Charlotte Chandler

This final chapter provides a collective summary of the valuable insight that authors have shared within the handbook. In doing so, we as editing authors seek to provide reflections on the key lessons and guidance taken from the preceding chapters and look ahead to consider how it will contribute to teaching practice moving forward. Prior to developing this handbook, we recognised the wealth of pedagogy literature available, not least texts that explore and share teaching practice in a similar way to which we intended to within this text. For example, A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice focuses on developing professional skills for teaching across Higher Education (HE) and offers a breadth of content to support excellent teaching and thus quality learning experiences. The latter is certainly something we have endeavoured to provide within this text, aligned to the nuances of sport and exercise both with regard to curriculums and industry requirements. As mentioned in Chapter 1 , we know what to teach, as informed by subject benchmark statements, governing body standards, and discipline-specific knowledge. We will also be driven by both a personal why in terms of our individual philosophy and broader role-related requirements as educators. However, we felt the why deserved greater attention with regard to the pedagogical principles that underpin these elements and which elucidate the how of good, effective, and innovative practice within Sport and Exercise Science (SES) specifically. It is therefore hoped that the following themed reflections and foresight appropriately capture the teaching practice shared within this handbook and celebrate the quality of provision we offer sport and exercise students.

Residential trips can be of benefits to students for multiple reasons, promoting varied learning outcomes and supporting the development of applied and interpersonal skills. This chapter explores how field trips can be embedded within wider learning experience and contextualised to individual career aims and associated personal and professional development. As authors, we also consider our role as educators in supporting students not only while on a field trip but with regard to their reflections and aforementioned development. In our experience, field trips provide a valuable opportunity for collaborative learning between staff and students and provide us as educators with a platform to challenge students in a constructive and meaningful way. This challenge extends beyond the practical elements associated with field trips in outdoor activity domains and encourages ‘bigger picture’ thinking in students by asking them to translate this learning to who they are and what they want to achieve in life.

This chapter outlines discussion-based teaching as an approach to engaging students in their learning and preparing them for their careers. The approach is one which has been employed by us as authors as a means of supporting students’ personal and professional development by encouraging them to engage in challenging yet meaningful interactions with both staff and their peers. The chapter provides an overview of the approach to teaching, and guidance with regard to how best introduce the concept to students, create an environment within which they feel comfortable to engage, and deliver activities to encourage participation. We have also shared our own reflections on the challenges and benefits of teaching in this way, and student feedback on how the approach has impacted their learning and development.

This chapter explores approaches to enhancing postgraduate taught (PGT) student cohorts’ sense of belonging, enabling a safe space for reduced impression management, and improved engagement in personal and professional growth. The emphasis within our PGT programmes, and therefore modules, is on the development of applied practitioners as both people and professionals. It is suggested that personal and professional growth, and the associated attributes, might even be more important than the enhancement of theoretical knowledge, and when the two are combined (as intended) they yield industry ready practitioners. Further to this, students who engage in personal and professional growth are likely more prepared for the variety of challenges that typically await applied practitioners (and indeed many professionals), following educational development. The teaching approaches discussed are used as a means of enhancing students’ focus beyond assignment grades and degree outcomes and turning their attention towards their wider development. It is not suggested that all approaches will be appropriate and/or relevant to all teachers/lecturers and all student cohorts, yet our hope is that our learnings might provide a platform for others to build on with regard to creating safe spaces for the purpose of enhancing student development.

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of competency-based teaching and learning in Sport and Exercise Science (SES). We begin by exploring the theoretical foundations of competency-based education (CBE) and its relevance to SES education. We will cover practical applications, including degree accreditation examples, the implementation of entrustable professional activities (EPAs), and CBE in SES. Through reviewing current practices, we will examine how competency-based frameworks can be effectively integrated into SES education. The chapter concludes with reflections on how CBE enhances learners’ outcomes and preparedness for professional practice, offering insights for educators seeking to implement or refine competency-based approaches in their teaching practice.

