Review how effective your own knowledge and skills are in your specialist area, you may

wish to complete a SWOT analysis to do this. Identify and confirm strengths and areas of
improvement and give examples of what CPD (continuous professional development)
activities you have completed to improve your knowledge and skills and identify what CPD
you could complete to address these areas of improvement.

It is essential that practitioners as professionals within their respective subject specialisms

have sufficient knowledge, skills and experience relating to their particular area of delivery
as they must have a sound understanding if they are to effectively convey this to their
learners (Dillon and Maguire, 2011; Machin et al., 2014). It is important that practitioners
ensure that they not only attain this but also maintain it and Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) is an important aspect of this as it is likely that there will be
advancements in their specialisms and as such curricula will change to reflect this (Wilson,
2014). It is the case, therefore, that professional practitioners have come to be considered
as ‘lifelong professionals’ given the expectations placed on them to maintain their
knowledge, skills and experience in relation to their specialisms (Petty, 2009).
In relation to my subject specific knowledge, I consider myself as being considerably
knowledgeable given that I have completed a BSc (Hons) Degree in Sport and Exercise and
attaining a first class grading. Over the course of my degree programme, I endeavoured to
maintain the breadth of the degree so as to ensure that I had a sufficient academic
grounding in each discipline within the subject. It was the case, therefore, that I studied
modules in disciplines such as physiology, psychology, sociology, nutrition, biomechanics,
skill acquisition and pedagogy. I consider that, in maintaining such a breadth, this has led me
to become a well-rounded practitioner in terms of both my knowledge and skills which is
important given the breadth of the subject (Armour, 2011; Light, 2012). For example, in
relation to nutrition, I have the practical skills to competently analyse dietary intake and
have the theoretical knowledge to be able to make recommendations as to how to improve
this. In relation to psychology, I have the practical skills to undertake a psychological profile
and have the theoretical knowledge to determine how such an individual may react in
certain sports contexts. Ultimately, this means that in each topic area that I am required to
cover by the syllabi that I deliver. I ensure that I maintain my current level of knowledge and
skills by routinely accessing relevant CPD in the various disciplines, for example, I recently
attended a seminar examining the role of psychological interventions within sports coaching
to keep up to date with current practice in psychology. Further, I am presently completing a
PhD in Sport Pedagogy and as such am deepening and enhancing my knowledge of teaching
practice within my subject specialism specifically which I consider to be further enhancing
my ability to effectively teach around my specialism. I would, however, suggest that to
further improve my own knowledge and skills in my subject specialism I may need to
undertake further training around the topic area of performance analysis. This is an
emerging discipline within my subject specialism, combining the disciplines of biomechanics
and skill acquisition with modern technology and is an area in which I feel I need to improve.
As part of the syllabi that I deliver I cover performance analysis and whilst this is not in
substantial depth, I feel that my knowledge and skills here are only sufficient as opposed to
being competent. To enhance my knowledge and skills further I could complete an
introductory stand-alone module in this at a Higher Education Institution (HEI) which would
enable me to gain a better understanding of the new discipline and enable me to better
implement this knowledge and skills in my current practice.
I consider my industry experience to be beneficial in making me a competent practitioner in
my subject specialism given that I have considerable experience in practical teaching and
coaching and this is in a number of contexts (Curzon and Tummons, 2013). The coaching
experience that I have has enabled me to develop the professional knowledge and skills
required to be competent in my industry and to be employable and now that I have moved
into education and training I can use this to inform my practice with the learners with which
I am working (Wilson, 2014). For example, I have undertaken a performance coaching role
with County, Regional and National level performers in my respective sport specialisms for
the past 5 years meaning that I have been able to develop these skills and gain the
experience to accompany them. Alongside this, I have completed the relevant coaching
qualifications for the specific National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport so as to ensure that
I am occupationally competent and I am currently completing the final level of qualification
in my main sport. However, it must be noted that I do need to complete this as I have
recently had to apply for re-registration with the Awarding Body on account of not having
the time to complete this given my other commitments. Therefore, moving forwards I
should ensure that I plan to complete this within a specific time frame to ensure the timely
completion of this and to gain certification for the Level 3 Certificate in Coaching Netball. I
consider my sport specific knowledge (such as of the sport of netball) to be detailed and I
have a particular strength in the delivery of attacking or centre court-based sessions,
particularly when focussed on the skill of ‘shooting’ given that this is my specialist role.
However, I could further enhance my knowledge by attending coaching CPD sessions
centred on defending as whilst my knowledge of this is sufficient I feel that it could be
