The Critical Discussion!

TL2133 The Reflective Coach - Assessment 1 Critical discussion (40% of module mark)		Mark Awarded			72
Student Name	Connor McGowan
Demonstrates achievement of relevant learning outcomes		1st	2.1	2.2		3rd	F
•       Demonstrate coaching knowledge and evaluative skills to assess your own and other’s coaching practice.		X
(Participation in Discussion)		1st	2.1	2.2		3	F
Did you approach the discussion in a logical and coherent manner i.e. turn taking?		X
Did you exhibit listening skills and an ability to take on board other participants’ views?		X
Did you support other participants by probing and asking questions?			X
Did you actively manage the discussion to enable achievement of learning outcomes for all participants?		X
Were themes discussed in a confident and professional style?			X
COMMENTS: To added to and built upon the points others made well. It seemed you also took more of a lead at times.
(Content)		1st	2.1	2.2		3rd	F
Did the session plan submitted prior to your practical session provide a structured overview of the session?				X
Did you provide evidence of careful planning with reasons for intended activities demonstrating understanding of content?			X
Did you analyse and discuss the material/evidence supplied in your annotated bibliography?			X
Did you demonstrate critical use of theoretical models/concepts and draw insightful conclusions from them?			X
COMMENTS: Good use of literature to back up some of the points you make. Good comparison with JOLF coaches approach and what you delivered. You also use analogies well to back up the points you make e.g. the ‘tig’ example.
(Reflection)		1st	2.1	2.2		3rd	F
Did you reflect on how your session went identifying and discussing positives and areas for improvement?		X
Did you identify things you may have done differently and explore any improvement that could have been made?		X
Were the processes you used to reflect both in and on the session clear, and links with theory/literature made?				X
COMMENTS: Some discussion of use of video but more needed on the process of HOW you reflected.
GENERAL GROUP FEEDBACK Your discussion was rooted in your practical delivery and you explored a number of areas of your coaching delivery. As it progressed you drew upon some academic theory to inform the discussion and this helped to clarify your understanding. Your discussion around differentiation, especially around age and children, was very good and you underpinned this with some theory. However, this might have been an area for further investigation underpinned by theory. It might also have been worth exploring the issues around how motivation helps support the development of performance. Overall your discussion reflected a very good level of understanding and critical awareness that you were able to apply to your practical session.

 

I won’t make this a long post, but something to just reflect on briefly what we did and what was said in the discussion. It wasn’t what I expected at first, I turned up expecting Cliff and John to be the ones asking the questions, where it was the complete opposite. The discussion was started by us and only us, with no input from the tutors.

 

At this point it was time for someone to take lead and get the ball rolling, which I was happy to do. At first the discussion was quite slow and took a while before we started to really look more in depth at our session, but once we got going the conversation flowed.

 

We did use some good academic literature to support what we were saying, but I felt maybe we could have all done a little bit more, particularly myself to get a higher grade than 72, but don’t get me wrong I’m pleased to have got such a high score.

 

As you can see, John said in the feedback, our academic literature helped to clarify our understanding. Touching on some particular subjects like differentiation, around age and children.

 

Like John says, maybe looking at ways to look at Motivation and how that can play a significant difference and helps support the development of performance. Just like I said in a post a while back how Lai (2011) talks about how intrinsic motivation is animated through personal enjoyment. So maybe next time if we look to make the activity a little more fun, then hopefully they will be more motivated, and performances will follow accordingly.

 

Lai, E., R., (2011) Motivation: A literature Review. Research Report.