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Lifelong Learning in Parasport Coaching

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Lifelong Learning in Parasport Coaching RUNNING HEAD: LIFELONG LEARNING IN PARASPORT COACHING Case Studies in Learning to Coach Athletes with Disabilities: Lifelong Learning in Four Canadian Parasport Coaches Shaunna Taylor Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Kinetics School of Human Kinetics Faculty of Health Sciences University of Ottawa © Shaunna Taylor, Ottawa, Canada, 2015 Parasport Lifelong Learning ii Acknowledgements I have many people to thank who were a source of support and inspiration during my doctoral journey. The four coaches who were the key participants in this research were generous with their time and trust. I will forever be grateful for their collaboration. They taught me so many important lessons in life and in coaching in parasport. Thanks also goes to the entire parasport community that welcomed me with such open arms into your stories, your sports, and your families. I will cherish all the fascinating lives I have been fortunate enough to have been a small part of. A huge thanks also to my committee members: Dr. Pierre Trudel, Dr. Diane Culver, and Dr. Natalie Durand-Bush. Your critical eyes and collaborative spirit made this a positive experience for me. Special thanks goes to Dr. Penny Werthner for being a professional and academic mentor to me, on this project and beyond. Thank you for giving me the latitude to use my own ideas, to do something I believed in, and also for reining me in when I went off track. Your belief in me in one of the most hectic and challenging times in my life was so greatly appreciated. I could not have done this without your support. To my colleagues and friends who were also a part of my support network to keep me from giving up, including Bettina, Lauren, Isabelle, Anna, and Neale. Thank you for continually reminding me (sometimes weekly) that this project was worth it. To my entire extended family, parents, step-parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and brothers: thank you for believing I could follow through as a mature student at a time when a busy life, family and career could have easily thrown any research off the rails. You are all a part of the reason why I felt capable of finishing what I started. To my parents, and especially my mother, Judy: you have always believed in me and are part of the reason I have confidence and love for myself and others today. To Colin: probably no one has seen me at my lowest - or highest - other than you in this life. It will always be important to me to make you proud, and your own success in career and family fills me with pride. To Robin and Jamie: seeing you grow up and being a big sister you can look up to is a joy. I hope we will continue to grow and learn to lean on one another as we all grow old together. To Shiah: My little cousin and soul sister who gave me support in my life whenever I have needed it the most. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. To my daughters: Skylar, Zoe and Taylor. This dissertation is really for you. To show you that you can do anything, at any time in your life, if you really set your mind to it. You are by far my finest work, and nothing really holds a candle to the love and pride of being your mother. Finally, to Daniel: I know you didn't really know what you were getting into at the start of this journey with me. I hope that you know how important you were in making it happen and that your love, and patience (which doesn't always come naturally to you:), were so appreciated all these years. I'm sure I couldn't have done it without you, and I hope you somehow feel proud that a piece of this dissertation is thanks to you. No matter where life leads us, please know that I will always be grateful for all you have given me. Parasport Lifelong Learning iii Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE DISSERTATION ........................................... 1 Research Approach: Case Study Methodology ................................................................... 3 Results ................................................................................................................................ 6 Discussion............................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 10 Lifelong Learning From a Policy Perspective .................................................................. 12 Lifelong Learning From a Psychosocial Perspective ....................................................... 15 Biography ........................................................................................................................ 17 Disjuncture and human experience ................................................................................. 17 Types of learning ............................................................................................................ 18 Meaning .......................................................................................................................... 21 The social context ............................................................................................................ 22 Learning situations .......................................................................................................... 23 Limitations of Jarvis ....................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND DISSERTATION PURPOSE........... 26 Literature on Sport Coaching Contexts ............................................................................. 27 Literature on Coach Learning and Development .............................................................. 29 Literature on Social Learning Systems ............................................................................. 32 Literature on Coaching Athletes with a Disability ............................................................ 37 Dissertation Purpose .......................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH APPROACH......................................................................... 44 Paradigm and Epistemology in Qualitative Research ....................................................... 45 Case Study Methodology .................................................................................................. 46 Experience of the Researcher and Transparency ............................................................... 53 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS .................................................................................................. 57 1) A Case Study of a Parasport Coach and a Life of Learning ......................................... 58 Abstract.............................................................................................................................. 59 Human Learning ................................................................................................................ 60 Parasport Coaching Literature ........................................................................................... 62 Methods ............................................................................................................................. 64 Results ............................................................................................................................... 68 Coach Biography ............................................................................................................... 68 Parasport Lifelong Learning iv Meaningful experiences: family and environment.. ....................................................... 68 Early experiences: school and peers ............................................................................... 69 Meaningful experience: transition through adversity into coaching parasport.......... .... 70 Coach Learning and Social Context .................................................................................. 71 Formal............................................................................................................................. 71 Nonformal....................................................................................................................... 73 Informal .......................................................................................................................... 74 Discussion.......................................................................................................................... 77 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 81 Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................... 82 References ......................................................................................................................... 83 Appendix A ....................................................................................................................... 89 Appendix B ........................................................................................................................ 95 2) Dynamic, Evolving and Social: Learning Interactions of Parasport Coaches
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