Reflection in Coach Education: The Case of the National Governing Body Coaching Certificate

Research frequently demonstrates that coaches learn by reflecting on practical coaching experience (Gilbert & Trudel, 2001), hence both reflection and experience have been identified as essential elements of coach education (Cushion, Armour, & Jones, 2003). The case being studied was a United Kingdom (UK) National Governing Body (NGB) in the process of developing a coach education program. The purpose of this study was to empirically explore the use of reflection as a conceptual underpinning to connect and understand coach education, theory, and practice. Findings suggest that the curriculum could promote reflective practice, albeit in a largely decontextualized learning environment. Future research should attempt to directly measure, in situ, the impact of such courses on coaching knowledge and coaching practice.

[1]  D. Kolb.  Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[2]  John R. Anderson.  Acquisition of cognitive skill. , 1982 .

[3]  David Gilbourne,et al.  Developing the Reflective Sports Coach: A study exploring the processes of reflective practice within a higher education coaching programme , 2001 .

[4]  Pierre Trudel,et al.  Role of the Coach: How Model Youth Team Sport Coaches Frame Their Roles , 2004 .

[5]  H. Lawson.  Dominant Discourses, Problem Setting, and Teacher Education Pedagogies: A Critique , 1993 .

[6]  John Giannini,et al.  Educational Needs of Elite U.S. National Team, Pan American, and Olympic Coaches , 1990 .

[7]  P. Wesley,et al.  Communities of Practice: Connecting What We Know with What We Do , 2003 .

[8]  Alan Bryman,et al.  Developments in qualitative data analysis: an introduction , 2002 .

[9]  Gretchen B. Rossman,et al.  Designing qualitative research, 3rd ed. , 1999 .

[10]  C. Cushion.  The coaching process in professional youth football: An ethnography of practice , 2001 .

[11]  M. Patton.  Qualitative research & evaluation methods , 2002 .

[12]  Tania Cassidy,et al.  Understanding Sports Coaching: The Social, Cultural and Pedagogical Foundations of Coaching Practice , 2004 .

[13]  Berth Danermark,et al.  Explaining Society , 2001 .

[14]  N. Denzin.  The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods , 1977 .

[15]  D. Schoen,et al.  The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action , 1985 .

[16]  Ian Jones,et al.  Research methods for sport studies. , 2004 .

[17]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[18]  Christopher J. Cushion,et al.  Coach Education and Continuing Professional Development: Experience and Learning to Coach , 2003 .

[19]  John Lyle,et al.  Sports Coaching Concepts: A Framework for Coaches' Behaviour , 2002 .