EVALUATING HOW COACH EDUCATION PREPARES YOU TO COACH: A REFLECTIVE INQUIRY INTO THE USE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF REFLECTION IN COACH EDUCATION

Abstract

This study looks to evaluate coach education and its use of reflective practice; it aims to do this by comparing reflections of both NGB Athletics level one, and academic related level 3 practical coaching sessions. The courses will be evaluated in three categories: frequency and use of reflection, group learning, and personal development. As a method for data collection the author used reflective inquiry in order to gain a better understanding of what was experienced in each course. The reflections obtained within the study discuss the use of various coach development theories, for example Sfard’s (1988) metaphors of learning, Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development, and Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice. Findings from the study heavily support the combination of communities of practice and reflection, to produce new knowledge and improve future practice.