Curriculum development in sport coach education within a South African context: a case study

Abstract

One of the objectives of coaching sport is improvement in athlete performance. Coach education can be viewed as a vehicle for enhancing the standards of coaching practice. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the development of a sports coach education curriculum model in a federation where no framework existed. A forward and backward curricular-mapping model was proposed, where coaches are given a voice in the development of curriculum outcomes, content knowledge and assessment. A mixed-methods approach was adopted with 35 coaches, who participated in a series of six themed formal educational workshops. The coaches completed pre- and post- workshop questionnaires to determine their perceived knowledge and actual knowledge gained. Coaches were provided with the opportunity to self-reflect on the content and assessment of each workshop. Results across the workshops showed a positive shift in coaches’ perceptions regarding their content knowledge and self-assessment practice. This suggests that the implementation of the backward mapping process while designing a coach education curriculum assisted in developing relevant and contextual content, with integrated and authentic assessment, giving coaches an opportunity to have a stake in their educational pathway.

Keywords: Coach education; Curricular mapping; South African coaching framework