UofM Faculty Member Receives Multiple Awards

Brunsdon, College of Health Sciences, sees recent successes in field of study

Dr. Jamie Jacob Brunsdon, assistant professor of Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Memphis, is broadly interested in studying (a) teacher/faculty socialization (i.e., the study of how teachers and teacher educators’ backgrounds and professional experiences impact their pedagogies as school teachers and university professors) and human flourishing in the context of movement education settings (i.e., the study of how movement practitioners promote the education for the pursuit of a “good life” through the medium of play, physical activity, and sport pedagogies). Brunsdon recently received funding for two projects and one award for his research. These awards/recognitions include:

• The Spectrum Institute for Teaching and Learning (SITL), Brunsdon will serve as co-PI with Dr. Christopher Mellor (PI) from Adelphi University, awarded for the project “Investigating the Role and Use of The Spectrum in Modern Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) Programs”. The purpose of this project was to explore how teacher and coach educators from across the globe came to understand Spectrum Theory (i.e., a conceptual pedagogical framework intended to describe and unpack the act of teaching and learning) and subsequently how they use The Spectrum to prepare pre-service teachers to become effective educators. Put another way, he and Dr. Mellor sought to investigate how university educators prepare future teachers and coaches to be effective practitioners in schools, as well as identify how their own personal and professional backgrounds had impacted the ways in which they teach and use a variety of teaching styles at the university level. Altogether, this research is sociological in nature and aspired to support the development of a general consensus statement about how a foundational pedagogical framework (i.e., The Spectrum) in the field is understood and being taught within university education settings across the globe. In this way, this research contributed toward a broader understanding of how and why university professors teach/coach in the ways they do as well as illuminate the kinds of pedagogies they employed in the hope of advancing pre-service teacher/coach effectiveness.

• From the Character and Leadership Program at Wake Forest University as supported by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., Brunsdon will serve as the PI for the project, “Ascend Health Sciences”. The College of Health Sciences at the University of Memphis recently launched a new strategic plan meant to guide its role and agency in the professoriate and community between the years 2023-2028 called, Ascend. The goal of this project, therefore, is to support a yearlong, participatory action research-like project that assists the college’s ability to meaningfully embody this ethos, and to promote the intentional teaching of seven professional character traits to undergraduate students (esp. the virtues of respect, integrity, innovation, excellence, communication, collaboration, and accountability). To achieve this goal, this project has five distinct components. Components one through three will be concerned with providing meaningful professional development for the principal investigator, health science faculty more broadly (through regular college meetings), and then a small group of faculty and staff (through tailored training) that are interested in learning more about Ascend and character education. Thereafter, component four will be concerned with conducting two in-depth research studies with health science students and faculty meant to promote the college’s moral and professional agency through its teaching, research, and service activities. Lastly, component five will be concerned with launching a character and leadership-based event at called, Ascend Health Sciences Day, which provides an opportunity for the college come together to celebrate and learn about Ascend. The intended impact and outcomes associated with this project will include enhancing faculty and staff members’ enthusiasm for and ability to cultivate character traits through health science programming, creating a faculty and student-based community of practice dedicated to promoting Ascend within the health sciences, starting an annual event (Ascend Health Sciences Day) whereby health science faculty are excited to come together to learn about Ascend and to share knowledge about character and leadership development, and to raise awareness about the importance of character education across all kinesiological disciplines and why this ought to become a professional aspiration, purpose, and goal.

• The Early Career Scholar Award from the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP). The intent of the award is to recognise early career scholars within the field who have made an outstanding contribution to the field and demonstrate scholarly promise. AIESEP is among the most prestigious international institutions within the field of physical education and sport pedagogy, with the early career award also being considered as one of most prestigious accolades available to upcoming scholars. Alongside four other early career award recipients, and two other Developing Country Scholar awardees, Brunsdon was required to present a 12-minute early career “Keynote” presentation. The title of his presentation was “Human Flourishing as the Aim of Physical Education?” Brunsdon was officially notified he had received the award in May 2023, and formally accepted this award at the AIESEP Conference at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in May 2024.

For more information on these projects or award, contact Brunsdon at jbrnsdon@memphis.edu.