Showing papers by "Robyn L. Jones published in 2003"

Coach Education and Continuing Professional Development: Experience and Learning to Coach

Abstract: Research over the last decade has demonstrated that it is experience and the observation of other coaches that remain the primary sources of knowledge for coaches. Despite this, coach education and continuing professional development fail to draw effectively on this experience. Using the work of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper attempts to understand how the “art of coaching” can be characterized as structured improvisation and how experience is crucial to structuring coaching practice. An examination of current coach education and assessment demonstrates that coaching practice viewed as a composite of knowledge has not specifically addressed the pervasive influence of experience on coaching practice. Drawing on experiences from the educational field, we examine how coach education and continuing professional development can utilize mentoring and critical reflection to situate learning in the practical experience of coaching.

Constructing expert knowledge: A case study of a top-level professional soccer coach

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth understanding of some of the ways in which one elite soccer coach has constructed, and continues to construct, his professional knowledge. By adopting a life-story approach the paper problematises the predominant rationality of much existing coaching research and questions the role of coach education programmes in the development of coaching knowledge. To accomplish this, the paper focuses on the life events of Steve Harrison, a 48-year-old professional soccer coach who currently works at Middlesborough Football Club. Specifically, it illustrates some of the dimensions of the dynamic social construction of coaching knowledge in a highly challenging, competitive environment. The paper is organised into three sections. In the first section, a rationale for a focus on coaches' knowledge is followed by a brief overview of the life-story method as used in this study. Second, Steve's story is presented, drawing upon excerpts from field-notes, interview transcr...

Sports Coaching Cultures: From Practice to Theory

Abstract: Background and Purpose Structure Who are the Coaches? Interview Framework and presentation of the coaches' stories The Theme Chapters

Constructing Images and Interpreting Realities The Case of the Black Soccer Player on Television

Abstract: Through its interpretation of events, and subsequent creation of social reality, mediated sport is often seen to be presented within certain ideological discourses which reflect existing power stru...