Alun Hardman - Developing Ethics in Sports Coaches

Developing Professional Ethics in Sports Coaching:

Phronesis & Practical Wisdom Alun Hardman, PhD. Cardiff School of Sport

Aims & objectives • Examine the moral and ethical dimensions of sports coaching 

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“Good coaching”

- theoretical knowledge - applied skills - practical wisdom

Identify development of coaching ethics in coach education  UKCC Quality Assurance for Coach Education  Coaching Standards Group  Coaching “Life-Skills”

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Coaching Phronesis & Practical Wisdom: a case study  Implications & issues for coach education

What is “Good” Coaching? “Sport coaches work in dynamic conditions where one cannot know for sure what will happen next, and where coaches’ actions do not necessarily have immediate and knowable effects” (Saury & Durand, 1998). • This suggests coaching is . . . Complex, Intricate, Nuanced, Challenging, Imprecise, Extensive, etc Constituents of good coaching . . . • Practice – effective coaching structures and activity • Purpose – appropriate and clear coaching goals • Person – morally commendable values, character and behaviour

“Good” Coaching - I • Theoretical Knowledge & Understanding – Epistēmē – scientific knowledge concerned with the world of necessary truths, which stand apart from the world of everyday contingencies – Principles of coaching knowledge, i.e. • • • • • •

Maturation and growth Physiological stress adaptation Mechanics of sports performance Acquisition of skill Optimum pedagogic practice Social configurations of sport coaching

“Good” Coaching - II • Applied skills & abilities – Technē – a disposition to produce something by way of reason - useful knowledge practically applied – Principles of coaching skill, i.e. • Observation, analysis, evaluation of performance. • Implementation of effective interventions • Development, assessment & evaluation of coaching programmes.

“Good” Coaching - III • Practical wisdom and moral judgment – Phronesis – the capacity to recognise, in any particular situation, those features of it that are morally salient, and subsequently be moved, and thereafter act in a principled way that produces the best moral outcome. – Principles of coaching wisdom, i.e. • Wealth of coaching experience • Critical self-reflection • Emulation and role-modelling

Technē v Phronesis Technical rationality - hegemonic dominance Technical achieves a measure of objectivity . . .

• . . . as an instantiation of theoretical knowledge • . . . because its procedures are transparent, measurable and accountable • . . . as a measure that prevents the subjectivity of the coach

Phronesis in Coaching Phronesis Good coaching cannot be calculated in advance . “. . . phronesis calls for application in light of the existing situation within which the actor finds herself. In phronesis one approaches an understanding of the universal in light of the particular, rather than the other way around” (Gallagher 1992:153).

Practical wisdom and professional development Phronesis -- learned through gaining the right experiences. • One becomes good by doing good deeds (Dunne 1993) • Dependent on being in the presence of good role models. • Virtue of Emulation and Meno’s paradox (Dunne 1993).

Implications for Coach Education • Phronesis – “Front & centre” of development programmes – Embedded at all coaching levels – “Authentic” coaching practice as the basis for ALL qualifications – Mentoring & emulation as the core pedagogic practice

Case Study Subject 'expert' male Individual Olympic sport s- participation/performance athletes (424 yrs). Data Collection Semi-structured interviews, observations, video-analysis, field-notes. Procedure Pre-interview -- video recording -- coaching review -- post review reflection Findings “Christ, I thought I was strong but how strong am I? I watched the video and questioned am I actually getting this right? It challenged my philosophy and also how I think I apply that to practice. It's quite easy to talk about this stuff but actually seeing it ... then having conversation based on the initial discussion but embedded in the video was useful. What I think I am doing and what is actually in my practice is different, there are challenges in my practice to fully interpret moral philosophy into practice.

Phronesis – Issues • Resources • “intensity” of developing, implementing and assessing phronesis.

• Technification • phronesis recast as a technical enterprise – Life-skills coaching (Gould, 2008)

• Mentoring & emulation • balancing autonomy/independence with guidance/prescription

• Practically wise • ‘modified’ phronesis for entry level coaching?

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References Arnold, P. J. (1992) Sport as a Valued Human Practice: a basis for the consideration of some moral issues in sport, Journal of Philosophy of Education. Volume 26, Issue 2, pages 237–255

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Arnold, P. J. (2001) Sport, moral development, and the role of the teacher: implications for research and moral education, Quest, 53, 135-150.

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Mendus, S. (2008), Life's Ethical Symphony., ournal of Philosophy of Education, 42: 201– 218.

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Standal, Øyvind F. & Hemmestad, Liv B. (2010) Becoming a good coach: coaching and phronesis, in Hardman, A. & Jones, C. The ethics of sports coaching. London, Routledge.

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Gould, D. & Carson , S. (2008) Life skills development through sport: current status and future directions, International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1, 1; 58 – 78.