Embedding employability within the curriculum – USW Case Study

Rob GriffithsPaul RainerJon Evans

Critical Success Factors

Policy Driven

Academic Staff

Assessment

Employability

Coordinator

Innovative

Partnerships

Mentoring

Support

Curriculum DesignYear 1

• PREPARATION• Ensuring appropriate knowledge base• Develop relevant skills (leadership, communication, organisation)• Application within peer group environment• Introduction to key initiatives/programmes e.g Street Games

Year 2

• APPLICATION• Undertake community placement• Opportunity to join Active Valleys• Expectation that student acquires a significant number of vocational awards

Year 3

• CRITICAL REFLECTION• Extended piece of critical writing• 140 hour community placement – leading on projects• Development of critical reflection, analysis and discussion techniques

Year 2 modulesSport Placement Module • 40 hours of ‘delivery’ in a community sport

setting• Options include: Primary school extra-

curricular delivery; competition organisation; and StreetGames community sport delivery

• Working with key partners – Sport RCT, Sport Caerphilly, StreetGames & Merthyr Sports Development

• Rugby & Football degree programmes focus on sport specific community placements

Year 3 modules

Applied Professional Project (40c)• Option for students on all sport degree

programmes• Taken instead of a dissertation• Students undertake a placement for a day a week

over a period of at least 20 weeks with an employer

• Students are required to write a report based on a project that they deliver during their placement

• Ideal for those students wanting to gain significant industry experience

Year 3 modules

Work-Based Learning (20c)• Option for students wishing to do a dissertation• Provides an opportunity to undertake work-based learning

alongside a research project for their dissertation• Students undertake a placement for a day a week over a period

of at least 20 weeks with an employer (140 hours)• Students are required to write 2 reflective essays or their

experiences whilst on their placement

Academic Staff

1. Previous industry experience

2. Strong engagement with industry

3. Research interests within student employability

4. Employability acknowledged within workload

Student Support

• Designated industry mentors and academic supervisors

• WBL Handbook• Employers handbook• Employers forum• Timetabled sessions• E-portfolio• Sports Jobs & Careers

WBL Coordinator & Lecturer

• To co-ordinate and manage the work placement opportunities with National Governing Bodies, Local authorities, professional organisations and schools

• To deliver workshops/tutorials to students in aspects of professional development in the workplace

• To develop and maintain a working relationship with external agencies and to assist and support students work placements in the area of sports coaching and performance.

• To provide mentorship to students that are on placements• To contribute to the delivery of sports coaching modules as necessary.• To perform administration and assessment associated with student placements.• To provide regular reports and assessments in relation to the coaching ability of students

whilst on placement• To co-ordinate and manage collaborative work based learning forums.

Assessment

Reflective Logs Managem

ent Reports

Blogs / e-portfolio

Mentor feedback

Practical

Delivery

Use of Video & Audio

Poster / OralPresentation

s

Design of

Resources

10

Innovative Practice

• USW Sport Student Enterprise – ‘Active Valleys’• Run by sports students from years 1, 2 and 3

• Currently have a number of contracts with local authorities to deliver sport to the community

• Gain experience of running a ‘business’ in sport

Employability Conference

• Employers advertise their job roles and placements to prospective students• Students apply for and are selected for particular roles by the employers (via

application form/CV and interview)

• Each year, sports students attend an Employability Conference

• Provides valuable interview and industry experience in a supportive and purposeful environment

• Allows for important networking in the sports sector

PartnershipsPost Organisation

Football Development Officer Welsh Football Trust

Junior Sports Assistant RCT

WRU Enterprise Academy WRU

5x60 assistants RCT and Caerphilly

Competition Assistant Cricket Wales

Sport Policy Unit Welsh Government

Hockey Development Officer Hockey Wales

Assistant Instructors RCT Outdoor Activity Centre

Rowing Participation Officer Welsh Rowing

Leisure Project Officers Halo Leisure

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The modern day Coach is Unprepared

Recent critical writing on coach development and coach education programs suggests that existing approaches are unable to provide the professional development required for coaches working in often increasingly complex, dynamic and demanding environments (Cushion, 2007).

