ABSTRACT
Drawing upon developments within discursive psychology and sport psychology and critical coaching studies literature, this chapter explores the role of discourse as a tool for understanding culturally constructed identities, and how discourse may further serve as an entry point for reflective coaching practice within culturally diverse environments. To show why discourse is useful in coaching research and practice, it outlines some key concepts including social constructionism, discursive psychology, and the meaning of discourse and identity/subject positions. The chapter discusses discursive psychological research in sport psychology and discursive work in coaching studies to further illustrate the potential of discourse to understand cultural identities and the implications of these for coach-athlete relations. In studying the role of discourse in cultural identity construction within coaching, given the lack of research exploring socially constructed identities in the psychology of coaching, the research focus moving forward is wide open.
