Gene Schembri – Page 2

Books to spark your interest

Mixed in with books about coaching, coach development and learning in general, you’ll find books on the impact of smart phones on growing children, reflections on how science works, an introduction to the science of memory, another about outsmarting your brain, and a book on the power of knowing what you don’t know.

Rocket science is easy compared with coaching. Hopefully the books listed here reflect some of the diverse areas of knowledge that have an impact on coaching and coach development. Coaching is often about the ‘one percenters’.

In the grid below you will see my reads for 2024. I hope some of these books may spark your interest.
Full disclosure – I read the majority of these cover to cover. A few I dipped into and will continue to do so. Here they are. Click on a book cover to take you to a short review.

McCarthy, Liam (Ed.) (2025). Sport Coach Education. Development, and Assessment, Routledge, London
The book integrates ideas about assessment along within the broader context of developing coaches. While not providing any gold standard, or best practice for design, many ideas are provided to stimulate thought through the foundation chapters which are followed by examples from around the world.

One paragraph header in Liam’s second chapter made me sit up straight: Implications for Coach Education and Development Programmes: If Assessment Is Learning, Then What?
This reconceptualising of assessment builds a bridge between two aspects of preparing coaches: learning/development and assessment.

Full disclosure, I am a co-author of a chapter along with Andrea Woodburn (lead author).

Sahlberg, Pasi; Doyle, William. (2019). Let the Children Play. (How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive), Oxford University Press.
Pasi Sahlberg originally from Finland lives in Australia. He was a major shaper of the world-renowned Finnish education system.

This book is a world round-up of playful learning and a reminder to us in sport to never forget the importance of providing opportunities for children to play.

The call for “better education and not more of it”, is something we as CDs should keep in our sights.

Genova, Lisa. (2021). Remember (The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting), Simon and Schuster.

For CDs looking for a readable introduction to how memories are formed, and learning happens, this book is highly recommended.

Cognitive science is playing an increasingly important role in education. This is an area that needs more attention in coach learning and development.

Duhigg, Charles. (2024). Supercommunicators (How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection), Cornerstone Press.

Charles Duhigg over the course of the book builds a model of communication based on four rules:

1. Pay attention to what kind of conversation is occurring; 2. Share your goals, and ask what others are seeking; 3. Ask about others’ feelings and share your own; 4. Explore if identities are important to this discussion (identities are the various facets of the lives of the people communicating).

Just providing this list doesn’t do justice to the book. Each point is further expanded and enriched with supporting anecdotes and stories – some of them to do with very difficult conversations.

Chrisfield, Penny. (2019). Supporting Coaches in Practice Handbook, in conjunction with the International Council for Coaching Excellence.
Starting with information on learning, the Handbook moves to make the case for post-program support where real behavioural change is derived from practice in authentic situations.

“Learning can be accelerated if coaches learn to be effective reflectors, and if their reflections can be heightened through skilful questioning and high-quality feedback.” The Handbook provides practical advice for implementing these ‘accelerators’ of learning.

The Handbook is available here.

Kirschner, Paul A., Hendrick, Carl; Heal, Jim. (2022). How Teaching Happens, (Seminal Works in Teaching and Teacher Effectiveness and What They Mean in Practice, A David Fulton Book.

What’s advertised on the cover is what you get! Thirty seminal articles are looked at each with a one-line encapsulation, a quote followed by why readers should read the article and then an abstract. Detail follows and each chapter wraps with conclusions, takeaways, and references.

Chapter 11 overviewing Barak Rosenshine’s case for explicit instruction is a must read, as is the chapter on Robert Bjork’s case for desirable difficulties in teaching. Sorry, one more: I have to mention chapter 28 on Richard Anderson’s proposition: Don’t Ask Questions That Don’t Require Understanding to Answer.

Pill, Shane; SueSee, Brendan; Rankin, Joss; Hewitt, Mitch. (2022). The Spectrum of Sport Coaching Styles, Routledge New York, and London.

Muska Mosston and Sara Ashworth in 2008 published Teaching Physical Education (TPE) available here.

TPE categorises teaching styles into two broad categories: teacher-centred and learner-centred approaches.

With a much greater focus in current coaching and coach development on learner-centred teaching / coaching, the spectrum of styles provides a useful framework for choosing a teaching style according to the degree to which learners are given responsibility for their own learning.

The authors have built on the original work of Mosston and Ashworth to explain the 11 styles in a sports coaching context.

Reynaud, Cecile. (Ed.) (2023). Winning Ways of Winning Coaches. Human Kinetics.

