Shirley Gray

Dr Shirley Gray (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education (PE), having previously worked as a PE teacher and then as a teaching fellow at the University of Edinburgh. In the past, she has worked on research projects related to social and emotional learning in PE, masculinity in PE and the experiences of girls in PE.

Her current projects include:

• A comparison of PE curriculum and pedagogy across the four nations of the UK,
• An investigation into how health and wellbeing is conceptualised and enacted in schools,
• The development of trauma aware pedagogies in PE,
• Critical digital health in PE – a gender perspective - and,
• Embodiment in PE.

Her recent outputs include:

• Gray, S., Hooper, O. , Hardley, S. , Sandford, R, Aldous, D., Stirrup, J., , Carse, N. and Bryant, A.B. (in press). A health(y) subject? Examining discourses of health in physical education curricula across the UK. British Educational Research Journal.
• Holt, D. Hardley, S., Gray, S. and McQuillan, R. (in press). Facilitating a positive transition: exploring the factors that support Social, Emotional and Mental Wellbeing in P7 and S1. Pastoral Care in Education.
• Lambert, K., Gray, S., O’Connor, J., & Young, L. (under review). How is embodiment in physical education theoretically conceptualised? A concept analysis. Physical Education and Sports Pedagogy.
• Gray, S., Sandford, R., Stirrup, J., Aldous, D., Hardley, S., Carse, N. Hooper, O. and Bryan, A (2022). A comparative analysis of discourses shaping physical education provision within and across the UK. European Physical Education Review.
• Camacho-Miñano, M. J., & Gray, S. (2021). Pedagogies of perfection in the postfeminist digital age: Young women’s negotiations of health and fitness on social media. Journal of Gender Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1937083
• Camacho-Miñanoa, M. J., Gray, S., MacIsaac, S., & Sandford, R. (2021). Young women, health and physical activity: Tensions between the gendered fields of Physical Education and Instagram. Sport, Education and Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2021.1932455
• Roberts, J., Gray, S., & Camacho-Miñano, M. J. (2020). Exploring the PE contexts and experiences of girls who challenge gender norms in a progressive secondary school. Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, 11(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742981.2019.1696688