Exploring aquatic readiness, water competence and developmentally appropriate aquatic practices 
13 March 2012
3.30pm
Venue: J2 Lecture Theatre, Gate 3, 74 Epsom Ave, Epsom, Auckland (View map). Free Parking available at Gate 2
Host: The School of Critical Studies in Education
Contact info: Please register your interest by Monday 12 March to Kevin Moran
The School of Critical Studies in Education invites you to a presentation by Professor Stephen Langendorfer
This presentation addresses aquatic motor skill acquisition through a developmental perspective as well as from the constraints model in dynamical systems theory. My premise is that concepts from these fields may provide new ways to think about the process by which humans acquire movements used in both water and land environments. I invite participants to consider how the term “swimming ability” differs fundamentally from “swimming skill” and from the newer concept of “water competence.” The notion of developmentally appropriate aquatic practice (DAAP) has implications for the learning and teaching of psychomotor tasks especially those uniquely learned in the water. The discussion may provide insights into examining relationships between “teaching swimming” and “preventing drowning.”
Dr. Stephen J. Langendorfer is Professor of Kinesiology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA. An expert in motor development, measurement, and developmental aquatics, Dr. Langendorfer studies the coordination and control of aquatic movement changes from a dynamical developmental perspective. He is the author of many scholarly articles, chapters, and presentations and is the recipient of a number of national and international honors and awards for his aquatic contributions. He serves as the founding editor for the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education (IJARE). His text, Aquatic readiness: Developing water competence in young children is under contract for a second lifespan edition.
Dr. Langendorfer holds academic degrees from SUNY Cortland, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Over his professional career, he has taught at the Lansing (NY) Central Schools, SUNY Cortland, Kent State University, and the University of Wisconsin while serving in several administrative positions as department chair, general education director, and laboratory director. He currently is a member of the aquatic sub-council within the prestigious Scientific Advisory Council of the American Red Cross. He holds instructor certifications from the American Red Cross and the American Canoeing Association and is a proud member of the Bowling Green Masters swim team, the League of American Bicyclists, and the Black Swamp Bicycling Society. In addition to Masters swimming, he enjoys daily year-round cycling and canoeing in New York State’s Adirondack Preserve. His wife, Jeanne, and he together have proudly raised their three grown children, Anne, Caroline, and Patrick.
