Rosalie Mitchell

Rosalie Mitchell – The Sir Alexander Gillies Medal Award winner

The Sir Alexander Gillies Medal is the most prestigious award that Physical Education New Zealand presents. It is awarded for distinguished and outstanding service to the profession of Physical Education. The award is not given lightly, and anyone who has nominated a peer will understand this. The recipient of this award has to have mana through sustained, career-long service to Physical Education.

This year, we couldn’t be prouder to award The Sir Alexander Gillies medal to Rosalie Mitchell. Rosalie has provided outstanding service, and effective leadership that merited recognition. Rosalie has made significant contributions to the practical, scholarly and philosophical foundations of contemporary Physical Education in New Zealand. With over 40 years’ experience, Rosalie is recognised as one of the most experienced physical educators in the primary space.

Rosalie’s contributions have been acknowledged through a number of significant national and international distinctions and awards. In 1990 she was a recipient of the New Zealand Commemoration Medal in recognition of services to Education. Furthermore, her enduring contribution to teacher education and specifically physical education, was acknowledged by her international peers, when in 1990 she was awarded a citation from the Federation Internationale D’Education Physique. Rosalie was also recognised for her expertise in curriculum development. In the mid 1980s, as President of Physical Education New Zealand, she was invited to be on the Ministry of Education’s national working party to develop a new Physical Education curriculum that was introduced in 1987.

Much of her scholarly and academic activity was grounded in what we currently refer to as ‘action research’. This included (i) involving teacher trainees assessing their effectiveness via reflective practice, (ii) professional development sessions for teachers interested in creating and assessing the effectiveness of alternative pedagogical practices, and (iii) researching a range of alternative ideas from beyond New Zealand to share and critique with colleagues on regional and national working groups. Another example of a topic to which Rosalie made a significant contribution was the value of play for learning and fostering equitable access and participation for girls in physical education and sport.

Another of Rosalie’s significant achievements was to accept the invitation to be Chairperson to lead the preparation for and delivery of the 1990 Commonwealth and International Conference held in Auckland. The conference, which preceded 1990 Commonwealth Games, was attended by 750 delegates from all over the world and was opened by Sir Edmund Hillary along with a civil reception hosted by the Mayor of Auckland, Dame Catherine Tizard. As part of the programme, Rosalie secured many international scholars as keynote speakers.

Throughout Rosalie’s 40 plus years of being involved in the physical education fraternity she has held many positions and has always been a strong role model for and advocate of high standards in all aspects of physical education. In addition to her roles as Senior Lecturer in teacher education and president of Physical Education New Zealand, she was seconded as a Physical Education advisor, temporarily as a School Inspector for physical education (1983) and Guest Editor for the Journal of Physical Education (1985). Her vast and varied contributions extended across ECE, primary and secondary physical education as well as the scholarly competence and academic credibility required to deliver quality teacher education programmes.

Rosalie’s mentoring of others in the profession has been immense. Some examples are as a mentor to practising teachers to share their work and developing a professional template to support and guide them to present at Physical Education New Zealand conferences. Rosalie fought for the inclusion of physical education and health in the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) and through her own professional practice has been an outstanding role model for many young teachers and academics entering the profession. In the eyes of her peers, even more than a decade after retiring, she continues to be a truly dedicated physical education professional.

In the submission phase of this award, Rosalie’s nominators provided the following whakataukī which we think truly sums up the contributions of Rosalie to a community that we are extremely passionate about.
He aha te kai ō te rangatira? He Kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero (What is the food of the leader. It is knowledge. It is communication)

(written by M. Bowes)

Congratulations to the 2021 PENZ Award winners

The Physical Education New Zealand Life Award honour is prestigious. It is given only when the service rendered has been nationwide, and outstanding in nature. This is awarded to members who have given long and distinguished service to physical education.

Clive Pope

Clive Pope
Since enrolling to study physical education at the University of Otago in 1974, Clive has devoted his working life to supporting the purposes and practices of physical education, and has also been an inspiration to many who work in the profession.

He began his contribution to Physical Education New Zealand in 1981. Over this time, he has held many leadership roles. He served on the Physical Education New Zealand board from 2001-2003 alongside university lecturing, exemplary research and publishing, and was made a Physical Education New Zealand Fellow in 2009.

After devoting 44 years to advancing the cause of PENZ and physical education (in its broadest sense), this award winner has decided to ‘call it a day’ on his formal employment. We are secretly hopeful he retired to spend more time as a PENZ mentor.

