Biography

Dr. Diarmuid Lester is a Lecturer in Physical Education, Health and Wellbeing in the School of Education in University College Cork (UCC), primarily working on the B.Ed. Physical Education, Sports Studies and Arts (PESSA) programme (formerly the B.Ed. Sports Studies and Physical Education (SSPE) programme). Having taught Physical Education and Gaeilge at post-primary level for several years, Diarmuid joined the School of Education in a permanent capacity in January 2022.

Dr. Lester is an alumnus of UCC, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, having completed a B.Ed. Sports Studies and Physical Education degree in 2015, graduating with first class honours, and subsequently awarded a Ph.D. from the School of Education in 2020. His Ph.D. tracked the design, development, implementation and evaluation of Project FLAME (Fundamental and Functional Literacy for Activity and Movement Efficiency): a multi-component, school-based, motor competence intervention for adolescent youth in Ireland. Diarmuid delivers a range of modules across the B.Ed. and M.Ed. programmes in the School of Education, as well as supervising Masters and Ph.D. students.

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2023) 'Motor Competence Among Irish Adolescents: An Investigation of Sex Differences and Relatedness Between Fundamental Movement Skills and Functional Movement'
Philpott, C., Donovan, B., Belton, S., Lester, D., Chambers, F.C. & O'Brien, W. (2023) 'Motor Competence Among Irish Adolescents: An Investigation of Sex Differences and Relatedness Between Fundamental Movement Skills and Functional Movement'. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 130 (1):27-53 [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'What keeps FLAME lit? Comparing two modes of implementation of a physical education-based intervention to improve motor competence among Irish adolescents'
Ma J.;O’Brien W.;Lester D.;Eyre E.L.J.;Lander N.;Koorts H.;Barnett L.M.;Duncan M. (2023) 'What keeps FLAME lit? Comparing two modes of implementation of a physical education-based intervention to improve motor competence among Irish adolescents'. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, [DOI] [Details]
(2023) 'A Scoping Review on Quality Physical Education Programmes and Their Outcomes on Primary-Level Pupils'
Kingston, Ú.; Adamakis, M.; Lester, D.;Costa, J. (2023) 'A Scoping Review on Quality Physical Education Programmes and Their Outcomes on Primary-Level Pupils'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (4) [DOI] [Details]
(2022) 'Motor competence assessment in physical education–convergent validity between fundamental movement skills and functional movement assessments in adolescence'
O’Brien W.;Philpott C.;Lester D.;Belton S.;Duncan M.J.;Donovan B.;Chambers F.;Utesch T. (2022) 'Motor competence assessment in physical education–convergent validity between fundamental movement skills and functional movement assessments in adolescence'. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, [DOI] [Details]
(2021) 'Effects of an 8-Week Intervention Targeting the Veridicality of Actual and Perceived Motor Competence Among Irish Adolescents in Project FLAME'
Philpott, C;Utesch, T;Belton, S;Donovan, B;Chambers, F;Lester, D;O'Brien, W (2021) 'Effects of an 8-Week Intervention Targeting the Veridicality of Actual and Perceived Motor Competence Among Irish Adolescents in Project FLAME'. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 128 :2186-2210 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Investigating the age-related association between perceived motor competence and actual motor competence in adolescence'
Philpott C.;Donovan B.;Belton S.;Lester D.;Duncan M.;Chambers F.;O’brien W. (2020) 'Investigating the age-related association between perceived motor competence and actual motor competence in adolescence'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (17):1-18 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Do Irish Adolescents Have Adequate Functional Movement Skill and Confidence?'
O'Brien, Wesley; Duncan, Michael J.; Farmer, Orlagh; Lester, Diarmuid (2018) 'Do Irish Adolescents Have Adequate Functional Movement Skill and Confidence?'. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6 (s2):s301-s319 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2018) 'Enhancing the evidence base for irish female youth participation in physical activity—the development of the Gaelic4Girls program'
Farmer O.;Duffy D.;Cahill K.;Lester D.;Belton S.;O’Brien W. (2018) 'Enhancing the evidence base for irish female youth participation in physical activity—the development of the Gaelic4Girls program'. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 26 (2):111-123 [DOI] [Details]
(2017) 'The Age-Related Association of Movement in Irish Adolescent Youth'
Lester, Diarmuid., McGrane, Bronagh., Belton, Sarahjane., Duncan, Michael J., Chambers, Fiona C., O'Brien, Wesley (2017) 'The Age-Related Association of Movement in Irish Adolescent Youth'. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 5 (77):1-16 [DOI] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2023) The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2022 (CSPPA 2022).
Woods, C. B., Ng, K. W., Britton, U., McClelland, J., O’Keeffe, B., Sheikhi, A., McFlynn, P., Murphy, M. H., Goss, H., Behan, S., Philpott, C., Lester, D., Adamakis, M., Costa, J., Coppinger, T., Connolly, S., Belton, S., & O’Brien, W. (2023) The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2022 (CSPPA 2022). University of Limerick, Sport Ireland, Healthy Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland, Limerick, Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland. [DOI] [Details]

Electronic Article

  Year Publication
(2024) What we've learned from a wheelchair basketball event for TY students.
Lester, D. & Ryan, P. (2024) What we've learned from a wheelchair basketball event for TY students. Electronic Article [ Publisher's Version] [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2023 The Frank McGrath Perpetual Award for Wellbeing and Welfare University Staff Recognition Awards Programme 2023

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Teaching Council of Ireland Registered Member /
Irish Physical Activity Research Collaboration (I-PARC) Member /
Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) Ireland Member /
United Kingdom and Ireland Motor Competence Network Member /
Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport (PEPAYS) Ireland Research Centre Member /
Physical Education Association of Ireland (PEAI) Registered Member /
Sedentary Behaviour Research Network (SBRN) Registered Member /

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
School of Education Health and Safety Committee BEDPEA Representative 2024 /
School of Education Student Voice Committee Deputy Chair 2024 /
School of Education Learning and Teaching Committee Member 2024 /
School of Education Research and Innovation Committee Member 2022 /
Cork GAA Health and Wellbeing Committee Member 2021 /

Languages

  Language Reading Writing Speaking
Gaeilge Fluent Fluent Fluent
English Fluent Fluent Fluent

Journal Activities

  Journal Role To / From
European Physical Education Review Peer Reviewer -

Recent Postgraduates

  Graduation Year Student Name Institution Degree Type Thesis Title
2024 Katherine McGlade University College Cork M.Ed. A critical investigation into the organisation and timetabling of the autism special class attached to the mainstream post-primary school
2023 Ruth Crean University College Cork M.Ed. To investigate wellbeing in a post-primary school from the perspectives of management, teachers, parents and students
2023 Miriam Farrell University College Cork M.Ed. A critical investigation into the relationship between physical activity and academic achievement