Associate Professor | @MonashUni | #PhysEd | #HPE | Sport | Speaker | Physical Activity | PhD supervisor | https://xitter.cf/t.co/f6mQXITLul…
Bunnerong lands - Monash Uni
Joined October 2010
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Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
That's a wrap on 2025 in the Faculty of Education!
Congratulations to all of our researchers, staff, students, alumni and partners on an outstanding year.
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
Monash Education is honoured to be recognised as Australia’s leading institution for research in Education, Special Education, and Teaching & Teacher Education.
Released in The Australian, the Research Magazine's 2026 rankings position Monash as the top research institution in 51 fields.
Congratulations to our academic and research staff whose outstanding contributions have made this achievement possible.
Most teens and adults play their sport outside of organised competition. Flexible, social, negotiated.
What might SPORT EDUCATION model look like if it mirrored that reality?
An Informal Sport Education - Free to read here
doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2025-00…
Informal Sport Contributes to Health Outcomes:
At an average of 0.681 MET-hours gained per day per person, the informal sport we observed was comparable to formal sport PA and a range of other physical activity interventions.
doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae0…
What is informal sport?
We define it as negotiated, shaped by time, space, relationships, and meaning. A must-read for sport policy, PE, and #CommunitySport.
📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1177/019372352513…
@ACHPERinc @Sport_England @ICSSPE @aiesep @ISCPES @WHO
The further you are from decisions about the game the more likely you are playing formal sport. In PE this can mean skills and tactics become a priority. In sport, it can mean being locked into a format that lacks flexibility. Read here👇#https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235251321855
What is informal sport and why should we care? This paper unpacks what 'informal sport' is with implications for understanding and supporting key decisions participants want to make in their sporting experience. It's online and it is free. Check it out: lnkd.in/gqwbx2BQ
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
Informal sport is getting popular. But what does ‘informal’ mean? Here’s our attempt to explore this question:
Reconceptualising informality in sport participation: Towards understanding (in)formalisation of sport governance
@justenoconnor @RuthJeanes
journals.sagepub.com/doi/ful…
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
🔔NEW at Health Promotion International
"The article demonstrates the physical, social and mental health benefits that can occur from informal sport participation."
Read: doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae0… @RuthJeanes @justenoconnor @profdpenney @Ramon_Spaaij @Eibhlish @Lisa_equity
When the goal of sporting competition is overtly focused comparison & rankings based on ability, it sends clear cues that this context is becoming increasingly socially unstable. Drop-out is the manifestation of an embodied response to being pushed closer to the edge of belonging
Consider the causes for formal sport drop-out (perceived competence, game time...) & the rate at which young people drop out of sport. We quickly go from near the center of the social sporting group to its edges. From there we see less complicated spaces for social connection.
Within AUS, excluding childhood and part way through the teens, few people play in formal club-based sport competition (<10%).
📄 If you would like to read the paper by @justenoconnor & @profdpenney I mentioned in the essay, it is available online.
🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
Presenting @informal_sport findings today at #Nysc2023 with @ @RuthJeanes. Sport should embrace informality. It contributes important social and economic benefits.
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
Our latest Informal Sport project report has been published focusing on benefits and impact of informal sport on communities monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf…
Takeaways
- Informal sport can contribute to a $3.24 million annual health savings….
if I were creating a sporting organisation, rather than start with formal competition, fixed teams, schedules and filtering people out, I would build it around informality and only introduce formal competition if and when people really wanted it. The exception not the norm.
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
Professor Positions Aplenty!
Here are three fun & unrelated facts:
👉#1 Faculty of Education in Australia
👉Our VC @GardmarM appointed Governor of Victoria
👉Located near Chadstone, the largest shopping centre in Australia
monash.edu/education-work-wi…
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
G3 “On Wheels Mini Unit” Today we tried to move in different spaces at school. A few Ss were riding bikes under the shade by the field area. Different entry points depending on the equipment 🛹 🛴 🛼 🚴🏻♀️🚴🏻♂️ #PhysEd #Wheels Love to see Ss teaching each other @ISPPCambodia
Dr Justen O'Connor (follow on Bluesky) retweeted
281: @LauraAlfrey joins me to discuss transforming traditional fitness testing in health and physical education: student voice, feelings and hopes. We talk about the perspective of secondary students toward fitness testing practices. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…