improved. To do this I could attend an accredited coaching CPD session delivered by England
Netball the NGB responsible for netball, or contrastingly I could attend and observe
coaching sessions that are delivered by one of my colleagues whose specialism is focussed
more around defending. It may also be that I request for some mentoring from them so as
to get feedback on my delivery of this aspect of the game so as to enable me to develop my
skills related to this also (Mawer, 1995; Capel and Breckon, 2013).
I have practised within a number of contexts and from participation level through to
performance level. I have also coached within specific contexts such as in schools and clubs,
which support me in my delivery of coaching qualifications to learners as this enables me to
better contextualise their learning and make it relevant to the setting they will be delivering
in, for example, in a secondary school (Machin et al., 2014). However, whilst I have worked
with players at varying levels of the ‘Player Pathway’ in my respective sports, I have not
worked that much with primary age children and many of the learners with which I work go
on to fulfil roles that require them to work with such an age group, such as becoming a
sports coach in a primary school. Therefore, to enhance my knowledge and skills and to
ensure that I can provide my learners with meaningful teaching this is an aspect of my
practice that I could ameliorate. I have endeavoured to work towards this partially by
undertaking a ‘Multi-Skills’ coaching qualification that is centred on teaching movement
fundamentals to children, specifically those of primary school age and this has helped me to
gain a better insight. However, to enhance this further I should look to perhaps undertake a
placement within a primary school so as to ensure that I can gain the relevant experience to
apply the knowledge I have recently attained and to develop the associated skills (Pickard
and Maude, 2014).
In addition to having knowledge and skills related to the various disciplines of my subject
specialism, I have also sought to develop my practice by undertaking training around the
more practical applications of these such as within sports therapy and strength and
conditioning. As part of this I have completed the Level 4 Certificate in Sports Therapy and
the Level 2 Certificate in Strength and Conditioning for Sport and these have been
advantageous in providing me with more of an insight into the support available to coaches
whilst practising meaning I can better inform the learners with which I work of such support
services. However, I do feel that I have considerably more to learn in relation to Strength
and Conditioning as this is a particularly specialist area and as such I would like to complete
the Level 3 Certificate in Strength and Conditioning for Sport. Moreover, I would like to gain
more practical experience, perhaps by means of a placement so as to ensure that I can
sufficiently develop my practical skills concomitantly.
It is clear that whilst I have certain strengths relating to my knowledge and skills in the
subject specialism of sport, I may need further development opportunities in order to
further enhance my practice within it. I need to ensure that I continue to attend relevant
CPD activities to keep my knowledge and skills up to date in line with advancements within
and progression of practice in the specialism (Lavin, 2008). In particular, it may be beneficial
for me to undertake specific training around the use of performance analysis within
coaching and this may be through accessing a stand-alone module in this at a HEI.
Moreover, I would like to enhance my knowledge and skills in relation to the delivery of
defending-based practices within coaching and may do this via attendance at a specific CPD
session or through mentoring with a specialist coach. I also need to ensure that I now look
to complete the Level 3 Certificate in Coaching Netball so as to ensure that I am fully
qualified for the role I undertake in relation to the delivery of coaching qualifications. I also
feel that I would benefit from gaining experience of delivery in primary schools and in
delivery of strength and conditioning activities within sport and I may work towards both of
these via placements. I may also look to undertake the Level 3 Certificate in Strength and
Conditioning to further enhance my knowledge and skills in relation to this identified area
for development. By undertaking the identified CPD, it will enable me to further enhance my
knowledge and skills and gain further experience around my subject specialism making me a
more proficient and competent practitioner and as such enhancing my capabilities (Wilson,
2014).
References
Armour, K. (2011). Sport Pedagogy: Teaching and Coaching. Essex, UK: Pearson Education
Publishings.
Capel, S. and Breckon, P. (2013). A Practical Guide to Teaching Physical Education in the
Secondary. London, UK: Routledge.
Curzon, L. and Tummons, J. (2013). Teaching in Further Education: An Outline of Principles
and Practice. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishers.
Dillon, J. and Maguire, M. (2011). Becoming a Teacher: Issues in Secondary Teaching.
London, UK: Open University Press.
Lavin, J. (2008). Creative Approaches to Physical Education: Helping Children to Achieve their
True Potential. London, UK: Routledge Publishing.
Light, R. (2012). Game Sense: Sport Teaching. London, UK: Routledge Publishing.
Machin, L., Hindmarch, D., Murray, S. and Richardson, T. (2014). A Complete Guide to the
Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. Northwich, UK: Critical Publishing.
Mawer, M. (1995). Effective Teaching of Physical Education. London, UK: Routledge
Publishing.
Petty, G. (2009). Teaching Today: A Practical Guide (4th Edn). Cheltenham, UK: Nelson
Thornes.
Pickard, A. and Maude, P. (2014). Teaching Physical Education Creatively in the Primary
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Sector. Andover, UK: Cengage Learning Publishing.