Newcomers and old-timers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand legitimate peripheral participation (interactions between newcomers and old-timers) during a coaching clinic as it was experienced by expert, intermediate and novice participants as continuing professional development. Three frameworks on continuing professional development presented by Chalofsky (1990), Lave & Wenger (1991), and Houle (1980) were utilized to understand legitimate peripheral participation during two football coaching clinics. Data were collected at two, three-day coaching clinics through observation and interviews. Field notes were collected during the observations and the interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. Data trustworthiness was established through triangulation, member checks and a peer debriefer. Inductive analysis of the data generated themes arising from the observations and interviews that pertained to legitimate peripheral participation. It was discovered that as football coaches progressed toward expertise, their (a) perceptions of responsibility for self-development, (b) peer interactions, (c) identity formation, and (d) modes of learning gradually adjusted from external sources to an internal desire to improve. Findings from the data revealed that as novices gained experience, their perceptions of self-development changed from a dependence upon the head coach for improvement to an internal desire to improve with increased responsibilities to guide the self-development of their assistant coaches. Peer interactions also developed with experience. The novice coaches perceived themselves as outsiders looking in as they observed interactions of other coaches to become acquainted with the social norms, while the more experienced intermediate and expert coaches had full access to the knowledge and understanding in the community of practice through discussions with others. In regards to identity formation, novice coaches were highly dependent on the observations of other coaches to gain a better understanding of their role as a coach and ultimately created their own identity, while the experiences of intermediate and expert coaches had greatly enhanced their comfort level with their coaching identity. Additionally, as coaches developed, their modes of learning shifted from a dependence on factual information through instruction to the combination of knowledge and understanding from various disciplines that could be incorporated into their own style of coaching through inquiry and performance.