Monday, 14 January 2013

Assignment 1 - Critical Discussion

For the first assignment of this module we had to be in groups of three and structure a coaching session for the rest of our practical group to do. The session designed by me and my group was done on the 22nd November during a practical session. The session Adam, Ben and myself came up with was loosely based on the well known game of "keep ball" but instead of that being the sole objective we expanded it to make it a target based game. The session started off at 2 vs 1 with the attackers having to keep the ball away from the defender and make it to the other end of the coned off area. We progressed this to 4 vs 2 and made each area bigger and a further progression was to make it 8 vs 4 and use the entire coned area. During the 8 vs 4 we took a player off each side and used them as outlets for the attacking team as our final progression.

Although we were not marked on the session it self, it was important that we understood what went well and what could be improved. Directly after the session we had ten-fifteen minutes together as a group and discussed what each of us felt and made some notes on what sort of things we could improve on so we could find the correct academic literature to back up why it was important we made the correct changes for the next time we did the same session or one under similar circumstances.

The assignment itself however was a 20 minute critical discussion (which took place on the 6th December) reflecting on the session and with the use of academic underpinning explaining and understanding what we did well and what we could improve for next time.

Cameron (2009) says that a discussion is used to put across your views to others whilst understanding that it is equally as important to listen to those around you as you can learn just as much from someone else as they can learn from you.

The discussion itself was a new experience for me as I had never done one in those conditions or for the purpose of a grade so it was different and at first I was unsure of how I would do on a personal level. However once Adam and Ben got the ball rolling for the group I found it very easy to say my bit and back up my points with some academic underpinning. For example, we made a point that the gender differences in the small groups of our session gave the lads a small advantage in passing the ball because they were a lot bigger and quicker. I backed this up with Gutierrez and Garcia-Lopez (2012) who said that in invasion type games male participants always want the ball and tend to get quite involved in the game where as female participants tend to act as spectators and only really get the ball when it is thrown to them opposed to them going to get it.

Below is my grade and how I was marked on my contributions to the discussion.


TL2133 The Reflective Coach - Assessment 1
Critical discussion (40% of module mark)
Mark Awarded
72
Student Name
Steve Mitchell
Demonstrates achievement of relevant learning outcomes
1st
2.1
2.2
3rd
F
1.       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: You did have a tendency to butt in at times early on. You then became quite quiet and took a bit of a back seat until around 15mins. It might be useful to think about how you could integrate into the discussion more effectively.
(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: You did not make reference to literature quite as effectively as the other two.
(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: Good outline of how you felt you reflected both during and after the session.
GENERIC GROUP FEEDBACK:
Well-constructed discussion that reflected a depth of knowledge a d understanding. All participants were able to contribute and made effective points.

I can use this feedback to help me improve for next time for example, my discussion technique could do with some work as I was seen to be either too quiet or too eager to talk so I need to find the balance between these two and hopefully I will be able to contribute more and have more of a part in the discussion.

Overall I am very satisfied with the grade I achieved in this assignment. It was a different type of assignment to that I was used to so was a challenge to ensure it was done to the best I could. Creating the drill was very insightful as I got to work with Ben and Adam who both have great ideas and showed me a lot that I could use in my own sessions with my Under 14's cricket back home. The discussion itself has taught me a lot about how to use academic underpinning properly with regards to finding the correct sources that are relevant and valid to the point I am making and using them to improve my sessions by eliminating as many of the little problems as I can.


Cameron, S.(1999). The Business Student's Handbook. Pearson Education Limited, Essex.

Gutierrez, D & Garcia-Lopez, L.M (2012). Gender Differences in game behaviour in invasion games. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy. 17 (3), 289.

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