TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Career Experiences of Football Association (FA) Coach Educators
T2 - Lessons in Micropolitical Literacy and Action
AU - Allanson, Ashley
AU - Potrac, Paul A.
AU - NELSON, LEE
PY - 2019/11/29
Y1 - 2019/11/29
N2 - Coach education has been the subject of increasing levels of investigation and critique, and whilst such inquiry has provided some fascinating insights, the coach educator has remained largely invisible in the coach education literature with a lack of understanding of not only the coach educator’s role but also the relationships they manage with other stakeholders. This study aims to provide some in-depth insights into the ways in which four Football Association (FA) coach educators experience their workplace, especially in terms of their respective understandings of social interactions with a variety of key contextual stakeholders (regional managers, fellow coach educators, and coach learners). A ‘narrative-biographical’ (Kelchtermans and Ballet, 2002) approach was utilised to explore the coach educators’ understandings of their career experiences and, in particular, the meaning those experiences had. The data analysis suggested that the coach educators engaged in impression management and emotional management in order to be seen complying within the culture of the FA coach education organisational structure through their own professional self-understanding. Additionally, they seemingly attached great store to protecting and advancing their individual interests and reputation within the workplace, which was termed to be ‘vulnerable’ work (Kelchtermans, 2011). It is hoped that this study can not only contribute to the embryonic work addressing coach education from a critical sociological perspective (Jones et al., 2011; Cassidy et al., 2016), but it may also assist in the preparation, education, and continuing professional development of coach educators.
AB - Coach education has been the subject of increasing levels of investigation and critique, and whilst such inquiry has provided some fascinating insights, the coach educator has remained largely invisible in the coach education literature with a lack of understanding of not only the coach educator’s role but also the relationships they manage with other stakeholders. This study aims to provide some in-depth insights into the ways in which four Football Association (FA) coach educators experience their workplace, especially in terms of their respective understandings of social interactions with a variety of key contextual stakeholders (regional managers, fellow coach educators, and coach learners). A ‘narrative-biographical’ (Kelchtermans and Ballet, 2002) approach was utilised to explore the coach educators’ understandings of their career experiences and, in particular, the meaning those experiences had. The data analysis suggested that the coach educators engaged in impression management and emotional management in order to be seen complying within the culture of the FA coach education organisational structure through their own professional self-understanding. Additionally, they seemingly attached great store to protecting and advancing their individual interests and reputation within the workplace, which was termed to be ‘vulnerable’ work (Kelchtermans, 2011). It is hoped that this study can not only contribute to the embryonic work addressing coach education from a critical sociological perspective (Jones et al., 2011; Cassidy et al., 2016), but it may also assist in the preparation, education, and continuing professional development of coach educators.
KW - coach educator
KW - coach education
KW - Narrative-biographical
KW - micropolitics
KW - Vulnerability
KW - Emotions
U2 - 10.1080/2159676X.2019.1690563
DO - 10.1080/2159676X.2019.1690563
M3 - Article (journal)
SN - 2159-676X
JO - Qualitiative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
JF - Qualitiative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
ER -