The Teesra

Category: pedagogy

_how_ we coach: theory, practice & philosophy

  • My new AI coaching guru. A “conversation” with ChatGPT about coaching pedagogies.

    There has recently been some discussion about a new artificial intelligence (AI) system called ChatGPT, and a lot of that talk very negative.

    How it might enable students to cheat by writing their essays for them, how it might destabilise white collar work, even how it might become a “morally corrupting influence”.

    For all that, I thought it might be interesting to quiz ChatGPT about a current topic in coaching, traditional instruction, Direct Instruction, and non-linear pedagogies applying some of the concepts of ecological dynamics.

    And I have to say that I might have found myself an “AI coaching guru”!

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  • A question of skill in sport — learning vs. acquisition & development

    Is learning facts the same process as developing a new skill?

    If it is, then (perhaps) academic pedagogical principles transfer to sports coaching.

    But if skill development is a different type of “learning”, does the coach need other techniques?

    Now, I currently have little to base this feeling beyond my own experience of learning. And I have to admit that my own learning might well have been sub-optimal!

    But learning facts (school, university) always felt very different to developing a new (sport) skill.

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  • Pedagogy & philosophy — ECB National Programmes getting it right

    This post relates to the National Programmes prior to 2022. Changes to the training programmes for Activators in 2023 and 2024 have rather changed my opinion.

    In a recent post I mentioned how, in my opinion, the ECB’s National Programmes have more to say about learning to play (by playing “games” to learn; repetition without repetition) and player behaviours (the multi-ability model, developed in collaboration with Create Development) than the mainstream coaching programmes.

    I ran All Stars sessions for three years, pre-lockdown, and have delivered training for National Programmes Activators for a couple of years, now, and the more I see the more I am convinced by the underlying pedagogy and philosophy of the National Programmes.

    Pedagogy — the method and practice of teaching

    Philosophy — a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour

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