Bonnie Pang

Dr Bonnie Pang is a Lecturer in Health and Physical Education at Western Sydney University's School of Health Sciences. As a Hong Kong born Chinese-Australian, she brings a unique perspective to her work focusing on diversity and inclusion of Chinese youth, family and community voices in health and physical culture. Her research spans critical socio-cultural aspects of Health/Physical Education, physical culture, Chinese youth experiences, diversity and critical pedagogy, and healthy and inclusive communities.

Dr Pang's academic background includes a PhD in Health and Physical Education from the University of Queensland (2012), a Master of Cultural Studies from the University of Sydney (2016), a PGDip in Global Health from the University of Edinburgh (2014), and degrees from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her interdisciplinary training informs her research approach that bridges education, cultural studies, and global health perspectives.

Her research has created new knowledge about young Chinese Australian students' needs and experiences in Health and Physical Education. She has developed a 'heuristic of difference' model that moves beyond Euro-American theoretical frameworks to better understand Chinese students in this context. Dr Pang's work challenges deficit discourses related to Chinese students and advocates for a strengths-based approach that recognizes students' assets, identities, and experiences within diverse socio-cultural environments. She specializes in qualitative research but also employs a synthesis of critical interpretive ethnographic methods, participatory visual methods, and integration of Chinese and western theoretical perspectives.

Dr Pang is recognized for her contributions to the field, having received numerous scholarships and awards totaling approximately AUS $130,000 in funding. Her research aligns with Western Sydney University's strategic priorities and the Australian National Curriculum in Health and Physical Education, with potential to create regional, national, and global impact for diverse and Chinese young people in westernized countries.

She specializes in teaching areas of 'Youth Health and Wellbeing' and 'Physical Cultural Studies,' with a focus on educating young people to become reflective, critical, and holistic healthy persons who can enact meaningful changes in sites of inequality.

Scientific Awards and Recognition

• 2016 Leeds Beckett University Visiting Scholar
• 2016 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Visiting Scholar
• 2016 Western Sydney University Academic Development Program
• 2015 University of Western Sydney Early Career Researcher Grant
• 2014 University of Western Sydney Vice-Chancellor's Professional Development Scholarship
• 2011 AIESEP Young Scholar Award
• 2008-12 UQ Research Scholarship
• 2008 Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship
• 2007 Thomas HC Cheung Postgraduate Scholarship
• 2005 Kunkle and Pommerenke Grand Scholarship

Dr Pang's research has significant implications for policy and practice, aiming to inform local education and health policies as well as children's and women's rights frameworks. Her work impacts how we represent, position and research with Chinese students in Health and Physical Education contexts, thereby influencing how these students engage and perform their identities in westernized educational settings.