Syftet med denna uppsats är att närma sig frågan om coachens roll och få en klarhet i vad en coach är utifrån yrkesutövarens egna föreställningar och upplevelser. Centralt för uppsatsen blir sålunda rollen som coach och därför närmar jag mig området utifrån ett rollteoretiskt perspektiv. Uppsatsens bidrag är att till skillnad från tidigare forskning närma sig yrket utifrån utövarnas upplevelser av sin roll och att analysera likheter och olikheter i uppfattningarna hos de som praktiserar yrket, detta med grund i att det inte finns en enad definition av rollen coach.  Urvalet coacher som har intervjuats har en gemensam arbetsplats men skiljer sig åt vad gäller kompetenser; tanken är här att rollen är densamma eftersom den utförs inom samma ramar, men hur rollen upplevs kan fortfarande skilja sig åt beroende på hur rollen tolkas av utövarna. Min hypotes är att oklarheter kring coachning kan tänkas skapa motstridiga förväntningar och rollkonflikter för de som arbetar som coacher.

Research in coach education has considered various ways in which coaches learn to coach. Mentoring has received attention in recent years as a possible way for coaches to learn, yet most of the research has described only what is learned not how learning has occurred. Using constructivist theory, this thesis described how learning occurred through a coach mentoring program between swim coaches over an eight week period. The learning experiences in this study showed how constructivist theory can be used to understand learning and how future mentoring programs can be designed for the best learning opportunities for coaches and the best teaching opportunities for mentors.

Within competitive sport the coach–performer relationship is of central importance to the performance enhancement process. Such relationships may develop over many years, with effective communication and mutual understanding core components. Despite the obvious importance of the coach–performer relationship, very little is known about coach–performer compatibility, especially from a cognitive perspective. Attribution theory has been shown to be useful in explaining behaviour, cognitions and affect, both in achievement and social settings. A key feature of this approach has been the emergence of what has been termed actor–observer differences; this has been little examined within sport psychology. Where attribution theory has been applied in sport, it has tended to focus exclusively on the performer. The aim of this research, therefore, is to explore coaches' and their performers' attributions, and specifically to examine the presence or otherwise of coach–performer attribution differences.

In a rural Title I school district in Georgia, teachers are mandated to implement research-based best practices in their delivery of instructional standards so that K-12 students can master 21st century competencies and meet mandated academic targets. District administrators indicated many teachers lack skills to implement best practices. To address this concern, instructional coaches were hired to support teachers with implementation of instructional practices and address teacher accountability; however, coaches received no training to outline their roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this bounded qualitative single case study was to examine the role of instructional coaches and how they support teachers to improve instruction, and to identify supports needed to assist instructional coaches. Knowles's andragogy theory guided this study. The research questions were used to explore instructional coaches' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities, guidance to support K-12 educators, and professional development (PD) to improve coaching skills. A purposeful sample of 12 K-12 instructional coaches volunteered and participated in open-ended interviews, observations, and document reviews. Data were analyzed thematically using open and axial coding. Coaches perceived their roles as developing good relationships with teachers and garnering administrator support to sustain a consistent instructional coaching model. They also requested PD that featured direct/indirect collaboration with coaching experts. Results of the study were used to develop a 5-day PD session to address coaches' instructional needs. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change when instructional coaches understand their roles in creating systemic transformation in the instructional practices of teachers to benefit K-12 learners' achievement.

Diabetes and insulin resistance are on the rise in the United States. Early detection and deployment of therapies has allowed for the reversal of pancreatic beta cell damage. Unfortunately, not all providers can offer the support to facilitating the required life style modifications. The introduction of clinical health consultants (CHC) as supplemental care has improved patient health for a variety of chronic diseases. Missing in the literature are studies investigating the correlation between the number of CHC interactions and improvement in biomarkers. The study utilized a non-experimental, retrospective study design to evaluate the relationship between the use between the use of CHCs and the number of CHC interactions, and the mean changes in glucose, hemoglobin A1c, insulin, proinsulin, C-peptide, and 1,5-anhydroglucitol, over a one-year period for patients presented with the opportunity to participate in CHC interactions. The subjects’ follow-up results were compared to their initial results for each group using the ANCOVA and one-way t-test. A statistically significant difference was detected between the mean change in BMI and the use of CHCs (p

Despite growing interest in coaching sciences, literature has revealed a dearth of research on coaches who work with para athletes (e. g. Cregan, Bloom, & Reid, 2007; McMaster, Culver, & Werthner, 2012). The purpose of this study was to explore how novice coaches in parasport develop their knowledge. The study was conducted in real-time during the coaches’ first contact with the context. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted with six Canadian para sailing coaches. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) revealed that coaches developed context-specific knowledge and skills through a blend of formal, nonformal, and informal learning situations. The participants highlighted the importance of learning from others, especially other coaches and from athletes.

