Pttls_Assignment_1

Assignment #1 Q1: Explain own role and responsibilities, and boundaries of own role as a teacher The main role of the teacher in the sports sector is to ensure the lesson’s aims and objectives are met through facilitating a high quality, positive, organised and flexible learning environment. This will create a safe environment, fostering trust and mutual respect between the learners and the tutor/teacher/coach. The teacher will assess the needs of the individual as well as the group using a range of different approaches and resources to meet these needs (differentiation). This will include coaching points that allow for various levels of progression, the use of different items of equipment (e.g. size of ball, size of area). They will be aware of the rights of learners to attend and participate in their chosen course (entitlement) regardless of their gender, race, religion etc (equality). A number of examples of this occur thankfully in football these days, including women’s and girls’ football, disability football etc; involve the learners in relevant activities rather than excluding them (inclusivity); and value differences in people (diversity). It’s key that the teacher continuously assess and evaluate the learner’s needs in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of their delivery style, adapting schemes of work as required. This is especially significant when coaching young children as they will each develop at different rates and require a variety of coaching styles in order to learn effectively. Another key aspect of being a teacher is lesson planning that demonstrates a variety of teaching/learning styles. This should outline the aim and objectives of the lesson, outlining progression (differentiation), resources needed, time required and any health and safety issues. The plan will also have an evaluation component and outline the target group. All successful coaches plan and develop their sessions continuously, incorporating new ideas and logically following the plan in order to develop the skills and techniques required to succeed. It is also important to keep good records including, but not solely; registers, medical conditions, individual learning plans, schemes of work, risk assessments, evaluation forms, progress notes on students and fire procedures, if using indoor facilities. As a coach it is important that you are careful not to overstep the boundaries of familiarity with your learners. Coaches are often in a position of power and are held in high esteem by their learners and this must not be abused. Coaches should also not bring personal beliefs or values into sessions and remain neutral in all issues that aren’t related to the coaching of the students. This ensures that all equality and diversity issues are upheld and sessions remain inclusive. Q2: Identify key aspects of relevant current legislative requirements and codes of practice within a specific context Within the sports sector there are a number of legislative requirements it is important teachers/tutors are aware of. Child protection is a key element of this. Working in the sport sector brings people into contact with a large number of young people, some of whom are particularly vulnerable. Coaches need to have a good understanding of legislation in order to protect themselves and the people they work with. A thorough understanding can enable coaches to feel comfortable in their knowledge of how to deal with situations should they arise. It is also imperative that staff members are properly vetted through the CRB process and that they all provide references. It is also necessary that tutors are occupationally competent and a part of the code of practice within our organisation is that all staff members regularly undertake continued professional development so that they may broaden their knowledge and experience in the field. As coaches have a responsibility to the people they are coaching, their parents/carers, and other relevant interested parties it is a legal requirement to hold a current and valid first aid qualification and suitable insurances. Q3: Identify issues of equality and diversity, and ways to promote inclusion In order to identify issues it is important to understand what we mean by equality and diversity. Diversity is about recognising and valuing difference in its broadest sense. Diversity is about creating a culture and practices that recognise, respect, value and harness difference. Equality is about creating a fairer society where everyone can participate and has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. It is supported by legislation which is designed to address unfair discrimination based on membership of a particular group. There are a number of strands to diversity including; Age, Disability, Gender, Gender Identity, Race, Religion and Belief and Sexual Orientation. The sports sector has worked over the last number of years to promote inclusion across sports, targeting key groups within the population (e.g. women, black and minority ethnic groups, disabled) in order to increase participation by removing barriers to access. This includes identifying cultural reasons for under-representation (e.g. Muslim women may require female tutor/coach), funding coaching courses to encourage more positive role models from certain sections of the community and providing funding to improve the infrastructure at grassroots clubs and local facilities that allow easy access for those with mobility issues. As a teacher it is also good to know where students can access support. As an example The Prince’s Trust can pay for childcare if a learner is accessing a sports coaching course and provide transport costs. We as an organisation provide bursaries/free courses to allow candidates from low income families to have the same opportunities as mainstream candidates. We are also able to take into account other barriers to learning, such as dyslexia, by assessing learners with a number of techniques and encouraging them to find alternative ways to evidence their knowledge (e.g. video, posters, and audio tape/mp3). Q4: Explain ways to establish ground rules with learners which underpin appropriate behaviour and respect for others As part of the introduction to any course learners are involved in establishing ground rules as an individual and a group. As a teacher/tutor this, to me, is a far more positive way of introducing rules as the students will take ownership and buy into them more than if they had been imposed on them by me as the teacher/tutor. As such there are a number of different methods to achieve this. Firstly it is important to have an idea of what ground rules you want to establish, as this will allow you to adapt learners suggestions. Dividing a board into columns (e.g. good/bad) and giving the learners examples of behaviour for them to place in the column they think best describes that behaviour is a good way for setting rules. Once you have a few suggestions you can then encourage the learners to break off into groups to come up with more ideas together. Another variation of the above is to set up a learning contract that all parties sign up to, although this does not give as much flexibility as the previous idea. You can also ‘praise the positive’. This highlights good behaviour rather than focussing on negative behaviour. You can give learners ticks or stars for each good element they achieve during the lesson/course. Prizes can be awarded at the end of the course to the learner with the most ticks or stars. Q5: Explain ways to embed functional skills in the specialist area If you use football as an example there are numerous methods