Making mentoring work: The need for rewiring epistemology

To help produce expert coaches at both participation and performance levels, a number of governing bodies have established coach mentoring systems. In light of the limited literature on coach mentoring, as well as the risks of superficial treatment by coach education systems, this paper therefore critically discusses the role of the mentor in coach development, the nature of the mentor-mentee relationship and, most specifically, how expertise in the mentee may best be developed. If mentors are to be effective in developing expert coaches then we consequently argue that a focus on personal epistemology is required. On this basis, we present a framework that conceptualizes mentee development on this level through a step by step progression, rather than unrealistic and unachievable leap toward expertise. Finally, we consider the resulting implications for practice and research with respect to one-on-one mentoring, communities of practice, and formal coach education

‘Put that in your fucking research’: reflexivity, ethnography and disability sport coaching

Reflexivity is continually called for as a marker of quality ethnographic research. In this paper we put reflexivity to ‘work’, providing a critical commentary on data generated through ethnographic fieldwork in high-performance disability sport. Drawing on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology, we situate the ethnographer in the field of disability sport, turning a reflexive lens onto the practices that are associated with occupying the role of coach and researcher simultaneously. We illustrate the centrality of researcher subjectivity – through the reflexive device of ‘crossing fields’ – as a productive resource for examining the social and intellectual unconscious embedded in the process of doing ethnographic research. In so doing, we provide a unique example of how reflexive practice can offer a rigorous, power-conscious reading of an ethnography of high-performance coaching in disability sport

Technology-enhanced learning in coaching: a review of literature

The purpose of this review was to address the central theme of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in coaching. “Technology-enhanced learning” (TEL), has become a widely-accepted term for describing the interface between digital technology and teaching. The aim was to consider the evidence of TEL in coach education, and where appropriate the wider educational field. The review sought to contribute to an evidence base of suggestions that can be promoted and developed inside and outside of coach development structures and interventions for TEL. In addition, the review sought to outline future areas for research, and to stimulate debate about the implementation and effectiveness of technology-enhanced coach learning. The review utilised a critical methodology, using principles of systematic review to gather evidence pertaining to TEL in coaching. From this number, and considering the inclusion criteria, 64 articles were included and reviewed in detail. The review revealed how despite the use of technology in coaching, teaching and learning the evidence of their efficacy is weak, and the use of TEL in coaching requires further longitudinal research that considers learner, pedagogy and pedagogic design in context, in order to understand its potential impact on optimising coach development pedagogies, and therefore, contributing to a discourse of effective coach learning

‘It’s not about disability, I want to win as many medals as possible’: The social construction of disability in high-performance coaching.

This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide a critical analysis of the social construction of disability in high-performance sport coaching. Data were generated using a qualitative cross-case comparative methodology, comprising 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in high-performance disability sport, and interviews with coaches and athletes from a cross-section of Paralympic sports. We discuss how in both cases ‘disability’ was assimilated into the ‘performance logic’ of the sporting field as a means of maximising symbolic capital. Furthermore, coaches were socialised into a prevailing legitimate culture in elite disability sport that was reflective of ableist, performance-focused and normative ideologies about disability. In this article we unpack the assumptions that underpin coaching in disability sport, and by extension use sport as a lens to problematise the construction of disability in specific social formations across coaching cultures. In so doing, we raise critical questions about the interrelation of disability and sport

PSM Contribution to democracy: News, editorial standards and informed citizenship

This chapter examines the questions that PSM face about their continued role and relevance against the backdrop of a fast-changing and increasingly commercialised media landscape. It examines the evidence about news produced by PSM and considers the implications for democracy in two ways. First, it draws on the latest academic scholarship to examine the evidence about whether PSM produce news that is distinctive from their market-driven rivals. Second, it considers how informative PSM coverage is compared to their commercial competitors. The chapter assesses the latest research to establish whether public or commercial media systems offer the most effective way of raising public knowledge about politics and public affairs

Legal liability of coaches: a UK perspective

Attracting more coaches is fundamental to achievement of the European dimension in sport and the further promotion of sport in the European Union. Given the emerging relationship between the law and sports coaching, recruitment of such volunteers may prove problematic. Accordingly, this article critically considers the legal liability of sports coaches. To inform this debate, the issue of negligent coaching is critically scrutinised from a UK perspective, uncovering a number of distinct legal vulnerabilities facing volunteer coaches. This includes the inherent limitations of ‘objective reasonableness’ when defining the standard of care required in the particular circumstances. More specifically, fuller analysis of the justification of customary practice, and the legal doctrine of in loco parentis, reveals important ramifications for all organisations providing training and support for coaches. In short, it is argued that proactively safeguarding coaches from professional liability should be a priority for national governing bodies, and, following the recently published EU Work Plan for Sport for 2014–2017, the Expert Group on Human Resource Management in Sport. Importantly, given the EU’s supporting, coordinating and supplementing competence in developing the European dimension in sport, a Commission funded project to address the implications of the ‘compensation culture’ in sport is also recommended

