Dr Mark Griffiths

Lecturer in Sport Pedagogy

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Dr Mark Griffiths

Contact details

Telephone +44 (0)121 414 4874

Email m.griffiths@bham.ac.uk

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

About

Mark qualified as a PE Teacher from the West London Institute in 1990. After lectureships at the Universities of Kingston and Oxford Brookes, he went on to study for a PhD in professional development before joining Birmingham in 2009. Mark has published research papers in scientific journals as well as reviews and book chapters in the fields of sport pedagogy, professional development, and research methodology. He has received research grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Football Association, UK Athletics, and Sports Coach UK.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Professional Development, Loughborough University, 2010
  • MSc in Sports Science, Brunel University, 2000
  • BEd (Hons) in Physical Education, West London Institute, 1990

Teaching

BA Sport, Physical Education and Coaching Science

  • Sport Science and Pedagogy
  • Sport Science and Movement
  • Sport Science and Professional Practice
  • Innovation and Professional Practice
  • Dissertation

BA Applied Golf Management Studies

  • Coach Education

PGDip/MSc Sport Coaching

  • Professional Practice in Sport 

  • Dissertation

Postgraduate supervision

Mark is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas: 

  • The role of professional development in supporting professional practice
  • Examining teacher/coach learning through workplace pedagogy

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Mark on +44 (0)121 414 4874 or m.griffiths@bham.ac.uk or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 5005.

Research

2012 – An analysis of CPD provision for the football coaching workforce: A comparison with other professional fields. Funded by The Football Association 

2012 – Evaluation of England Athletics National Coach Development Programme. Funded by UK/EA/ScUK

2011 - An analysis of the capacity of volunteer sports coaches as community assets in the Big Society. Funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council

2011 – Evaluation of Coach Educators on Professional Youth Coaches’s Practice. Funded by The Football Association and in collaboration with Loughborough University

Conference presentations

2012 - Educating the Educators: Professional learning in situ. Australian Association for Research in Education, Sydney, Australia.

2012 - Mentoring for success in sport coaching? European Conference on Educational Research, Cadiz, Spain

2011 - Volunteer coaches as community assets in the Big Society. August, International Council for Coaching Excellence. Paris

2011 - Measuring Impact. Sportscoach UK Annual Conference, Belfast, N Ireland.

2011 - Finding a learning space. Sportscoach UK Annual Conference, Belfast, N Ireland.

2010 - Re-thinking mentoring: Implications from a case study of volunteer coach learning. International Council for Coaching Excellence, Arnhem, The Netherlands

2009 - Is mentoring an effective strategy to support the professional development of volunteer sports coaches? International Council for Coaching Excellence. Vancouver, Canada

2007 - Mentoring as a learning strategy in sports coach professional development: context, communities and practice”. British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, London.UK

Other activities

2012 – Invited contributor: London 2012 Olympic Legacy: The generative capabilities of community sport and community coaches. Gillette (Proctor & Gamble) Olympic Research Papers

2011 – Workshop Convenor: National Governing Bodies: Evaluating Impact. Sports coach UK 

2010 – Invited Technical Editor: Mentoring in Sport. ScUK

Journal Reviewer:  International Journal of Coaching Science; Journal of Teaching in Physical Education; Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports; International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching; Annual Review of High Performance Coaching and Consulting

Publications

Griffiths, M. (2013) David Clutterbuck, Mentoring and Coaching: A commentary. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 8 (1), 229-231

Griffiths, M. & Armour,K.(2013) Learning Dispositions in professional learning International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching (in press)

Griffiths, M. & Armour, K. (2012) Formalised Mentoring as a Professional Learning Strategy for Volunteer Sports Coaches. Mentoring & Tutoring, 20 (1), 151-173

Griffiths, M. & Armour, K. (2012) Physical Education and Youth Sport in England: Conceptual and Practical Foundations for an Olympic Legacy. Special Issue International Journal of Sport Policy (in print)

Griffiths, M (2011). Mentoring and professional learning. In K. Armour (Eds) Introduction to Sport Pedagogy for Teachers and Coaches: Effective Learners in Physical Education and Youth Sport. London: Routledge

Griffiths, M & Armour, K. (2011) Case Studies. In Armour and Macdonald (Eds) Research Methods in Physical Education and Youth Sport. Routledge

Expertise

Professional development strategies in supporting sports coaches; volunteer/community coaches and sports participation; community sport as a site of social action; instructional models in sport for creating positive learning environments; mentoring as a professional learning strategy; sport, physical activity and health.

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