Award Winners

The Teresa Carlson Award is ACHPER QLD’s most prestigious. In 2002, Fellow of ACHPER, Dr Teresa Carlson, was involved in a terrible accident in Turkey which left her with severe intellectual and physical impairments. Terry had been an outstanding academic with a strong teaching and research profile in the education community. She had been totally committed to promoting Physical Education and supporting HPE teachers. Terry had been State President of ACHPER QLD for three years, was actively involved in organising conferences, and held a post editing our state newsletter.

As a mark of respect to her, The Teresa Carlson Award recognises the significant contribution made by an ACHPER member in the promotion of active and/or healthy living to the education community. December’s recipient was Professor Doune MacDonald, the Head of the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland.

Doune is actively involved and prolific in her research into health and physical education pedagogy, and physical activity and health. She is in high demand for conferences and symposiums, and incredibly well respected.

Here’s a snapshot of Doune’s achievements in the past year:
• Identified contemporary issues and future agendas for health and physical education
• Investigated workplace culture in secondary school HPE subject departments in order to enhance our understanding of the process of becoming a (professional) teacher and of the impact of workplace culture on professional learning and teaching.
• Supported the 2009 Active Kids Active Minds (AKAM) project.
• Investigated the impact of rural gender roles on young people’s perceptions of legitimate physical activity options and practices.
• Researched ways of thinking about promoting and researching physical activity among at risk young people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Analysed the policies guiding Eat Well Be Active
• Co-edited the book, ‘Young People, Physical Activity and the Everyday’
• Presented at the 2010 National Curriculum Symposium in order to advocate for HPE as an essential learning area in the Australian Curriculum and entitlement of all students
• Chaired the Queensland Studies Authority Years 1-12 HPE Syllabus Advisory Committee

“Winning the Dr Teresa Carlson Award was certainly an honour for which I thank ACHPER. While at The University of Queensland, Terry was a wonderful colleague. She was passionate about the positive contribution of health and physical education (HPE) to children’s and young people’s lives and therefore felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to educate HPE teachers to be the best they could be.... I cherish this award, thank those who nominated me, and express gratitude to those who tirelessly volunteer for ACHPER, an organisation that Terry held dear”. Doune Macdonald