The effects of level seven study on sport coaches: developments in epistemology and intellect

Developing a coach’s epistemology and ‘intellectualising’ coaching are two common statements that have been made by researchers over the past thirty years, yet coach education has failed to deliver on both of these fronts. Research has stated that university-based coach education programmes have been the closest medium in developing intellect, but only at an undergraduate level, while developing epistemology has been difficult to pin down. With coaches undertaking Master’s courses and National Governing Bodies using level seven study in their highest level of qualification, research needs to be conducted into the effects these are having on sport coaches, as there is currently no evidence to underpin this practice. Therefore, the aims of this study were; firstly, to discuss the coaching practices used by the participants to establish their epistemology, secondly, to determine the motivations for taking part in the course and if these were for developments in intellect and epistemology, and finally, to discover the effects of the postgraduate study on these areas. Seven sport coaches (a mixture of adventure and traditional), who either were undertaking or had completed level seven study, took part in semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that the majority of the participants were operating with a sophisticated epistemology through their practices and held motivations for taking part in the course that indicated a desire to develop intellectually. It was also shown that the effects of the postgraduate study derived from how much coaching experience the coaches had prior to undertaking the course. Those with less experience had much more to gain in regard to exposure to new coaching practices and behaviours that were underpinned by academic research. They stated that they felt they received a lot from the course, and this was interpreted to have had a subconscious effect on their epistemology. The coaches that had a vast amount of experience, when entering the postgraduate course, valued the ability to back-up their successful coaching practices with robust evidence rather than anecdotal stories alone, showing an increase in their intellect as they moved closer to a mindset of relativism