Dr. John Valentine believes that every student has different needs in the classroom, and aims to ensure that everyone who attends his classes has all that they need to succeed.

The associate professor of Allied Health and Human Performance first became involved with Inclusive Education in the very first class he taught in his career nearly 30 years ago.

“It was a really interesting experience. I think I learned much more than the student did, and the other students were so supportive,” says Dr. Valentine. 

He’s continued working closely with Inclusive Education ever since, ensuring that every student who comes into his classroom is welcomed and respected. “People who have intellectual challenges are a small part of diversity. There are lots of different people, and there are many ways that they are diverse. And they can all be included in the classroom.”

The 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient says that part of ensuring student success is gearing the course material to students’ needs. He refers to his teaching style as student-focused, rather than content-driven.

“I've taught for over 25 years, but every year, the class is a little bit different. It's changed from just content dissemination to really figuring out who your audience is,” he explains. “Making the material relevant adds to the students’ experience so that they will be interested, ideally they'll stay awake and they’ll be excited about doing some assignments. The more interested they are, the more knowledge they’ll retain.”

As part of his efforts to set students up for success, Dr. Valentine created one seminar for each of the two years in the Bachelor of Physical Education Transfer program. The first-year seminar focuses on producing a well-rounded research paper so students’ second-year writing and projects are stronger.

The second-year seminar brings in experts and professionals in careers students might be considering to share their experiences and answer student questions.

“We would often have the students requesting more seminars. Usually students don't want more classes, but these students would say, ‘we didn't get a chance to hear from this person or this type of career, can we have some more of these?’”

His expertise in his field isn’t just the result of his decades-spanning career as a professor. Dr. Valentine was also the chair of his department for 10 years before he stepped back to focus on teaching and research.

A point of pride from his time as chair, he says, was ensuring that he had the right faculty on board. “We had a great group of instructors. We were really cohesive, and we got along really well with the students.”

Outside of teaching, Dr. Valentine incorporates his love of sport and physical fitness into his research. He’s currently working with the University of Tennessee Press to publish his studies on Indigenous sport and the experiences of African-American athletes coming to Canada. The book will be part of their Sports & Popular Culture book series.