5. THE TEACHER AND THE COACH
5.1. PEDAGOGICAL ABILITIES, THE TYPOLOGY OF THE EDUCATOR, THE COACHING CAREER
The teacher is a key player in the pedagogical process. In the process of teaching, which is the mutual activity of the teacher and the learner. The teacher who is purposefully planning, organizing the student’s conscious and active work, as a result of which the student’s personality is formed. It is no coincidence, therefore, that we consider the teacher to be a central figure in education, one of the key players in education. In the sixties and seventies, the first studies in the international pedagogical literature aimed at increasing teacher efficiency and increasing it. Since then, in the field of pedagogical research, both domestic and international literature have been dealing with a wide range of effective and less effective teachers. Cross-disciplinary, psychology, sociology and, of course, pedagogy also examine the topic, motivational factors of career choice, the issue of career aptitude, the career profile of teachers, and of course the question of securing a “good teacher”. The issue of starting a career and becoming a teacher, exploring the differences between beginner and experienced teachers is one of the favorite research topics. The nature of effective teacher activity, the deterioration of teachers’ well-being, the quality of life, the changes in teacher role, the burnout and the problem of career leaving are dealt with in a number of national and international literature. The pedagogical research is multi-faceted according to the complexity of the topic.
Everyone agrees that only suitable people should enter the field, but the nature of this already divides researchers. What is a good teacher? What makes one effective while the other is not? Ever since the importance of teaching has become important, they have been looking for answers to these questions ever since. The question of suitability for the pedagogical career has always been of interest to teachers in the field of pedagogical research, but also to public opinion. Suitability for the course and the examination of personality traits closely related to it are still relevant today. Already at the beginning of the pedagogical research - in the 1930s - they tried to identify the characteristics that characterize the teachers. The property lists are led by: understanding, collaborative, democratic, kind, good, patient, just, cheerful, have a sense of humor, friendly, helpful, direct, consistent, just. In Hungary, professional and general literacy, child love, consciousness, professionalism, exemplary behavior, and pedagogical sense were at the top of the list (Ballér E., 1983). These qualities are really important, but wouldn’t it be enough for someone to become a good teacher, or a good trainer? Should a teacher be born or can he become a teacher from people with different abilities? The answer is yes. People with different abilities can also be a good teacher or coach, but they are essential:
professional knowledge,
psychological knowledge,
and pedagogical knowledge.
The existence of a number of attributes is indeed indispensable, but it is perhaps more important to examine what are the skills that can be developed and which are indispensable in the pedagogical field at school or sports. In the study of personality traits, professionals emphasize the three basic skills that characterize an effective teacher, such as unconditional acceptance, empathy, understanding of the other person’s feelings, and congruence 22 ” (Falus, 2007).
In addition, pedagogical skills such as communication skills, rapid position recognition and constructive positioning, broad and flexible behavior repertoire, conflict management, interoperability, and mental health are essential.
Essential practical skills in effective teaching work include planning skills, organizational skills, leadership skills, explanation, observation, analysis, assessment skills, and communication skills (Falus, 1998).
Similar skills are mentioned in physical education teachers. Physical education teachers have the greatest need for didactic and organizational skills, moral-, practical-, communication-, creative- and informative skills (Czechowski and Zukowska, 2010). In another research (Cloes et al., 2004), in which teachers (2525) were asked about the skills of physical education, the respondents considered it important that physical educators should be able to deal with the group entrusted to it, be able to connect with children and have good communication and animation skills.
The practice of teaching requires the presence of various personality traits, abilities, attitudes, practical skills and professional skills. These qualification requirements, defined in the form of competencies, are also formulated in the form of an OM Decree (Decree 15/2006).
Competences include:
The personality development of the learner;
helping and developing student groups and communities;
integrating specialist, specialist and curricular knowledge;
planning the pedagogical process;
organizing and managing the learning process;
continuous assessment of the pedagogical processes and the personality development of the students;
professional cooperation and communication;
commitment and responsibility for professional development.
In addition to the above, the competencies required for teaching physical education (Makszin and Woth, 2007) include the special features of physical education:
Contact creation;
Applying and conducting practice exercises;
Physical education teacher competencies for general and specific preparation of student organizations and practice management;
planning tasks;
organizational tasks;
training tasks;
educational tasks;
refereeing;
care tasks, accident prevention;
regulating the load / rest ratio.
