Rowan Turner joined The Squad in May 2017 and has been one of its most active members. Rowan is from South Africa originally but has spent most of his life in Hong Kong. He received his Sports Science Degree and PGCE in South Africa before getting his first teaching post in Shanghai, China. He spent 2 years in Shanghai as Head of Physical Education before moving to his current job in Hong Kong as Head of Physical Education at International College Hong Kong, Hong Lok Yuen. In his spare time, he is a level 2 rugby referee and has refereed Premiership and Premiership A rugby in Hong Kong.
We spent some time with Rowan recently and asked him a few questions.
What made you want to be a PE teacher?
My love of sport has lead me to where I am today. After playing rugby at a reasonably high level, I felt that teaching would help me give back what I gained as a child in all sports. I take pride in knowing that I am helping and motivating children to become great sports people and active and healthy citizens.
Why did you join The Squad?
I joined The Squad in order to connect with people who have the same passion and drive in becoming the best Physical Educators we can become. Sometimes the best professional development you can get is not by going on courses, but by speaking to people in your field about their experiences.
How has The Squad helped your teaching practice?
I have received many interesting ideas from the squad in this very short amount of time. With these ideas, I have been motivated to create my very own physical literacy assessment tool as well as more assessment tools for TGFU and Swimming. These have helped me pinpoint where I need to improve in my teaching and which areas of the curriculum need to be developed more.
What’s the best part of being a Squad member?
Nathan is just a click away…. Anytime I have had a question for Nathan, he has been there to assist me and whats even better, is that others are there to give their experiences as well. This means that not only do you have google at your fingertips, you also have a wealth of knowledge that you can’t find on google at your disposal.
What advice would you give someone who is thinking of joining The Squad?
DO IT! It is a great tool to have at your disposal when you have a quick question or when you are stuck and need help. Remember, we are all professionals in this field, however, none of us are perfect educators and asking for help from others is an extremely important part of our professional development. Also, the more educators we get onto The Squad, the more powerful The Squad becomes.
The Squad is online coaching community for Physical Educators hosted by Nathan Horne of iPhys-Ed.com. This Slack community is designed to help you supercharge your practice. By joining The Squad you will get access to premium content which will help you deliver physical education with purpose.
Squad Members get access to:
- High-Quality physical education resources.
- Exclusive Physical Education webinars.
- Ongoing mentoring and support from Nathan.
- Access to community support within The Squad.
If you are interested in joining The Squad to improve your practice you can join now
If you are have any questions about The Squad feel free to contact me on Twitter or via Email. Or alternatively if you want to talk to Rowan further about his experience you can contact him on Twitter.