Dr Mark Griffiths PhD, SFHEA

Dr Mark Griffiths

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
School Head of PGT
Associate Professor in Pedagogy

Contact details

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

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 Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 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 Society for Educational Research, The Football Association, UK Athletics, and Sports Coach UK.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Loughborough University
  • MSc in Sports Science, Brunel University
  • BEd (Hons) in Physical Education, West London Institute

Teaching

MSc Sport Coaching; MSc Physical Education and Wellbeing

  • Innovation in Professional Development
  • Applied Professional Practice
  • Dissertation

 

Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise

  • Professional Practice: Understanding competency in Sport and Exercise Science

Postgraduate supervision

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

  • The role of professional development in supporting the practice of coaches and teachers
  • 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.

PhD opportunities

Research

Funded Research

2019 – “My teachers don’t have a clue”: Digital Literacy for Teachers. Funded by Google Education

2017 - The case of MOOCs: informing digital and online learning. Educational Enhancement Fund. Funded by the University of Birmingham

2016  - Coaching Effectiveness.  Funded by The Football Association

2016 - Teachers’ continuing professional development in facilitating positive youth development. Funded by the South Korean Global Research Network

2014 - Contextually Sensitive Evaluation Tools for School Based Professional Learning: A Feasibility Study. Funded by The Society for Educational Research

2013 - Examining impact of the FAYCE programme: Capturing evidence of change. Funded by The Football Association

2013 - The theory and practice of ‘needs-led’ CPD provision in the FA: The RCDM Case Study. Funded by The Football Association

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

2010 - Evaluating impact. Funded by Sports coach UK

Conference presentations

2017-  Learning through networks: the possibilities and challenges of e-learning in Coach Education. US Centre for Coaching Excellence. Atlanta, USA, June

2017 - Advancing clinical reasoning through postgraduate manipulative physiotherapy education: A mixed methods longitudinal case study, Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, 28: e3-e4.

2016 - Creating a learning culture for developing clinical reasoning through postgraduate manipulative physiotherapy education', Manual Therapy, 25: e54-e55.

2016 – Exploring the role of ‘Practice Architectures’ in professional coaches’ workplace learning experiences. A I E S E P. Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique, Laramie, USA June.

2015 - Evaluation of a multi-agency approach to promoting physical activity with UK primary school children. European Conference on Educational Research, Budapest, Hungary

2014 -  Evaluating the impact of postgraduate education in manipulative physiotherapy on clinical reasoning. The International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists, Teachers Meeting. Utrecht, The Netherlands

2014 - Developing contextually sensitive measures in school based professional development evaluationsA I E S E P, Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique, Auckland, New Zealand

2014 - Preparing coaches for mentoring. A I E S E P (Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique), Auckland, New Zealand.

2013 - Changing professional culture: Collaboration, identity and accountability by design. European Conference on Educational Research, Istanbul, Turkey.

2013 - Institutional culture, pedagogic practices and professional development. A I E S E P, (Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique), Warsaw, Poland

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

  • 2014 – 2018 Elected Board Member: Association Internationale des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique (AIESEP)
  • 2017 – Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy (UK)
  • 2014 – Network Convenor (Sport Pedagogy) European Educational Research Association

Publications

Goodyear, V.A. Skinner, B., McKeever, J. & Griffiths, M.A (2021) The influence of online physical activity interventions on children and young people’s engagement with physical activity: a systematic review, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, DOI: 10.1080/17408989.2021.1953459

Griffiths, M.A., Goodyear, V.A. & Armour, K.M.(2021) Massive open online courses (MOOCs) for professional development: meeting the needs and expectations of physical education teachers and youth sport coaches. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. DOI: 10.1080/17408989.2021.1874901

Lee, O; Choi, E, Goodyear, V; Griffiths, M; Son, H; Jung, H, & Lee. W (2020). Exploration of the Patterns of Physical Education Teachers’ Participation Within Self-Directed Online Professional Development. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2020-0058.

Madi, M., Hamzeh, H., Griffiths, M., Rushton, A. & Heneghan, N. (2019) 'Exploring taught masters education for healthcare practitioners: a systematic review of literature'. BMC Medical Education.

Lee, O., Choi, E., Griffiths, M., Goodyear, V., Armour, K., Son., H. & Jung, H. (2019) Landscape of secondary physical education teachers’ professional development in South Korea. Sport, Education and Society. P. 1-14. DOI 10.1080/13573322.2019.1612348

Griffiths, L. A., & Griffiths, M. A. (2019). Evaluation of a School–Community Linked Physical Activity Intervention Targeting 7-to 12-Year-Olds: A Sociocultural Perspective. American Journal of Health Education, 1-1

Phelan, S. & Griffiths, M (2018) Reconceptualising professional learning through knowing-in-practice: a case study of a coaches’ high-performance centre. Sports Coaching Review, DOI: 10.1080/21640629.2018.1424405

Cushion, C., Griffiths, M. & Armour, K (2017): Professional coach educators in-situ: a social analysis of practice, Sport, Education and Society, DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2017.1411795 

Armour, K., Evans, G., Bridge, M., Griffiths, M., & Lucas, S. (2016). The beauty of the IPad for revolutionising learning in physical education. Digital technologies and learning in physical education: Pedagogical cases, 213-230.

Nichols, G., Grix, J., Ferguson, F. & Griffiths, M. (2016) How sport governance impacted on Olympic legacy: a study of unintended consequences and the ‘Sport Makers’ volunteering programme, Managing Sport and Leisure, DOI: 10.1080/23750472.2016.1181984

Griffiths, M., Armour, K. & Cushion, C. (2016) 'Trying to get our message across': Successes and challenges in an evidence-based professional development programme for sport coaches. Sport, Education and Society. DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2016.1182014

Griffiths, M., Armour, K. & De Lyon, A. (2016) Examining Impact of the FA Youth Coach Education Programme: Evidence of change? In W. Allison, A. Abraham & A. Cale (eds) Advances in Coach Education and Development: From research to practice. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge. In press

Armour, K., Griffiths, & De Lyon, A. (2016) CPD provision for the football coaching workforce: What can we learn from other professional fields and what are the implications? In W. Allison, A. Abraham & A. Cale (eds) Advances in Coach Education and Development: From research to practice. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge. In press

Griffiths, M. (2015) Training coaches as mentors. In F. Chambers (Eds) Mentoring in Physical Education and Sports Coaching. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge

Makopoulou, K., Ntoumanis, N., Griffiths, M., & Li, F. X. (2014). In search of meaning and relevance in physical education. in Armour (Ed) Pedagogical Cases in Physical Education and Youth Sport, 156.

Griffiths, M. & Armour, K. (2013) Volunteer Sports Coaches as Community Assets? A Realist Review of the Research Evidence. International Journal of Sports Policy and Politics (DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2013.824496)

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, 8 (4), 677-688

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. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. DOI:10.1080/19406940.2012.656676

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

View all publications in research portal

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.