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Mechanical Compliance

Typically NGB Coach Education has portrayed coaching as a ‘knowable sequence’ (Usher, 1998) and coaches as ‘merely technicians involved in the transfer of knowledge’ (MacDonald and Tinning, 1995) where theory has been delivered separate to practice.

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It has been recognised that if we are to develop imaginative, dynamic and thought provoking coaches we must widen the search beyond the “usual suspects” of content knowledge that has traditionally informed the coach education process (Cushion, 2003).

21st Century Coach

A different type of Pedagogy

• Active participation• Self-determined action• Collaborative experiences• Edge of chaos expectations• Open environment• Situated/authentic experiences• Formative feedback• Reflective Evaluation• Scaffold experiences• Connected experiences

• Passive participation• Received action• Individualised experiences• Stable expectations• Closed environment• De-contextualised experiences• Summative feedback• Superficial Evaluation• Fragmented experiences• Compartmentalised experiences

• Complex Pedagogy • Behaviourist Pedagogy

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Courses we Developed

• Foundation Degree Football Coaching & Performance• BSc Football Coaching & Performance• Foundation Degree Rugby Coaching & Performance• BSc Rugby Coaching & Performance

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Responsive to Key Stakeholders

Skills Active (2006) – ‘the combination of Level 2 NGB Coach education and a relevant degree would be extremely beneficial for sport employment’

HE must therefore in collaboration with stakeholders provide opportunities for students to experience the complexities of coaching

Awareness of Deployment

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Curriculum Design

The need to move away from a content / instructional based curriculum to a progressive curriculum that is focused on a student centred approach.

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FD Football/Rugby Coaching & DevelopmentBSc Rugby Coaching & Performance

Year One Year Two Year Three

Academic and Professional Skills Research MethodsDissertation

or Applied Project

(Double Modules)

Football/Rugby coaching young children(Double module)

Football/Rugby Coaching: Adolescent performers(Double Module)

Expert Performance & Psychological Factors

Strength and Conditioning principles and applications Performance Analysis Strength & Conditioning

Developing Athlete BSc Pathway: Analysis in Rugby/Football Coaching & Performance

BSc Pathway: Developing Expertise in Motor Behaviour Contemporary Issues in Sports Coaching

Introduction to Coaching Science MonitoringTesting & Evaluation

FD Pathway: FD Pathway:Developing Sport Sport Employability Placement

(Double Module)

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WRU UKCC Level 1 and FAW Level 2 (UEFA C) licence

40 hours placement

WRU UKCC Level 2 awardFAW Level 3 award (UEFA B)

licence140 hour placement

FAW Level 3 award140 hour placement

Year 1 Academic Research & Professional ,The Developing Athlete, Strength &

Conditioning Principles and Applications, Football/Rugby Coaching Young Children(40c), Developing Sport.

Introduction to Coaching Science

Year 2Performance Analysis, Research Methods, Football/Rugby Coaching Adolescent Performers (40c), Sport Placement (Rugby/Football)(40c), Monitoring Fitness Testing, Sport

Psychology & Skill Acquisition

Year 3Dissertation/Applied Professional Project, Contemporary Issues in Sport, Strength & Conditioning, Advanced Sport Psychology & Skill

Acquisition, Analysis in Rugby/Football, Work Based Learning, Athlete Career Transitions.

FD/BSc Rugby/Football Coaching WBL integrated throughout

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Year 1 FAW/UEFA C licence (72 hrs)Year 2/3 FAW/UEFA B Youth Licence (144 hrs)

Year 1 WRU Coaching Children Level 1 (7-13 yrs of age) (72 hrs)Year 2 WRU UKCC Level 2 Coaching award.

