Sports Pedagogy

Introduction

A lot of people realize that every person requires different learning styles and different techniques. This has made researchers come up with different teaching styles to make count that each and every person has learned in his preferable manner. In sport activities, learning styles and teaching styles may be put in practice. This paper covers the learning styles and the teaching styles. Coaches usually develop a deep and better understanding of what their athletes understand, know and can do well with their knowledge. The paper also covers the problems and opportunities that can be associated with the idea sport pedagogy. The paper also discusses some different learning models. This includes Kolb’s learning model. The paper also discusses V.A.R.K learning style, and some of its examples in sports. The study also reflects on the three leadership styles, which include autocratic, democratic, and declarative leadership styles.

Learning Styles

Learning styles tend to be a term that gets used to make a description of person’s habitual or natural pattern of gaining and understanding information in learning activities. Many people usually recognize that different people refer to different styles and techniques of learning. Learning styles usually group some common ways that different people learn. Each and every person has a mixture of learning styles. Some people may realize that they have a style of learning that can be dominant, which requires minimal or no use at all of other learning styles. Other individuals may find out that they have to use different learning styles in different circumstances and situations. In many people, learning styles do not get fixed. Hence, one can make a development in lesser dominant styles and develop further the styles that they are conversant.

There is a relatively new approach in learning (Armour2011). This is by using multiple learning styles and intelligence. This tends to be the approach that the educators started to recognize. The traditional schools use and continue to use mostly linguistics and logical teaching methods. This means that it uses a limited range of teaching and learning techniques. The modern schools rely on classrooms and book-based teachings. The seven styles of learning include visual style, which requires images, aural style that requires sound, and physical style that requires touch sense. Others include verbal style that requires words, both in writing and speech, logical style that requires one’s logic and listening, social that one needs to learn in groups, and solitary, where one prefers to work alone.

Teaching Styles

Just as students have learning methods, teachers also have some styles of teaching that always work best for them. Different tutors perceive the classroom environment in different ways. Some of the teaching methods that get commonly used include the class participation, recitation, memorization, demonstration, and combination of these styles. So, that a teacher can prefer a certain teaching style, he or she may depend largely on the skill or information that is getting taught at the moment. He or she may also be influenced by the student’s aptitude and enthusiasm. The four basic teaching styles include the formal authority, demonstrators, or personal model, delegator, and facilitator. In the formal authority, the instructor is usually self-centered and feels he is responsible for the provision and controlling of the flow of the content with the students.

The demonstrator method is an instructor-centered approach, where the instructor always demonstrates and models what is expected, and guides his students in making applications of the knowledge. The facilitator method tends to be a student-centered approach, where the tutor usually facilitates and focuses on activities in this method; responsibility gets placed on the students to take the initiatives needed, so as to archive results for different tasks. Delegator method is a student-centered method when the tutor makes delegations and puts much learning control and responsibility for learning on groups or individuals (Barrette1987).

Teaching Styles Matching Individual Learning Styles Characteristics

Therefore, reducing the teacher-student learning and teaching style conflicts with many researchers in the learning styles area campaign for matching with teaching and learning styles. They believe that the narrower the gap between the teacher’s intention and the learner’s interpretation, the greater the chance that the desired learning outcomes will get achieved. Instructors believe that the way they learn is the simplest and the easiest way for their students to learn and comprehend. They often base their methods choice of instruction on that belief. Many educators believe that most teachers always teach the way they learned. However, some refute that believe, saying that teachers usually not teach the way they learn. Learning styles cannot be considered as the only significant factor in how teaching is done by teachers, but also in learning of the students, teacher’s-students interaction, and their academic achievement. Learning style tends to be influential, in determination of which methods tend to be appropriate in the classroom. Since the students’ styles of learning cannot be simply changed, the instructors should master some different teaching methods if they need the students to always reach their learning potential (Jones 2002).

Problems Associated with Sports Pedagogy

This is about learning when in practice. It refers to how young people learn in sports and how teachers and coaches need to support them. This comes with the use of poorly skilled coaches to teach the players the relevant skills. Some teachers have a lot of difficulties, when teaching in games. Some of them feel insecurity to a point where they doubt their own expertise in knowledge. One of the main problems that face the sports’ pedagogy is a lack of enough knowledge contexts. This knowledge is regarded as essential and valuable to be coached and taught. Since some tutors lack this knowledge, it makes not possible for learners to get full information, as intended. There is also a lack of coaches and coaching stuff.

The effective coaches and teachers, who tend to be considered as long life learners, tend to be smaller than it should be. The reason behind this can be that many tutors find it hard to teach by method required in the teaching of the sports. This is where the coach may be good in one teaching method, which differs from the students’ learning method. This usually makes the learning activity of sports not to yield the results, as intended. The misunderstanding between the teacher and the students due to learning and teaching differences does not make the students adaptable to the sports, in which the coach needs the student to be involved. This implies that the students are not in a better position to develop their abilities to the maximum level. Different teaching methods do not make the students implement well in groups.

