Facilitators and Barriers of External Coaches’ Involvement into School-Based Extracurricular Sports Activities: A Qualitative Study

doi:10.4236/ape.2013.33020

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Advances in Physical Education

2013. Vol.3, No.3, 116-124

Published Online August 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ape) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ape.2013.33020

116

Facilitators and Barriers of External Coaches’ Involvement

into School-Based Extracurricular Sports

Activities: A Qualitative Study

Kenryu Aoyagi1, Kaori Ishii2, Ai Shibata2, Hirokazu Arai3, Chisato Hibi1, Koichir o Oka2

1Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda Universi ty, Saitama, Japan

2Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan

3Faculty of Letter s , H os e i U n iv e rsity, Tokyo, J a pa n

Email: ken-ryu.ao-yagi@ruri.waseda.jp

Received May 2nd, 2013; revised June 2nd, 2013; accepted June 9th, 2013

Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the

original work is properly cited.

School-based extracurricular sports activity (SBECSA) provides one of the main opportunities for ado-

lescents to play sports in Japan. However, maintaining active SBECSA is difficult because of the large

burden on teachers to manage SBECSA and a lack of SBECSA teachers who can coach expertly. To re-

solve these issues, the recruitment of external coaches has been promoted. However, the number of

coaches and frequency of coaching are not sufficient for the current demand. Additionally, it is not clear

how to promote the engagement of external coaches. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to

explore a variety of facilitators and barriers associated with the involvement of external coaches into

SBECSA. Twenty-five external coaches were recruited from junior high and high schools across Japan.

Data obtained through personal semi-structured interviews were analyzed using the KJ method (a qualita-

tive type of analyses). As a result, seven facilitators (positive feelings, adequate system, positive social

support, comfortable climate of SBECSA, environment, growth of external coach, network building), and

six barriers (negative feelings, inadequate system, lack of support, uncomfortable climate of SBECSA,

poor environment, burdens) were identified. In conclusion, SBECSA would become more attractive for

external coaches by enhancing facilitators and reducing barriers.

Keywords: Adolescent; After School; Coach; KJ Method; Volunteer

Introduction

Engagement in exercise and sports has been recommended

for adolescents to prevent decreased physical fitness and to

enhance healthy development (Ministry of Education, Culture,

Sports, Science and Technology in Japan: MEXT, 2011). Simi-

lar to foreign countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK

(Sport Council Wales, 2009; Edwards, Kanters, & Bocarro,

2011; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012), school-based ex-

tracurricular sports activity (SBECSA) provides one of the

main opportunities to play sports for Japanese adolescents.

Junior high and high school students play SBECSA under the

supervision of teachers after school and on weekends. SBECSA

includes sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball, track and

field, swimming, and judo. According to the Course of Study

(curriculum guide for defining basic standards for education)

published by MEXT, schools should implement SBECSA to

complement the educational curriculum as part of the school

education. Therefore, SBECSA is strongly interconnected with

school education and recognized as an extremely valuable op-

portunity (MEXT, 2008; MEXT, 2009a). In 2009, 64.9% of

junior high school students (75.5% males and 53.8% females)

and 40.7% of high school students (54.5% males and 26.6%

females) in Japan participated in SBECSA (MEXT, 2009b).

SBECSA offers a number of positive benefits such as en-

joyment or a purpose in life, building a solid foundation to en-

joy sports throughout life, improving physical fitness and health,

cultivating a rich humanity, and contributing to a bright and

fulfilling school life (MEXT, 1997). A Japanese nation-wide

survey for physical fitness revealed a positive relationship be-

tween participation in SBECSA and high physical fitness in

adulthood (MEXT, 2012). Additionally, participation in

SBECSA was positively correlated with academic performance

(e.g. grade point average, math and science test scores) (Fre-

dricks & Eccles, 2006; Lipscomb, 2007), school bonding (Bar-

nett, 2007; Dotterer, McHale, & Crouter, 2007), psychological

adjustment (e.g. depression, self-esteem, and conc entration) (Fre-

dricks & Eccles, 2006; Shernoff & Vandell, 2007), and friend-

ship (Schaefer, Simpkins, Vest, & Price, 2011). These findings

from previous research studies suggest that SBECSA plays an

important role in the healthy development of young people both

short- and long-term.

