COACH DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COLLABORATIVE ACfION RESEARCH, A RUGBY COACH'S IMPLEMENTION OF GAME SENSE PEDAGOGY

Following on from the beginnings of interest in Action Research (AR) in the coaching literature this paper reports on a study that inquired into the capacity of AR to assist in a rugby coach’s attempts to introduce player-centred (Game Sense) pedagogy into his coaching through a modified approach to AR.  This approach, referred to here as Collaborative Action Research (CAR), involved equal collaboration between the coach as the practitioner, and the first author as what we refer to in this paper as the ‘sports pedagogue’ who brought pedagogical knowledge and a theoretical understanding to the partnership.  He also adopted the role of a ‘critical friend’ to assist the coach in his reflection as an essential aspect of a proposed new model for coach development, CAR.