Meet Marta Oliver Álvarez, a third-year PhD candidate from the University of Valencia (Spain) and a member of the Physical Activity, Education and Society (AFES) research group. To enrich her project and collaborate with a research group with shared interests, Marta completed two research stays with Dr. Erica Bennett and her team, from September to December 2024 and from July to October 2025.
What is your doctoral research about?
My doctoral research addresses experiences of humiliation in sport and Physical Education (PE) contexts through narrative pedagogy. To this end, we first conceptualized narrative pedagogy within Sport and PE, mapped the prior pedagogical interventions conducted in the field, and identified gaps for future interventions.
Then, we conducted a narrative pedagogy intervention with sport sciences students, based on reading and discussing a story about humiliation. Through this approach, we aim to raise students’ awareness of humiliation experiences, while also exploring how humiliation operates in such contexts.
What would you highlight from the work you accomplished during your time at UBC?
During my time at UBC, I led a seminar with the Psychology of Sport, Health, and Physical Activity Collaborative (PSYPAC), a group of faculty and graduate students in sport and exercise psychology who meet monthly to explore emerging research and shared scholarly interests.
In PSYPAC’s October meeting, I facilitated a thoughtful discussion on the use of narrative pedagogy within sport and PE settings. I presented key considerations for implementing narrative approaches in practice and shared preliminary findings from my doctoral work, which prompted rich dialogue about how educators and researchers might better attend to emotional experiences in physical activity environments.
Additionally, I also worked on the theoretical framework of my thesis, specifically on the conceptualization of humiliation in sport activities. For this, the regular meetings with Dr. Bennett were really helpful for tracking the progress, as well as her knowledge about emotions within narrative inquiry.
Why was UBC’s School of Kinesiology, and Dr. Bennett’s team in particular, a meaningful place for your research stays?
For me, it was really important to undertake my research stay in a place where I could both learn and enrich my work, while also feeling part of a supportive group. From the very beginning, Dr. Bennett’s group offered exactly that.
Before reaching out, I had read several of Dr. Bennett’s papers, some of which were among my favorites, and I knew we shared values and academic interests. The possibility of joining her group and learning alongside them was something I was very excited about. Once I joined the team, I immediately felt welcomed by everyone in the lab. My project was also very well received, and the regular meetings with Dr. Bennett helped me refine my ideas and move my work forward.
I also really appreciated that many members were at a similar stage in their academic journey to mine, which made our interactions very horizontal and enriching. This allowed me to learn from their experiences and projects in a very welcoming learning environment. I felt comfortable engaging in all our lab meetings, even though English is not my first language, which encouraged me to participate without fear of making mistakes.
How do you see your work contributing to more supportive/inclusive learning environments in sport and physical education experiences?
One of the most meaningful aspects is sharing and giving visibility to stories and lived experiences that have often been silenced or overlooked. I have witnessed how powerful it can be for participants in narrative pedagogy interventions to realize that not everyone experiences sport or PE in the same way, and how important it is to acknowledge and pay attention to those different experiences.
Additionally, because I conduct narrative pedagogy with future sport professionals and PE teachers, we are able to identify practical strategies for improving teaching practices. These strategies include moving away from authoritarian teaching styles based on power hierarchies, promoting more collaborative classroom dynamics and cultivating an ethic of care in which differences are not stigmatized but valued.
Ultimately in one of our recent publications , we propose a conceptualization of narrative pedagogy, which in my view, makes this approach more accessible to other professionals. This is important because it allows them to adapt and use it in ways that fit their own contexts and concerns, helping the field grow in diverse directions.
What are your future plans after your doctoral research journey?
For the moment, I plan to apply for a postdoctoral position to continue developing the work I started during my PhD and to explore where the path may lead. I have always enjoyed living abroad, so I wouldn’t rule out spending some time outside of Spain, and who knows, perhaps even returning to UBC!
Ultimately, Marta’s visit strengthened academic connections between UBC and the University of Valencia and opened the door for future collaborations between the two institutions. The School of Kinesiology extends its appreciation to Marta for her contributions during her stay and looks forward to continuing scholarly exchange.
