Emeritus Professor John Cheffers and Professor Ken Hawkins, Chief General Manager International Campuses, presented their joint paper “Force and Persuasion” at the recent 13th Commonwealth International Sports Conference held in Melbourne.

The Conference brings together members of the academic community, professional organisations and practitioners from the sports industry to discuss sport leadership and management, sport science and medicine, sport coaching and physical education, within the general theme “People, Participation and Performance”.

The paper was based on Alfred North Whitehead in his epic text “Adventures of Ideas” which devoted a chapter to force and persuasion. The presentation wakes up these critical elements as they apply to sports management, physical education teaching, and leadership.

The paper discusses Plato’s, Fromm’s and Whitehead’s theories and Jane Austen’s literary input as compelling cases for employing persuasion instead of force.

Photo: Emeritus Professor John Cheffers and Professor Ken Hawkins.