Symposium abstract

The symposium provides a unique guide to the mentoring process by using a design thinking approach to analyse and redesign of 'mentoring conversations' (Tillema van der Westhuizen, & van der Merwe, 2015) in order to optimise novice coach learning in sports coaching contexts. The design thinking process enabled the 'mentoring conversation' to become a rich site for mentor training. The study comprised eight empirical case studies across multiple sports and international locations. The analyses of these lead to the development of a theoretical framework comprising core principles of the optimum mentoring conversation for learning.  Three case studies are presented here, each was co-written by: A sports coaching academic, a coach educator, an experienced coach (mentor) and a novice coach (mentee).

Symposium Overview

Objectives of the session

There are three objectives: (a) To demonstrate how researchers and practitioners in sports coaching used design thinking principles to optimise learning opportunities for novice coaches during mentoring conversations  (b) To present a theoretical framework which identifies the features of an optimal mentoring conversation for learning in sports coaching.

Overview of the presentation

There are three sections: Section 1: Using design thinking framework to optimise mentoring conversation (Tillema et al, 2015) in sports coach education.  Section 2: Three case studies of mentoring conversations from multiple sports and jurisdictions. Section 3: In the final paper, a leading expert in mentoring in sports contexts will evaluate the learnings across the case studies and present a theoretical framework, which identifies the features of an optimal mentoring conversation for learning in sports coaching.

Scholarly or scientific significance

This session is important as it focuses on ‘mentoring’, which has been identified as a core principle of sports coach education (Cassidy, 2009), as mentoring develops the knowledge, skill and professional identity of educators (Fletcher & Mullen, 2012) and coaches(Cassidy, 2009). Within sports coaching,  'mentoring is a profession within a profession' (Smith, 2015, p.283), the primary profession is that of sports coach and the secondary profession is that of mentor. Sports coaches are often untrained for their secondary role as mentors (Author, 2015) and finding places and spaces for such training can prove difficult given 76% of sports coaches are volunteers (Sports Coach UK, 2011). To address this conundrum, we have borrowed the work of Tillema et al (2015) who identified the 'mentoring conversation' as a rich site for mentor training. The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (2016) highlighted the significance of mentoring conversations (ibid) in this definition: 'Mentoring is a developmental process in which a more experienced person shares their knowledge with a less experienced person in a specific context through a series of conversations' (p.1). The symposium showcases an innovative approach to unlocking the learning potential of the mentoring conversation (ibid). In so doing, it provides a critical insight into generic/core conversation characteristics necessary to promote mentee learning.

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