John Sproule

Professor John Sproule is Personal Chair of Physical Education at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, ISPEHS. John has consulted on international education PE curriculum development & assessment; coach education; and heat acclimation consultant for elite sportspeople. He is an active researcher who continues to teach both practical and theory courses to both undergraduate and postgraduate students and supervise doctoral students. John’s research interests include:

• approaches to games teaching
• motivational climate during Physical Education lessons
• constructivism and coaching expertise
• self-regulation & self-determination in learning & teaching.

John’s recent publications include:

• (2020). Banks, S., Sproule, J., Higgins, P. & Wulf, G. Forward thinking: When a distal external focus makes you faster. Human Movement Science,74, 102708.  
• (2021). Hall, E., Gray, S., Martindale, A., Sproule, J., Kelly, J. & Potrac, P. Doing hybrid management work in elite sport: the case of a head coach in top-level rugby union. Sport Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2021.1880690  
• (In press, 2021). Timmons, W., Sproule, J. & Mulholland, R.  Is the health risk and consequence of Generalised Joint Hypermobility understood within a Classical Ballet narrative? Concerns for dance practitioners. Research In Dance Education.  
• (In Press, 2021). Adams, S., Richards, H., Sproule, J., Hutchison, P.J. & Turner, A.P. A Concussion Education Programme for Motorsport Drivers: A Field-Based Exploratory Pilot Study. Brain Injury.  

John is an experienced doctoral supervisor. Current PhD students supervised include:

• • Heini Lopponen- Effects of yoga and pranayamic breathing on the well-being of school children. 
  • John Widdowson- Transferring life experience in the sporting environment. 
  • Nicholas Lam- Development, validity and reliability of a mental fatigue protocol. 
  • Sadam Altwassi- Examination of the nature of talent development environment within a Jordanian context. In collaboration With Professor Russell Martindale and Dr George Andronikos (both at Napier University). 
  • Mathew Hillyer- Understanding the talent development environment in youth football of an emerging nation (Singapore). 
  • Liron Blajwajs- Mentalization among people with hypermobility. 
  • Vanessa Vidueira- Impact of chronotype on endurance performance in adolescents.