However, there are issues that can negatively affect student

participation in SBECSA and thus limit the acquisition of

sports skills. Generally, full-time teachers coach SBECSA (To-

kyo Metropolitan Board of Education, 2008), but sometimes

they are assigned to coach sports activities that they cannot

coach expertly (MEXT, 1997; MEXT, 2010). Previous studies

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

demonstrated the importance of expert coaching for positive

youth development (e.g. performance skill, confidence, positive

social relationship, and morality) (Cote & Gilbert, 2009; Stew-

art, Lindsay, & Trevor, 2011). Considering these findings, some

teachers cannot contribute to the improvement of performance

skills or confidence of team members. Therefore, recruitment of

an external coach who can coach expertly is valuable for team

members’ development. Moreover, there are physical, mone-

tary, and mental challenges related to managing SBECSA

(MEXT, 1997; Japan Senior High School Teachers and Staff

Union, 2008; Whiteley & Richard, 2012). In addition, inactivity

or discontinuation of SBECSA sometimes occurs because a

teacher is transferred to another school (School-based Extracur-

ricular Sports Activity in Junior High School “Nagano Model”

Exploratory Committee, 2004; Nakazawa, 2011). Public school

teachers are generally required to transfer to another school

once every several years in Japan. At that time, if there is no

substitute teacher who can coach SBECSA, these activities are

sometimes eliminated.

To resolve these issues, there has been a growing interest in

promoting the involvement of external coaches. An external

coach is defined as a person who coaches school-based extra-

curricular activity instead of, or as support for, the teacher (Sa-

sakawa Sports Foundation: SSF, 2011). An external coach may

be a part-time teacher, a sports club coach, leader of a social

physical education program, graduate of the school in question,

or a student’s parent (All Japan High School Athletic Federa-

tion, 2012). There is no common rule on how to manage exter-

nal coaches, and they are engaged in SBECSA with a wide

range of compensation (from no compensation to compensation

as a full-time job) (SSF, 2011). In Australia and the UK, extra-

curricular sports activities have been outsourced similar to that

in Japan (Flintoff, 2008; Griggs, 2010; Williams, Hay, & Mac-

donald, 2011).

However, some issues underlie the involvement of external

coaches in SBECSA. A previous survey indicated that external

coaches do not coach frequently enough (Miyagi Prefecture

Board of Education, 2008; Yamagata Prefecture Board of Edu-

cation, 2010). Additionally, other issues such as difficulty in

securing human resources (Miyagi Prefecture Board of Educa-

tion, 2008; Yamagata Prefecture Board of Education, 2010;

Williams, Hay, & Macdonald, 2011) and the small number of

external coaches available by region and type of sport have

been reported (Nishijima, Yano, & Nakazawa, 2007; Nippon

Junior High School Physical Culture Association, 2012). Thus,

the lack of external coaches for SBECSA is problematic.

To promote the involvement of external coaches, it is impor-

tant to enhance facilitators and reduce barriers that encourage

or discourage external coaches’ participation in SBECSA. Pre-

vious studies have attempted to clarify the benefits and burdens

for external coaches in Japan (Shioya, 2002; Kanagawa Prefec-

ture Board of Education, 2008; Miyagi Prefecture Board of

Education, 2008). However, most studies were conducted using

questionnaires with few question items and a focus on only one

prefectural area. Although LaVoi and Dutove (2012) revealed

barriers and supported for female coaches, most participating

coaches were male and worked in universities as professional

coaches. Thus, previous studies may only partially explain fa-

cilitators and barriers, and how to promote the engagement of

external coaches into SBECSA is less clear. To explore factors

that could comprehensively contribute to increased numbers

and coaching frequency of external coaches, the use of a quail-

tative method (i.e. interview) and collection of opinions of ex-

ternal coaches are necessary. Therefore, the purpose of the pre-

sent study was to explore the facilitators and barriers associ-

ated with external coaches’ involvement in SBECSA.

Methods

Participants

Participants comprised 25 external coaches who had coached

at a public junior high school or a public high school in October

2010. They were introduced by connected teachers and had

varying sociodemographics and characteristics of SBECSA in-

cluding age, gender, occupation, type of sc hool, pre fectur e, and

type of sport coached. Participants were recruited from 13 pre-

fectural areas and 15 different sports (archery, badminton, base-

ball, basketball, dance, handball, kendo, rubber-ball baseball,

rugby, soccer, softball, soft tennis, table tennis, track and field,

and volleyball). They were offered a gift card worth 1000 yen

(8 US dollars, 7 pounds sterling or 8 Euros in October 2010) for

participating in the interview. The research proposal was ap-

proved by the ethics board at Waseda University. All partici-

pants were informed of the purpose and design of the study, and

written informed consent was obtained from each before enroll-

ment.

Interview Procedure

First, sociodemographics and characteristics of SBECSA (e.g.

type of school, prefecture, sport, coaching experience, and com-

pensation) were obtained in writing from each participant. Se-

cond, a personal semi-structured interview was conducted fol-

lowing a pre-determined interview guide. The interview guide

was developed through pilot interviews using five external co-

aches. According to feedback from the coaches, confusing que-

stions were modified and the interview skills of the interviewer

were developed. The question items included two open-ended

questions as follows: 1) What are facilitators of involvement in

SBECSA? 2) What are barriers to involvement in SBECSA?