Integration of Coach Education

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Key Points in the design of WBL• Curriculum Design

– Integration of WBL throughout• Follow QAA guidelines and Code of Practice

for WBL and FD– Assessment– Engagement with employers

• Quality assurance of WBL– Students are ‘fit for purpose’

• Mentor support

• A range of well designed WBL opportunities

• Community of Coaching Practice

• Mutual Obligation and Shared Responsibility

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A Community of Learning Practice

Jones et al., (2004) suggested that inherent in experiential learning is the process of learning how to coach through socialisation within a subculture, where coaches through interaction with other coaches are able to develop a set of coaching values of “how things should be done” (Lyle, 1999).

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Learning through Real-world Experience

This new innovative approach to coach education would suggest the experiential learning opportunities offered through this approach are not as Jones and Wallace (2005) suggest “removed from reality”, but provide coaches the opportunity to facilitate the integration of new knowledge into coaching practice (Nelson & Cushion, 2006). The course echoes the views of Cushion et al., (2003) of the need to situate the trainees’ learning in the practical experience of coaching in an appropriate supportive context, through work based learning in a variety of contexts.

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Active Endorsement Higher Education Endorsement Scheme - Sports Coach Education

• Aims of the scheme

• To enable prospective students to make more informed decisions when choosing their courses of study.

• To help Universities ensure their courses of study have currency and relevance to industry.

• To produce educated and employable graduates in the sector.• To help define and promote the concept of ‘graduateness’ in the sector.

Abrahams. A., & Collins, D. (1998). Examining and Extending research in coach development, Quest, 50: 59-79. Cushion, C. Armour, K.M. & R.L.Jones.(2003). Coach Education and continuing professional development: Experience and learning to coach, Quest, 5:215-230. Jones, R.L. & M. Wallace. (2005). Another bad day at the training ground: Coping with ambiguity in the coaching context, Sport Education & Society, 10, 119-134. Nelson, L. & C. Cushion. (2006). Reflection in Coach Education: The case of the national governing body of coaching certificate. The Sport Psychologist, 20: 174-183.

Reid, A. and Petocz, P. (2003). The Professional entity: rebuilding the relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and the future profession. Paper presented at the 11th Improving Student Learning Symposium, Hinckley, Leicestershire, 1-3 rd September, 2003 Sports Coach UK. (2008). The UK Coaching Framework.

Usher, R. (1998) The story of the self: Education, experience and autobiography, in: M. Erben (Ed.) Biography and Education: A reader (London, Falmer Press).

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References

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COACH DEVELOPMENT USW COACH PATHWAY SUPPORT PROGRAMME

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Jon Evans - WRU Coach Development Officer

Mentor support and Supporting Lecturer

My Role

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1st Years complete the UKCC Coaching Rugby Union Children’s Level 1.

Modules • What is coaching• Planning and Organisation• Communication Skills• Games for Understanding• Core Values• The TAG Game• An introduction to contact

They also complete a four week coaching placement at a local Primary Schools.

Qualifications

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2nd Years Complete the UKCC Coaching Rugby Union Level 2.

Modules• Effective Coaching• Coaching Styles• Skill Acquisition• Developmental Coaching• Powering the 8 man scrum• Continuity in contact• Backline options

Students also receive additional topics such as 7’s, Touch rugby and Strength and Conditioning to enhance their coaching knowledge.

Qualifications

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Challenges

Student.From a review of the course they said:• Peer Assessments• Even more

qualifications eg 7’s, Refereeing• Experience

WRU.Issues I have faced• Attendance• Most qualified class

but how many are actually coaching

• Placement opportunities

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Experience

Delivery of WRU programmes:

Little starsUnder 14 Talent IdentificationSecondary SchoolsPrimary SchoolsDewar ShieldStreet StarsAtomic TouchTouchRefereeing

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Case Study

Joe Davies – WRU Player Development Officerfor Cardiff Former Student of USW

RoleFacilitates delivery of rugby programmes in 24 Secondary Schools.Delivers Talent Identification Skills Hubs for the Cardiff areaKey stake holder in the Cardiff Schools DewarShield Under 15’s Team

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Thanks for listening Any questions