Disability sport coaching: "You just coach the athlete, not the disability"

Disability and parasport provide visibility and representation of disability and disabled people, providing a space where cultural understandings of ‘disability’ can be challenged and reshaped. As a result, disability and parasport is often assumed a ‘non-disabling’ site or associated with disability ‘empowerment’ and identity work, that is resisting and reconstructing negative disability-specific associations. The disability and parasport field, is therefore, replete with the encouragement and development of ‘athlete-first’ or ‘athlete-centred’ discourses. However, few critically interrogate these notions, and as a concept ‘athlete-centred’ has become ‘taken-for-granted’, is presented uncritically and enthusiastically accepted as a ‘good’ for disability and parasport. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to discourses on the social construction of disability in sport and through coaching. In particular, challenging the notion of ‘coach the athlete not the disability’ discourses as ‘empowerment’, highlighting the sometimes unintended consequences of well-intended actions that reside in in social formations where power relations mediate

Exploring how gifts are discovered and why talents develop in sport

This thesis has attempted to advance knowledge and understanding of giftedness and talent in sport. Difficulties concerning conceptual clarity and issues concerning the origin of talent have slowed the advancement of this field of inquiry. By recognising the divisions that have occurred within the literature due to approach and presupposition, Gagne's (2000) Differentiated Model Of Giftedness and Talent was applied to reorganise the literature and establish a more sturdy conceptual base from which to launch new research. From this view, it became more appropriate to divide and describe talent as the discovery of giftedness and the development of talent. By reorganising previous research with this distinction, previous questions became inappropriate and new avenues of approach were revealed. In the past, research had questioned how talents develop and how gifts could be used to predict talent. However, it now became appropriate to consider how gifts are discovered and why talent develops. To this end, phenomenological interviews were conducted with expert coaches, gifted individuals and their families in an effort to explore how gifts were discovered and why individuals committed themselves to developing talent. This approach facilitated the reconstruction of subjective experience which was necessary to explore the multidimensional and interdependent nature of talent. The results gave a deep insight into the views and experiences of people who were, or who understood giftedness and talent. To express these findings, a new empirically based model has been proposed to explain how gifts are discovered and why talents develop.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Coaching in disability sport: from practice to theory

Understanding the complexity of coaching in disability sport remains a pressing concern. While interest in disability sport continues to grow there is a relative lack of insight into coaching in this context, particularly research which illustrates a ‘grounded’ perspective on practice. As a result, coaching in disability sport is critically under-theorised, and we know comparatively little of the nature of coaching in different disability sport contexts (Townsend, Smith & Cushion, 2016). There have been longstanding calls to understand coaches’ learning and development in disability sport (DePauw, 1986), and as a result there is a small, but growing, body of literature which has begun to explore the unique considerations of coaching in disability sport. Such considerations include the informal and unstructured nature of coach learning (e.g. McMaster, Culver & Werthner, 2012; Duarte & Culver, 2014; Taylor, Werthner & Culver, 2014; Taylor, Werthner, Culver & Callary, 2015), the lack of disability-specific coach education (e.g. Cregan, Bloom & Reid, 2007; Douglas et al., 2016; Douglas & Hardin, 2014), and the complex and multifaceted role of coaches in disability contexts (e.g. Tawse, Bloom, Sabiston & Reid, 2012; DePauw & Gavron, 1991), all of which invite and encourage comparisons with the narrative presented below. More recent research however, has challenged the lack of critical insight in disability coaching research (e.g. Townsend et al., 2016), arguing that the research is characterised by a normative focus that downplays the inter-connections between disability and cultural contexts such as sport. The lack of consideration of disability is an important theoretical ‘gap’, as Smith and Bundon (2016) argue, having a grasp on how disability is explained and understood is vital for individuals working with disabled people in any context, especially in coaching where practice is fundamentally shaped by our working understanding of disability (cf. DePauw, 2000). It is the purpose of this chapter, then, to encourage practitioners and researchers to examine their understandings of disability in the first instance, as a basis for developing coaching practice. What follows are reflections from Derek Morgan, Head Coach of the England Learning Disability Cricket squad, but, first, some context about the team

The future of journalism: risks, threats and opportunities

Today journalism, as an industry and a profession, is characterised by everincreasing turbulence and change, for better and for worse. Profound transformations affect every aspect of the institution, including the economic health of journalism, the conditions and self-understandings of its practitioners, its ability to serve as a watchdog on concentrations of power, its engagement with and relationship to its audience, and its future prospects. This emerging and dynamic ecology can be viewed as a unique constellation of challenges and opportunities. For these reasons, the fifth Future of Journalism conference, held in Cardiff on 10–11 September 2015, focused on the theme of Risks, Threats and Opportunities. The conference saw over 120 papers from around the world presented across 34 sessions, with keynote speeches from Dan Gillmor, Stephen Reese and Jean Seaton. This introduction briefly outlines some of these key risks, threats and opportunities, drawing on work presented at the conference, as well as insights from the field of journal- ism studies