Dr Malcolm Thorburn
Honorary Fellow
- Moray House School of Education and Sport, ISPEHS
- University of Edinburgh
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 651 6655
- Email: malcolm.thorburn@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Moray House School of Education and Sport, SL
- City
- University of Edinburgh (Holyrood Campus)
- Post code
- EH8 8AQ
Background
After teaching extensively in secondary schools and occupying a number of curriculum development roles at local authority and national level, my Ph.D research focus was on the conceptual, pedagogical and assessment issues associated with examination awards in physical education. Part of the research involved analysing the coherence of the rationales advanced for examination awards as these were often based on a rather untested series of assumptions. This research triggered a wider interest in philosophical ideas in education and the extent to which coherent ideas and values underpin policy aspirations and pedagogical advice.
My current research is on reviewing experiential learning opportunities in outdoor learning and the nature of the integration between physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing in physical education and education in general. Additionally, I have a research interest on the lives and careers of veteran teachers in terms of understanding better the factors influencing their resilience and commitment, and their views on professional development more widely.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss associated research ideas with students considering Ph.D awards and with colleagues interested in shared writing projects.
Qualifications
BEd (Hons) Physical Education (Jordanhill College; Scottish School of Physical Education)
- MEd Education (Aberdeen University)
- PhD Physical Education (University of Edinburgh)
Responsibilities & affiliations
I have peer reviewed papers for the following journals (among others).
British Educational Research Journal
Cambridge Journal of Education
Curriculum Journal
Educational Review
Environmental Education Research
European Physical Education Review
International Journal of Inclusive Education
Irish Educational Studies
Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning
Journal of Curriculum Studies
Journal of Education Policy
Journal of Pedagogy
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy
Research Papers in Education
Scottish Educational Review
Sport, Education and Society
Undergraduate teaching
MA Physical Education
- Research Methods
- Research Dissertations
- Curriculum and Pedagogy
Postgraduate teaching
MEd Educational Research
- Research Methods
Areas of interest for supervision
I welcome the opportunity to discuss associated research ideas with students considering Ph.D awards.
Current PhD students supervised
- Kotryna Grinkeviciutes- The effect of formal leadership on board on developing interpersonal skills among trainees during sail training
Research summary
- conceptions of well-being and their implications for education
- values in education
- knowledge representation in practical learning environments
- the aims and intentions of physical education in schools
- outdoor learning in schools
- the careers of veteran teachers
- curriculum change in physical education and health and wellbeing
- John Dewey, reconstructing John Dewey
-
Can physical education be meaningful: The role of embodied subjectivity in enhancing self and social learning?
(15 pages)
In:
Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, vol. 12, pp. 53-66
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/25742981.2020.1844028
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Potentialities in health and physical education: Professional boundaries and change agendas
In:
The Curriculum Journal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.96
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Emphasizing an embodied phenomenological sense of the self and the social in education
(24 pages)
In:
British Journal of Educational Studies, pp. 1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2020.1796923
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A critical review of the Daily Mile programme as a contributor to lifelong physical activity
(9 pages)
In:
International Journal of Lifelong Education
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2020.1765890
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Privatisation reforms and health work in schools: The end of the beginning
(11 pages)
In:
Discourse
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1722431
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Literature review (E-pub ahead of print) -
Embodied experiences: Critical insights from Dewey for contemporary education
(11 pages)
In:
Educational Research, pp. 1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2019.1711437
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Understanding experience better in educational contexts: The phenomenology of embodied subjectivity.
(12 pages)
In:
Cambridge Journal of Education, pp. 1-12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2019.1632798
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Creating thriving and sustainable futures in physical education, health and sport
(8 pages)
In:
Sport, Education and Society, vol. 24, pp. 550-557
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2019.1610375
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (Published) -
Sisyphus, crisis discourse, and the theory-practice gap in physical education: A polemic
(12 pages)
In:
Sport, Education and Society, pp. 1-12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2019.1614553
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
‘When an old cricketer leaves the crease’: Bittersweet reflections on examination awards in physical education
(11 pages)
In:
Sport, Education and Society, vol. 24, pp. 1-11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2017.1401533
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)