DrCameron Van der Smee

Cameron Van der Smee is an internationally recognised researcher in health and physical education. His primary area of research focuses on physical activity engagement in primary education and the long-term effects for physical education, play and physical activity engagement. This work examines how primary children develop their relationship with physical activity and proposes solutions to address the significant drop-out rate in physical activity and PE that occurs in adolescence. In developing this work, Cameron has developed an international reputation as a leading expert in primary physical education.

Beyond this, Cameron also engages in research in broader education. He has engaged in work designed to improve pedagogical approaches to teaching health and physical education, including student voice, the co-development of assessment rubrics, and improving the delivery of affective assessment. He continues to find ways to innovate in his teaching and translate this internationally through scholarly work. He has also emphasizes examining his own practice through reflective projects focused on his positionality and practice in higher education and research.

Ultimately, his research aims to improve student learning in primary, secondary and tertiary health and physical education contexts. He also works to ensure that physical activity spaces can be inclusive learning spaces for all.

Cameron is currently leading several projects in these areas:

• Examining the physical activity engagement of Year 3 – 6 students.
• Exploring the challenges of conducting research in schools with children.
• Returning to a school: the challenges of conducting a second ethnographic project.
• Developing the inclusive primary school playground of the future.
• Examining what we can learn from the playground to make the PE space more inclusive.