Journal articles
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Feddersen N, Phelan S, 'The Gradual Normalization of Behaviors Which Might Challenge Ethical and Professional Standards in Two British Elite Sports Organizations'
Journal of Sport Management online first (2021)
ISSN: 0888-4773 eISSN: 1543-270X
Abstract We examined how two elite British sports organizations began accepting behaviors that might challenge ethical and professional standards. The data for the current paper came from two separate ethnographic studies. We used Alvesson and Einola’s Functional Stupidity to analyze the data for processes of a lack of reflexivity, lack of justification, and a lack of substantial reasoning presented in three vignettes for each case organization. We then carried out a cross-case analysis and showed that periods of significant change are high risk for the spread of unethical and unprofessional behaviors. The common rationales for accepting such behaviors were (a) you have not spent time in the trenches, (b) it has always been like this, (c) policing space, (d) I am just doing my job, and (e) giving opportunities to those close to me. Our findings suggest a sense of banality to wrongdoing where normal people slipped into ethical problem areas.
Website
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Fiander MF, Stebbings J, Coulson MC, Phelan S, 'The information coaches use to make team selection decisions: A scoping review and future recommendations'
Sports Coaching Review Online first (2021)
ISSN: 2164-0629 eISSN: 2164-0637
Abstract Selecting players for a team is one of the most important and recurring decisions sport coaches regularly make, impacting athletes, teams, and coaches. Despite this, relatively little is known about the information coaches use to make team selection decisions. In response to this, the following scoping review aims to (1) present literature that can offer insight into the information coaches use to make team selection decisions and (2) provide a platform from which researchers, practitioners, and coaches can explore this often taken-for-granted decision. The systematic literature search was conducted following guidelines set out by PRISMA. Given the small number of studies found (N=16), the extant literature fails to fully answer the question of why some players are selected and others are not. Results are therefore discussed in light of key theoretical approaches to decision making (i.e., information processing, naturalistic decision-making, and ecological psychology) to demonstrate the value of adopting each in specific instances in order to further our understanding of coaches’ team selection decisions.
Website
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White AJ, Parry KD, Humphries C, Phelan S, Batten J, Magrath R, 'Duty of Karius: media framing of concussion following the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final'
Communication and Sport online first (2020)
ISSN: 2167-4795 eISSN: 2167-4809
Abstract Concussion is a growing issue within sport, including within soccer. Despite the developing medical understanding of concussion, there is still an array of sociocultural discourses and misconceptions around it. In the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final, Liverpool Football Club goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a head collision in the 48th minute. Postmatch, he was subsequently diagnosed as being concussed. As a result of his concussion, Karius’ performance was arguably impeded, with suggestions that this may have resulted in him making some key errors in the game. Through an analysis of media framing in 52 news articles in the days following the incident, four dominant frames were identified: deflection away from concussion, misunderstanding concussion, education on concussion, and recommendations. Frames that focussed on the lack of awareness and preventative measures that are present in soccer served to highlight the lack of significance afforded to concussion at this particular point in time. In particular, we highlight differences in concussion discourses between those working inside and outside the soccer industry. Overall, these findings contribute to the growing body of sociological work examining concussion in sport.
Website
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Phelan S, Griffiths M, 'Reconceptualising professional learning through knowing-in-practice: a case study of a coaches high performance centre'
Sports Coaching Review 8 (2) (2018) pp.103-123
ISSN: 2164-0629 eISSN: 2164-0637
Abstract In response to learning development literature that is negative regarding the formal education coaches’ encounter, there has been a conceptual/practical shift towards recognising the coaching workplace as a legitimate site for professional knowledge development. Building upon contemporary studies of learning ‘in situ’, this paper draws upon the theory of practice architectures to provide an innovative language by which to capture the complexity of learning within this context. In doing so, the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and socio-political arrangements of practice are shown to either enable or constrain learning activities. Findings from a 10-month ethnographic study of a high-performance training centre (n= 9 coaches/support staff), highlighted the significant role the macro-structural features of sport, and the inhernet ‘learning culture’, played in determining the learning valued within this context. This study draws attention to the challenges a transient coaching workforce, within a dynamic environment, presents to those attempting to foster learning in this context.Website
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES
Phelan, S., & Griffiths, M. (2018). Reconceptualising professional learning through knowing-in-practice: a case study of a coaches high performance centre. Sports Coaching Review, 1-21.
UNPUBLISHED CONFERENCE PAPERS
Phelan, S. (2016) What is the role of practice architectures in shaping coaches workplace learning experiences? Paper presented at AIESEP, 12th June, 2016, University of Wyoming.
Phelan, S. (2014) Organisational culture, knowledge and learning: a case study of workplace learning in a high performance centre? Paper presented at Postgraduate Research Conference on Sport Politics, Policy and Society, 4th December, 2014, University of Birmingham.
Phelan, S. (2013) What can be learnt from a workplace learning analysis of elite sports coaches? Paper presented at ECER (European Conference on Educational Research), 9-10th September 2013.
Phelan. S. (2013) Examining the workplace learning experiences of elite performance coaches within an Olympic high performance centre. Paper presented at Graduate School Research conference, University of Birmingham, 12th June 2013.
Phelan, S. (2012) the methodological considerations concerned with an ethnographic study of coach learning and development. Paper presented at PESP (Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy) graduate research seminar, University of Bedfordshire.
RESEARCH REPORTS
Griffiths, M. and Phelan, S. (2014) Examining impact of the FAYCE programme: Capturing evidence of change. Final Report, Funded by The Football Association.
Griffiths, M. and Phelan, S. (2013) An analysis of CPD provision for the football coaching workforce: A comparison with other professional fields. Final Report, Funded by The Football Association
Griffiths, M. and Phelan, S. (2012) Evaluation of England Athletics National Coach Development Programme. Final Report, Funded by UKAthletics/England Athletics/Sports Coach UK.