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  • Dr Valeria Varea

    Dr Valeria Varea

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Dr Valeria Varea

Senior Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Email: v.varea@ecu.edu.au
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3572-4976

Valeria is a Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education at the School of Education.

Current Teaching

  • FMS4020 – Fundamental Movement Skills and Sport Education
  • HPE2260 – Health and Physical Education for Young Children
  • HPE6104 – Teaching Health and Physical Education
  • PHE4304 & PHE6304 – Advanced Studies of Teaching Physical Education

Background

Valeria is an experienced teacher educator and researcher. She has worked across different countries including Sweden, Argentina and Australia. Valeria’s research focusses on sociocultural perspectives of the body, health, physical activity and sport. She uses qualitative methods to explore and critique people’s engagement in physical activity and their perceptions of the body.

Professional Associations

2017 – 2018 Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, HERDSA (member)
2013 – Present International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education, AIESEP (member)
2013 – 2015 The Australian Sociological Association, TASA (member)
2010 – Present Australian Association for Research in Education, AARE (member)
2009 – 2010 Professional Association of Physical Education Teachers, APEF (board member)

Awards and recognition

2017 – Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Education, University of Valladolid, Spain
2015 – Accomplished Researcher Award, School of Education, University of New England, Australia
2014 – Distinguished Talent (academia and research), Australian Government
2014 – AIESEP Young Scholar Award, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
2014 – Commendation for excellence in teaching, University of New England, Australia
2013 – PhD Scholar Award, The University of Melbourne, Australia
2012 – Graduate School International Travel Award, The University of Queensland, Australia
2012 – Graduate Scholar Award, Cambridge, United Kingdom
2012 – HMS Travel Award, The University of Queensland, Australia
2007 – Government Award, Cordoba, Argentina
2006 – Magazine ‘Punto a Punto’ Distinction - Talents 2006, Cordoba, Argentina
2005 – Government Award, Cordoba, Argentina
2005 – Distinction and Medal, University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina

Research Interests

  • Sociocultural perspectives in Health and Physical Education, sport and physical activity
  • The body
  • Qualitative methods
  • Equity and inclusion in Health and Physical Education, sport and physical activity

Research Projects

  • Data completion problem for motion capture systems, Carl Tryggers Foundation for Scientific Research, Postdoc scholarship, 2023-2025, SEK 600,000
  • Shame on you too! Exploring skinny-shaming in masculinity-connoted sports, Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, Social sciences, 2022-2023, SEK 392,680
  • Educational clash or educational potential? School aged asylum seekers’ encounters with Swedish health education, Swedish Research Council, Educational call, 2021-2023, SEK 4,356,000
  • Shame on you! Exploring fat-shaming in coaching practice, Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, Social sciences, 2021-2022, SEK 266,000
  • Corporeal Tales: Including the embodied dimension of teaching through embodied experiences, University of Valladolid, Spain, Teaching innovation, 2021-2022, EUR 200
  • Dare to speak! English teaching in non-linguistic subjects in Early Childhood and Primary School. A pilot study, University of Valladolid, Spain, Teaching innovation, 2019-2020, EUR 200
  • The influence of consumer culture on Physical Education teachers, University of New England, Australia, SOE Wider pool, 2017, $3,185
  • Focusing on embodiment in the education of pre-service Early Childhood and Primary School teachers, University of Valladolid, Spain, Teaching innovation, 2017-2018, EUR 200
  • Social media, the body and rural communities: Implications for health, University of New England, Australia, School of Education, Internal Research Grant, 2016, $2,500
  • Social media and the body: Implications for health for youth in rural New South Wales communities, University of New England, Australia, School of Education Internal Research Grant, 2015, $500
  • Representations of the training and professional practice of Physical Education teachers, University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina, Department of Science and Technology, 2006-2007, ARS 12,000

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, 2014.
  • Master of Physical Education, Argentina, 2012.
  • Bachelor of Health and Physical Education (Honours), Argentina, 2008.
  • Bachelor of Education (Physical Education), Argentina, 2006.

