ABSTRACT
During the second lesson the vital importance of the selection of roles became apparent. Encouragingly the students had roles that suited individual personalities well. Over the season they were seen to mature and grow into their roles. However, relatively early on a concern was raised by an observing teacher that the coaches were not receiving sufficient practice time to enable the development of their skill technique and facilitate improvement in their swimming GCSE grade. This tension between the Sport Education format, scope and focus of learning, and that required for GCSE Physical Education was not fully overcome. Difficulties were eased with a modification to roles and responsibilities. Specifically, the role of assistant coach was added. Arrangements were then adjusted so that the assistant coach or captain could take over for a particular session, thereby freeing the coach for personal practice in the pool. This modification caused some worries amongst the students then taking on a coaching role, as they felt that they were not necessarily competent enough in the role and that they would not do as good a job as the normal team coach. Their concerns were addressed by the development of further support resources in the form of laminated teaching cards for each stroke that they could refer to when unsure of technical points. This enabled the assistant coaches/captains to relax somewhat. They used the cards when they felt that they needed to and a situation of minimal direct teacher intervention was thereby retained.
