He was President of the Casa da Praia-Centro Doutor João dos Santos (2016-2020). He was an effective member of the General Council of the University of Lisbon (2015-2017). President of the FMH (January 2010 to July2014), he is currently part of the Department of Sport and Health and the Motor Behaviour Laboratory.
Physical Education Instructor by Escola de Educação Física de Lisboa (1971); Graduated in Physical Education (1975) by Instituto Nacional de Educação Física, he was a teacher at Instituto Superior de Educação Física (1976 until 1984) and is currently a teacher at Faculdade de Motricidade Humana since 1985.
He teaches the disciplines of Motor Development in the different graduation courses of Sport Sciences, the discipline of Observation of Child Development in the Licentiate in Psychomotor Rehabilitation and the discipline of Physical Education I in the Masters in the Teaching of Physical Education. He is coordinator of the Master's Degree in Child Development.
He also held several management positions at ISEF and FMH: Vice-President of the Board of Directors; President of the Pedagogical Council; President of the Scientific Council (2 mandates); President of the Assembly of Representatives (3 mandates) and President of the Laboratory of Motor Development and Adaptation and President of the Department of Motor Sciences.
He was founder of the Physical Education Society, member of several scientific journals and has published several papers in scientific journals, book chapters and has participated in several seminars, congresses and training actions on Physical Education and Sport, motor development and teaching of physical education in the first levels of schooling and children's play and development.
The main lines of research are the study of the development of motor skills and the effects of teaching situations (1); play and child development (2); life routines and mobility independence in children and young people (3) and "Bullying" in school playgrounds (recess) (4).
He was a member of the Coordinating Council of the Institute for Child Support, having participated in the creation and coordination of the Play Activity Group. He was founder and president of the International Society for Child Studies (SIEC), and is the Portuguese representative of the International Play Association (IPA). He organised in Lisbon (1999) the "XIV IPA World Conference" (Play and Community), in 1997 the "20th International Congress" (Play and Society) of the ICCP (International Council of Children's Play) and in 2008 the 4th International Conference on Violence in School.
Between 1998-2003 he was coordinator of the Lisbon team (FMH) of the international project, "TMR Network Project - Nature and Prevention of Bullying: the causes and nature of bullying and social exclusion in schools, and ways of preventing them".
He is the author of the books "Jogo e Desenvolvimento da Criança", "Motricidade e Jogo na Infância", "Tópicos em desenvolvimento na Infância e adolescência", "Brincar em Cascais", "Bullying in Youth Sports Training: New Perspectives and Practical Strategies", "Liberem as Crianças" and "Inovar em Cascais: Active Body, Learning Brain".
