How Successful High School Boys Soccer Coaches Perceive And Develop Cultural Competency: A Grounded Theory Approach
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how high school athletics coaches conceptualize the knowledge, values, and skills of cultural competence, with specific attention to learning processes and influences. In order to serve the increasingly diverse U.S. student population equitably and to the full holistic potential of extracurricular programming, high school coaches must develop a greater comfort with and capacity for exercising cultural competency. A qualitative approach using a grounded theory was applied. Seven coaches and one athletic director were recruited by purposive sampling. The research suggests a process-oriented, chronological model of how experienced coaches begin to work with conflict and challenge within a culturally diverse team environment. The model also reflects the coach’s position both within broader cultural influences and in interaction with other influential human actors. Research findings suggest that more culturally competent coaches are willing to question standard practices of U.S. high school sports culture and how those cultural norms may limit, exclude or alienate their athletes. They learn to develop metacognitive awareness around their intercultural capacities; ask questions and seek information in order to make more informed decisions; and make changes to better serve their athletes with more inclusive, equitable, and beneficial programming. This study contributes insight to coach education development in terms of how coaches learn, grow, adapt, change, and develop cultural competency through experiential learning and reflective practice.
Author: Lauren Jefferson
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2977987479