Research Outputs

2024

Journal Articles

  • Barker-Ruchti, N., Varea, V. (2024). Surviving child sexual abuse in women's artistic gymnastics: ‘It's beautiful, because had I stayed in the past, I wouldn’t have evolved as a person’. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 59(5), 619-802. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902231218180.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V. (2024). Lesbian, anorexic, disabled, and big: other ways of being a female physical education teacher. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 30(5), 601-616. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2277380.
  • Fjellner, R., Varea, V., Barker, D. (2024). How physical education teachers are positioned in models scholarship: a scoping review. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 29(4), 329-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2022.2083098.
  • Varea, V., Primus, RS., Barker-Ruchti, N., Quennerstedt, M. (2024). The anatomy of body shaming in sports coaching. Sport in Society, 2024(Article in press), 18 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2024.2380452.
  • Varea, V., Caldeborg, A., Barker, D., Quennerstedt, M. (2024). Health education in Swedish schools – what’s on offer?. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2024(Article in press), 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2024.2360905.

2023

Book Chapters

  • Piedra, J., Varea, V. (2023). Sexual diversity and sport in Ibero-America and the Caribbean: review. Mujer, Educación Física y Deporte en Iberoamérica [Women, Physical Education and Sport in IberoAmerica] Armenia, Quindío: Kinesis. (129-156). Kinesis.

Journal Articles

  • Piedra, J., Varea, V. (2023). ‘Operación Feria’: A critical analysis of body discourses on Instagram. Sport in Society, 26(12), 1999-2014. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2023.2228712.
  • Varea, V., Riccetti, A., González-Calvo, G., Siracusa, M., García-Monge, A. (2023). Physical Education and COVID-19: What have we learned?. Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education, 2023(Article in press), 18 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742981.2023.2241443.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V., García-Monge, A. (2023). Children’s Experiences of Lockdown and Social Distancing in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of Family Issues, 44(9), 2422-2445. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X221094038.
  • Barker, D., Varea, V., Bergentoft, H., Schubring, A. (2023). Body image in physical education: a narrative review. Sport, Education and Society, 28(7), 824-841. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2022.2076665.
  • Varea, V., Öhman, M. (2023). ‘Break the rules or quit the job’: physical education teachers’ experiences of physical contact in their teaching practice. Sport, Education and Society, 28(4), 395-406. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2022.2036119.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V., Sierra-Nieto, JE. (2023). Exploring educational interactions in a pandemic situation through comics: an approach to the Spanish context. Education 3-13: the professional journal for primary education, 2023(Article in press), 20 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2023.2179891.

2022

Journal Articles

  • Varea, V., González-Calvo, G., García-Monge, A. (2022). Exploring the changes of physical education in the age of Covid-19. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 27(1), 32-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2020.1861233.
  • Kamoga, S., Varea, V. (2022). ‘Let them do PE!’ The ‘becoming’ of Swedish physical education in the age of COVID-19. European Physical Education Review, 28(1), 263-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X211036574.
  • Goodyear, V., Andersson, J., Quennerstedt, M., Varea, V. (2022). #Skinny girls: young girls’ learning processes and health-related social media. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 14(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2021.1888152.
  • Scharagrodsky, P., Moreno, A., Varea, V. (2022). Circulación, transmisión y apropiación de prácticas corporales: La gimnasia sueca y su traducción en la Argentina y Brasil a principios del siglo XX. The Journal of the Latin American Socio-cultural Studies of Sport, 14(2), 44-66. https://doi.org/10.5380/jlasss.v14i2.87576.

2021

Journal Articles

2020

Journal Articles

  • Galak, E., Varea, V. (2020). Conceptualizations of the body as a subject and object of study in South American and anglo-saxon physical education [Discussions sur le corps et l'éducation physique dans les pays d'Amérique du Sudet anglo-saxons]. Staps, 130(4), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.3917/sta.130.0097.
  • Varea, V., González-Calvo, G. (2020). Touchless classes and absent bodies: teaching physical education in times of Covid-19. Sport, Education and Society, 2022(2020), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1791814.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V., Martínez-Álvarez, L. (2020). ‘I feel, therefore I am’: unpacking preservice physical education teachers’ emotions. Sport, Education and Society, 25(5), 543-555. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2019.1620202.

