So far, my weekly reflections have focused mainly on how I have worked towards my desired output of a coaching handbook. This has continued to progress positively; I took the time this week to set up feedback forms for both volunteers and local sports delivery charity partners to ensure that their experiences and voices are considered within the handbook. My questions asked aim to seek out how volunteers are currently most effective to different partners, and what teaching, knowledge, and content can make sure that sessions they deliver and support are of a consistently high quality.
However, in my next two reflections, I would like to pivot away from purely reporting on the handbook's progress, to instead focus on how the character components taught through the Oxford Character project has been applicable during my week in broader terms that include its relevance towards how I have taught sessions myself, and navigated day to day life in an unfamiliar setting.
During this week, applying learning relating to leading with humanity and integrity have both been particularly relevant. As other volunteers have come and gone, I now find myself in a more senior position within the group of us, both when delivering sessions and in terms of everyday life. Integrity has been essential to forming friendships with new people not knowing what to expect from each other or their time here. As a coach, I have tried to demonstrate consistent commitment to attending and delivering my sessions with energy and enthusiasm. This has helped me to gain the respect of other coaches around me, as well as participants in my session, who notice my effort. I have found that being open with players and consistent with behaviour management techniques in tense situations is often the ideal solution for inevitable sporting disputes that occur. For instance, if I am both coaching and refereeing a game, and therefore miss a decision, trusting players to either come to their own decision collectively, or admitting that I am unsure and asking them to play 'rock paper scissors' to allow luck to determine the outcome, effectively concludes the dispute, whilst building trust between me and participants through showing I am interested in upholding honesty and fairness in my sessions. Building a pattern of behaviours that demonstrates my integrity also means that other volunteers have been more willing to ask me questions about their coaching, or come to me with any more general issues or concerns.
In terms of humanity, having taken time to show a genuine interest in coaches and partners that work with the charity during collaborations has meant that responses to my form have been quick and detailed. Coaching, especially with younger children, is inherently a job that requires a personal touch, and their is great reward in helping participants overcome their struggles, whether this be by improving their water confidence, throwing and catching, or unlocking more advanced sport specific skills. But, having patience with individuals, especially younger participants, whilst they are making mistakes, or taking too long to listen to instructions, is also vital. Especially when navigating behaviour or trying to explain games, I have found learning to self-reflect about the capacities of who I am teaching to understand and enact my instructions, or whether I have been clear enough in explaining them, means that I am able to achieve more. Considering others in a session a coach should design to improve others is a no-brainer. Likewise, having the humility to recognise that a handbook I am the one building should not be purely an amalgamation of my own experiences and viewpoints is vital to producing a useful resource that serves its purpose, not just my coaching principles.
I look forward to my last two weeks, where I hope to keep learning from the volunteers and coaches around me, and keep developing a formal draft of the handbook, based on information and perspectives collected.