Cecile Reynaud, the editor of this collection, has a distinguished record as a volleyball coach. The twenty elite coaches featured are from the USA (majority), Canada and Australia. The contributions are grouped under three broad headings: coaching career path, program development and management, and athlete engagement and growth. Many (if not most) of the insights are relevant to anyone coaching at the elite level.

It might be my Aussie bias, but I thought netball coach Roselee Jencke’s chapter, Managing Yourself with its emphasis on elite coaches looking after themselves was a point that can’t be stressed too often.

Softball coach Lonni Alameda in the last chapter gives us a useful way to think about winning. She writes: “If players had identified winning as a core value, we would have had a problem. I’m more about the process than the outcome.” So, while coach Alameda talks to her athletes about winning, it is creating a winning culture that is most important.

For many insights across a broad range of issues faced by all elite coaches, this is a good read.

Grant, Adam. (2021). Think Again. Penguin Random House UK.

This book resonates with some of the messages in Al-Khalili’ book on science reviewed in this post. Adam Grant wants us to think about the importance of rethinking and unlearning in a world of rapid change. Mental flexibility, humility, and curiosity trump fixed views. Keeping an open mind is very important, teachable and perhaps a little uncomfortable when we arrive.

Grant describes three archetypes (ways of thinking and communicating with others). There are the preachers, the prosecutors, and the politicians. These stand in stark contrast to the way scientists view the world. He encourages us to think more like scientists. An important message for coaches.

The three-part framework for the book is 1. individual rethinking, 2. interpersonal rethinking and 3. collective rethinking. Some useful messages for coaches and CDs who at their best are always ‘rethinking’.

Rollnick, Stephen; Fader, Jonathan; Breckon, Jeff; Moyers, Teresa B. (2021). Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best (Motivational Interviewing in Sports), The Guildford Press, NY London.

Let’s start with the sub-title – motivational interviewing (MI). This has its genesis in a counselling method that was originally developed in the 80s to help people with problem drinking. The premise is telling people what to do doesn’t work – even when sensitive persuasion is used.

The MI approach encourages the client, in our case the athlete (or learning coach), to “draw out athletes’ internal motivation for doing better, whether as individuals or as a team … Telling, commanding, and instructing, used exclusively, can lead to pushback, or even undermine athletes’ enthusiasm.” (p202). The mindset change is from fixing to guiding.

This is a message that resonates with a learner-centred approach to teaching.

Goodwin, Bryan; Rouleau, Kristin; et al. (2023). The New Classroom Instruction that Works (The Best Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement). McRel International.

The title gives the impression that this is a book only for teachers working with kids in a classroom. That’s a pity. The book has much more to offer.

The authors looked at major studies that compiled evidence about what works best in learning. The book highlights strategies that were shown to be successful across seven or more studies – the benchmark for deciding whether to include the strategies in the book.

The book’s structure is based on five different aspects of learning: 1. Gaining interest and commitment, 2. Mastery of new knowledge, 3. Making sense of learning, 4. Practising and reflecting, 5. Extending and applying learning. (Which resonates with the acronym LEARNS known by many CDs).

Each area starts with readable summaries of what the research says, followed by how to strategies. Many of the strategies could be used by coach developers. I particularly liked the tips for high-level questions and learner explanations.

Busch, Bradley; Watson, Edward; Bogatchek, Ludmila. (2023). Teaching and Learning Illuminated (The Big Ideas Illustrated), Routledge, London and NY.

This book in A4 format uses two side-by-side pages for each topic. The left page summarises key points graphically. The right page provides additional information using an economical 300 or so words.

The book includes, but is not limited to, introductory ideas about cognitive science and learning. Elsewhere I have been beating the drum for a greater recognition and use of cognitive load concepts by coach developers and coaches.

Bradley Busch is a key driver behind the InnerDrive resources. I would recommend that CDs subscribe to their free blog. InnerDrive frequently releases free infographic posters on issues related to learning. These form a large repository of highly recommended summaries of key ideas in teaching and learning. This link will take you to the blog.

Al-Khalili, Jim. (2022). The Joy of Science. Princeton University Press

Science sends out invitations to falsify itself! If you can’t falsify a scientific claim, it lives for another day. “Science is a process for formulating meaningful statements, the truth of which is only verified through observational evidence.” (p100). Even then a level of uncertainty and doubt remains. Science is both tentative in nature and requires a degree of humility from its practitioners.

This is not the language or mindset of the prosecutor, the preacher, or the politician (to borrow from Adam Grant’s book reviewed with this post).

