LEXINGTON, Ky. — In a collaborative effort with doctoral students Levone Lee and Anne Stauffer, Dr. Tarkington Newman, Director of the Sport Social Work Research Lab (SSW-RL), at the UK College of Social Work (CoSW) published the SSW-RL’s newest book chapter ‘An experiential approach to facilitative coaching and teaching social justice life skills.’
Their chapter, published by Routledge, appears in the 3rd Edition of “Positive Youth Development through Sport,” edited by Nicholas Holt and Meghan McDonough (University of Calgary). Check out the book here.
The chapter uses experiential learning theory to highlight the importance of the youth sport leader (e.g., coaches, physical education teachers, community recreation staff) when using sport to promote positive youth development (PYD).
“The chapter features the Coaching on the Wave model, an evidence-informed model designed to help coaches teach traditional life skills like self-control, effort and teamwork, as well as social justice life skills like antiracism, allyship, and healthy masculinity, through their facilitative coaching practices in sport,” Dr. Newman said.
From its description, the book brings together high-profile contributors from a diversity of disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be used to promote youth development. PYD through Sport covers a wide range of disciplines including sport psychology, development psychology, physical education, sport development, and sport sociology.
This edition includes brand-new chapters on PYD in schools, in Indigenous populations, and across the lifespan, as well as new material on evaluating PYD programs and new case studies of PYD around the world. Drs. Holt and McDonough procured chapters from the leading international scholars in the intersectional area of youth sport and PYD.
“Given the rich history of the book, being invited to contribute is one of the highest honors the SSW-RL could receive,” Dr. Newman said.
The collaborative writing process between Dr. Newman and Lee (second-year doctoral student) and Stauffer (incoming first-year doctoral student) led to the chapter’s innovative advances for reimagining the potential of youth sport.
“The book’s chapters often featured mentor and mentee collaborations, highlighting historical lineages of scholars and their academic training,” Dr. Newman said. “Such an opportunity to mentor future scholars is one of the greatest privileges bestowed and entrusted to faculty.”
The SSW-RL welcomes students from all majors, disciplines and programs. Each year, the lab hosts 8-12 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from a variety of academic disciplines—most of whom are interested in gaining practical research experience.
The lab also has another book coming soon – Teaching Values and Life Skills through Physical Education and Sport: A Practical Toolkit. The book is edited by Koon Teck Koh (Nanyang Technological University), Dr. Newman, and Muhammad Shufi Bin Salleh (National Institute of Education, Singapore) and will be published by Taylor and Francis.
This book will also feature a chapter written by Lee and Stauffer, as well as recent graduates Sandy Nino (UK Honors) and Ellison Blumenthal (MSW). Their chapter is titled “Understanding youth sport through experiential learning.”
If you are interested in learning more about the Sport Social Work Research Lab, please reach out to Dr. Newman at tarkington.newman@uky.edu.
