The Sports Coach as Educator

1. The Sports Coach as Educator Coach Development Day Cedars Coaching Academy 19th April 2010 David Pears

2. Professor Robyn Jones - UWIC Routledge ISBN 978-0415367608

3. Workshop Aims • 1) To examine the concept of the sports coach as an educator, • 2) To examine how this concept and some of the related knowledge can/may impact on your coaching, • 3)To (hopefully) meet your expressed needs.

4. Task • To help me get to know you quickly and perhaps for you to meet each other – please complete the task I am about to set entitled – ‘Coat of Arms’.

5. What I do Qualifications Academic Practical David Pears

6. What do you hope to get out of this workshop? (Your expressed needs)

7. Task • Write down a drill / practice / game that you commonly use in your coaching. You only have 2 minutes, but try to be as detailed as possible – organisation, progressions etc. • We’ll come back to this later.

8. What makes a good coach? • What makes a good teacher? • Any similarities?

9. Pedagogy for Coaches • The best coaches are good teachers – Sir Clive Woodward. Cain (2004) Do you agree / disagree? Why?

10. Introduction/Rationale • Teaching and coaching seen as different in the past • PE – Education / Learning • Sport/Coaching – Performance / Physical activity

11. Pedagogy • ‘any conscious activity by one person designed to enhance learning in another.’ Watkins & Mortimer (1999) • Therefore pedagogy seen as outside of the coaching process. Jones (2006).

12. However… • Coaching…establishing a learning environment to ‘grow’ players • Coaching individuals to understand something • Coaching really is a form of teaching as it primarily involves communicating, learning and maintaining positive relationships with those being taught. • from Jones et al. (2004)

13. Also… • Gilbert & Trudel (2001) found • that good coaches act like good teachers. • They care about those over whom they have responsibility and constantly engage in reflection on what they do and how they do it. • Jones (2006) therefore suggests that “athlete learning as opposed to mechanistic performance is at the heart of coaching” and that pedagogic theory could play a central role in coaching and coach ed.

14. Questions • Do we all agree that there are many similarities between coaches and teachers? • Do we all agree that learning is at the heart of coaching?

15. Teaching Styles • The term itself has no agreed definition but the more widely accepted definitions refer to it as "a set of teaching tactics" (Galton et al, 1980) "instructional format" (Siedentop, 1991). • In PE circles the definition of it is "the general pattern created by using a particular set of strategies" (BAALPE, 1989, p.9).

16. Teaching Styles • Mosston and Ashworth (2002) - Spectrum of Teaching Styles. • A B C D E F G H I J • A B C D E F G H I J Teacher’s decisions Learner’s decisions

17. Teaching and learning is based on decision making – What to teach/learn? when to teach/learn? how to present/acquire the ideas/skills etc? At one end of the spectrum the teacher makes all of the decisions at the other end, the learner. In between are a range of styles that can be used.

18. Style ACommand - Coach makes all decisions • Style BPractice - Athletes carry out coach-prescribed tasks • Style CReciprocal - Athletes work in pairs: one performs, the other provides feedback • Style DSelf-check - Athletes assess their own performance against set criteria • Style EInclusion – Coach-planned. Coach provides alternative levels of difficulty for athlete.

19. Style FGuided Discovery – Coach plans a target and leads the athletes to discover it. • Style GConvergent Discovery - Coach presents a problem and athletes provide the correct solution. • Style HDivergent Discovery – Coach presents a problem and athletes find their own solution. • Style IIndividual Programme - Coach determines content. Athlete plans the programme. • Style JLearner Initiated – Athlete takes full responsibility for the learning process.

20. Your coaching • Which of these do you recognise from your coaching?

21. Task • In groups of 3-5 complete the task I am about to give you. • You have 5 minutes. • We will then discuss your answers.

22. BTW • What did you talk about? • How did you decide? • What sort of teaching style did I use?

23. Discussion • Do you think there might be particular sports or activities that are better suited to one (or more) of the identified styles in the spectrum? • If so, why is this?

24. Application • Metzler (2000) • A particular style is selected based on; • The intended learning outcomes • The teaching context and environment • The learner’s developmental stage

25. NB • No style is right or wrong • The framework is meant to enable understanding and improve practice • A pick and mix approach is advocated • However, most effective learning takes place at the learner-led end of the spectrum.

26. BSc Sport Science and Coaching at UoB • Which teaching / coaching style do we advocate? • Pick and mix – but… • Most effective learning takes place at the learner-led end of the spectrum. • How do we make this happen?

27. Whole Learning (Kay, 2003) • The following domains must be developed; • Physical • Social • Affective • Cognitive

28. FA Learning (The Football Association) • The Football Association advocate a similar approach. • 4 corners of development • Physical • Technical • Social • Psychological

29. Whole Learning (Kay, 2003) • The following domains must be developed; • Physical • Social • Affective • Cognitive inc. Technical Psychological

30. Learning Styles • Visual – learn by seeing • Audio – learn by hearing • Kinaesthetic – learn by feeling (doing) • We all learn using all styles, but one or more are often preferred.

31. Who would you consider to be more intelligent?

32. Multiple Intelligences • To maximise learning we need to take into consideration learners’ intelligences. • This is also closely linked to learning styles. • If you are working with a group you should try to ‘hit’ all intelligences and learning styles. • BTW – What about this workshop? – up to now which teaching / learning styles did I consider?

33. Motivational Climate • Task and ego-goal involvement states are created from goal orientations and the motivational climate (adapted from Harwood and Biddle, 2002, p. 60). Achievement Goal Orientation Achievement Goal State Perceived Motivational Climate

34. Achievement Goal Theory • Achievement Goal Theory centres on the supposition that motivation should be viewed in terms of individual perception and that individuals judge or define success and competence in different ways.

