UCC investigates why people are inactive
Pictured L-R: Dr Fiona Chambers (UCC), Seán Kelly MEP, Sharon Haughey (Mayor Of Armagh), Deirdre Brennan (University of Ulster)
Pictured L-R: Dr Fiona Chambers (UCC), Seán Kelly MEP, Sharon Haughey (Mayor Of Armagh), Deirdre Brennan (University of Ulster)
This new body, which was launched by Seán Kelly MEP in Armagh yesterday, will bring together researchers from University College Cork (UCC), University of Ulster, University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Cork Institute of Technology, Waterford Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Tralee, National Governing Bodies, athletes, young people, policy makers and practitioners to devise a research strategy that will help improve teaching/coaching and learning in sport and physical activity.
Research shows that being active in sport or physical activity has positive effects on our health, both physical and mental. There is also much evidence to suggest that large numbers of the Europe’s adult population have low levels of physical activity (e.g. WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE, 2010)). What is not known, however, is why some individuals remain engaged in sport and physical activity throughout their life while others in similar personal, social and economic circumstances do not.
Although this question has been investigated within disciplines such as psychology (exercise adherence), physiology (physical activity guidelines) and sociology (impact of poverty and exclusion) the way in which sport and physical activity is taught has not been researched in depth. Dr Fiona Chambers, UCC and Professor Deirdre Brennan, University of Ulster have joined forces to convene an All Island Sport and Physical Activity Pedagogy Partnership (AI-SPAPP) to address this issue.
A unique feature of the Partnership is the involvement of the different groups whose opinions and experience will shape the Partnership’s research agenda. This research hopes to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching/coaching and learning in sport and physical activity so that citizens will remain physically active throughout their lives. According to Dr Chambers, Director of Sports Studies and Physical Education at UCC: “We believe that if we find the most effective way of teaching sport and physical activity that we can help the general public remain active and healthy throughout their lives. Identifying the characteristics of such teaching methods i.e. what works in keeping people involved in sport, physical activity and exercise through the life course, is crucial. The outcomes of the research partnership will have a profound impact on the ways in which teachers, coaches and instructors are trained to deliver and support learning in sport and physical activity.”
Professor Brennan from the University of Ulster adds: “We believe that taking a collaborative approach to investigate why people are inactive will help us to reverse the trend. Clearly there is more than one reason and therefore there has to be more than one solution to breaking the cycle of physical inactivity. The research findings of the All Island Partnership will inform policy makers and practitioners on the ground.”
Former GAA President Seán Kelly, MEP, opened the inaugural meeting of the Partnership which was held in the North-South Ministerial Council building in Armagh. Mr Kelly said initiatives such as AI-SPAPP were important if we wished to maximize our physical, human and intellectual resources for the benefit of the public. “We need to have our brightest minds informing policy, impacting practice and preparing preventive strategies to offset the challenges of a post-modern world that has, perhaps unwittingly, engineered physical inactivity.”