Ealing’s University of West London (UWL) has teamed up with Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery with a series of football themed events aimed at local teachers.
Last week (23 January 2025) saw Robert Vaughan, associate professor and head of psychological sciences from UWL’s School of Human and Social Sciences gave a workshop at a ‘Football, Art and Community’ teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event which was inspired by the ‘Pride of England’ exhibition at Pitzhanger by artist Matt Small.
‘Pride of England’ is a community-focused exhibition celebrating the diversity, unity, and community legacy of the England football teams and includes sculptures co-created by Mr Small with pupils from Ealing.
The exhibition also features new portraits of Ealing football icons Bukayo Saka and Chloe Kelly.
Mr Vaughan’s workshop ‘How Psychology can help England win the 2026 World Cup’ explored themes of sports psychology with themes including motivation, team cohesion and focus.
He said: “The workshop was a great opportunity for us to share the lessons learned from the research we have produced at UWL in sport psychology. It was user-focused, providing practical recommendations for how teachers could use physical activity to enhance children’s executive function in the classroom.”
A further event taking place on 6 February 2025 called ‘The Beautiful Game: Exploring Art, Identity and Football’ will explore football through the eyes of artists, creators, and academics. He will take part in a panel discussion with artist Matt Small and art critic Orit Grit discussing what football has meant to people around the world, the psychological pressures faced by the England football team and how these challenges have shaped their resilience and strength.
Outreach Manager at UWL Krishna Maroo said: “These events are an effective way of pooling together our limited resources and broad range of contacts to share best practice and useful workshops with local teachers and educators,” explains Outreach Manager at UWL Krishna Maroo.
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