Teaching and Coaching 2 2012-13

Developing a Philosophy

Teaching and Coaching 2 Group Activities Rotation 4 Generic Lecture 4: Developing a Philosophy Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Dance Games Gymnastics Athletics

Semester 2 Programme of Study

Theme: Generic Lecture: Topics: Towards a Philosophy of Teaching and Coaching Developing a Philosophy of Learning Reflection and Learning Coach Behaviour Athlete First Winning Second Coaching and Teaching

Reflective commentary: (2000 words maximum word limit) Reflect on your developing philosophy as a teacher or a coach. Critically discuss how your knowledge of learning will underpin your practice.

Learning Objectives
Overall module aim: explore more advanced pedagogical knowledge and principles underpinning effective teaching and coaching. Intended Learning Outcome: begin to construct a philosophy for effective teaching and coaching.
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What is a coach?
A positive coach has the following traits: Puts Players First A positive coach wants to win but understands that he is an educator first. The development of his players is his top priority. Develops Character and Skills A coach seizes upon victories and defeats as teaching moments to build on self-confidence and positive character traits such as discipline, self-motivation, self-worth, and an excitement for life. Sets Realistic Goals She focuses on effort rather than outcome. She sets standards of continuous learning and improvement for the athletes. Creates a Partnership with the Players He develops appropriate relationships with the players based on respect, caring, and character. Treasures the Game A positive coach feels an obligation to the sport he coaches. She loves the sport and shares that love and enjoyment with the athletes. She respects opponents, recognizing that a worthy opponent will push her team to do its best.

Scenario: The ethics of player-orientated coaching

You are a coach of an under 8 seven a side football team. There are significant differences in ability within your squad of ten players and it is clear that the overall level of team performance depends on who is on the field of play at any given time. Though you want to ensure that all players have equal playing time, you know that doing so will mean losing games you could win. You wonder what the right thing to do is.
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Developing a coaching philosophy

Many coaches do not believe in the value of developing a coaching philosophy. They do not realize how a philosophy can have an impact on their daily coaching procedures and strategies. However, a coach's philosophy is actually a very practical matter. In fact, every coach, whether he's aware of it or not, follows certain principles based on his/or her own playing experience. Most of our basic philosophy comes from former teachers and coaches. This is a natural start because it is the approach with which we are most familiar and 7 comfortable.

A Coachs Philosophy
"When the game is over, I want your head up and show me that you did your best...This means to do the best you can do; no one can do more...You made that effort." "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." John Wooden (1910-2010)
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Life events can affect your coaching philosophy (Martens, (2012)

You hold certain beliefs and principles

You change, adjust or solidify your beliefs and principles

Events occur

You experience consequences to your actions

You respond based on your beliefs

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Why coach?
When establishing your coaching philosophy you should also consider your motives for becoming a coach. For example, why do you want to get into coaching? For yourself or for others, or a combination of the two? Are you more interested in the long-term development of riders or short-term success? Is your burning ambition to coach a team to win medals at the Olympic Games or simply to help riders improve their skill levels? (British Cycling).

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How Should I Coach?

There are many expectations of you as a coach. One of these is that you will behave safely, responsibly, ethically and equitably. The way in which you behave will reflect your general attitude to coaching and, in the modern coaching environment, there is a need to ensure that you conduct yourself in line with acceptable good practice.
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Factors which influence the way you coach

Your coaching motives The reasons why you take up coaching will undoubtedly affect how you coach. The athletes - if you adopt an athlete-centred approach, you should adapt your coaching style to meet the specific needs of your athletes. The situation - there are some situations in which a particular style of coaching is more appropriate than another. Your personality - coaches are human beings and therefore have individual personalities. Your knowledge - the more knowledgeable you are as a coach, the more options you will have available to you to plan 13 and deliver effective sessions.

Coaching Philosophy
A coaching philosophy may provide answers for difficult situations in the future, and will reflect your interpretation of what constitutes good coaching practice. It is based on your thoughts and actions regarding issues such as:
your role in relation to athletes and others associated with your sessions, such as parents, other coaches, officials and administrators the extent to which your athletes are responsible for their own behaviour and development, setting goals and contributing to the design of the programme the relative importance of the outcome of competition in relation to the long-term development and well-being of athletes the importance of adhering to the rules, the meaning of fair play and the use of banned substances to enhance performance the intensity of training and competition for children and young people the need for a single-minded commitment or the importance of balance in the athletes' lives.
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Coaching Philosophy
It is important for every coach to develop a personal coaching philosophy. Your coaching practice is strongly influenced by your coaching philosophy, which is what you feel is important in coaching. It is a set of guiding principles that reflects your personal beliefs, values, motives for coaching and your choice of how you will conduct yourself as a coach.
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Developing an Alternative Coaching Philosophy

