Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 4 | Page 24

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 4 APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 4 Reflective practice has since become a prevalent model of development in many professional contexts, most notably education and healthcare, and gained prominence as a means by which practitioners can develop self-awareness regarding the issues and impact of their performance (Osterman and Kottkamp, 1993). For example, trainee teachers study a range of established teaching methods in order to determine which will work best in their context, and nurses are required to complete formal reflective documents as part of their practice. The key rationale underpinning reflective practice is therefore that experience alone is not sufficient for learning, but requires intentional reflection in order to engage in continual and significant development (Peterson, 2016). Reflection in action (at the time the event is happening) A Critical Review of the Role of Reflective Practice in the Development of Sport Coaches Pete Vallance England Futsal, The Football Association Abstract The use of reflection in professional practice has long been considered beneficial and, indeed, central to converting experience and knowledge into expertise. The close relationship between reflection and experiential learning has been well documented in theories such as Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle, which advocates a cyclical process of experience, observation, conceptualisation and experimentation. Reflection has since been explored in a wide range of professional contexts, including education, medicine and engineering. This article seeks to critically evaluate the use of reflective practice in the development of sports coaches, drawing on interpretations of reflective thought alongside contemporary research in coaching. Keywords: reflective practice, learning, Schön, development, coach education. 24 Introduction Dewey (1933) established the principle that “reflection is central to all learning experiences, enabling individuals to act in a deliberate and intentional fashion...to convert action that is merely blind and impulsive into intelligent action”. This premise was instrumental in contemporary understanding of reflection as a catalyst for learning. The application of reflection in professional development is widely constructed around the work of Schön (1987), who coined the term reflective practice as “a dialogue of thinking and doing through which I become more skilful”. This theory addressed his previous concerns regarding models of professional training that failed to equip students for fast-moving practices, sending them into the workplace with limited technical knowledge. In comparison, Schön’s model was designed to encourage novice learners to compare their methods with those of experienced practitioners, thus leading to professional progress.  Reflection on action (after the event) • • • • The experience itself Thinking about it during the event Deciding how to act at the time Acting immediately • R  eflecting on something that has happened • Thinking about what you might do differently if it happened again • New information gained and/or theoretical perspectives from study that inform the reflector’s experience are used to process feelings and actions. Figure 1: Schön’s (1992) model of reflection in and on action In context So, how relevant is reflective practice to a sports coaching context? Can the same benefits be applied to a profession deeply rooted in observation and experience? Research has suggested that the informal and unmediated learning that occurs in everyday contexts has a lasting and significant impact on coaching practice and is valued more highly than formal forms of education (Werthner and Trudel, 2006). However, it can be argued that simply acquiring experience does not guarantee coaching development and expertise. As Gilbert and Trudel (2006) suggest, “10 years of coaching without reflection is simply one year of coaching repeated 10 times”. The success of reflective practice in a coaching environment is thus reliant on finding a suitable and contextualised medium through which to achieve a meaningful combination of experience and knowledge. Time Recent studies have shown that reflective practice has a positive impact on coaching development, equipping practitioners to increase their elite knowledge, initiate change, link theory to practice and prepare for the ambiguity of the coaching environment (Cushion et al, 2003). However, there are several key issues to consider when exploring reflective practice in a coaching context. Firstly, the issue of time is a key factor in determining whether the level of reflection achieved is meaningful. Due to the increasing demands placed on their time, many coaches find it extremely challenging to reflect in a structured and effective way. Many coaches experience this difficulty in their coaching practice, in which the business of practical duties overwhelms the intention to spend time in reflective thought, thus promoting the view that reflection is an extra, rather than integral, part of development. However, the reality of a coach’s timetable cannot be ignored, and so coaches must be encouraged to develop individual approaches to reflection that suit their learning styles and personal contexts. Motivation The effectiveness of reflective practice is also dependent on the willingness and commitment of the coach to intentionally make time to engage with it (Cropley and Hanton, 2011). This highlights motivation as a second key issue surrounding the use of reflective practice in a contextualised environment. In a comprehensive study of sports coaches, most participants placed reflective activity as low priority on their list of responsibilities (Cropley et al, 2012). As such, their formal reflective material was often rushed and lacking in detail, which suggests that reflective practice is quick to be deemed superfluous. These findings are similar to an earlier study that found candidates repeating themselves when filling in a reflective questionnaire, sharing reasons such as, ‘I didn’t really know what to write and where to write it’ (Cropley and Hanton, 2011). This issue forms part of a wider problem with formal and mediated learning courses, which have been found to be inadequate in preparing students for real-life coaching (Gilbert et al, 2006). Moon (2004) refers to this type of learning as ‘building a brick wall’, during which the passive learner accumulates concrete knowledge but is unable to engage individually, thus limiting the learning opportunity. Furthermore, if everyone is reflecting in the same way then it can be argued that individuals cannot achieve their full potential. The question to address, then, is how to achieve a standardisation of reflective practice in coach education whilst also retaining individual creativity and coaching style. 25