No specific coach competency lists have been created so far. The focus of the coaching research and literature is not on the competencies of teacher education, but mostly on personality guarantees to enhance performance and effectiveness. However, the coach, in his work, is very similar to a physical educator, and even a significant proportion of sports coaches are also a physical education teacher, so there is similarity in terms of competencies. János Gombocz (1994, 1996) also dealt with the educational role of coaches and their pedagogical ambitions, which changes with age. The majority of coaches turn positively to the role of educators, but the level of commitment depends most on the age group they work with. Ball game coaches prefer to deal with educational tasks, community formation, as well as representatives of other sports. (Gombocz J. 1996).
The preferred teacher list of traits and virtue catalogs of the popular teacher was replaced over time by pedagogical typologies. One of the best known methods for sports professionals is Caselmann. The two basic types of the typology of the German researcher (logotrop and paidotrop) can fit well with both the physical education teacher and the coach. The logotropic teacher or coach has a professional interest, objective values and the curriculum is at the heart of the work. It is characterized by a desire for knowledge, it regularly trains itself. He chose the profession because of interest in sports. In addition to professional skill, however, it neglects the tasks of educational work and community development. Such a trainer or teacher is characterized by a sense of humor and turning away from students. In contrast, paidotrop teachers or trainers are turning to their profession, because, they are interested in dealing with people. They are characterized by turning people, children and students. Student-athlete behavior appears as a value for them. They are good community builders. In trainings, lessons, there is an excellent atmosphere, without conflict, and characterized by good human relationships. The paidotrop teacher tends to make concessions, loses the time of education and is less thorough. Approximately half of the teachers in the sports field are of the Paidrotropic type, but their representation in sports is even greater (Gombocz J., 2004).
The majority of professionals working in pedagogical research today agree that people with different attributes and personality traits are involved in the process of teacher training, so instead of focusing on property lists and typology, it is suggested to focus on selection, career aptitude and training. It is no coincidence that research in recent years has shifted in this direction. The issue of suitability for the teacher career, the career profile of beginners or prospective teachers, has always been of interest to educators, but also to public opinion. Everyone agrees that only suitable people should enter the field, but the nature of this already divides researchers. Bognár et al., (2008) studied career choices of novice physical educators. It was believed that the choice was mostly determined by psychological and pedagogical factors such as sports, children’s love, and a sense of talent for the career. The motivational factors of career motives are not the determining factor of the profession and the social prestige of the profession. Prisztóka et al. (2004) investigated the motivation of the PE teacher and their attitude towards the career. It was found that the target systems appearing in the physical education teacher profession not only appear in motivation but are the primary incentives for career choice. These are the connection between physical education and health, the love and education of children, and the love of sport.
The coaching and physical education career can be divided into several stages in the teacher’s career path. The first, pre-decision stage, which is the basis for career choice, followed by the training period. The third stage is the career stage, with the beginning of the career, covering the first 3-5 years. It is a period of 5-10 years of teaching practice, a fruitful period of pedagogical activity. During this time, the coach, the individual style of the physical educator, becomes self-confident and mature. At this stage, the teacher is still open, responsive to new solutions and enthusiastic about further training. The next section covers 15-25 years of teaching, which we could call the “routine” period. At this point, the susceptibility to new solutions is diminishing, the teacher applies the methods mechanically, and less requires the emotional relationship with the discipline. Over fifty years of age, educational ambitions are falling. This period can be a period of emotional alienation, burnout, but fortunately it is not legitimate for this to happen. Surely everyone in the field knows a professional who is more than 50 years old, enthusiastic, ambitious, committed to the profession, and needs to work with his students. These sections are a general career scheme, but fortunately, it is not legitimate for everyone to have a corresponding career path. It is influenced by professional success and privacy.
5.2. THE PEDAGOGICAL ROLE AND TASKS OF THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER AND THE COACH
In addition to teaching, a physical education teacher and a coach must meet many other tasks, and their role can be considered extremely complex. In addition to teaching, educating, transferring knowledge, he also plays other roles: clerk, colleague, organizer, discipline, health officer. The workplace of a sports association as a coach and an educational institution as a teacher also has a significant impact on its responsibilities. Although related professions have similarities in their work, in terms of pedagogical roles, in addition to parallelism, let’s look at the differences now. To do this, first consider the role and role of physical education and sport.
