1st Edition

Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies Approaches in Higher Education

Edited By Laura Purdy, Natalie Barker-Ruchti Copyright 2025
    232 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Sports Coaching Education: Applying Innovative Pedagogies theorises alternative pedagogies and presents examples of what such teaching looks like in sports coaching higher education. To do this, this new volume outlines the teaching goals of higher education coach education, summarises the limitations of this education that research has demonstrated, and presents alternative pedagogy as a way forward. The book then turns to showcasing work by an international selection of authors practicing alternative pedagogies that focus on a range of topical issues relevant to sports coaching such as; ethics; power; safeguarding/abuse; sustainability gender/sexuality; race/ethnicity; pain/injury, the authors of each of the international chapters outline the alternative pedagogical approach they employ in their teaching and present exemplary teaching materials that can be used by educators.

    Alternative or non-traditional pedagogies are strategies of delivery that are becoming more popular in undergraduate and postgraduate coach education, Sports Coaching Education: Applying Innovative Pedagogies raises attention to contemporary issues in sports coaching and alternative pedagogies of delivery for university coach education students.

    Using alternative pedagogies, the book presents coach education teaching materials on a range of topical issues that higher education scholars can implement in their teaching and will be key reading for academics, researchers and students in the areas of sport coaching, sport education and the related disciplines.

    Introduction: Sports Coaching Education and Alternative Pedagogies: Approaches in Higher Education

    Natalie Barker-Ruchti and Laura G. Purdy

     

    1. The Use of Video Narratives of Elite Athletes’ Injury Experiences in Coach Education

    Ciara Everard and Ross Wadey

     

    2. Evaluating the Impact of Athlete Case Studies Told through Creative Non-fiction on Coach Learners in University Coach Education

    Marion Geary and Niamh Kitching

     

    3. The Adoption of an Interactive and Immersive Installation to Educate Coaches on the Topic of Abuse in Sport

    Emma Kavanagh, Adi Adams, Manuela Picariello and Lucy Sheppard-Marks

     

    4. Two-Eyed Seeing in Coaching: An Indigenous Approach to Coaching Higher Education Sport in Canada

    Joseph Gurgis and Bettina Callary

     

    5. Bridging Theory and Practice: Innovations in Sports Coaching Education

    Line Dverseth Danielsen, Anne Tjønndal, and Stian Røsten

     

    6. Authentic Learning in Online Tertiary Coach Education Contexts: Positively Impacting Coaching Practice

    Steven Rynne, Donna O’Connor, and Clifford J. Mallett

     

    7. Action Research and The Scholar-Coach: Learning to Coach More Ethically

    Kristina Skebo and Pirkko Markula

     

    8. Education for Sustainable Development: Fostering Sustain’abilities’ in Sports Coaches

    Natalie Barker-Ruchti and Laura G. Purdy

     

    9. Education for Sustainable Athlete Development: Building More Critical and Reflective Coach Pedagogies

    Christian Thue Bjørndal

     

    10. Greening Coaching: Actor-Network Theory and The Sustainability of Coaches’ Practices

    Jim Denison

     

    Biography

    Natalie Barker-Ruchti is Associate Professor in sport management and sport coaching, Örebro University. She holds a Bachelor of Physical Education from the University of Otago and a MA in Recreation and Leisure Studies from Victoria University of Wellington, both New Zealand. Natalie gained her PhD in Human Movement Studies at The University of Queensland, Australia in 2007.

    Laura Purdy is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport and Physical Activity at Edge Hill University, UK. Her interest in the academic field of sports coaching was fostered by her involvement as a coach and coxswain in rowing programmes ranging from novice to elite levels, including junior, adaptive and veteran. This curiosity continues to be fuelled via contributions to coaches’ CPD (Continuing Professional Development) in a range of sports and international settings. Laura’s academic work focuses on performance sporting cultures and the experiences of coaches and athletes/players who operate in these contexts.