My Biography

Sean Connor, graduated from Thomond College with a degree in Physical Education and English.  His first job was a Physcial Education and English teacher in St. Paul's Monasterevin.  He then worked in sports development with the St. John of God Order in Celbridge for individuals who experience disability. He was then appointed as manager of the Outdoor Education Centre in the Burren, Co. Clare until his appointment as lecturer in Waterford Institute of Technology following the uppgrading of the Recreation Management course to Degree level.  He has researched widely in the area of youth sport and volunteerism.  In 2001, he was awarded an advance scholar bursary from the Royal Irish Academy for a two year study into volunteerism in Irish society.  For the past 20 years, he has run a programme which sends people fo Alaska to volunteer with HOPE Community Resources, an organisation which provides services for individauls with Disability. This service was recognised in 2015 with a ceremony attended by the US Irish Amabasador Anne Anderson

Research

Arricles in Gaelic World magazine, 1987-1992

General Training Principles,

Endurance the Key,

Fitness and Speed,

THe Importance of the Warm Up,

Principles of Attacking Play,

Principles of Defensive Play

Irish Canoe Union Journal 1992, Canoeing and The Developmentally Disabled

Irish Canoe Union Journal, 1994, Adventure Sports First Aid.

Young People's Involvement in Sport in Waterford City, Irish Journal of Psychology, 1998, Queen's University Press, Vol 19, no.4

2000, Community Inclusion Strategies for the Developmentally Disabled, Presentation and Conference paper , HOPE COmmunity resources Alaska.

2002, Strategies to Prevent Dropout amongst Competitve Swimmers, Keynote Address to National Swim Ireland Conference, Dublin.

With Roy Scheller, 2003,  The Functionalism Implementation off Volunteerism in a Civil Society, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin

Book: Youth Sport in Ireland, 2003, Liffey Valley Press, Dublin.

Article in Book, For the Kids, 2003, Liffey Valley Press Dublin

With Rachel Mc Evoy, 2004,  An Exploration of the Philosophy, Policy and Practices Underpinning Local Authority Provision in the South East of Ireland, International Conference for Qualitative Research for Sport and Exercise, John Moore Unviersity

Van Hout, MC, & Connor, S (2007). Attitude to Physical Activity of Adolescent Substance Users.. American Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 6, 4, 40-49.

Van Hout, MC, & Connor, S (2008). The Normalisation of Substance Abuse among Young Travellers in Ireland- Implications for Practice. Journal of Ethnicity of Substance Abuse, 7, 1, 5-23.

Van Hout, M.C, & Connor S (2008). Solvent Use among Young Irish Adolescents- A Growing Concern for Youth Workers, Teachers and Parents? Drug and Alcohol Today, 8, 1, 27-37.

Van Hout, MC, & Connor, S (2008). Drug Use and the Irish School Context: A Teachers Perspective?  Journal of Drug and Alcohol Education. 52, 1, 80-92.

With Paddy Delaney and Milo O'Rathaille, Young people's Sporting, Leisure and lifestyle Patterns, The Impact of the CelticTiger, AISEP International Conference, Sapporo, Japan. 

with Tony Weir, The Use of Digital Video in Physical Education, 2009,  Technology, Pedagogy and Education, Vol.18 no.2, Routledge, UK 

With PaddyDelaney, 2010, The Frenzy of Social Netwroking, An Ethnographic Investigation into the Use of of the Social Networking Site BEBO, 37th Annual Sociological Association Conference, Queen's University.

With Paddy Delaney, 2010, Digital Ethnography: An Unexploited methods of Studying Adolescents' Behaviour Online, Researching Young Lives Conference, U.L.

Ph.D Theses supervised:

Jean McArdle, 2007, All Work and No Play: The Revised Primary Physical Education Curriculum: A Socio-Historical Analysis.

Roy Sceller, 2010, The Functional Implementation of Volunteersim in Civil Society.

Paddy Delaney, 2011, Information and Communication Technogies and Social Network Sites: The Digital World of Adolescents

Tony Weir, 2016, The Use of Digital media in teaching, Learning and Assessment in Physical Education

Teaching

Sean is teaching member of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science.  Teaching areas include Sociology, Social Recreation, Sports Development, Sports Pedagogy (particularly Aquatics)

Professional

Member of the Institute of Leiaure and Amenity Management,

Fellow of the Institute of Swimming Teachers and Coaches.

Member of Irish Water Safety.

Advanced Bursary  Scholar of the Royal Irish Academy

Evaluation Reports

1998, Evaluation Report for the European ECOS Ouverture Youth Employment Pilot Project, South Dublin County Council

2004, The Use of Digital Video in the Teaching, Learning and Evaluation in Physical Education, National Council for Technology in Education

2009, with Deirdre Barry,  Evaluation of the Sporting Chance Programme, National Learning Network, Tralee