In Hungary, one-and-a-half million students regularly exercise through physical education classes. However, after leaving school, the proportion of regular athletes drops drastically (Sport XXI. National Sport Strategy 2007-2020). Institutional physical education and the PE teacher play an important role in shaping the need for sport and everyday physical activity, in the acquisition and promotion of movement activity and healthy lifestyle, and in the related attitude and attitude. Old experience and own test data confirm that they will become a physically active adult with whom they loved exercise during childhood. In this process, the teacher of physical education is also a priority. In addition, our changing world puts them more and more than usual. Not all of these are easy to meet. The teacher career is the most stressful occupation in Hungary. Difficulties in education are reinforced by teacher burnout. 61% of PE teachers have been thinking about leaving school.
Differences in physical activity and goal specifics in Physical Education and Sports (Based on Domokos 2013) Source: http://www.jgypk.hu/tamop13e/tananyag_html/testnevtan/testnevels.html
Institutional physical education at school and thus the physical education teacher have an important role to play in the development of society as a whole, as education is a society of the future. Just as Albert Szent-Györgyi says, “The future will be like the school of today.” Physical education at school cannot be separated from the sport of sport, as is the work of physical education teacher and coach. The school sport is an integral part of the school, so it is also a coach. Similarly, coaches working in the youth field can be said to be teachers, educators of sports fields. So, in terms of their work and tasks, there is a lot of similarity, so the pedagogical comparison of the activities of the two of them can coincide. Choosing and competing for talent is closely related to both the competitive sport and the school program. Thus, in the choice of sport, in the process of talent management, there is a special task for both parties. In contrast, the competitive sport is not obligatory compared to school-based physical education, but is a voluntary activity in which the characteristics of a coach-athlete relationship - that sporting activity is lively - is based on interdependence and can be terminated at any time. Competitive sport is an effective field of pedagogical work, as most of the effects exerted by sport (pedagogical, moral, social, health) apply. The multifaceted impact of competitive sports, as well as physical education at school, also affects the whole of society.
To sum up, the goal of physical education and sport in school is to develop a versatile personality and to promote healthy bodily and mental development, using as a tool the movement of different sports. However, the goal of competitive sports is to achieve the best possible, higher level of performance. The competitive sport is profitable, performance-oriented. Personality development is also important, but it is not the ultimate goal of physical education at school. Although it is closely related to this field, the selection, care and competition of young talent, which appears in school for sporting sport, is also important. The goal of competitive sports is to develop a capable skill.
Starting from the previous line of thought, it is easy to understand the role of the PE teacher and the coach, the pedagogical role. The PE teacher organizes, plans and directs the students’ out-of-school activities within the institutional school framework, with a curriculum with regulated literacy, and with the tools of education science. At the focus of education - in the interest of versatile personality development - is the knowledge of the motion material of several sports, the development of motion education (Szabó et al. 2007). The aim of the PE teacher is to promote the versatile personality development and the healthy physical and mental development of the sport with its tools and motion material. She is a sports ambassador for sport, so - as we have already mentioned - she has a special role in sport choice, talent management, and youth education. The work of a PE teacher is mostly for pedagogical purposes, while the coach is for sporting purposes. While the coach is a professional athlete, the physical educator educates a sportsman who wants to do sports.
Personality development is also important in the work of the coach, but this is not the main goal. Their work is organized to achieve sporting goals. Focusing on the sporting material of a sport, special sports training is implemented with the help of training theory tools and methods (Biróné, 2011).
The peculiarities of the PE teacher and the coach (Biróné, 2011)
5.3. REQUIREMENTS FOR SPORTS PROFESSIONALS
The educator (physical education, coach) has a significant influence in the process of education who participates directly or indirectly, but with his whole being and personality, in shaping the norm and relationship system of children. For this reason, we set out a number of requirements for them, which can be summarized as follows.
Requirements for a sportsperson:
Professional skills
Pedagogical skills
Moral requirements
General literacy
The sequence of requirements for sports professionals outlined above does not indicate the order of priority. All of these are essential. The requirements of PE teachers and coaches are unquestionable both in terms of professional training and general education. “Neither the trainer nor the PE teacher can be successful if they are unaware of the physiological foundations and standards of strength and endurance development, uninformed in tactics, uncertain in formulating sporting goals23.”
