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This case focusses on how a charity in the United Kingdom uses youth sport programmes to develop what we understood as an aspiration to sculpt ‘good citizens’ (Foucault, 1991). Specifically, our aim was to qualitatively explore how the charity SportHelp worked with urban socioeconomically disadvantaged young people (predominantly aged 8–18) to, in the words of SportHelp's mission statement, ‘improve their lives’ and help them become ‘better individuals’. ¹ More broadly, our research aimed to explore third sector involvement in the shaping of personhood as a means of achieving behavioural change among target social groups (Rose, 1989). Researching this in the context of a complex research site (a charity) entailed making a substantial number of challenging methodological decisions. Though some of these were planned in advance, many others were reactions to unexpected and spontaneous circumstances. In this chapter, we will focus on six areas: adopting a multi-perspectival stakeholder approach; drawing on multiple qualitative methods; the importance of access and flexibility; ethical considerations; reflexivity and the role of the researcher and deciding how to analyse the data. At the end of the chapter, we summarise the two core lessons we learned from conducting research in a non-formal education setting.

Transition can be seen as the capstone of many if not most efforts of special educators on behalf of students with disabilities. Transition programs must build upon the foundation set by general and special education teachers to promote accomplishments that will support engagement in adult life. The assumption underlying transition policy is that classroom personnel are adequately trained and supported to promote such outcomes. We investigated that assumption through research on the perceptions of 17 graduate students or recent completers of an alternative certification program serving a large urban district in the northeast. Study participants were interviewed regarding the provision of special education services at their assigned schools, the manner in which they were utilized, the degree to which they felt prepared and supported to teach students with disabilities, and recommendations for improving special education services, teacher training, and support. All participants taught special education students in secondary settings and were assigned to different schools. Several themes were identified including stress due to professional demands, concerns with collaboration and the quality of special education services, and a need for additional special education training. Implications for transition are discussed.

This qualitative study focused on how girls' high school coaches in the United States Southwest thought about Latina teens' participation in school sports. Semi-structured interviews with coaches (4 women, 11 men) indicated they continue to rely on cultural (deficit) discourses implicating girls' families and culture when discussing Latina teens' sports participation. Coaches suggested that Latina teens' parents do not see the value of sports for girls, do not view sports as a pathway to college, are not involved or interested in their daughters' participation for cultural reasons, and are overly productive. These conceptualizations shape coaches' recruitment and pedagogical strategies within school sports contexts. More critical reflections could aid coaches and schools in developing more adaptive school contexts and strategies to better meet the needs of Latina teens and their families.

As a tenured associate professor whose career has engaged various social justice issues, this chapter discusses the collaborative and shared decision-making process used to found and maintain basketball teams for seven years. The chapter also focuses on personal reflections of coaching club basketball as part of an auto-ethnography. The chapter explains the experiences that influenced a praxis focused on social justice as an attempt to infuse principles of equality and inclusiveness in opposition to harsh traditional coaching practices. Youth embraced an approach with little yelling, but some parents disapproved. Finally, this work discusses the limitations and successes of utilizing a social justice approach, including professional and health consequences.

As states and districts increasingly focus on school leadership training programs, one less discussed yet vital component is the support mechanisms that can accelerate school leadership performance. This chapter highlights the unique school coaching model developed by NYC Leadership Academy (Leadership Academy), a national organization focused on improving student outcomes through effective leadership practice. Using a standards-based, facilitative approach to coaching early-career leaders in high-need schools, the Leadership Academy has developed a rigorous process for training and developing a cadre of coaches to provide intensive coaching support to school leaders that focuses on strengthening their leadership performance. The chapter discusses the methods and results of the Leadership Academy’s coaching model for the 139 principals leading high-need schools as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s School Leadership Program (SLP) and offers insights into school leadership coaching as a distinct professional practice in education.

Coaches have long been recognized as key contributors to youth sport (DCMS, 2000; Smoll & Smith, 1980). Coaches are singled out in ‘A Sporting Future for All’ (DCMS, 2000) as playing a central role in the development of sport at every level and improving the accessibility of coach education and the quality and quantity of coaches in all sports is deemed important. In the last decade in Britain, the demand for coaches has increased because organized sport experiences have become commonplace for children as young as six years of age (English Sports Council, 1997).

This chapter presents the opportunities, strategies, and challenges related to an effort to embed a leadership coaching culture into the culture of an academic institution in Nairobi, Kenya. That effort has been the work over the past several years of four Certified Organizational Effectiveness Coaches trained by Coach Development Institute of Africa. Each tells the story of how and why she moved into coach training and why she views coaching as key to driving social change. The chapter describes the strategies they are using to address opportunities they see and challenges they have encountered. The chapter also presents their preliminary thoughts on a coaching model influenced by both Western approaches and African cultural beliefs, values and attitudes.

Despite the rapid growth of executive coaching in the business world and nascent interest in education, there is no solid research base around how coaching impacts leadership. Following the development of analytical case studies of coach and school leader dyads, we use causal process analysis to trace the complex pathways in which coaches impact leader development. In this process, we attempt to move beyond lists of traits and activities of effective coaching practice to develop a theoretical framework layered with thick description of leadership coaching situated within the context of a high poverty mid-sized urban school district. Findings include insights into the structures and practices that promote strong trusting relationships between the coach and coachee, how this relationship is central to deepening the impact of the coach’s work, and how co-leading provides the means of both modeling and guiding leaders toward personal and school improvement.