Lisette Burrows

Lisette Burrows
Lisette is an inspiration to many in the physical education profession. She embodies physical education, in her research, lecturing and life. She has presented at many Physical Education New Zealand Conferences often as a keynote, and she is always challenging assumptions and carving new lines of thought. Her contribution to health and physical education has been exemplary, significant, and sustained over her lifetime. It may be of interest to you, that this award winner broke a lot of first time records. She was the first woman in New Zealand to become an Associate Professor in Physical Education Pedagogy. In 2015 she became the first female Professor of Physical Education in New Zealand. Wāhine toa – and someone I respect immensely. She has an impressive number of research outputs (think in the hundreds) and served as President of the Physical Education New Zealand Board for a number of years. Ngā mihi nui ki a koe.

She has made an outstanding contribution to enhance the lives of diverse children, young adults and community. Her service to the profession has been outstanding, and she is a very worthy recipient of this award.

The Sir Alexander Gillies Medal is the most prestigious award that Physical Education New Zealand presents. It is awarded for distinguished and outstanding service to the profession of Physical Education. The award is not given lightly, and anyone who has nominated a peer will understand this. The recipient of this award has to have mana through sustained, career-long service to Physical Education.

This year we awarded two medals. Both recipients have provided outstanding service, and effective leadership that merited recognition. They have both made significant contributions to the practical, scholarly and philosophical foundations of contemporary Physical Education in New Zealand. Their CVs are over 30 pages in length, and nothing is double spaced.

Alan Ovens

Alan Ovens
Alan has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to Physical Education New Zealand, and has influenced and shaped knowledge and practice of physical education both nationally and internationally. In 1996 he was a Special Award recipient for services to Physical Education; In 2013, he was honoured as a PENZ Fellow, and in 2017 he was awarded the Te Iho Takaro Ringawera award for his significant contributions to PENZ.

Many recipients of this award are often in, or nearing retirement, but Alan doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He continues to demonstrate distinguished and outstanding service to the profession. He is currently an Associate Professor of Physical Education at the University of Auckland, and is the director of the Richard Tinning Research Unit. Where the critical magic happens. He has been committed to promoting and advocating for quality physical education for more than 35 years. Leading the way, he was the first amongst his physical education colleagues to engage in doctoral studies, and was also the first in the department to be appointed as an Associate Professor in recognition of his research, teaching and service.

Alan has made a sustained and outstanding contribution to PENZ – evidenced in a variety of ways. For example, he was on the board in 1988 and then in 2006 he was elected as President of PENZ and held this role for six years (2006-2012). He had been editor of the Journal of Physical Education, and The Physical Educator for four years.

At the tertiary level, he has provided strong leadership and pedagogical expertise across his career. He was part of the original team involved in developing the Bachelor of Physical Education at Auckland College of Education; the redevelopment of the degree as it transitioned to the University of Auckland; and then played a large part in the development of the current Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education, Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Masters papers.

He has authored 25 journal articles and 38 refereed book chapters, edited 8 books, and 5 special editions of journals. He has given 25 invited lectures and keynote presentations, convened 8 symposia in international conferences, given 54 conference presentations, written 10 journal editorials and invited discussion papers, and produced 2 research-based videos and was recently part of the writing team on a major resource for teachers in schools. Mīharo.

Clive Pope

Clive Pope
The second recipient of the Sir Alexander Gillies Medal is incredibly humble. Clive tends to blush when people say nice things about him, and his leadership and mentorship of others is often hidden. He gently supports and encourages junior and senior colleagues to be the best they can and navigate some of the tricky political and social contexts we find ourselves in. His leadership and colleagueship within the profession is legendary. He is recognised as one of the most experienced PE and sport academics in NZ. This is evidenced by a plethora of high-profile positions he has held at the University of Waikato, and an impressive CV.

Throughout his nomination there is strong evidence of his leadership within the profession. His research platform provides clear evidence of his ethnographic research in the areas of youth sport,PE and sport pedagogy. He really has been leading the academy, informing and influencing practice. Arguably, the most impressive aspect of his contribution is the balance between international and national contributions. This is no small feat as an academic. For nearly 4 decades he has served PENZ and NZAHPER, and he was on the PENZ national executive from 2001-2003. Internationally, and of significance was his pioneering work with ABA (Achievement Based Assessment).

He has spent countless hours providing professional development for the betterment of PE in Aotearoa NZ. He has supervised, to completion, 18 PhD and Master’s students, and alongside these achievements, he has been formally recognised at least twice (one national and one international) for his excellence in teaching.

His colleagues who know him best, know how much his soft touch approach and sustained work ethic will be missed. Another great comment “Your influence in Sport Education is noteworthy as was the quality of wisdom you provided Physical Education New Zealand (PENZ). There have been many other noteworthy achievements not least your scholarship, evidenced by an enviable publication record, national leadership, professional influence, the quality of your teaching and your endearing sense of humour.” Ngā mihi nui ki a koe.

Award Winners 2021

Watch the 2021 Welcome and Awards Ceremony here

The Lady Joan Gillies Award was shared between two tertiary students in 2020.

Read Journeying into the Local Environment
Read My experience of, and philosophy for the practice of the NZHPE Curriculum