Dr. Rainer Martens, a world renowned sport psychologist and publisher, explains that the development of a functional coaching philosophy involves two major tasks: become a student of your own feelings and who you are, and prioritize and delineate your coaching objectives
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Developing Self-Awareness
If you realize that you do not like everything about yourself, don't panic, nobody's perfect. The key factor is not for every coach to be a perfect individual. It is crucial, however, that the coach is honest with himself, and willing to take the appropriate steps to change for the better.
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Prioritization and Delineation of Coaching Objectives

It is an indisputable fact that children are their parents' and nation's most precious asset. It may seem natural to assume, therefore, that the majority of adults mean well for the kids. Yet, how often do we wish something for our child, and then step back and take the time to find out whether this is what the child really wants? More often than not, adults feel they know better, and thus, exclude children from the decision making process. Youth sport, unfortunately, is a prime 18 example of this phenomenon.

Coaching for kids

Fun is pivotal; if it's not 'fun,' young people won't play a sport. Skill development is a crucial aspect of fun; it is more important than winning even among the best athletes. The most rewarding challenges of sports are those that lead to selfknowledge. Intrinsic rewards (self-knowledge that grows out of self-competition) are more important in creating lifetime athletes than are extrinsic rewards (victory or attention from others).
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Teaching Philosophy
Within research investigating what PE teachers think their subject should be about, 'enjoyment' featured prominently and for the most part is an explicit outcome. This is held to be true regardless of the age, experience or gender of the teachers investigated.
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A philosophy for learning?

Where performance is the dominant success criteria, the acquisition of skill will feature most prominently within PE lessons and will be a central function of PE teaching. This philosophy will privilege the physical aspects of PE rather than the educational. For many the function of extracurricular activities is to develop physical competence within an individual or team performance and as such is seen to be an extension of curricular PE.
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The health discourse?

Finally, all teachers of PE recognise the role the subject has in teaching children about the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle, and for many, health promotion is seen, either implicitly or explicitly as the function of PE. The health ideology has risen in recent years to occupy a prominent place on the ideological high-ground of PE teachers' philosophies. However, whilst broadly aware of the requirements of the NCPE in relation to Health and Health Related Exercise (HRE), this remains a rather vague awareness, both of the rationale for HRE and of the manner in which it is required to be implemented according to the NCPE.
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Summary
A coaching philosophy is a comprehensive statement about beliefs and behaviours that will characterise the coachs practice. These beliefs and behaviours will either reflect a deeper set of values held by the coach, or will be recognition of a set of externally imposed expectations to which the coach feels the need to adhere. A coachs philosophy is a set of principles which guides their practice. A number of factors will influence these principles and therein, the overall philosophy of a coach: interpersonal behaviour ( degree of athlete autonomy, collaboration) direct intervention (communication, decision making, selection) social context (competition ethics, professional standards) nature of the coaching role (lifestyle control, objectives).
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Indicative Reading
Cassidy, T., Jones, R and Potrac, P. (2009) Understanding Sports Coaching: The social cultural and pedagogical foundations of coaching practice (2nd Edition) Abingdon: Routledge. Chapter 4: Developing a Coaching Philosophy (pp.55-64). Green, K. Exploring the Everyday Philosophies of Physical Education Teachers from a Sociological Perspective. In R. Bailey and D. Kirk (Eds.) (2009). The Routledge Physical Education Reader (Pp. 183-205). Hardman, A. and Jones, C. In R. l. Jones, M. Hughes and K. Kingston (2008) An Introduction to Sports Coaching: from science and theory to practice Abingdon: Routledge. Chapter 6: Philosophy for Coaches pp.64-72 Jenkins, S. (2010) In J. Lyle and C. Cushion Sports Coaching: Professionalisation and Practice Elsevier. Chapter 16 Coaching Philosophy (pp.233-242). Lyle, J. (2002) Sports Coaching Concepts: A Framework for Coaches Behaviour Abingdon: Routledge Lyle, J. (2002) Chapter 2 Coaching Philosophy and Coaching Behaviour (pp.25-46) in N. Cross, N. and J Lyle (Eds). The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice for Sport. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Martens, R. (2012) Successful Coaching (4th Edition) Champaign: Human Kinetics. Chapter 1: Developing Your Coaching Philosophy (pp.4-14).
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