Reflecting on Reflective Practice: A Coach’s Action Research

Academic Research by Edward Thomas Hall, Shirley Gray – Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. EH8 8AQ.

Academic Research

Academic Research by Edward Thomas Hall, Shirley Gray – Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. EH8 8AQ.

Reflection is now advocated by coach education programmes around the world as a framework for coaches to learn from their experience. Yet, there is a paucity of empirical and critical work focussed on coaches’ experiences of reflective practice. Consequently, we lack understanding as to the utility of reflection in the messy realities of practice, and of what is meaningful to those who engage in such a personally involving, emotive and challenging process. This article presents a series of narratives that evoke the dilemmas I (the lead author) experienced reflecting on my reflective practice within an action research process.