Biography:
Alan joined the Department after teaching in North West secondary schools for sixteen years. He has also spent time teaching, playing football and coaching in the United States.
Alan's recent research seeks to understand how teachers of physical education come to socially construct their conceptions of effectiveness, and how this is embodied in their praxis. He makes use of ethnographic, narrative and life history methodologies to represent how effectiveness constructions change temporally according to the contextual lives of the teachers, and the complex environments of schools.
Outside of work, Alan had a long involvement in football, playing in the Conference, and coaching at Tranmere Rovers FC for twelve years. Between 2005 and 2008 he was the England Schoolboy's U18 goalkeeper
more...Alan joined the Department after teaching in North West secondary schools for sixteen years. He has also spent time teaching, playing football and coaching in the United States.
Alan's recent research seeks to understand how teachers of physical education come to socially construct their conceptions of effectiveness, and how this is embodied in their praxis. He makes use of ethnographic, narrative and life history methodologies to represent how effectiveness constructions change temporally according to the contextual lives of the teachers, and the complex environments of schools.
Outside of work, Alan had a long involvement in football, playing in the Conference, and coaching at Tranmere Rovers FC for twelve years. Between 2005 and 2008 he was the England Schoolboy's U18 goalkeeper coach. His leisure interests include skiing, cycling and watching live music. As a Scottish native, and with most of his family hailing from the Island of Lewis, Alan is passionate about Scottish gaelic culture, and in particular, the music and language.