Formal & Informal Coach Education

Today we take a look at Formal and Informal coaching, and more specifically the use of these learning techniques in modern day football coach education. The research paper we will focus on in this Guided By The Facts piece is "A Learning Community Approach to Coach Development in Youth Sport"  in which Gilbert et al analyse over 200 studies related to the topic of coach education and specifically informal learning and formal learning.

So, what is coach education?

Football coach education has become a division of paramount importance to governing bodies and associations with most governing bodies now offering their coaches certificate courses that allow them to validate their progression and subsequent level. In some countries, associations offer coaches the opportunity to develop these skills at a very progressive and early stage of their development with no previous experience required - this is known as formal coach education.

Formal  

As with most education, the formal side sees coaches engage in organised courses which enable them to validate their knowledge, ultimately being rewarded with a certificate at the end. Particularly within the grassroots environment, such courses are often seen as the starting point for new coaches and thus gives them that first step into acquiring the most basic of knowledge. The idea of these formal courses are that they should be "content driven with an emphasis on telling coaches as much as possible about the knowledge they should have" (Gilbert et al, 2009)

In theory, a coach will attend a course and come out the other end having acquired some kind of knowledge. Whilst the knowledge gained is often useful, it generally tends to be quite generic. If you've done a few of the early coaching badges you'll know a lot of them end up regurgitating some of the same information over and over again - nothing wrong with this as these really solid foundations on which to build your coaching skills.

Informal

The challenge for coaches and associations alike is to understand that there are different ways in which a coach can learn, and the attainment of a certificate should not always define you as a coach. Although it was written in 2009, this paper's research and methods still ring true today, the paper advises coaches tto not only focus on these formal methods of coaching but embrace what is known as 'informal' learning.

'Informal' learning relates to ongoing context-specific coach development opportunities, more specifically; "learning from experience" which occurs in context and allows coaches to draw on their social networks while trying to resolve coaching issues. Opportunities for coaches to develop knowledge based on the need to solve their own coaching issues - simply put, learning by doing. Some of the methods Gilbert et al suggest include: drawing on their previous playing experience and/or their interactions with fellow coaches, as well as self-directed learning through various sources e.g. news articles, social media and books.

In essence, informal learning is 'problem-based learning' which allows coaches to make up their own mind in applying knowledge in real-life situations. The challenge lies in making coaches aware of such opportunities for further development instead of relying solely on what they have learnt in the 'formal' classroom-like setting. If you think about a time you've learnt something new, you can probably find a situation whereby this was done by putting yourself in an unknown context and solving the problem 'on your feet' as it were.

The arguments as to why such a paper exists and examines both formal and informal learning is summed up perfectly in the quote below:

"While there may still be a tendency towards thinking of professional development as occurring on particular days and involving attendance at organised courses, in educational arenas the emphasis is now upon engagement in a professional learning process that is ongoing and an integral element of one’s professional work." (Penney 2006, taken from Gilbert et al, 2009)

Formal v Informal

Let's break this down then shall we. I think we can all agree that there is no one-size fits all model to coaching and the two methods often go hand in hand.

Penney (2006) highlights that whilst it is all well and good completing your coaching badges, in a competitive world where there can be a hundred people with the same qualifications, it pays to think outside the box as it will enable you to stand out from the crowd. How then can you stand out from the crowd? Well a number of researchers have suggested that in reality, it is not as hard as you might think. It is the real tangible, self directed, problem-based learnings which coaches prefer that come from the informal setting. Not only is it a more fun way of learning but it has been proven to be more effective. In fact, through analysis of over 200 studies, Gilbert et al suggest that whilst traditional methods of teaching (formal learning) are effective for "short-term knowledge retention" it is the problem-based learning approach (informal learning) that "consistently results in higher learner satisfaction scores, long-term retention of knowledge, and performance assessments".

Ultimately, at the grassroots level it is the formal teachings which help get a new coach set up and gets them thinking about the game. Without these it would be difficult for a new coach to learn the basics of what they need to coach their team. Over time, it is the informal learnings which come from gaining more experience that will serve to enhance their knowledge and philosophy as coaches. So the next time you think about how you really need to achieve the next coaching badge, take a step back and think about what you have gained from personal learnings since you last did a certificate course; in doing so allowing yourself to think critically about your coaching will increase your development and ultimately that of your players much more than you might think.

We aren't for or against either of these methods, merely we want to show coaches out there how this has been perceived from a research standpoint and hopefully get our coaches thinking more critically about the way they learn.