DISCUSSION BOARD

As a coach my learning has been through coach education programmes run by SCUK and ArcheryGB. Attending regional and national coaching confernces. Working with more eperienced/senior coaches, use of online resources/video via the internet, direct coaching experience and reading.

Some of my learning was immediate and transforming other learning became embeded after reflection over a longer timescale.

I passed my Teachers Diploma in France in 2002 which gave me the base to teach, I did not go into full-time teaching straight away as I was still dancing and it was not until passed my next certificate that I started to teach full-time. By dancing professionally for 20 years and  coaching different professional dancers  I thought I was ready to teach children, however the day I was closed in a studio with ten year olds I realised I had a lot to learn.

The first six years of teaching were very hard, it took me along time to stop dancing, being part of a group was a huge part of my life, I entered a ballet company when I was 17 and left when I was 40, I was always supported by a group. To find myself alone in the studio  took along time to get over and find my own confidence in my work. I also accepted to work in a situation that was not ideal and I knew from the first day I had made a mistake in accepting the first two jobs I took. I have learnt from that mistake.

I felt that even though I had my teaching certificates in France there was a lot missing in my knowledge of how to approach pedagogy and I decided to do a BA in Dance Education. This gave me the knowledge I was looking for, as not only was it about how to teaching but it was also about how to understand children and their different development periods.

In has only been in the last year I have started to feel confident in the studio. Talking with colleagues helps me, as well as looking for new ways to give the same material,  their is a lot of repeating the same step in dance, and for a young student this can become very tedious.

I do not use the internet for teaching purposes unless I know the teacher and am interested in their work. One day I was teaching a solo to a group of students and I proposed that I film myself and post it on Youtube so they could have a reference to watch when they rehearsed at home. I forgot to take off the option from the post where you post your comments, I had every Tom, Dick and Harry commenting on my solo, one even telling me that I was not good enough to be a professional but keep working hard anyhow (I had just stopped dancing, and was still in a good shape). It made me realise that anyone can be a professional on the net, so I have become wary, I do not use it unless it comes from a reliable source.

So far in all I have done to be a teacher I have learnt that patience is the greatest virtue, every student develops differently so each one needs different needs. This is difficult as in dance we mostly teach children collectively but by making sure each student gets individual feedback I hope i am helping them individually. There are a lot of other things like how to make a lesson plan etc, but holistically I realise there is a lot the students needs so can they can develop to their own full potential. Even so sometimes their full potential is difficult to accept as a teacher, when you see a student striving so hard and you know that they will never make it professionally and you see they have reached their maximum potential their is a time that intervention is needed. However, usually they realize themselves that it is not possible and change their focus, however if the parents are not realistic this poses another problem.

When I was a dancer I was always looking at different ways to approach a ballet or a step, especially when I was older and the work became difficult. Now as a teacher I realise that I need to approach teaching the same way, by doing this I can re-evaluate how I approach different problems and continue to improve my skills. However it all hurts, and if someone could give me a new knee, I would really appreciate it.

Regards to all.

A big part of my view on S&C came from observing one coach and being mentored by him. He was the one that actually got me started on S&C. I owe a huge amount to him and he is an extremely well regarded S&C coach within the UK and internationally, however I'm always keen to understand other people's coaching philosophies, in the general sense and S&C specific. This is because I learned so much from one coach I think and approach things pretty much the same way, meaning I have little challenges or objections to my way of thinking, something I see as hugely important to growth, even if I don't change my mind it would force me to analyse more closely why I'm doing what that person objects to.

In terms of technical problem solving I've learnt a lot through my own experience. Most of the technical faults the athletes I coach have, at some point I've had as well, which means I know what it feels like, how to fix it, and what it feels like when corrected. Knowing what faults feel like is a big advantage because one technical fault can look very like another, with the clearest difference being how it feels.

Coach education programmes have been useful to a point, but don't seem to help much after a certain experience or knowledge level. If I go to any now it's more as a refresher or because I'd like to learn the philosophies and approach of the educator.

