Mentoring and the Pedagogue

Last week (week 6) in Sport Coaching Pedagogy (SCP) we discussed performing, reflecting and mentoring.

The main segment of this I would like to discuss today is mentoring. The oxford dictionary defines a mentor as ‘an experienced or trained advisor’. I have had many mentors in different parts of my life and have indeed found them all to be quite experienced. I think the training part of mentorship is more a reflection of the experiences that the mentor has had.

Keith presented the idea that mentor could possibly be ‘on call’ at all times. This really hit the mark for me. A previous cycling coach of mine is someone who I consider a great mentor of mine. It does to me seem as if he is always ‘on call’ so to speak and that I can call him about issues I am having in a decision making sense whether this is to do with cycling, uni or otherwise.  

The mentor that we spoke about in class was also non-judgmental. This non-judgemental mentor allows the mentoree to explore territory that may be taboo with their mentor and develop trust in an environment conducive to development.

When talking about the expert mentor, the mentor always left the final decision to the ‘mentoree’. Sometimes the mentor does not have to say much they may just have to listen. This listening may just allow the mentoree to verbalise the situation to someone and create an environment where the problem is not internalised, but out in the open. The learner or mentoree then has made their own decision and they do not become frequently dependant on the advice of the pedagogue or mentor. It was Anne Rolfe (Synergistic People Development) that said

“A mentor provides information, shares their experiences or expresses an opinion. However, it is always the mentee that decides acts and produces outcomes.”

Mentors essential in guiding someone to achieve their goals. I have seen firsthand the benefits of mentorship throughout my academic and my sporting pursuits.

“Behind every successful person, there is one elementary truth: somewhere, somehow, someone cared about their growth and development.”

-Beverley Kaye (Up is Not the Only Way, 1997)

Augmented Information and The Coach

Firstly I would like to begin by apologising on not keeping up with my blog posts. I have been quite busy lately with my own training and other very urgent study commitments, that I have missed updating my learning experiences for the past fortnight.

During week 5 of SCP Keith put forward this idea of augmented information. It was a term I wasn’t very familiar with but upon further research I have discovered that to augment means ‘to make something greater by adding to it; increase’. Keith defined augmented information in the context of coaching as ‘information outside the sensory cortex of the athlete’. This made sense to me as it provided in increase or ‘augment’ of information to the athlete than what they may have experienced themselves.

This is something as a coach I have not been experienced in. However, in retrospect my coach has augmented information in his observation and feedback to myself, without me even putting a title or name to this phenomenon.

The best example I can think of this is watching a video of one performing a skill. You may feel (in your sensory cortex) that the skill was performed in the correct manner, however, upon watching a replay you realise that the skill you performed looked different to how it felt maybe. This is a great example of augmented information being implemented into a program, as once this information has been replayed, the athlete may visualise the correction better and alter the technique and therefore the outcome.

This is now something that I will endeavour to introduce to athlete(s) that I coach. That is, this idea of increase the athlete’s information that is outside the sensory cortex. This may prove effective as a tool to predict and improve performance.

My Background and The Expert Pedagogue

This week in our Sport Coaching Pedagogy lecture and tutorial, Keith (our lecturer), asked us all about our backgrounds, as to gain a better understanding of and past and present. I will share with you a little of my background.

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am halfway through a Bachelor of Sport Coaching and Exercise Science. I have an interest in all things sport and my hometown is Wagga Wagga the ‘city of good sports’ as we are rightly named with home-grown athletes such as Paul Kelly (AFL), Brad Kahlefeldt (triathlon) and Michael Slater (cricket) and just to name a few.

My sporting background mostly includes cycling. However, as a junior I did attempt Australian rules, cricket and rugby league (all of which I was not very good at!). Cycling was always the standout for me and in most recent times track cycling.

This week Keith challenged the group to think about influential coaches and figures throughout our sporting lives. I have felt privileged with the coaches that I have been surrounded my and that have always got the best out of me. Bob Robertson taught me love for the sport, Tom Dawson was a great mentor (and still is) and taught me how to work hard, Brian Simpson coached me to win bike races I didn’t know I could win and Alex Bird has taught me strength and skills and in leading by example that anything is possible.

I have coached (and am coaching) a masters track cyclist named Daniel. In my coaching I am aspiring the take the best attributes of all of my coaches and become (as Keith has called it) the expert pedagogue. I am also discovering what a challenge coaching can be sometimes. Although it is not without its victories; last weekend Daniel picked up the silver medal in the Australian Masters Track Championships in the sprint. After a couple of years working with him, the hard work has paid off.

“The coaching process is the contract/agreement between the athlete and coach and the operationalisation consists of the purposeful, direct and indirect, formal and informal series of activities and interventions designed to improve competition performance. The most evident part of the process is normally a planned, co-ordinated and integrated programme of preparation and competition.” – John Lyle (2002)

This quote for me really sums up what it is to be a coach and I have found that this holistically defines the daily duties of the pedagogue. The purpose of the coach is to improve performance and this quote by Lyle characterises what type of interventions a coach makes to achieve improved performance.