Kolb’s Learning Model and Examples in Sports

Kolb’s learning model uses as an example of learning as how to ride a bicycle, and gives a number of steps. This model is exceptionally favorable for learners in sports, since it provides a systematic approach to the learner’s skills. This enhances the learners to acquire the skills bit by bit. This learning model begins with teaching the practical styles and techniques to the layers or athletes by an expert. This gets referred to as concrete experience. It is particularly valuable, since it creates the foundation for sporting. Secondly, reflective observation follows. This involves the players’ thinking about participating in the sports activity or watching another person to do so. This is particularly influential in sporting, since it helps the players to get the motivation from players who perform excellent in their respective fields (Cassidy 2004).

For example, a player who watches Lionel Messi playing football is highly motivated by his highly developed skills. This model is then followed by Abstract conceptualization. It entails the reading of articles to get the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques to be used in athletics or sporting activities. This may entail the reading of an article written by people with long experience in the field of athletics or sports. Active experimentation follows. It involves the use of the skills a person has learnt from others, so that they can develop their own coaching styles. This learning style is highly instrumental in enhancing the performance of a player. This is because it is highly effective when it comes to enhancing the performance of both coaches and players.

V.A.R.K Learning Style and Examples in Sports

A learning style is an individual’s preferred way of gathering information and storing the same. VARL concept of learning is usually based on the four suggested categories that got developed by Fleming and Mills (1992), after they had made observations on teachers and students. The Acronym for VARK stands for Visual, Auditory, Read, and Kinaesthetic sensory. Coaches use the VARK learning styles when explaining a skill to the trainees. This may be done by the use of a chart or verbal communication to explain a certain skill to the players. The coaches use this learning, since they are the most convenient and appropriate ways in which players can learn and retain the skills. The Acronym VARK HAS LETTER v STANDING FOR Visual. Visual information gets created in diagrams, so the players can visualize the intended information. The instructors create charts to represent what could be represented in words. An example in sports is the use of charts, so that the players could understand the skills their instructors wish to train them, and remember easily (Schempp 1996).

This learning style also involves the Aural/ Auditory part. This is used to describe the information that is heard. The instructors give verbal instructions to the players, in order to enhance their understanding of the techniques and playing skills. These entail lectures, group discussions, and tutorials. This calls for a highly developed listening skill among the athletes. Therefore, it is manifestly necessary to train athletes on the importance of having good listening skills. The athletes should concentrate on listening and recognizing the need to listen, so that they are not left out uninformed. Poor listening may affect athletes’ overall performance. This is because instructions of the coach are extremely powerful. The R in the VARK learning style represents Read/ Write. The athletes are given instructions by their coaches in the form of information that is displayed in words. This also entails PowerPoint presentations and lists that are used to offer relevant guidelines.

For example, the racers of 100m race may be shown a PowerPoint presentation, teaching them how to use their respective lanes. Finally, letter K stands for Kinaesthetic, and is used to refer to the importance of applying experience in the field of sports. It usually involves exposing the players to socializing with individuals with longer experience than the players. This is very essential, since it serves as a way to motivate the players into performing better. It is particularly crucial in learning, since it helps athletes to get aggressive, as they like acquiring experience.

Leadership Styles and Examples in Sports

There are three outstanding leadership styles in sports. They include Autocratic leadership, Democratic Leadership and delegative leadership style. Autocratic leadership style is one of the oldest styles of leadership. It entails the use of individual control over all the subjects. In sports, this kind of leadership is why the coach has overall control over the players. This leadership method  is not particularly efficient in sports. This is because it entails a lot of dictatorship. The players should work at free will and not by being forced. Also, it is advantageous in terms of enhancing the discipline of the players.  Secondly democratic leadership is a type in which the leaders are chosen by the players. The decisions that the coaches make concerning the players are supposed to have been well consulted. Democratic type of leadership entails the use of a coach who has been selected by all the players.

This is a key strength and it increases the performance of the players since they always have a good relationship. The major disadvantage that arises with the use of this leadership method in sports is that the unscrupulous coaches may be tempted to buy votes from players. Thirdly, delegative style of leadership is the leadership in which the decisions of the team are transferred to the players, but the coach remains responsible to the decisions. This system is not always efficient since some players who do not want some policies to be introduced may not pass the decisions. Also, this system of leadership is not commonly used in sports. This is because collective responsibilities of controversial issues always arrive at the wrong decisions for the team.

Conclusions

From the foregoing, it is clear and vivid that the learning styles used in sports are majorly crucial in enhancing the performance of the players. Also, leadership styles have different implications on the performance of the players. This calls for the need of the coaches in the field of sports today, to take care when choosing different styles of teaching athletes. The performance of athletes and sporting organizations is determined by the kind of the systems used in training the players. Therefore, there is an absolute necessity to have highly experienced coaches, so that they can train people the relevant skills they require in the field of sports. This will enhance a good performance of the players. Also, it is abundantly clear that the idea of sport pedagogy is faced by a number of challenges. Rectifying these challenges is a possible measure to improve the performance of players and the effectiveness of the training offered by the coaches.