Mark Joseph O'Sullivan

• Santos, Fernando; Lascu, Alex; O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph & Woods, Carl T. (2026). Beyond the Box: Toward an Ethic of Response-Ability in Coaching Science. Quest (National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education). ISSN 0033-6297. doi: 10.1080/00336297.2026.2616260. Full text in Research Archive
• Parry, Tom E.; Myszka, Shawn; Yearby, Tyler; O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph & Otte, Fabian (2025). The value of opposed and unopposed practice: An ecological dynamics rationale for skill development. Quest (National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education). ISSN 0033-6297. 77(sup1), p. 80–100. doi: 10.1080/00336297.2024.2420759. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recently, there has been a great deal of progress in our understanding of skill learning and the types of practice activities that best develop athletes. Evidence suggests sport practitioners’ assumptions about learning dramatically influence the types of practice activities they employ. Historically, dominant theoretical approaches emphasize a strong focus on repeated practice to “acquire” technical skills before these movements are applied in dynamic games. Moreover, these approaches to skill acquisition overvalue the importance of repetition of ideal movement patterns. Contemporary theories, such as ecological dynamics, suggest that movement problem-solving in alive environments, which involves opposed practice, is more beneficial for skill development. This paper explored the theoretical and practical differences in the rationale for opposed and unopposed practice tasks from an ecological dynamics lens. Example practice activities, underpinned by ecological dynamics, will be presented as alternate activities for common isolated technical drills.

• Bastias, Elliot; Otte, Fabian W.; Vaughan, James; Swainston, Scott & O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph (2024). An ecological approach for skill development and performance in soccer goalkeeper training: Empirical evidence and coaching applications. Journal of Sports Sciences. ISSN 0264-0414. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2024.2306449. Full text in Research Archive
• O'Sullivan, Mark & Bjørndal, Christian Thue (2024). Reconceptualising Constructive Alignment within the epistemological distinction of ways of knowing in a higher education coach development course module. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. ISSN 1740-8989. doi: 10.1080/17408989.2024.2439969. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background The professional education of coaches, coach developers and academics is a pressing challenge for national governing bodies and educational institutions. Central to this challenge is the cultivation of coaching proficiency and the ability to foster meaningful interactions with athletes and teams. Constructive Alignment has emerged as a valuable approach in higher education to enrich teaching and learning practices. However, as Constructive Alignment has shifted from a theoretical concept to practical implementation, it has encountered certain challenges. Critics argue that its apparent step-by-step simplicity can inadvertently create an illusion of administrative control, thereby misaligning with the intricate reality of pedagogical work and student learning. These misalignments may, in turn, perpetuate traditional teacher-centred approaches. Purpose In this paper, we propose an innovative solution: integrating James J. Gibsons’) epistemological distinction between different ways of knowing into coach education modules to support Constructive Alignment. This integration acknowledges the epistemological distinction that underlies different ways of knowing and provides a means to alleviate tensions, fostering a more cohesive learning environment. The integration supports coach educators and coaches to grapple with the complexities of teaching and learning in higher education and national governing body coach education programmes. Focus Our primary focus centres on designing a coach education module that immerses students in strategically tailored learning activities, optimising their prospects of achieving intended learning outcomes while contributing significantly to the design of assessment tasks. To illustrate the practical application of our approach, we present an in-depth ‘walk-through’ of a coach module grounded in the principles of Constructive Alignment and underpinned by the epistemological distinction between different ways of knowing. Concluding thoughts Exploring these concepts can help equip coaches, coach developers, and academics with a more effective and dynamic educational framework that aligns theory with practice within the coaching domain. Furthermore, recognising the epistemological distinction that guides different ways of knowing can alleviate tensions and create a more cohesive learning environment. Supporting Constructive Alignment can promote meaningful learning activities, enhancing students’ knowledge of coaching and optimising their chances of achieving intended learning outcomes.

