Physical Education Pop Up in Lock Up

The Carnegie School of Sport has a long history of being at the forefront of developments in physical education (PE) and sport. We were one of the first ‘PE colleges’ in the country and have trained thousands of PE teachers who now work in schools and other community sport settings around the world. Staff within the PE Academic Group continue to be committed to inspiring and developing the next generation of PE teachers and community sport practitioners. We achieve this through our research informed teaching, partnerships with schools and other physical activity providers, and the experiential nature of our curriculum. Working in partnership and supporting professional conversations about the future of PE is an important aspect of our work. For example, recently colleagues in the PE Academic Group initiated and ran the first of a number of ‘Pop Up in Lock Up’ events.

In their roles for the British Educational Research Association’s  Physical Education Sport Pedagogy Special Interest Group, Dr Annette Stride (Convenor), Reader Tom Quarmby and Professor Hayley Fitzgerald (Organising Committee) felt it important in the current climate to create a platform for practitioners, academics and students interested in PE to re-connect with each other. They recognised that now, more than at any other time, there is a need to create spaces where collective discussions about PE can continue and the concept of ‘Pop Up in Lock Up’ was born. 

The first event took place on February 4^th featuring Dr Shrehan Lynch (University of East London) and Maslaha, an organisation that takes a multi-layered approach to tackling the long standing issues affecting Muslim communities. This ‘Pop Up in Lock Up’ focussed on transformative pedagogies within PE and community sport, highlighting the importance of working in partnership with local communities to break down barriers to PE and physical activity participation.Our first ‘Pop Up in Lock Up’ attracted over 100 participants from around the globe and included academics, teachers, ITT students, practitioners and national governing body representatives. The clear message from this first ‘Pop Up in Lock Up’ is practitioners, providers and policymakers need to take responsibility for activity engagement. Any lack of participation should not be situated as a problem with particular communities. It is a problem that needs to be owned by those planning and running PE and sport.