35. Maehr and Nicholls, (1980, p 228) suggest that, “…success and failure are not concrete events. They are psychological states consequent on perception of reaching or not reaching goals.” These judgements or definitions are critical antecedents in the motivational process.

36. Goal perspectives are divided into two types; • task-oriented goals • and ego-oriented goals (Nicholls, 1984, 1989).

37. Achievement Goal Orientation • Task Orientation - Maehr and Nicholls, (1980, p239) suggest that task-oriented goals reflect a perception of success where, “… the primary goal is to produce an adequate product or to solve a problem for its own sake rather than to demonstrate ability.” Perceptions of success are therefore based on behaviours such as completion of tasks, gaining new skills or knowledge, showing effort, or giving of their best. [Self referenced] • Ego Orientation - However, Maehr and Nicholls, (1980, p237) stated that ego-oriented goals reflect a perception of success where, “… the goal of the behaviour is to maximise the subjective probability of attributing high ability to oneself.” Perceptions of competence in relation to these goals are concerned with social comparisons of one’s ability with others. [Comparative]

38. Motivational Climate • We can affect the motivational climate and therefore the goal state Achievement Goal Orientation Achievement Goal State Perceived Motivational Climate • (adapted from Harwood and Biddle, 2002, p. 60).

39. How do we create a self referenced (mastery) climate? • Task – self referenced goals, differentiated • Authority – give responsibility, leadership • Recognition – private recognition of improvement and effort • Grouping – mixed ability & cooperative groups • Evaluation – self referenced, private • Time – flexible time for task completion

40. How do we create a self referenced (mastery) climate? • Task – self referenced goals, differentiated • Authority – give responsibility, leadership • Recognition – private recognition of improvement and effort • Grouping – mixed ability & cooperative groups • Evaluation – self referenced, private • Time – flexible time for task completion

41. Link to Mosston & Ashworth • Which teaching styles would help us with this TARGET approach? • Remember - self referenced, differentiated, responsibility, leadership, private recognition, mixed ability, cooperative and flexible were used on the previous slide.

42. What does the research say? • Research has shown that reciprocal and guided discovery styles of teaching/coaching result in a more mastery-focused TARGET behaviours and lead to enhanced athlete motivation. • Morgan et al. (2005b)

43. Style ACommand - Coach makes all decisions • Style BPractice - Athletes carry out coach-prescribed tasks • Style CReciprocal - Athletes work in pairs: one performs, the other provides feedback • Style DSelf-check - Athletes assess their own performance against set criteria • Style EInclusion – Coach-planned. Coach provides alternative levels of difficulty for athlete. • Style FGuided Discovery – Coach plans a target and leads the athletes to discover it. • Style GConvergent Discovery - Coach presents a problem and athletes provide the correct solution. • Style HDivergent Discovery – Coach presents a problem and athletes find their own solution. • Style IIndividual Programme - Coach determines content. Athlete plans the programme. • Style JLearner Initiated – Athlete takes full responsibility for the learning process.

44. Style ACommand - Coach makes all decisions • Style BPractice - Athletes carry out coach-prescribed tasks • Style CReciprocal - Athletes work in pairs: one performs, the other provides feedback • Style DSelf-check - Athletes assess their own performance against set criteria • Style EInclusion – Coach-planned. Coach provides alternative levels of difficulty for athlete. • Style FGuided Discovery – Coach plans a target and leads the athletes to discover it. • Style GConvergent Discovery - Coach presents a problem and athletes provide the correct solution. • Style HDivergent Discovery – Coach presents a problem and athletes findtheir own solution. • Style IIndividual Programme - Coach determines content. Athlete plans the programme. • Style JLearner Initiated – Athlete takes full responsibility for the learning process.

45. Teaching Games for Understanding (TGFU) “The TGFU approach is described by Bunker and Thorpe (1986) as game centered games teaching where the WHY of game playing is taught before the HOW of skills to play the game. … This appreciation invites the children to realise tactical awareness of how to play a game to gain an advantage over their opponents. With such a tactical awareness children are capable of making appropriate decisions about "what to do" and "how to do it." For children, increased decision making encourages them to become more aware of the possibilities innate in their game playing.” Hopper (1998)

46. Task • Remember the drill / practice / game that you commonly use in your coaching. • Can we spend 10 minutes looking at this again? Can we try to apply some of what we have covered today?

47. FINAL POINTS • Coaching is about teaching and learning and therefore the key concepts of pedagogy apply equally as much to coaching as they do to PE or any other branch of education. • This is one (albeit long) workshop – pedagogy is a massive subject. There is much more out there. • If we understand how people learn and how we can play a part in that then we can hopefully make that learning most effective. This knowledge will help us to select the most appropriate teaching styles for example.

48. Take Home Messages – your contribution

49. Bibliography British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education (1989). Teaching and Learning Strategies in Physical Education.Leeds: White Line Press. Cain, N. (2004) Question time for coaches: The six men plotting their countries’ fortunes on the best and worst of their jobs. The Sunday Times, Sport Section, February 8th, p19. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article1014385.ece Galton, M., Simon, B. & Croll, P. (1980) Inside the Primary Classroom. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

50. Gilbert, W., & Trudel, P. (2001). Learning to coach through experience: Reflection in model youth sport coaches. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 21, 16-34. Harwood, C., & Biddle, S. (2002) The application of achievement goal theory in youth sport. In I. Cockerill (Ed.), Solutions in Sport Psychology. London: Thomson. Jones, R.L. (2006).How can educational concepts inform sports coaching? In R.L. Jones (Ed.) The Sports Coach as educator: Reconceptualising sports coaching. London: Routledge.