Football Coaching and Performance (Extended Degree) BSc (Hons)
i2i International Soccer Academy

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.

In this module, you will learn how to apply the systematic-scientific method to address problems of relevance to your discipline. The module will guide you through designing, conducting, analysing and presenting your own research findings and prepare you for carrying out an independent research project. The module will provide both a theoretical and practical perspective on the research process, with a focus towards understanding the usefulness and limitations of research-generated information.

The main focus of the module is work, or career, specific learning. It encourages you to develop independence and to take responsibility for your own career-relevant skill development. This process is supplemented by the inclusion of generic lectures, workshops, associated directed learning tasks and individual tutorial support. The generic lectures will provide you with the knowledge necessary to allow you to capitalise upon this Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunity. Workshops and directed tasks will allow for the development of essential self-reflection skills.

Generic lecture and workshop topics include:
· Self-reflection and SMART analysis and Key Skills exercises to establish your development needs as a Practitioner in Sport and Exercise.
· Creating a CPD contract and CPD Portfolio
· Identifying appropriate CPD opportunities to enhance your degree related expertise and aspirations

Once you have written your SMART / Key Skills analysis and CPD contract you will then be able to identify a number of potential CPD opportunities in the form of short courses, workshops, and coaching awards. Many of the skills and abilities you will learn will be of value to your life-long learning aspirations.

Potential CPD Opportunities may include:
· Volunteering / working in a sport and exercise environment
· Working in a PE context
· Shadowing a professional in the workplace
· Writing business plans
· Writing grant applications
· Attendance at conferences, workshops, courses.

Regular contact is maintained between you and your supervisor in order to ensure that you are supported throughout the module.

This practically oriented module will focus upon the application of research informed approaches to coaching that promote conditions for optimal learning and motivation across different sport coaching contexts. Coaching Skills and Practice builds upon the knowledge, skills and applied experiences gained at Level 4 to develop a research rich understanding of key pedagogical principles (e.g., coaching behaviours, practice design) that can be applied to create progressive, engaging and transferable outcomes in different sport coaching contexts. This module aims to introduce the concepts of how to create motivational climates (e.g., self-determination theory) that meet group/individual needs to positively influence engagement, motivation and well-being in sport. In addition, this module will develop an understanding of applied skill acquisition research that can be used to create conditions for optimal learning, and transfer of skill to different applied sport coaching contexts (e.g., high performance, participation, special populations).

This practically oriented module will focus upon the application of pedagogical research to sport coaching that promote the co-construction of knowledge, effective relationships and ethical practice across a variety of sport coaching contexts. The module therefore complements the largely cognitive based approaches to sport coaching practice included in SP5039: Coaching Skills and Practice and builds upon pre-existing knowledge from SP4008: Introduction to Coaching to equip students with an adaptive tool-kit of coaching behaviours. Due the experiential learning emphasis of this module, students will also be able to expand upon the real-world experience derived from their placement module (SP5029: SER Professional Development and Practice). A central aspect of Sport Coaching Pedagogy is to develop a deep and nuanced understanding key pedagogical research (e.g., constructivist, socio-constructivist) and their application to real world sport coaching contexts. By the end of this module, students will be able to demonstrate and explain how specific pedagogical approaches apply across different sport coaching contexts.

This module will enable you to develop an in-depth understanding of football organisational leadership and stakeholder management. The module will broadly consider leadership, organisational behaviour, stakeholder management and internal decision making within football and with some reference across multiple sports settings. These will be explored through varying socio-cultural and/or socio/political lenses amongst others. Some typical sample case studies include The FA, working within elite football clubs (e.g., premier league), managing external relationships across the football landscape (e.g., managing EPPP systems).

Beyond this, we will examine how leaders build organisational culture and integrity, and how leaders nurture their wider multidisciplinary teams. We will underpin discussions with recognition of the contextual challenges (both within football, elite sport generally and wider sporting discourses) and opportunities that football leaders are tasked with navigating.

This module is designed to provide you with the knowledge and understanding to work as an evidence-based practitioner in football, to develop the skills to assess footballers beyond the traditional technical and tactical components. Optimal football performance requires coaches to possess a holistic understanding of all elements, which impacts player development. You should be aware of the underpinning science as well as assessment and analysis methods, utilising a multidisciplinary approach to assess player performance to inform practice. The module covers the main principles that underlie many of the current practices of measurement and assessment within sport science, with the underlying principles associated with various testing procedures will be analysed and discussed. You will be provided with an opportunity to develop knowledge of how these principles can be applied within football coaching planning and preparation.