The aim of this paper is to offer a coherent philosophical position to underpin the task of the education of coaches. Our argument builds from an analysis of the specificity and issues concerning the development of coaches. We provide a potential explanation of these issues by identifying a significant discrepancy between two typical conceptualisations of coaching that in turn leads to differences in the principles of training, education and validation of coaching expertise. In contrast to a dominant modernist view, we argue for a conceptualisation that is based on the perspectives of pragmatism and constructivism that, in our view, better aligns with the fundamental attributes of professionalism as well as the way coaches see themselves. We describe how elements reflecting this position are operationalized in the educational programmes that we offer, together with a discussion of the consequences of applying these principles and implications for coaching stakeholders.
Bachkirova, Tatiana Jackson, Peter Gannon, Judie Iordanou, Ioanna Myers, Adrian
Faculty of Business\Department of Business and Management
Year of publication: 2017Date of RADAR deposit: 2017-11-01