Lifetime Contributions in Physical Education

Celebrating the lives and work of Len Almond (1938-2017) and Joy Butler (1957-2019)

By: Stephen Mitchell, Elizabeth Durden-Myers, Margaret Whitehead, Kathryn Ezzeldin, Kim Lambden, Lorraine Cale, Sonia McGeorge

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Len Almond and Joy Butler were giants in the field of Physical Education pedagogy and especially in their advocacy for, and leadership of, the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) movement. Sadly, Len and Joy passed away within two years of each other. This book celebrates their work and their combined legacy, containing reprints of some of Len and Joy’s most influential articles and book chapters, in some cases with commentary from colleagues and in other cases standing alone. Other chapters in the book are commentaries provided by noted scholars who are particularly close to Len or Joy’s work. The book begins with a chapter in which Len issues a call to action for teachers to be researchers into their own TGfU practice and ends with a reprint of Joy’s study, coauthored with Richard Light, into teachers perceptions of their own TGfU development, a piece of research that met with Len’s approval. Our thanks to the authors who contribute to this fine and worthy testament to Len and Joy’s lives and work.