The purpose of this research was to answer longstanding calls to explore the learning and development of coaches in disability sport (DePauw, 1986; Reid & Prupas, 1998). We know very little about coaches in disability sport and although there exists a growing body of work that has explored coach learning, there is an absence of in-depth sociological research on disability coaching and coach education. In order to address this gap in the literature, this research sought to examine the nature of coach learning through analyses of coach education and coaching practice. Drawing upon a critical sociological framework, the research was conducted on the premise that understanding social practice can generate critical insights into the nature of coach learning. The research begins to answer some of the criticisms levelled at previous research by operationalising the sociological framework of Pierre Bourdieu in conjunction with disability studies, to analyse data generated through a two-year case study evaluation of an impairment-specific mode of coach education, and ethnographic data generated from eighteen-months of fieldwork in a specific disability coaching context. Altogether, data were collected through in-depth observations, interviews, focus groups and qualitative surveys to generate data that had both breadth, gathering data from large numbers of participants, and depth, by understanding in detail a particular coaching culture (Polkinghorne, 2005). The findings reveal how knowledge about disability was often marginalised in coach education, with engagement in the field functioning as principle source of knowledge about coaching in disability sport. As a result, disability-specific coach education contributed marginally to coach learning and functioned as a platform for the transmission of medical model discourses about disability, in terms of the pedagogy adopted and its effects on coaches knowledge. In the ethnographic study, analyses revealed how disability was assimilated into a high-performance coaching logic that structured coaches learning according to high-performance ideals. The process of learning was revealed to follow the logic of reproduction as alluded to by Bourdieu (1977, 1990a), and reinforced in social practice through the continual (re)adjustment of class habitus to structural conditions. The mechanisms underlying this process revealed learning to have a symbolic nature, mediated by power, resulting in the uncritical reproduction of ideology related to coaching disabled people. Thus, the research extends an understanding of coach learning, taking into consideration social structure and agency, as a basis for further critical inquiry into coaching in disability sport.

Personal development is a concern for anyone with various paths that can be followed in the search for such development; the actions of people are the most important things in life, because they are what is visible: what I do is stronger and more important than what I say. In this sense, coaching in general and Management - Coach in particular, have an opportunity to contribute to this better performance. In the present article, the actions of traditional managers are compared with those of a Manager - Coach, which is, mainly to achieve a greater commitment with their people, to achieve superior results. The Manager - Coach uses conversational techniques, understands the processes that are traversed and makes it easier for his collaborators to find the answers that each situation requires, contributing to gain confidence and security in what they do. / El desarrollo personal es una preocupación para muchos, siendo diversos los caminos que se pueden seguir en la búsqueda de dicho desarrollo; el actuar de las personas, es lo más importante en la vida porque es lo visible: lo que se hace es más fuerte e importante que lo que se dice. En este sentido, el coaching en general y la Gerencia-Coach en particular, tienen una oportunidad para contribuir a este mejor desempeño.En el presente artículo se comparan las actuaciones de los gerentes tradicionales con los de un Gerente-Coach, el cual tiene como principal objetivo lograr un mayor compromiso con sus colaboradores para alcanzar resultados superiores. El Gerente-Coach emplea técnicas conversacionales, comprende los procesos que se atraviesan y facilita a que sus colaboradores encuentren las respuestas que cada situación requiere, contribuyendo a que ganen confianza y seguridad en lo que hacen.

Despite growing interest in coaching sciences, literature has revealed a dearth of research on coaches who work with para athletes (e. g. Cregan, Bloom, & Reid, 2007; McMaster, Culver, & Werthner, 2012). The purpose of this study was to explore how novice coaches in parasport develop their knowledge. The study was conducted in real-time during the coaches’ first contact with the context. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted with six Canadian para sailing coaches. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) revealed that coaches developed context-specific knowledge and skills through a blend of formal, nonformal, and informal learning situations. The participants highlighted the importance of learning from others, especially other coaches and from athletes.

The focus of this research was to investigate and clarify the daily work lives of elementary reading coaches in central Florida by studying their background, academic and professional experiences. The beliefs and perceptions of the reading coaches on factors that influence reading achievement were examined. The responses from 96 participating elementary reading coaches were used to investigate (a) the relationship between demographic information, professional experiences, and academic background of the reading coach, (b) the percentage of time reading coaches engaged in specific coaching activities, and (c) the linkage between coaching activities and change in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test developmental scale scores. Data from a web-based survey and personal interviews were used to collect pertinent data to understand the daily work lives of the elementary reading coaches and bring awareness to perceptions, successes and hindrances to the role and the impact on reading achievement. Descriptive statistics were used to present demographic, professional and academic information about the reading coaches. Multiple regression analyses were performed using time allocated to coaching activities and the change in reading achievement to determine existing relationships. Developmental scale score change was examined from the baseline year to the third year. Qualitative analyses were used to determine reading coach themes from the survey responses. Participant profiles, calling on the tenets of case study methodology, were developed based on the triangulated data. Narrative descriptions of coaching data for the participant profiles were organized by years of teaching experience of the reading coach. ii The results of the study indicated that reading coaches perceived coach-teacher collaboration to be the most influential activity affecting reading achievement. This perception was not congruent with finding of time spent and change on reading achievement. Recommendations were presented including a formalized understanding of the daily work lives of reading coaches by school districts, administrators and the reading coaches themselves.