RESEARCH & FACULTY
Robert Schinke
Robert Schinke
Full ProfessorHuman Kinetics
Professional Schools
1045, 2151
F534
Sudbury Campus
Robert Schinke, a former equestrian, competed in four North and South American Junior Championships from 1983-1987. In his last year as a junior, Robert was selected to Canada’s 1987 Pan-American Games Team. In 1992, Robert began his graduate studies in Kinesiology (Ottawa University), and later earned a Doctorate in Education (University of Alberta) and completed a Post-doctoral year in Positive Psychology (University of Pennsylvania), supervised by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. In 2002 Robert joined the School of Human Kinetics at Laurentian University and recently became a full professor. His publications include four authored books and six co-edited textbooks, including “Cultural Sport Psychology,” the “Cultural Turn in Sport Psychology,” and “Contemporary Sport Psychology.” Robert has co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and guest co-edited the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (Autumn, 2009), the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (Autumn, 2011), the Journal of Sport and Social Issues (Autumn, 2011), and at present he is guest co-editing Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. He is the Editor of Athletic Insight an Associate Editor for the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, and an editorial board member for the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, and Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health. Robert has been awarded the Canadian Sport Science Research Award for Community Research resulting from his health promotion work with Indigenous youth, and a Canada Research Chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity. A former AASP student representative, Robert has just completed his term as Chair of AASP’s Ethics Committee. Since 2000 he has worked extensively with world champion professional boxers featured on HBO.
- Post Doctoral Training in Positive Psychology - University of Pennsylvania
- Doctor of education - University of Alberta
- Masters of Human Kinetics - University of Ottawa
Culturally-sensitive approaches have long been lacking among sport psychologists. They have treated all athletes based on a universal approach developed by mainstream learning institutions. The result has been a lack of understanding of the cultural identities of athletes.
Dr. Robert Schinke, Canada Research Chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity, has been working with local reserves in Northern Ontario to develop culturally-relevant approaches to motivate Aboriginal athletes. Their work has uncovered the personal, coaching and community social support practices of indigenous athletes at the community and elite levels.
As a result, Schinke anticipates that more Canadian Aboriginal youth will remain active in sport and physical activity, offsetting such health challenges as diabetes, suicide and substance abuse.
Schinke is also investigating the sport-related challenges new Canadians experience in the country’s sport system. More than 15 per cent of Canadian Olympians are immigrants, many of whom experience cultural assimilation challenges, including unfamiliar coaching practices. He is exploring how the national sport system can better understand the needs of immigrant athletes.
The answers that Schinke provides may completely change the way we look at sport and recreation services and transform the cultural sensitivity of sport offerings in Canada and abroad.
- 2012 Canadian Sport Science Research Award High Performance Category (co-author)
- 2010 Canadian Sport Science Research Award Community Category (first author)
- Canada Research Chair