2019

Journal Articles

  • Varea, V. (2019). Embodying latinness in Australia through dance. Revista Tempos e Espaços em Educação, 12(31), 81-96. https://doi.org/10.20952/revtee.v12i31.12083.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V. (2019). A turning point as an opportunity to (Re)think and give a voice to one’s own body. Societies, 9(3), article number 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc9030060.
  • Varea, V., González-Calvo, G., Alcalá, D. (2019). The influence of consumerism on Spanish physical education teachers. European Physical Education Review, 25(4), 949-963. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X18789196.
  • González-Calvo, G., Varea, V., Martínez-Álvarez, L. (2019). Health and body tensions and expectations for pre-service physical education teachers in Spain. Sport, Education and Society, 24(2), 158-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2017.1331426.
  • Pang, B., Varea, V., Cavallin, S., Cupac, A. (2019). Experiencing risk, surveillance, and prosumption: health and physical education students’ perceptions of digitised health and physical activity data. Sport, Education and Society, 24(8), 801-813. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1491835.
  • Varea, V. (2019). On being a non-white academic in physical education and sport pedagogy. Sport, Education and Society, 24(4), 325-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2017.1385451.

2018

Journal Articles

  • Varea, V. (2018). Exploring play in school recess and physical education classes. European Physical Education Review, 24(2), 194-208. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X16679932.
  • Varea, V., González-Calvo, G., Martínez-álvarez, L. (2018). Exploring touch in physical education practicum in a touchy latin culture. Societies, 8(3), article number 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8030054.
  • Varea, V. (2018). Mixed messages: pre-service Health and Physical Education teachers’ understandings of health and the body and the expectations of the Australian curriculum. Sport, Education and Society, 23(3), 244-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2016.1179182.
  • Varea, V., Pang, B. (2018). Using visual methodologies to understand pre-service Health and Physical Education teachers’ subjectivities of bodies. Sport, Education and Society, 23(5), 394-406. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2016.1228625.
  • Ndhlovu, S., Varea, V. (2018). Primary school playgrounds as spaces of inclusion/exclusion in New South Wales, Australia. Education 3-13: the professional journal for primary education, 46(5), 494-505. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2016.1273251.

2017

Book Chapters

  • Varea, V. (2017). Cuerpos, feminidades y masculinidades en el deporte. Un abordaje sociocultural. Pan, queso y ojotas. Estudios alternativos sobre el deporte (377-390). Sociedad Latina de Comunicación Social.

Journal Articles

2016

Journal Articles

  • Varea, V. (2016). Percepciones sobre la grasa corporal en estudiantes de postgrado de Educacion Fisica. Agora for Physical Education and Sport, 18(2), 117-132.
  • Scharagrodsky, P., Varea, V. (2016). Tracking the Origins of Physical Education in Argentina and Australia. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 33(8), 777-796. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2016.1218331.
  • Varea, V., Tinning, R. (2016). Coming to know about the body in Human Movement Studies programmes. Sport, Education and Society, 21(7), 1003-1017. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2014.979144.
  • Varea, V., Underwood, M. (2016). ‘You are just an idiot for not doing any physical activity right now’: Pre-service Health and Physical Education teachers’ constructions of fatness. European Physical Education Review, 22(4), 465-478. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X15617446.
  • Pang, B., Alfrey, L., Varea, V. (2016). Young Chinese Australians' subjectivities of ‘health’ and ‘(un)healthy bodies’. Sport, Education and Society, 21(7), 1091-1108. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2014.993959.
  • Haynes, J., Miller, J., Varea, V. (2016). Preservice generalist teachers enlightened approach to teaching physical education through teacher biography. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3), 21-38. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n3.2.

Research Projects

  • More sport, Their way! Promoting women's informal sport participation in WA, Healthway (WA Health Promotion Foundation), Health Promotion Research - Exploratory Research Grants, 2024 ‑ 2025, $88,154.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

No data available

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Cultural Relevance when teaching Health and Physical Education: Challenges and implications for Teacher Education
  • Primary school games and play as inclusive/exclusive situations

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Exploring and developing understanding of the Movement-Oriented Practising Model in physical education: A scoping study and an action research intervention
  • The impact of physical activity on students with learning difficulties: A Fundamental Movement Skills approach
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