Dr Fiona Heath-Diffey

Overview

Following on from a BA (Hons) in Sport and Physical Education, Fiona trained as a secondary PE teacher at Cardiff Metropolitan in 2003-4. From 2004 to 2011 Fiona worked in both the secondary sector as a PE teacher as well as the primary sector as a PE specialist. During this time she also completed her MA in Education.

In 2011 Fiona joined the staff of the PGCE Secondary program at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where she currently works as the Program Leader for the PGC PE course. Having become very interesting in the field of Physical Literacy as a practising teacher, Fiona’s research has focused into the area of Motivational Climate and the role Initial Teacher Education (ITE) can play in the preparation of primary and secondary ITE students to deliver high quality PE that fosters the concepts of Physical Literacy. In 2025, Fiona was awarded her doctorate for a thesis entitled, ‘The physical literacy journey of primary ITE students and NQTS and the impact on their ability to teach physical education’. Within this work Fiona looked to conceptualise how the physical literacy journeys of primary ITE students’ prior to, and during, their ITE and Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) year impacts on their confidence and perceived competence to teach Physical Education. Her other responsibilities in Initial Teacher Education include membership of the clinical practice requirements team and Research and Enquiry team, who are responsible for translating the Cardiff Partnership’s adopted model of research-informed clinical practice into a framework for student teachers school placements. In addition to these roles Fiona is also the Clinical Practice lead for all English Medium students on all secondary subject pathways overseeing the support English medium students and schools received as part of the clinical practice placements.

Research Publications

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