Join us as we hear from Professor Ruth Jeanes and Associate Professor Justen O’Connor from the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education within the Faculty of Education at Monash University, as they discuss the latest report from their research, ‘Informal Sport as a Health and Social Resource’.
Key Takeaways
- Gain knowledge of the evidence base demonstrating the value of informal sport to local communities
- Recognise some of the constraints and solutions to supporting informal sport participation within local communities
- Gain knowledge of best practice examples of facilitating informal sport participation both within Australia and internationally
About the Report
“While club-based sport remains an important part of the fabric of our wider society, participation statistics continue to reinforce the idea that more and more people are choosing to participate in sport outside of club-based structures. Our research illustrates how participation in informal sport is hugely beneficial to participants and their communities when it comes to delivering on social, health and economic outcomes.”
“In this report, we summarise findings from phase two of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project, which aims to enhance our understanding of informal sport in ways that can inform future planning and provision across all tiers of government, sport and community stakeholders. The research is funded by the ARC in partnership with VicHealth, Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (Western Australia), Centre for Multicultural Youth and Cricket Victoria.”
Find out more about the project, including published reports, here.
Â
Meet the Speakers
Professor Ruth Jeanes
Head of School – Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education, Monash University
Ruth is a Professor and Head of the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education within the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She is a sociologist and her research aims to address inequity and discrimination within sport, as well as examining the role of sport in addressing complex social and health issues. She is currently working on two ARC-funded research projects examining the role of informal sport in creating healthy and socially cohesive communities and a further project examining ongoing gender inequities within Australian sport.
Associate Professor Justen O’Connor
School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education, Monash University
Justen has research experience that utilises systems thinking, social ecology and strengths-based approaches to explore curriculum and pedoagogy associated with health, physical education, sport and lifetime physical activity. Justen also has an interest in inclusion within education as well as formal and informal forms of participation in movement. Justen is fluent in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and has expertise in designing scales for measurement.
Brought to you in Partnership with:
About the Rec+ Research initiative:
Parks and Leisure Australia Vic/Tas Region (PLA Vic/Tas) and Rec People have created a partnership to bring evidence-based research findings from sport, recreation, leisure, play, parks and open space sectors to the physical activity industry. The joint initiative Rec+ Research is a result of both organisations recognising a need to deliver a dedicated program that identifies and presents the latest industry research findings directly to the practitioners who are responsible for the planning and delivery of programs, services and infrastructure in our communities.
The goal of Rec+ Research is to keep industry professionals up to date with the latest data and research on parks and open space provision and usage, sport and recreation facility provision, and physical activity programs and services. To discuss opportunities to present your research findings as part of Rec+ Research, please contact Dan Ferguson, Executive Officer, Parks and Leisure Australia (Vic/Tas) on victas@parksleisure.com.au or 0432 334 054.