PE Insights Podcast Episode 75 - David Redfern - Why Physical Education should be enlightening
In this episode, Senior Lecturer David Redfern (Birmingham City University) joins us to explore what truly shapes positive experiences in Physical Education. From a childhood immersed in PE culture to leading subject mentoring for hundreds of trainee teachers, David shares a career defined by passion, purpose, and connection.
We unpack the “trauma trend” in PE, why early experiences matter, and how teachers can consciously break cycles of fear, judgement, and fixed mindset. David dives into social constructivism, experiential learning, growth mindset, and the role of teachers as “actors” who model positivity and possibility for every learner.
Listeners will hear practical, classroom-ready strategies including:
• Breaking skills into manageable, achievable steps
• Modelling and peer-modelling approaches
• Visual scaffolding that supports EAL learners
• How to develop genuine physical literacy beyond FMS
• Ways to nurture confidence, curiosity, and movement beyond the gym
David also shares innovative ideas – like sending home PE activity bags to shift parental perceptions and deepen movement habits outside school.
We finish with quickfire insights: what PE must stop doing, what it must protect, and why David believes teachers should think less like coaches and more like facilitators of learning.
If you care about meaningful PE, physical literacy, mentoring, or transforming learners’ experiences, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
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