Behaviourism and Constructivism are learning theories which are relevant and useful in Sports Coaching. This essay will look to compare and contrast the two, reflect on both as coaching strategies, and draw some kind of conclusion as to which is more relevant and meaningful.
Behaviourism and constructivism are similar as they are a both study of learning, which attempt to define how a child learns, this however is where the differences much greater in number begin, as their theories on how this occur differ. Behaviourism, and behaviourist learning theories where most notably developed through the work of Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner. All which had a scientific and investigative approach. In simple terms behaviourism focuses on how the …show more content…
A belief of Skinners was that all learning could be measured by observing changed behaviour (Wegner et al 2012), which I think is what we all naturally look for initially to measure learning and development in coaching. Behaviourism in comparison to a constructivist approach is much more traditional and coach-centred in approach, where learning relies heavily on direct instruction (Wegner et al, 2012). It could also be described as a linear pedagogy, where the coach’s actions solely determine learning, and they are placed as the gate keeper of knowledge and expertise (Vinson, Brady, Moreland and Judge, 2016). This approach has been criticized as more contemporary ideas such as constructivism have been developed, for viewing learning simply as a measurable process of internalizing pre-existing knowledge, separating thought from action, mind from body, and for viewing learners as passive beings (Jones et al, 2013). In sport-coaching what this may look like is new skills being taught in a closed-environment through small reinforcing steps towards a desired outcome, controlled by the coach (Jones et al, 2103). This is an ‘old school’ approach to coaching which
Behaviourism and constructivism are similar as they are a both study of learning, which attempt to define how a child learns, this however is where the differences much greater in number begin, as their theories on how this occur differ. Behaviourism, and behaviourist learning theories where most notably developed through the work of Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner. All which had a scientific and investigative approach. In simple terms behaviourism focuses on how the …show more content…
A belief of Skinners was that all learning could be measured by observing changed behaviour (Wegner et al 2012), which I think is what we all naturally look for initially to measure learning and development in coaching. Behaviourism in comparison to a constructivist approach is much more traditional and coach-centred in approach, where learning relies heavily on direct instruction (Wegner et al, 2012). It could also be described as a linear pedagogy, where the coach’s actions solely determine learning, and they are placed as the gate keeper of knowledge and expertise (Vinson, Brady, Moreland and Judge, 2016). This approach has been criticized as more contemporary ideas such as constructivism have been developed, for viewing learning simply as a measurable process of internalizing pre-existing knowledge, separating thought from action, mind from body, and for viewing learners as passive beings (Jones et al, 2013). In sport-coaching what this may look like is new skills being taught in a closed-environment through small reinforcing steps towards a desired outcome, controlled by the coach (Jones et al, 2103). This is an ‘old school’ approach to coaching which