Current status of coaching in club activities at Japanese junior high schools

Abstract

This study aims to shed light on the status of coaching within club activities at Japanese junior high schools. To obtain relevant data, a questionnaire was administered to 202 teachers from 50 public schools in I prefecture; at the time of the survey, the teachers were coaching students in the games of soccer, basketball, table tennis, tennis, and baseball. The questionnaires were ˆlled out anonymously, and were distributed and then collected by post. The questionnaire included information on coaching methods (24 items on a ˆve-point scale) based on the Teaching Games for Understanding theory. The results showed the following. (1) About 70z of the teachers did not receive special education in coaching. (2) About 10z of the teachers ``did not undergo special education,'' ``did not have experiences of playing,'' and ``had experiences of coaching for less than three years.'' (3) The teachers diŠerentiated between team sports and individual sports. (4) More than half of the teachers felt a degree of uneasiness about coaching. (5) The self-rating scores were in‰uenced more by the teachers' playing experience rather than coaching experience. (6) To improve coaching competence, teachers need to acquire such skills as fostering players' problem-solving capability by using appropriate questions to prompt students' awareness and ensuring that the aims of practice are met. Future studies should focus on identifying the most crucial aspects of coaching and on analyzing teachers' behavior in greater detail.