Examining the Process and the Outcomes of a 12-month Learning Journey of Intercollegiate Sport Coaches Accompanied by a Personal Learning Coach Francois Rodrigue Thesis 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 © Francois Rodrigue, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 Doctoral Dissertation: Francois Rodrigue Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who have supported me in various ways throughout my progression in academia, from bachelors to doctorate. Throughout the years, I have exchanged with many people across the world of football, entrepreneurship, coaching, and health on the thoughts I had about coaching and the world of sport. Unfortunately, it is impossible to thank everyone who have supported me throughout this journey, I will limit my statements to those who made special contributions towards my academic pathway. I would like to thank the University of Ottawa and the Gee-Gees family for providing me with a special place to learn and grow away from home. This journey of 10 years that began on January 5th, 2009, is now complete. I came here as a young man from Beauce wanting to learn everything about football and strength and conditioning. I will now leave with an avid thirst for learning and an obsessive will to have a positive impact on my community and the world. Throughout the years, I was fortunate to meet, here on campus, hundreds of teammates, dozens of peers in Human Kinetics, and a handful of professors that changed my perspectives and challenged me. To this day, I still talk to so many of you on a regular basis and we will certainly be lifelong friends. Thank you. Thank you Gee-Gees family. I would like to acknowledge the role of people that have played a special role in my personal and professional life throughout my doctorate. First, thank you to the coaches and administrators who believed in my project, my skills, and my purpose. Without your support, this doctoral dissertation could not have been possible. Coaching is a special profession. Coaches are unique. They are special human beings that dedicate 10 hours a day, 365 days a year over so many years to help people grow and perform. Who else would do that for a minimal wage, a chaotic work schedule, and incessant criticisms. They are people of the people, and they are special human beings. Thank you! Second, I would like to thank Steve, Michael, Maxime, Flow, PY, and Simon for challenging my ideas, and trying to answer my incessant philosophical questions. I certainly could not have produced this doctoral dissertation without the numerous hikes, wild camping trips, weightlifting workouts, and sports we’ve done together. Thank you for keeping me balance. Thank you for being my Top Performers community of practice. Third, I would like to thank some professors that have now became friends and had an impact both on my personal and professional life: André Lachance, Dr. Benoit Séguin, and Dr. Michelle Fortier. Fourth, I would ii Doctoral Dissertation: Francois Rodrigue like to thank each of the members of my dissertation committee for their contribution to my growth. Thank you Dr. Diane Culver for sharing my desire to positively influence sports on so many fronts and contributing to my growth as a teacher. Thank you Dr. Bettina Callary for your availability to exchange ideas and asking simple questions that made me realise so many things that I had yet understood. Thank you to Dr. Martin Camiré and Dr. Martin Roy for your exhaustive review, insightful comments, and thought-provoking questions. Finally, I would like to thank the invaluable support of Dr. Pierre Trudel. Although the impact of his hundreds of research contributions are known to most, I would like to highlight Pierre for the person that he is. I am so grateful that the world has a person like you to demonstrate excellence in life and academia, to take a healthy approach to research, to share a love of learning, to treat everyone with respect, to positively impact the world of sport, to be my supervisor. For this, I will be forever grateful. At last, I would like to thank my family, especially my wife. Since this unbelievable January 2009 where I met you for the first time, I have cherished every moment. I sincerely believe that a man can only grow as much as his life partner allows him to grow. With you along my side, I know that my limit is my only limit. You are a rock for my family, my Queen. The most important piece in the game. Without your encouragement, your understanding, and your nose for fun, this doctoral journey would have taken many more years and may never have concluded. Thank you for this, and our daughter. A significant thank you should also be extending to Jacques and Diane, my parents-in-law, who certainly have been parents away from home. At last, I would like to say a few words in French to two special persons: Il y a bien longtemps, dans une galaxie près de chez nous, vous, Gaétan et Pierrette, avez décidé de me donner le plus beau des cadeaux : le désir perpétuel d’apprendre. Bien que nous ayons eu un style de vie modeste et des moyens limités, vous n’avez jamais dit non aux livres, vous n’avez jamais dit non au sport. Quand ce petit garçon de 9 ans, de 11 ans, de 13 ans, vous demandait continuellement d’acheter des nouveaux livres, vous disiez toujours oui. Jour après jour. Si ce n’était pas un livre, c’était un « oui » pour aller me porter à la bibliothèque municipale où je pouvais passer la journée. Quel investissement! Merci pour avoir stimulé la formation des deux qualités les plus importantes dans cette quête du savoir: la curiosité et le désir d’apprendre. iii Doctoral Dissertation: Francois Rodrigue Abstract The purpose of this doctoral dissertation was to advance the scientific knowledge on the development of high-performance coaches by proposing a new developmental approach to help intercollegiate sport coaches learn from their coaching practice. When applied to coach development, the theory of lifelong learning (Jarvis, 2006) suggests that coach learning evolves with the coaches’ experiences and develops from participating in the environment. However, current development opportunities for high-performance coaches lack connection with practice and forego reflective practice. This lead researcher thus set out to undertake a 12-month action research operationalised using appreciative inquiry to accompany intercollegiate sport coaches along their learning journey. A personal learning coach accompanied five intercollegiate sport coaches using narrative-collaborative coaching (NCC) to create a safe space for them to reflect. The findings are presented across four articles. The first article suggested reflective cards as a useful tool for coaches to engage in reflective practice. Findings from Article One also presented a model for other coaches to reflect on their coaching practice. Article Two described the main components of NCC, which was used by the personal learning coach to create a safe reflective space. A step-by-step methodology for using appreciative inquiry is presented. In Article Three, data generated from the journey of a female high-performance women’s rugby coach was used to extend the definition of a personal learning coach and to compare the role of PLC with other coach development actors. Findings about the evolution and the value creation of the accompanied learning journey are also presented. Article Four shared results specific to the intercollegiate context with the presentation of the companionship between a PLC and two intercollegiate ice hockey head coaches. These iv Doctoral Dissertation: Francois Rodrigue collaborative partnerships led to unique learning journeys, and created valuable learning activities within complex value creation stories. The four articles together make novel theoretical and practical contributions to the field of coach development by presenting a new developmental approach to accompany coach learning and by introducing an analytical framework to evaluate the value of learning activities. Keywords: Lifelong learning; coach development; coach learning; high-performance; action research; appreciative inquiry; narrative-collaborative coaching; developmental coaching; personal coach; v Doctoral Dissertation: Francois Rodrigue Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ x List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ xi Statement of Contribution ......................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Research Purpose .....................................................................................................................