I am a lecturer and student mentor with a strong background in sports coaching and higher education pedagogic practice. I work with curriculum development as an educational innovator as part of the Staffordshire Centre of Learning and Pedagogic Practice (SCoLPP).
The SCoLPP aim intends to promote a culture in which evidencing effective learning and teaching is supported as valued activity to display and disseminate evidence of impact concerning best practice. My main drive is to create effective evidence-informed pedagogic practice which connects a continuum of learning to enhanced student success, widening participation, and social mobility.
My background is in sport and education, in particular rugby union (level 3 coach practitioner). I have worked as both head coach and assistant coach to women and men’s rugby for the Welsh rugby union (age grade), Dragons DPP, RGC DPP, England rugby, Leicester Tigers DPP, Shropshire rugby union, North Midlands rugby union, and Staffordshire rugby union.
Professional memberships and activities
- Professional Member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES)
- Member The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA)
- Member Youth Sports Trust
- Member Association for Physical Education (AfPE)
- Professional Member UK Coaching
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Academic qualifications
- EdD – Developing and enhancing pedagogic practice through advanced mentoring and coaching (present/ongoing), Staffordshire University
- PGCHPE, Staffordshire University
- MSc Sports Coaching, Staffordshire University
- BSc (Hons) Sports Studies, Staffordshire University
Expertise
- Sports Coaching
- Technology Enhanced Learning
- Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
- Talent Development
- Advanced Mentoring and Coaching
- Service Learning, Widening Access, and Social Mobility
Research interests
- Women in sports coaching
- Technology enhanced learning
- Coaching populous groups
- Coaching and teaching pedagogy
- Advanced mentoring and coaching in higher education
- Student success, widening participation, and social mobility
- Teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education
Enterprise and commercial interests
I have worked extensively on delivering bespoke CPD workshops in schools and colleges, consultancy coaching clinics, and coach education and tutoring high performance talent pathway athletes and aspiring young sports coaches generating income through student recruitment for the school of Health, Science, and Wellbeing.
I lead the Junior Talented Athlete Scheme and Sports Coaching Academy that supports students at level 3 to level 7 with interpersonal athletic and academic development.
I have extensive experience of working in partnership with UK national governing bodies of sport (NGB’s) and alternative educational providers.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- Academic and employability skills in sport and exercise
- Children in sport and physical education
- Coaching and teaching in sport
- Coaching and teaching invasion games
- Coaching analysis and skill acquisition
- Contemporary issues in sports coaching
- Developing research skills in sport and exercise
- Personal and professional development in sport and exercise
- Placement: coaching and performance
- Research and graduate employability in sport and exercise
- UK sport and development
Postgraduate
- PE PGCE primary
- PE PGCE secondary
- MSc Sports Coaching
Publications
Barrett, G. M., Sherwin, I., & Blackett, A. D. (2021). Women Rugby Union Coaches’ Experiences of Formal Coach Education in Ireland and the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 1, 1-9.
Barrett, G. M. (2021). Coaching Populous Groups. In Foundations of Sports Coaching (pp. 29-54). Routledge.