It is the task of the sports professional to constantly increase their professional knowledge and get to know new scientific and methodological results in their field. They should strive for a thorough understanding of their field of expertise, the effective integration of professional content and the development of them skills. It is their duty to get to know, critically evaluate the professional content and tools in their field and to choose and apply it according to the pedagogical goals and the given community. In addition, the general practitioner of the sport should continuously broaden his general education. The development of both - professional skills and general education - must be a task for life.
Sports professionals should not only understand the profession, but they should be pedagogically prepared, as they are responsible for their responsibilities. Their task is to continuously increase their pedagogical knowledge and get to know the new scientific results related to it and to get acquainted with the methodological developments. The requirements of pedagogical skills are: theoretical education, pedagogical observation ability, pedagogical imagination, pedagogical fantasy, pedagogical memory, addressing, pedagogical organizational skills and tact. Effective communication is one of the preconditions for the efficiency of the pedagogical process. It is indispensable how the educator can pass on the information to his disciple. It is no accident that effective communication is one of the most important pedagogical skills. In the teaching of sports movements, both verbal and non-verbal means are organically complementary. Short concise essence, proper tone, and volume are essential for teaching sports. Non-verbal communication is also an indispensable part of pedagogical communication (gestures of praise, evaluation, and awareness). The disciples not only observe what the teacher says, but also perceive it as they say. The younger the disciples, the more they prefer the non-verbal communication channel when interpreting the message. It almost automatically decodes and interprets the non-verbal signs of the teacher. At the same time, it is also necessary for the teacher to continuously monitor and interpret the non-verbal signals of the students.
In the pedagogical process, the fundamental objective is the transmission of value. The educator is involved in the educational process, the value transfer, with his whole personality. It is not, however, a matter of moral norms to guide his life, as he is an example to his disciples. The results of research on the role of PE teachers and coaches in education and the importance of educational effects are interesting. Teachers themselves believe that their own personal example is one of the most important educational effects (Lénárd S., Szivák J., 2001). In addition to the personal example, the teacher’s personality, acceptance, patience, personal relationship, consistency, and partnership are the most important factors that educators can achieve in their work (Lénárd S., Szivák J., 2001). In the rankings of human values, moral values are most prominent in teachers’ place: honesty, sincerity, self-knowledge, tolerance, helpfulness, morality, literacy, creativity, independence, cooperation, empathy, discipline, and adaptability. However, during the years in the field, there is a change in the teachers’ preferences. Experienced colleagues consider intellectual values, creativity, and problem sensitivity to be more important. There are also differences in gender. Female teachers are emotionally closer to their students and believe in the power of patience and acceptance. Men believe in the goodness of their students. The coaches are significantly different from their colleagues on the training course. They rely on the possibility of education and the decisive role of innate abilities, and are more concerned with the earlier educational effects of family and school (Lénárd and Szivák, 2001; Gombócz G., 2008).
For children, morality is primarily mediated by the family, the parent, but the school, the sports space, and, more broadly, the whole society, play an important role in mediation. Therefore, the teacher and the coach are responsible for the moral education of the children. Their roles are essential, as they raise their entire personality, appearance and all their manifestations, so they must serve as a moral pattern to follow. Have an exemplary role in the behavior and appearance of a sportsperson, and always set an example in human values. Like every human being, he may be wrong, but he may have a moral duty to seek to prevent, correct, and develop his own personality and abilities.
CONCLUSION
The pedagogue is a key player in the pedagogical process. Individuals with different abilities can be good educators, professional knowledge, psychological and pedagogical skills are essential for effective work. The existence of a number of attributes is indeed indispensable, but more important are the abilities that can be developed and which are indispensable in the pedagogical field at school or sports, these basic skills being unconditional acceptance, empathy and congruence.
In addition, pedagogical skills such as communication skills, rapid position recognition and constructive positioning, broad and flexible behavior repertoire, conflict management, interoperability, and mental health are essential.
Essential practical skills in effective teaching work include planning, organizing, conducting lessons, explaining, observing, analyzing, assessment skills, and communicating skills.
CHECKING ISSUES 1. What are the basic skills that are essential for the teaching profession? 2. What are the most important pedagogical skills? 3. What competences do you need for physical education? 4. What are the requirements for sports professionals? 5. What is the difference between the pedagogical roles of physical education and the coach? 6. What is the difference between a paidotrop and a logotropic educator?