to embed functional skills in the learning of the students. One such example is to use the football stadium and associated departments. Learners can be asked to count how many rectangles and circles there are on the pitch. They can also be asked to calculate how much paint you require to paint the lines and how long this would take the grounds man. Other forms of numeracy can be developed if you use, for example, graphs to highlight precipitation levels in order to identify the mean, median and mode. Literacy can be developed by using major tournaments, such as the World Cup. Giving learners a map of the world and asking them to identify where the countries that are participating are located, can assist them with knowing how to spell each country. This can be developed as you can task learners with finding out capital cities, language spoken, colour of the flag and other interesting facts relating to that country, developing their understanding and knowledge further. Learners may use the internet to research answers and thereby improve their IT skills and competency. Q6: Explain the need for record keeping It is imperative to keep records for a number of reasons, as it is best practice and often a legal requirement. As a coach with responsibility for a number of children and/or vulnerable young adults registers are essential. These allow you to not only know who are present during a session, but also record vital information such as emergency numbers and medical conditions. Registers can also allow you to assess the equality of sessions by recording, for example; age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, post code of participants. Coaches should, as a matter of course, assess risk prior to undertaking any session. If there is an incident it may be necessary to disclose these assessments to relevant parties in order to establish that health and safety policies and procedures have been adhered to. Session plans are important as they give the coach a plan to work to, ensuring that the learners are developed in a logical manner that allows for individual and group progression towards a specific aim. Coaches may as a result keep individual plans on learners/players that assess their performance over the course of a season. This may then form the basis of periodic evaluations of their progression and development. Q7: 1. Identify current assessment methods In the footballing context players are initially assessed by demonstration. This can be in the form of a trial match, for example, where coaches will watch and assess an individuals’ level of skill and technique in comparison to other players. It may also be during practice where a coach will describe and often demonstrate themselves a particular skill and ask the players to repeat it. In order to assess whether learning is taking place the coach may ask the learners to repeat key coaching points from a session and to check overall learning in a particular area may ask learners to fill in a player’s log book, highlighting what the session was about, what the key points where, areas they enjoyed and to identify areas for improvement/set themselves tasks. 2. Explain the use of assessment methods in different contexts, including reference to initial assessment Learner 1 is a professional footballer whose first language is not English. Learner 2 is a 16 year old dyslexic male with limited football experience. In order to complete an initial assessment on learner 1 I would observe them during a professional practice. This will showcase an understanding of the subject area and the ability to understand and develop progression within a particular drill for example. I would then know that for future assessment the candidate would be able to communicate through demonstration, answer questions to camera, demonstrate and complete an applied task as a minimum. For learner 2 I would use demonstration during the initial assessment. This would allow me to see that they have picked up the main points of the session and can put them into practice. For future assessments I would be able to use demonstration, observation, questions and presentation to camera to assess knowledge and ability. As coaching courses are mostly practical these assessment methods have the advantage of practically demonstrating knowledge and skill. Also as both learners have potential issues with written work, these forms of assessment remove this potential barrier to learning. 3. Explain the need for record keeping in relation to assessment As an assessor it is important to keep records for a number of reasons. Firstly records can help to avoid potential disputes regarding the decisions made by the assessor on that learner. It also provides a reference for feedback to learners on their performance. This then enables the assessor to develop individual learning/development plans to be constructed. Records also provide evidence of courses attended/completed as part of a learners’ continued professional development. It may also be necessary to provide evidence to funding or awarding bodies of the learners’ participation on a course. Q8: 1. Explain how to give feedback using good practice A good way to give good feedback is often referred to as the ‘feedback sandwich’. In this method learners are firstly told what they have done right or good and why it is right or good. This will not only make them feel positive about themselves but reinforce good correct learning and ensure a deeper understanding. It is important it is clear, personal to them as an individual, specific to what was right or good and honest. Secondly comes constructive criticism outlining what was wrong or inappropriate. It is once more important this is specific to what was wrong or inappropriate, constructive to show them how it could be corrected, kind and honest. Lastly it is good to finish with some form of encouragement. During a sporting session feedback may look like; ‘Well done, you used the outside of your foot to control the ball brilliantly, however because you turned the wrong way you lost it to the defender. If you turn the other way and place your body in between the defender and the ball they will not be able to get it. That was a great attempt for your first go!’ 2. Describe the principles of effective communication with learners The principles of effective communication are to listen when someone is talking, ensure it is a two way process and affirm and acknowledge understanding. In order to ensure communication is effective there are a number of informal ‘rules’ that can be followed. These are to pause and look around the group until they are ready; make opening remarks in a friendly personal way; making eye contact and watching for reactions; using hand gestures and moving around a little; ensuring any resources can be clearly seen or accessed; keeping examples brief, interesting and linked to that that has proceeded it; and to vary tone and pace of delivery. To monitor if all learners are engaged in the session a teacher can use questions and feedback constantly, and use a variety of teaching styles to keep the lesson interesting. Communication difficulties can arise if English is not the learners primary language, there have any health/learning issues, teaching style and/or equipment is poor and learners have low self esteem, confidence or motivation. When delivering a coaching course in Angola I encountered a number of communication issues. The student’s first language was Portuguese and we didn’t have the necessary equipment to deliver the course as we had planned. This led to us having to develop our teaching style and adapt to the circumstances we found ourselves in.