COACHING (B)

A MEDIUM FOR LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

REINHARD STELTER

Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences

University of Copenhagen

Key word: coaching, learning

Why coaching ?

• § Our society is changing rapidly?
• § Flexibility and adjustment is demanded
• § New understanding about knowledge as contextual and relational
• § Coaching might be one possible answer to these claims
• What is coaching?
• § Coaching means to develop the professional and personal potentials and individual abilities towards self-regulation
• § Coaching means participation in the process of learning and development of a focus-person / group
• § Coaching means to develop the focus – person on the basis of his/her own resources
• What is the propose of coaching?

• § To sharpen his/her attention on the situation
• § To clarify his/her relation towards the situation
• § To strengthen his/her subjective evaluation in regard to the situation (competence, valence)
• § To focus on the development of own strategies and solution regarding the task
• § To relate directly towards the purpose and meaningfulness of his/her action
• § To develop new perspective regarding future actions and tasks

How does it work?

• § Focus on bodily experience
• § Focus on movement intenstions
• § Sharpening the attention on the tacit dimension of the situations
• § Develoment of personal mode of action on the basis of self-dialogue in relation to the situational claims

Coaching and experiential learning

• § Learning is a process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Kolb, 1984, p.38)
• § The focal point are concrete experience of the situation
• § Via reflective observation the individual gives meaning to the concret experience
• § Experiences and observations from the situation are collected and generate an abstract understanding and opens up generalisation > abstract conceptualisation
• § These subjective theories are the basis for the further planning and a frame of reference for an active experimentation in similar situations

• § In phase 1 "concrete experience" coaching supports the process of sharpening the attention towards the here and now of the situation
• § In phase 2 "reflective observation" coaching supports the process of giving meaning to the situation, of focusing on the quality of actions and of putting words on the experiences.
• § In phase 3 "abstarct conceptualisation coaching supports the development of general guidelines, conceptions and theories
• § In phase 4 "active experimentation" coaching supports the process of impovement in regard to future courses of action, i.g.: "what would you do different if…?
• Coaching techniques 1
• Focusing techniques
• § Concentration, awarness and attention – sensuous awarness on the "here and now"
• § Basic attitude should be accepting
• § Centring on your hara-centre / centre of gravity
• § Focusing on breathing
• § Focusing on specific parts of the body
• § Focusing on specific movement sequences
• § Focusing on enviromental conditions
• § Playing with the different possibilities and experiences in regard to situation and task
• Coaching techniques 2
• Questioning
• § Focusing on solutions – not on the problem
• § Being curious in regard to the situation - sharpen your alertness, watchfulness and consciousness toward the situation
• § Development of new perspectives – active experimentation
• - miracle questions
• - questions about exceptions
• - scaling questions
• Conclusion
• · coaching is not an "all round" – prescription
• · coaching is dependent on the readiness and open-mindedness of the focus-person/group
• · coaching is not a one –off affair
• · coaching should be a developmental project for the individual and/or the whole group
• · coaching is based on the belief thet individuals and groups have a potential towards development