Dr Oliver Hooper

Oliver graduated from Loughborough University in 2014 with a first class BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science. Subsequently, he remained at the University to undertake a PhD within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, which he completed in 2018. Following completion of his doctorate, Oliver continued to work at the University holding various research and teaching positions until his appointment as a Lecturer in Physical Education and Youth Sport within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences in 2022, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2024.

Oliver’s research explores young people’s experiences within physical education, health and youth sport contexts with a specific focus on the experiences of marginalised youth. He is particularly interested in ‘youth voice’ and the use of participatory methods to facilitate young people’s meaningful involvement within research. Oliver has published various articles, papers and book chapters in these areas and routinely attends international conferences to present on this work. He has received several awards for his work including most recently being named recipient of the ‘Young Scholar Award’ for 2021 from the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP).

Oliver holds various external positions including being a convenor for the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network of the British Educational Research Association, as well as a member of their Engagement Committee and Executive Council. Additionally, he is a convenor for the Sport Pedagogy Network of the European Educational Research Association. Oliver is also an Editorial Board Member for Sport, Education and Society, the British Educational Research Journal and Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 

Oliver’s research explores young people’s experiences within physical education (PE), health and youth sport contexts with a specific focus on the experiences of marginalised youth, such as those that are care-experienced, disabled or LGBTQ+. He is particularly interested in ‘youth voice’ and his work draws extensively on participatory methods to facilitate young people’s meaningful involvement within research.

Examples of projects that Oliver is currently involved with include:

• Marginalised young people’s embodied identities within PE
• ‘Pedagogies for voice’ within PE and youth sport
• Social and emotional learning within PE
• Trauma-aware pedagogies within PE and youth sport
• LGBTQ+ youths’ experiences within PE
• Care-experienced youths’ engagements with sport clubs
• PE and school sport within alternative provision contexts
• PE as a ‘core subject’ within the National Curriculum
• Cross-border curriculum learning in PE
• Health-related learning within PE

Oliver is keen to support doctoral research projects in these and related topics areas within PE and youth sport and welcomes applications from potential students. He is also happy to engage in consultancy for external partners around these topic areas having acted as an expert consultant on several education- and sport-related projects previously.

Oliver has received various funding grants to support his work including most recently a British Academy grant for the project: ‘Examining sports clubs as 'missing spaces' for care-experienced young people in England’ alongside Dr Rachel Sandford and Dr Thomas Quarmby (Leeds Beckett University). Oliver’s research has also been recognised for its impact and, in 2019, he was awarded the Professional Practice Award (for Research Impact) from the Association for Physical Education (afPE).

Convenor Roles

• Co-convenor for the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network of the British Educational Research Association (March 2017 – present)
• Co-convenor for the Research in Sport Pedagogy (RiSP) Network of the European Educational Research Association (August 2016 – present)

Board and Committee Roles

• Member of the British Academy Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network (April 2022 – present)
• Member of the British Educational Research Association Executive Council (September 2018 – present)
• Member of the British Educational Research Association Engagement Committee (October 2017 – present)

Editorial Board Roles

• Editorial Board Member of British Educational Research Journal (May 2020 - present)
• Editorial Board Member of Frontiers in Sports and Active Living [Physical Education and Pedagogy] (January 2020 - present)
• Editorial Board Member of Sport Education and Society Journal (March 2018 - present)

Reviewer Roles

Journals and Books

• Manuscript Reviewer for Taylor & Francis Publishers (March 2022 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Journal of Teaching in Physical Education (April 2021 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education (August 2020 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Research Quarterly in Sport and Exercise (July 2019 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for British Education Research Journal (April 2019 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Children’s Geographies (March 2019 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (March 2019 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Health Education (February 2019 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for European Physical Education Review (September 2018 – present)
• Manuscript Reviewer for Sport, Education and Society Journal (March 2018 – present)

Conferences

• Abstract Reviewer for International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP) Conference 2021 (February 2021 – present)
• Abstract Reviewer for Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) Conference 2019 (August 2018)
• Abstract Reviewer for British Educational Research Association Conference (February 2018 – present)
• Abstract Reviewer for European Conference on Educational Research (February 2017 – present)

External Examiner Positions

• Endorsement Moderator for Education programmes of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (May 2022 – present)
• External Advisor for the BA (Hons) Sport Coaching and Development Course Approval at the University of Bedfordshire (April 2022 – May 2022)
• External Examiner for the BA (Hons) Physical Education and MA Physical Education, Sport and Physical Literacy at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (October 2021 – present)
• External Moderator for the Access to Higher Education Diploma for Skills and Education Group (October 2021 – present)
• External Advisor for the MA in Education (Leading Sport in Schools) Course Approval at the University of Buckingham (March 2021)

