Professional Development: Sports Officiating
MSc

Modules

• Academic Introduction to Professional Development Core (Non-Degree Entrance Students)

Academic Introduction to Professional Development (Core (Non-Degree Entrance Students))

This summer programme of learning is designed to support all of our non-degree entrance students, to familiarise yourself with core academic and research skills.

This is designed to be delivered fortnightly through our online platform and will give an insight into both the academic skills required but also some introductory content to the first semester modules delivered in tandem between the learning development team and the academic staff from the degree programme.

This module is optional for any traditional students.

• Contemporary Approaches to Professional Development Core

Contemporary Approaches to Professional Development (Core)

Module description coming soon.
• Strategic Leadership in High Performance Core

Strategic Leadership in High Performance (Core)

The module is designed to develop both a critical understanding and application of sports management and directorship theories, approaches and tools to professional settings. The module will consider the contemporary approaches to leadership and change management within their professional setting and how these may be applied in their own roles. This module will consider leadership of self, teams and the wider organisations goals and resources. It will consider coaching, mentoring and leadership dynamics in complex contexts. It will also consider strategic decision making, process design and examination or modern business trends.

Credits: 20

• Professional Development and Mentoring Core

Professional Development and Mentoring (Core)

The module will aim to support those coaches who are currently working in, or wish to work in, coach education and development roles within sport. The module will afford students the opportunity to think critically and deeply about how they can support and develop other coaches most effectively. Students will be introduced to, and encouraged to draw upon, theories and concepts from over 40 years of related research, in order to undertake an authentic and meaningful coach education and development project.  For this reason, students enrolling on the module should have access to one or more coaches to work with, over a 12-week period.

Credits: 20

• Independent Project Core

Independent Project (Core)

This module, concerned with the coach and their coaching practice, intends to support coaches in undertaking novel and meaningful research in underserved or overlooked areas of the sports coaching and coach development landscape. The module will embody a Popperian philosophy, by encouraging coaches to problematise their coaching practice, identify tentative solutions (through becoming familiar with the research literature) and then to test and adjust those in the field (using a well-reasoned research philosophy and methodology). For these reasons, the module represents a coach-focused approach to ‘research methods’ which intends to take coaches on an authentic, collaborative and learning-oriented journey toward research project completion. 

Credits: 60

• The Psychology of Sports Officiating Core

The Psychology of Sports Officiating (Core)

This module is designed to support L7 students develop their understanding of key concepts within sport psychology and their application in an officiating context, such as the influence of the crowd, decision-making and pre-performance preparation.

The module focus is on key concepts of psychology that are highly relevant to the field of sports officiating and students will conduct three assignments that will focus on progressing the student to applying theory to practice.

This module will be delivered online with a minimum of one live session. Tutorials are available throughout the module.

• The Holistic Official: Social, Cultural and Interpersonal Challenges Core

The Holistic Official: Social, Cultural and Interpersonal Challenges (Core)

During this module, students will develop their understanding of officiating as a social activity and investigate how values, beliefs and behaviours influence both officials and athletes. By examining the social sphere of officiating, students will be better equipped to navigate practical issues such as conflict management and communication with colleagues to improve the performance of officials.

This module will be delivered online with a minimum of one live session. Tutorials are available throughout the module.

• Ethics, Morality and Integrity in Sports Core

Ethics, Morality and Integrity in Sports (Core)

This module has two aims. The first is to analyse traditional and contemporary theories that underpin ethics and morality. The second is to relate these theories to the role of the sports official, question existing policies, practice and discuss legal issues of sports leadership.

Students will examine approaches to ethics and morality and apply these perspectives to the domain of the sports officials, before applying these approaches via case study to evaluate the performance of the official.

This module will be delivered online with a minimum of one live session. Tutorials are available throughout the module.