Reclaiming the ‘competent’ practitioner: furthering the case for the practically wise coach (original) (raw)
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Recent attempts to ‘decode’ the everyday actions of coaches have furthered the case for sports coaching as a detailed site of ‘work’. Adhering to Harold Garfinkel’s ethnomethodological project, the aim of this article is to deconstruct contextual actors’ interactions, paying specific attention to the conditions under which such behaviours occur. The article thus explores the dominant taken-for-granted social rules evident at Bayside Rovers Football F.C. (pseudonym), a semi-professional football club. A 10-month ethnomethodologically informed ethnography was used to observe, participate in and describe the Club’s everyday practices. The findings comprise two principal ‘codes’ through which the work of the Club was manifest: ‘to play well’ and ‘fitting-in’. In turn, Garfinkel’s writings are used as a ‘respecification’ of some fundamental aspects of coaches’ ‘unnoticed’ work and the social rules that guide them. The broader value of this article not only lies in its detailed presentati...
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A critical analysis of the conceptualisation of ‘coaching philosophy’'
Abstract The aim of this paper was to critically review existing literature relating to, and critically analyse current conceptualisations of, ‘coaching philosophy’. The review reveals a bewildering approach to definitions, terms and frameworks that have limited explanation and reveal a lack of conceptual clarity. It is argued that rather than provide clarification and understanding the existing literature conflates coaching rhetoric and ideology with coaching philosophy and serves to reproduce existing coaching discourse rather than explain coaching practice. The paper problematises the unquestioned assumptions currently underpinning ‘coaching philosophy’; namely the overemphasis of coaches’ agency and reflexivity, the downplaying of the significance of social structure on coaches’ dispositions and the acceptance that coaching practice is an entirely conscious activity. The paper argues for an alternative philosophy of coaching that uses philosophic thinking to help coaches question existing ideology, and critically evaluate the assumptions and beliefs underpinning their practice. Keywords: Coaching philosophy, philosophical enquiry, coach education, coaching, critical analysis, ideology, coaching discourse.
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The significance of this paper lies in examining how sports coaches construct and negotiate their professional sense making; what Goffman (1971) described as the practices engaged in to manage 'ugly' interpretations. Using the work of Garfinkel (1967) and Goffman (1971), the article pays attention to coaches' 'ethno-methods'; that is, the background knowledge and practical competency employed in forming and maintaining social order. In doing so, the explanatory accounts of Christian (an author who supported the co-construction of this work), a coach, collected via recorded interviews over the course of a 3-month period during a competitive season are used to explore and analyse the procedures used to 'achieve coherence' in what he did. The analysis employed Garfinkel's (1967) description of 'artful practices' and related concepts of 'self repair' to demonstrate the fundamental interactional 'work' done by Christian, not only to understand why he did what he did, but also how he would 'get things done' in future. Such analysis highlights the mundane routines of coaching in particular, and work settings in general, to reveal the backstage manufacturing individuals 'do' to maintain a sense of 'practical objectivity' to their continual inferences, judgements and justifications of practice.
Activity theory, complexity and sports coaching: an epistemology for a discipline
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The aim of this article is twofold. Firstly, it is to advance the case for Activity Theory (AT) as a credible and alternative lens to view and research sports coaching. Secondly, it is to position this assertion within the wider debate about the epistemology of coaching. Following a framing introduction, a more comprehensive review of the development and current conceptualisation of AT is given. Here, AT's evolution through three distinct phases and related theorists, namely Vygotsky, Leont'ev and Engeström, is initially traced. This gives way to a more detailed explanation of AT's principal conceptual components, including 'object', 'subject', 'tools' (mediating artefacts), 'rules', a 'community' and a 'division of labour'. An example is then presented from empirical work illustrating how AT can be used as a means to research sports coaching. The penultimate section locates such thinking within coaching's current 'epistemological debate; arguing that the coaching 'self' is not an autonomous individual, but a relative part of social and cultural arrangements. Finally, a conclusion summarises the main points made, particularly in terms in presenting the grounding constructivist epistemology of AT as a potential way forward for sports coaching.