So, what’s this got to do with coach development? As it turns out, lots! Because coaching is in the business of learning (and many other things), it is important to be able to sort through and select ideas that are informed by science (where possible) and supported by appropriate field experience.

Too many ideas in coach development and coaching don’t meet the test of conforming to good evidence that is supported and corroborated by practitioners in the field.

Chrisfield, Penny; Bales, John. (2024). International Coach Developer Framework, International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE).

The updated ICCE CD Framework (2nd Ed) contains a wide range of information relevant to CDs. Starting with ideas about quality coaching and coach education (including the CD’s role), the Framework then looks at what CDs need to know about the important topic of learning.

Information on the assessment of coaches and CDs is provided. The perspective on assessment is influenced by a competency-based training approach with less emphasis on the role of assessment as an integral component of learning.

The Framework includes concluding remarks for each section and a call to action to promote thinking. I particularly like the numerous case studies outlining what people around the world are doing.

Kneebone, Roger. (2020). Expert (Understanding the Path to Mastery), Penguin Random House UK.

‘Kneebone’, the perfect aptronym for someone who has been a trauma surgeon, a family doctor and now an academic at Imperial College London.

At the heart of the book is the Apprenticeship Model often associated with the medieval guild system. The three stages of apprenticeship provide a road map for anyone who wants to become an expert. The stages are Apprentice > Journeyman > Master. Kneebone is keen to point out that the stages overlap, and the steps don’t follow an orderly sequence. A couple of quotes will give you a feel for how the author views experts:

“Much of what experts do is invisible, even to themselves. Being expert is about how you think and see things … it’s not simply defined by what you create.” And, “The point about being expert is not the field you are in but what you have to do to get there.”

Kneebone is a storyteller and so we meet a tailor and taxidermist (among others). He shares observations of colleagues in science and medicine, shares his own passion for music (including making his own harpsichord) and his experience as a light aircraft pilot.

This book is a delight to read and will be of interest to anyone in coaching and coach development who value continuous learning and becoming better at what they do.

Willingham, Daniel T. (2023). Outsmart Your Brain. Souvenir Press

Teachers teach and if the learner doesn’t ‘get it’, it’s the learner’s fault. The expectation is that the learner is expected to be independent – everything from knowing how to prioritise and plan to dealing with emotions and anxiety. This book is about how the teacher can work in partnership with the learner to build independence.

The book is based on the observation that we learn by “doing the mental equivalent of push-ups on our knees”. That is, we cut corners. Outsmarting our brains encourages us to do the mental exercise that feels harder but is going to bring the most benefit in the long run.

The author in his own teaching shares information about how the brain works and then teaches strategies to help students ‘outsmart their brains’. The book includes 14 short chapters addressing strategies to build ‘learn-to-learn’ skills.

Bell, Mike. (2021). The Fundamentals of Teaching (A Five-Step Model to Put Research Evidence into Practice), Routledge London and NY.
Mike Bell’s book provides practical strategies in the five areas that form the framework for the book: 1. Prior Knowledge, 2. Presenting new material, 3. Setting challenging tasks, 4. Feedback and improvement, 5. Repetition and consolidation.

Like the Goodwin et al book reviewed in this post, Bell’s book is based on picking the eyes out of respected research reviews. The author cautions against turning the strategies into a “must do” checklist.

The book provides a good primer into a brain-based explanation of the learning process. The emphasis on mastery learning ties in well with coach learning strategies that avoid completing the curriculum at any cost. There are many practical ideas here for the CD, particularly regarding the knowledge component of courses.

The use of prior knowledge quizzes and quizzes to check understanding are helpful tools for the reader, consistent with ideas espoused in the book.

Haidt, Jonathan. (2024). The Anxious Generation (How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness), Allen Lane.

Jonathan Haidt writes about a ‘tragedy in two acts’ where a phone-based childhood replaces a play-based childhood. Gen-Z (mid 90s to early 2010s) are the focus of the book.

The Anxious Generation examines in detail the impact of smart phones on the mental health of Gen-Z. This coincides with the withdrawal of opportunities for children to take risks through free play (the rise of ‘helicopter’ parenting).

By the early 2010s, smart phones were stacked with third-party apps with companies competing for eyeballs. This also coincides with the inclusion of the front-facing camera on smart phones. Armed with a powerful device and augmented by social media, young people went in search of validation and replaced a small circle of real friends with a larger number of online ‘friends’.

The result: by 2015, increased admissions of young people to psychiatric wards with depression and anxiety. And tragically, increased numbers of suicides.

What a great opportunity we have in sport for young people to make the most out of programs that challenge them and provide opportunities to make real friends.

Books