Membership of Professional Associations

• Association for Physical Education (afPE)
• UK Coaching (UKC)
• British Educational Research Association (BERA)
• Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
• Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER)
• International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP)
• Institute of Swimming (IOS)
• Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• Society for Education and Training (SET)

Journal papers

• Gray, S., Hooper, O., Hardley, S., Sandford, R., Aldous, D., Stirrup, J., Carse, N. & Bryant, A. (forthcoming) A health(y) subject? Examining discourses of health in physical education curricula across the UK.
• Gray, S., Sandford, R., Stirrup, J., Aldous, D., Hardley, S., Carse, N., Hooper, O. & Bryant, A. (2021) A comparative analysis of discourses shaping physical education provision within and across the UK. European Physical Education Review. DOI: 10.1177/1356336X211059440 [OPEN ACCESS]
• Quarmby, T. Sandford, R., Green, R., Hooper, O. & Avery, J.  (2021) Developing evidence-informed principles for trauma-aware pedagogies in physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. DOI: 10.1080/17408989.2021.1891214 [OPEN ACCESS]
• Sandford, R., Quarmby, T., Hooper, O. & Duncombe, R. (2021) Navigating complex social landscapes: Examining care-experienced young people’s engagements with sport and physical activity, Sport, Education and Society, 26 (1): 15-28, DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2019.1699523
•  Quarmby, T., Sandford, R., Hooper, O. & Duncombe, R. (2021) Narratives and marginalised voices: Storifying the sport and physical activity experiences of care-experienced youth, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, DOI: 10.1080/2159676X.2020.1725099
• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Hooper, O.  (2020) The promoting active lifestyles (PAL) project: A principle-based approach to pedagogical change. Curriculum Journal, DOI: 10.1002/curj.99
  
• Harris, J., Cale, L., & Hooper, O. (2020) Prompting pedagogical change through promoting active lifestyles paradoxes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, 17, 7965. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217965  [OPEN ACCESS]
•  Cale. L., Harris, J. & Hooper, O. (2020) Get(ting) to the Start Line: Evaluating an innovative physical activity intervention to address adolescents’ school-related stress and anxiety. European Physical Education Review, 26(3), pp. 642-663, DOI: 10.1177/1356336X20902487  [OPEN ACCESS]

Books and book chapters

• Quarmby, T., Sandford, R. & Hooper, O. (forthcoming) Coaching care-experienced children and young people in sport. In M. Toms & R. Jeanes (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport (pp. TBC). London: Routledge.
• Stirrup, J. & Hooper, O. (2021) Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health. London: Routledge. ISBN: 9780367423667.
• Hooper, O., Harris, J. & Cale, L. (2021) Young people’s conceptions of health within secondary physical education. In J. Stirrup & O. Hooper (Eds.), Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health(pp. 88-102). London: Routledge.
• MacIsaac, S. & Hooper, O. (2021) Young people’s health-related engagements with digital spaces. In J. Stirrup & O. Hooper (Eds.), Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health(pp. 138-150). London: Routledge.
• Sperka, L., Stirrup, J. & Hooper, O. (2021) Proposals for engaging students in outsourced health and physical education. In J. Stirrup & O. Hooper (Eds.), Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health(pp. 210-220). London: Routledge.
• Hooper, O., Sandford, R. & Jarvis, H. (2020) Thinking and feeling in/through physical education: What place for social and emotional learning? In F. Chambers, D. Aldous and A. Bryant (Eds.), Threshold Concepts in Physical Education: A Design Thinking Approach(pp. 137-148). London: Routledge.
• Quarmby, T., Sandford, R. & Hooper, O. (2020) Care-experienced youth and before- and after-school physical activity. In R. Marttinen, E. Centeio & T. Quarmby (Eds.), Before- and After- School Physical Activity Programs: Frameworks, Critical Issues and Underserved Populations (pp. 118-128). London: Routledge.
• Hooper, O., Sandford, R. & Quarmby, T. (2020) Piling on the pressure? Negotiating burden/benefit dynamics with participants during times of crisis. In H. Kara & S. Khoo (Eds.), Researching in the Age of COVID-19 - Volume II: Care and Resilience, pp. 92-100. Bristol: Policy Press.
• Cale, L., Harris, J. & Hooper, O. (2020) Debating Health Knowledge and Health Pedagogies in Physical Education. In S. Capel & R. Blair (Eds.), Debates in Physical Education, 2^nd Edition (pp. 256-277). London: Routledge.