important health and fitness outcomes in physic...
Aug 01, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I speak with long time friend and scientist, Dr. Al Scott. Al is doing some amazing work in the field of science and presently works in the Canadian space industry. He has a PhD in Laboratory Astrophysics and his current work focuses on developing laser communication systems for satellites. Al recently started up his own podcast called the Rational View and this is why I brought him on the show. I wanted to hear about Al's work and to learn more about the themes...
Jul 22, 2020•53 min
Send us Fan Mail I'm thankful to have had this round table discussion with my wonderful colleagues Laura Pendergast, Jessica Boland, and Carrie Mcewen about the role of the Pedagogical Coordinator and the work that we do at The KAUST School in Saudi Arabia. The role itself is a very unique one that not only involves being a coach, collaborator, consultant, and curriculum coordinator but also to work side-by-side with the amazing teachers in our school helping to support them with their own profe...
Jul 18, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Send us Fan Mail My guest today, Morris Ervin Jr, has changed the lives of countless students and teachers through the work he does as an educator, entertainer and motivational speaker. Morris' authenticity shines through in this conversation as does the devotion and commitment he has for making the world a better place. In this episode, we dive into the work he does as a consultant, his experiences teaching in South Central Los Angeles, and the childhood trauma he had to overcome to be able to ...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 30 min