• O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph; Vaughan, James; Rumbold, James L. & Davids, Keith (2023). Utilising the learning in development research framework in a professional youth football club. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 5. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1169531. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Underpinned by an ecological dynamics rationale, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been suggested to introduce methodological possibilities to investigate and illuminate: (i) socio-cultural constraints within a sports organization or club, and (ii), a research gap on the need for a more contemporary framework to guide reliable ways of conducting investigations and designing practical applications. To provide a strong justification for the nature of the fieldwork and methods adopted, we present insights from a 3-year and 5-month study at a professional football club in Sweden that adapted the framework as a central feature of their Department of Methodology for player development. A phronetic iterative approach was employed to analyze the data. The findings highlight the nature of constraints acting over varied timescales, transcending contexts to manifest in other contexts (e.g., practice task designs), influencing events and experiences. This indicated a need to dampen (using probes) the influence of the pervasive organizational “control over context” approaches that were acting as “sticky” socio-cultural constraints, shaping the intentions (in session design) and attention (during practice and performance) of players and coaches. A practical implication is that the LDRF does not prescribe a universal solution to player development. Rather that it can guide how researchers, practitioners, clubs and organisations could challenge themselves to adapt strategies to design contemporary athlete development frameworks within their ecosystem.

• O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph; Vaughan, James; Woods, Carl T. & Davids, Keith (2023). There is no copy and paste, but there is resonation and inhabitation: Integrating a contemporary player development framework in football from a complexity sciences perspective. Journal of Sports Sciences. ISSN 0264-0414. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2023.2288979. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Socio-cultural constraints shape behaviour in complexifying ways. In sport, for example, interconnected constraints play an important role in shaping the way a game is played, coached, and spectated. Here, we contend that player development frameworks in sport cannot be operationalised without careful consideration of the complex ecosystem in which they reside. Concurrently, we highlight issues associated with frameworks designed in isolation from the contexts in which they are introduced for integration, guised as trying to “copy and paste” templates from country to country. As such, there is a need to understand the oft-shrouded socio-cultural dynamics that continuously influence practice in order to maximize the utility of player development frameworks in sport. Ecological dynamics offers a complexity-oriented theoretical lens that supports the evolution of context-dependent player development frameworks. Further, tenets of the Learning in Development Research Framework can show how affordances are not just material invitations but constitute a vital component of a broader socio-cultural form of life. These ideas have the potential to: (1) push against a desire to “copy and paste” what is perceived to be “successful” elsewhere, and (2), guide the integration of player development frameworks by learning to resonate with the nuanced complexities of the broader environment inhabited.

• O'Sullivan, Mark Joseph; Vaughan, James & Woods, Carl T. (2023). Not just to know more, but to also know better: How data analysis-synthesis can be woven into sport science practiced as an art of inquiry. Sport, Education and Society. ISSN 1357-3322. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2023.2261970. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Utilising novel ways of knowing, aligned with an ecological approach, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been introduced as a different way to guide research and practice in sport. A central feature of this framework is an appreciation of researcher embeddedness; positioned as an inhabitant who follows along with the unfolding inquiry. This positioning is integral for enriching ones understanding of the relations between socio-cultural constraints and affordances for skill learning within a sports organisation. Moreover, the notion of embeddedness foregrounds the ongoing nature of inquiry when practiced as an art of inquiry. In an effort to extend these ideas, this paper highlights how a phronetic iterative approach to data analysis-synthesis could be undertaken, while ensuring that the researcher remains ‘in touch’ with a phenomenon, and thus faithful to key tenets of research practiced as an art of inquiry. To illustrate this, we present a ‘walk-through’ from a recent LDRF study. Rather than focusing on data collection or recorded observations made from afar, this walk-through shows how a researcher, practicing an art of inquiry, can grow knowledge of and with the phenomena, enriching the evolution of practice and performance from within an ecology of relations.

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