Critical considerations of Level 4 coach education in the UK: A theoretical and empirical study

Abstract

Within the last half a century the developments within the sporting landscape have been coupled with changes in the political sphere and - most recently - the successful bid to host the London 2012 Olympics Games. An incidental effect of such changes emphasised the fundamental role of coach education and development in the United Kingdom (UK) and stressed the need to up skill the coaching workforce. Accordingly, the primary aim in conducting this research was to investigate the effectiveness and appropriateness of the current coach education system for elite coaches (Level 4); to establish what best facilitates coach learning.
In order to do so, I undertook a literature review to examine the applicability of Knowles (1970) andragogical principles and how - if at all - these principles could inform programme design and subsequent coach learning. The contributions of formal, informal and non-formal educative situations were considered alongside the currently prescribed approach - the UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC). Moreover, I further considered the contributions of literature around social milieus; epistemology; contextualisation and professional thinking which provided further interesting contrasts with the current system and raised a number of questions with regards to how best effective learning environments for Level 4 coaches are created.
In order to offer an empirical comparison to the literature, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 Level 4 coaches, which were then thematically analysed using NVivo 10. The primary research method employed was deductive and inductive reasoning. Consideration of the results assessed to what extent the current educative provision for high level coaches met both the theoretically defined and client perceived needs.