天美传媒

Scholars and educators gathered to discuss teaching methods and problem-solving from June 28 through July 1 at the 2017 Conference, hosted by the 天美传媒 . It was the first international conference held at Adelphi’s and its biggest success came from the youngest attendees: high school students.

The TPSR Alliance is a group that seeks to 鈥渁pply sport and physical activity to youth development in schools and after-school and summer programs through workshops, clinics, publications and other means.鈥� The method was conceived of by Don Hellison, a professor in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who has been a visiting faculty member at Adelphi in the past. Hellison, who also authored such books as , was in attendance for this summer鈥檚 conference.

鈥淭his year I made an effort to focus on secondary age students,鈥� said Sarah Doolittle, Ed.D., ESHSPESM professor, who organized the 2017 event. 鈥淲e focused on the approach for students between the ages of 11 听and 18.鈥�

This was reflected by the attendance of several groups of high school students who came to the event. Educators Angela Beale, Ph.D., and Jeanine De Marzo, both former School of Education faculty, included their students in the keynote addresses they delivered, and the reaction was better than expected.

Dozens of anonymous evaluation responses collected at the end of the conference called the inclusion of student voices 鈥渇antastic鈥� and an 鈥渆xcellent鈥� idea. One attendee wrote that 鈥渉earing the voices of current students and alumni of TPSR/Youth programs is to me the most important thing we can do.鈥�

鈥淚 think sometimes we like to pat ourselves on the back about how great our programs are,鈥� Dr. Doolittle said. 鈥淏ut when we hear from students about the things that make a difference to them, sometimes it鈥檚 different from what we expect.鈥�

Professor Meredith Whitley, Ph.D., assistant professor and the coordinator at the School of Education, called the Conference a 鈥渉uge success,鈥� and said that 鈥渆ach day was filled with stimulating discussions.鈥� She also said that the inclusion of young participants was 鈥渢he highlight of the conference.鈥�

The Manhattan Center was the natural choice for the conference location, according to Dr. Doolittle. 鈥淎delphi has a tradition of using this approach; we鈥檝e been in the business of TPSR for longer than any other university, and that鈥檚 something to be proud of,鈥� she said.

The attendees included speakers, scholars and practitioners from around the world, she noted. In total, 55 people traveled from across the United States as well as Spain, Finland, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Canada for the conference.

Sheldon Sucre 鈥�12, M.A. 鈥�15, was also a participant. “Attending this conference allowed me to focus on what I would like to center my doctoral dissertation around,鈥� he said.

When asked if Adelphi intends to continue working with the TPSR Alliance, Dr. Doolittle confirmed that she is already planning for upcoming events. 鈥淎delphi will be hosting an international conference on physical education and sports pedagogy in 2019, and TPSR will be a special theme of that conference,鈥� she said. There will also be a special training course on TPSR and a symposium on TPSR research in June of 2019, she added.

That’s the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education , scheduled for the Garden City campus in .

鈥淚t鈥檚 really been a pleasure to host this TPSR Alliance conference,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I look forward to showcasing this approach again in 2019.鈥�

听

听

听