The organic development of coach education structure for the future : a collaborative effort between higher education and national federations in Sweden

Good practice - developing a future coach education structure Sweden is a country, where coaching can be said to be a blended profession . Out of 335.000 coaches in Sweden, approximately 10% or 33.500 has an income that is directly related to their coaching duties . Based on the international sport coaching framework , a collaboration of four different national federations (swimming, tennis, athletics and floor-ball) and institutions of higher-education (Malmö University and Linnæus University), has developed a model, to make both coach education feasible and also to develop coaching effectiveness in the process, based on this specific context. The model considers aspects of both non-mediated and mediated learning. It takes into consideration aspects of certification, educational content and education-providers. The aspects are considered from both a stakeholders- and education-providers perspective. The model has developing organically (since 2011), using both the AEHESIS-project and the ITESCE-project as templates. It strives for inclusion of stakeholders focusing on; 1) structures of collaboration, 2) educational content and need depending upon coaching level and 3) the process of validation. In the specific context, the process of validation is of utmost importance. The current cohort of coaches within the four national federations, exhibit a range of professional experience. Many coaches have, through non-mediated learning , gained a tacit knowledge that improves their effectiveness. The origin of knowledge can therefore never be a question of debate. Thus aligning a coach education program with the competences of current coaches in the blended profession has been a high priority. At the same time, quality control of coaching competences both through the validation process and educational process needs to be harmonized in order to develop a possible scheme for certification in relation to accredited certification programs.Four aspects under consideration in developing the educational process are: 1) the coaching context , 2) the athletes expected outcome , 3) the need for practical experience to develop coaching effectiveness in younger coaches , and 4) the feasibility to participate in an educational process over a period of years in learning to gain mastery as a coach in relation to current engagements.The current model utilizes the EFRCCQ to provide general competences based on an identification of thematic professional content areas. Aligning the national federation education with higher education courses, allows for both individual flexibility in continuous professional development and quality control in validation process and certification programs. It is based on e-learning, part-time and both mediated and non-mediated learning experiences