The field of Sport and Exercise Science (SES) has developed rapidly in recent years and the popularity and diversity of educational courses within the discipline continue to grow. Ever-evolving scientific understanding, the use of technology, and the adoption of more inclusive, student-centred approaches to learning have led to the rapid evolution of teaching and assessment practice aligned to the skills and knowledge required by those entering a range of SES careers as well as wider opportunities. SES curriculums are therefore influenced by and in some cases mapped against, industry requirements, to ensure students are exposed to learning experiences that adequately prepare them for a wide variety of roles in sport and exercise. SES as an applied science is predicated on the need for underpinning technical knowledge to scaffold the application of professional skills within practice. Therefore, SES-related programmes require a balance between the theoretical and the practical through novel and forward-thinking teaching practice. As educators we must also offer a holistic pedagogic experience that facilitates the development of students as people with human and social capital in recognition of the fact that students from a human science, and in particular an SES, background are well placed to enter a broad range of careers and workplaces.

The Routledge Handbook of Teaching Practice in Sport and Exercise Science captures contemporary pedagogic practice within sport and exercise science (SES),

Emotion regulation through cognitive reappraisal is well-studied, but less so are the predispositional and superordinate beliefs that influence reappraisal. Recently, researchers developed the cognitive mediation beliefs questionnaire (CMBQ), which measures two emotion beliefs, namely stimulus-response (S-R) generation beliefs and cognitive mediation (C-M) change beliefs. In working populations S-R generation beliefs are inversely related to cognitive reappraisal tendencies and positive mental health, and positively related to emotion reactivity. C-M change beliefs are positively related to cognitive reappraisal tendencies, and inversely related to emotion reactivity and positive mental health. As yet, there is no evidence for the validity of the CMBQ within student samples, or for the associations between its subscales and cognitive reappraisal, emotion reactivity, and positive mental health. Therefore, in the present study the CMBQ is tested for factorial, convergent (associations with cognitive reappraisal), and concurrent (associations with emotion reactivity and positive mental health) validity in a cohort of 621 undergraduate students in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Results indicate support for the factorial and convergent validity of the CMBQ, with mixed evidence for the concurrent validity of the CMBQ. A CM-SR discrepancy score appeared to provide a promising variable when associated with emotion reactivity and positive mental health. The findings are discussed in terms of practical and research implications of the findings.

In the research concerning rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) in sport and exercise, irrational beliefs are proposed as a risk factor for health. Concurrent to this, researchers have also indicated that autonomous and controlled motivation, as proposed in organismic integration theory could, together with irrational beliefs, determine individual health. However, research is yet to align irrational beliefs and motivation, and explore how this alignment relates to mental health. The present two study paper identifies individual subgroups, drawn from data concerning irrational beliefs, motivation, and health (psychological distress, and physical health), in a sample of exercisers (study 1) and student athletes (study 2). We examined the latent profile structure of irrational beliefs and motivation, and how these latent profiles relate to psychological distress (studies 1 and 2), and physical health (study 2). Results indicate a two class profile whereby class 1 is characterised by high irrational beliefs, low self-determined motivation, and poor health outcomes. Class 2 is characterised by low irrational beliefs, high self-determined motivation, and better health outcomes. The findings are discussed in relation to the theoretical implications for REBT and organismic integration theory, and the practical implications for key stakeholders in the health of exercise participants and athletes.

Theories based in symbolic interactionism and narrative psychology can help us understand practitioner identity. Drawing on theories from these approaches, our purpose in this article is to distill research on sport psychologist growth, argue professional identity is a central goal in practitioner development, and offer applied implications. Professional growth includes movement from the self as an expert, who solves clients’ problems, to the self as a facilitator, who works alongside clients. Practitioners strive toward being authentic and along the way, develop self-awareness, learn to manage anxiety, and choose their preferred ways of working. A key feature of being authentic is an articulated professional identity. Practitioners can shape their professional identities by interacting with helpful people, consuming various genres of literature, and engaging in different types of writing.