Rate My Professor Oliver Hooper

Dr. Oliver Hooper serves as Senior Lecturer in Physical Education and Youth Sport within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. A graduate of the same institution, he earned a first-class BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science in 2014 and completed his PhD in 2018 on 'Health(y) talk: pupils' conceptions of health within physical education'. Since obtaining his doctorate, Hooper has progressed through various research and teaching roles at Loughborough, becoming Lecturer in 2022 and Senior Lecturer in 2024. He holds Fellowships of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), reflecting his commitment to excellence in teaching and scholarly impact.

Hooper's research centres on young people’s lived experiences in physical education, health, and youth sport, particularly among marginalised populations including care-experienced youth, disabled individuals, and LGBTQ+ youth. He advocates for 'youth voice' through participatory research methods. Ongoing projects encompass marginalised youths’ embodied identities in PE, pedagogies fostering voice in PE and youth sport, social and emotional learning in PE, trauma-aware pedagogies, LGBTQ+ experiences in PE, care-experienced youths’ sport club engagements, PE in alternative provision, and cross-border PE curriculum learning. Notable publications include co-editing Critical Pedagogies in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health (Routledge, 2021); chapters in Routledge handbooks; and journal articles such as “Navigating complex social landscapes: Examining care-experienced young people’s engagements with sport and physical activity” (Sport, Education and Society, 2021), “Developing evidence-informed principles for trauma-aware pedagogies in physical education” (Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 2021), and contributions to the Promoting Active Lifestyles project (2020). His impactful work earned the prestigious AIESEP Young Scholar Award in 2021 and the afPE Professional Practice Award for Research Impact in 2019. Additionally, he contributes to academia as an editorial board member for the British Educational Research Journal, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (Physical Education and Pedagogy), and Sport, Education and Society. Hooper also leads networks as Co-convenor of the British Educational Research Association’s Early Career Researcher Network and the European Educational Research Association’s Research in Sport Pedagogy Network, and serves on BERA’s Executive Council and Engagement Committee.