Your Brain is not a Computer! - Ecological Dynamics in Education - A Conversation with Prof. Keith Davids

Professor Keith Davids is Professor of Motor Learning at the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science. Keith uses an Ecological Dynamics framework for investigating skill acquisition, expertise and talent development in sport. He is an applied scientist who researches how processes of learning, development, performance preparation and participation in sport, physical activity and exercise may be facilitated. He reviews implications for coaching and teaching at elite, sub-elite and recreational levels of participants, as part of his work. Ecological Dynamics is an integration of Ecological Psychology, Dynamical Systems theory, Evolutionary Science and the Science of Complex Systems, considering individual athletes and teams as complex adaptive systems, self-organising under interacting constraints. Such systems change over different timescales, which has significant implications for learning, development and ageing in children, adults and elderly people. He has over 30 years experience of teaching and conducting research in Ecological Dynamics with collaborators in UK, Portugal, France, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Finland, Norway and Sweden in related fields like Sports Science, Psychology, Behavioural Neuroscience, Sports Coaching, Physical Education and Human Movement Science. He has held/holds research positions in the UK (Manchester Metropolitan University: 1991-2003), Finland (University of Jyvaskyla, Finnish Distinguished Professor: 2012-2016), New Zealand (University of Otago: 2003-2007), Australia (Queensland University of Technology: 2006-2014) and Norway (2020-22: Norwegian Sports Science University (NTNU, Trondheim), Adjunct Research Professor). His scientific research is applied in the work of international sports organisations (national and international teams in Association Football, NFL, Rugby Union and AFL) and national Institutes of Sport in Australia (AIS), New Zealand (NZSI), and England (EIS), as well as KIHU (Finnish Olympic Research Committee) and PESTA (Physical Education and Sports Teachers Association, Singapore).

Keith is part of the Constraints Collective with Ian Renshaw, Will Roberts and Danny Newcombe: https://www.theconstraintscollective.com/

Keith is co-author of the 2019 book, The Constraints-Led Approach: Principles for Sports Coaching and Practice Design. You can find links to his other books here and journal publications here.