Books can be useful, but I don't have the strongest science background, something S&C can get bogged down in pretty quickly, making it a bit of a heavy read, and if I don't get a chance to implement what I've learned soon after I'll usually forget it or chunks of it. I've always found it easier to remember and implement things I've done in a practical setting. As for the internet the S&C realm is getting more and more popular, meaning there's a huge amount of total rubbish being put out. I've found it difficult to go in just looking to learn something and come out having done that. The only time it can maybe be helpful is if I have something specific I want to learn about, but a lot of the time I'm better off asking a more experienced coach, the answer I get is usually simpler, more succinct, and related back to what I do clearly.

The communities of practice is interesting, I recently got invited to join a group of S&C coaches who operate in and around my area. The group do presentations on any and all relevant topics to each other and drive the learning and quality of those within it. I've only been in for a few weeks with one meeting being held in that time but i'm looking forward to see how things progress within it going forward. 

I've been fortunate enough to have been guided by some exceptional coaches over the years as a player and despite being young, view the experiences that I have gained from this to be invaluable. Many coaches borrow and use drills that another has developed but unless you develop the ability to get your point across in a simple and effective manner, they can be useless. This is something I have gained from being coached - knowing that many coaches have different ways of getting their view across and the way that individuals respond to this and take points on board is something I constantly think about.

I have done a fair amount of shadowing of coaches at different levels and of different genders and this has highlighted a number of areas that I intend to focus on over the years to come: Demeanor, difference in questions to different genders and simplifying skills and practices to real life scenarios have been great lessons.

Thirdly, the internet - I note Mark's points on so called "professionals" on the internet and I wholeheartedly agree, but in hockey the game is different in all parts of the world, so watching different styles of play and methods of practice is possible via YouTube and other sites. Gaining an understanding of these philosophies has enabled me to learn more about the sport and developed my understanding of the game to a position where I can now utilise different styles of play within my coaching and take ideas from each in order to create my own style which I try to implement within the athletes and teams I coach

I think i'd agree that informal learning has had a positive affect on my own education. This is always an interesting topic, I dont know whether its because i'm generally quite a critical person but of the numerous ''expert'' coaches i've observed or played under, I tend to find myself picking holes in their coaching rather than soaking up their (sometimes self proclaimed) wisdom. Learning nonetheless I suppose. 

I think what helped my learning process massively was being an athlete myself. I was unknowingly developing a set of principles and values even as a player. I've read and seen a lot of stuff lately writing off learning styles, but one thing I will always be sure about is that when I was competing professionally there were ways I liked to be coached and other ways that would have an adverse affect on my performance. I would have real trouble performing under some coaches, others were absolutely brilliant to play for. Though I wasn't able to interpret these things at the time, the experiences provided a great starting point when I did eventually start my formal coach education - coaching and delivery styles were particularly interesting after working with some polar opposite coaches.  

Im not sure, but as beneficial as my formal coach education has been, I dont think it would have been as beneficial had I not experienced some informal/non-formal teaching beforehand.

Social media is a great platform for sharing ideas. I've found that it is one of the primary go-to sources for volunteer Handball coaches to gather ideas- I started a facebook group for Handball coaches which somehow grew to over 3000+ members. On it I share all sorts of things, some my own and some from others, and it seems to be really popular. 

Sorry to jump back to mid October here - but I had a really interesting conversation with my fiancee this morning. She is a PE teacher in a secondary school and was discussing the student who was currently in their department on a teaching placement. She mentioned how that student wasn't timetabled for any observation lessons and all she had were here own lessons and planning time. I questioned why - and I think a switch flicked in her head - she said she doesn;t know, but now looks on this individuals placement as a waste. She views that "how can she learn to teach if she doesn't watch teachers teach?". It interested me that the only learning environment for this individual was her own lessons and being told what she was doing well/badly. But without a "model performer" to analyse and watch, how could they learn to adapt their practice for the better? I thought this was very similar to coaching. I watch the mannerisms closely of many coaches I admire - how they react under pressure, how they adapt sessions when they aren't going well and how they communicate differently with different individuals. I feel this is a key facet of my learning.

Apologies again for jumping back - this situation just reminded me of this question!