Participants were asked to respond freely to the questions, and

all topics were explored until exhausted. Each interview took

between 20 - 60 minutes (mean = 33.8 minutes). Interviews

were performed from December 2010-March 2011 at a place

convenient for each participant such as university, community

center, or school where the external coach was involved. All in-

terviews were conducted by a single researcher and audio re-

corded with each participant’s agreement.

Analysis

Each recorded interview was transcribed verbatim. The KJ

method (Kawakita, 2004) was used to analyze the transcribed

data. The KJ method is a qualitative analysis that contains ab-

ductive procedures such as label making and label grouping.

Therefore, the KJ method is preferable for conducting explora-

tory research such as the present study. Additionally, this me-

thod can be adapted for use in outside Japan (Scupin, 1997).

Following the KJ method, all transcribed data were divided into

individual content with a single meaning by three researchers

with expertise in sports education or psychology. Next, nearly

identical contents were grouped together and labeled as “small

categories” for each area (i.e. facilitator and barrier). Three

researchers discussed and defined the title of each small cate-

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

gory. Then, similar small categories were further grouped into

“middle categories”. Last, the similarities and differences

among the middle categories produced “large categories”. Each

middle and large category was titled in a way similar to the

small category. Initials of facilitators and barriers with identical

numbers were added to make discussion easier.

Results

Characteristics of Participants

Twenty-five external coaches participated in the interview

(Table 1) of which twenty-one were men and four were women.

Ages ranged from 22 - 74 years with a mean age of 35.7 years

(standard deviation: SD = 17.1). Eleven participants were

coaching in junior high school and 14 were coaching in high

school. Years of coaching experience ranged from. 5 - 30 with

a mean of 6.8 years (SD = 7.9). Fifteen external coaches were

compensated, and 10 were volunteers.

Facilitators

Seven large categories of facilitators (i.e. positive feelings,

adequate system, positive social support, comfortable climate

of SBECSA, environment, growth of external coach, and net-

work building) were grouped (Table 2). Quotes from the study

participants are presented below. “Positive feelings” was used

to describe enjoyment, parental-like warmth toward team mem-

bers (“Children are lovely”), the desire to coach, love for the

sport, commitment or responsibility (“The relationships with

students and their parents have been built. So, I can’t break up

these relationships”), and a desire to win. “Adequate system”

was used to describe little responsibility (“Having no compen-

sation makes me feel better about joining the SBECSA”), com-

pensation, a strong request from an organization (“All graduate

students in my laboratory appear to be ordered to coach

SBECSA”), and the rights of the external coach (“External co-

aches can get an ID card, that allows me to watch games near

place”). “Positive social support” included a c ooperative SBECSA

teacher, understanding from the school (“When I go to the

SBECSA, teachers seem to be glad. The school principal is also

friendly”), understanding from parents, and a cooperative fam-

ily. “Comfortable climate of SBECSA” involved acceptance of

SBECSA (“I want to coach because students want me to join

the SBECSA”), growth of team members, and high motivation

of team members. “Environment” was used to describe easy

access (“Being involved in the SBECSA is easy, because the

school is my alma mater”, and “The school is near my home”),

environment where an external coach can grow (“Working with

SBECSA teacher advances my own growth”), and inadequate

environment. “Growth of external coach” was composed of

growth of external coach, and coaching experience. Finally,

“network building” described networking (“I can make a con-

nection with junior high school teachers”), and a positive in-

fluence on future career. There were 24 middle categories and

53 small categories with greater detail, as shown in Table 2.

Barriers

Six large categories of barriers (i.e. negative feelings, inade-

quate system, lack of support, uncomfortable climate of

SBECSA, poor environment, burdens) emerged from the inter-

Table 1.

Demographics of participants and characteristics of SBECSA.

No.GenderAgeSchool Extracurricular

activity type Compensation

1 M 22 Junior high Track and fie l d Yes

2 M 23 Junior hi gh Rubber-ball baseball -

3 M 23 Junior hi gh Rubber-ball baseball -

4 M 23 Junior high Track and fie l d Yes

5 M 23 Junior high Basketball -

6 M 23 High Rugby Yes

7 M 23 High Baseball -

8 M 23 High Handball Yes

9 M 24 High Soccer -

10 M 27 High Soccer -

11 M 27 High Archery Yes

12 M 28 Junior high Volleyball Yes

13 M 33 Junior high Basketball -

14 M 35 High Soccer Yes

15 M 36 Junior high Badminton Yes

16 M 38 High Badminton -

17 M 47 High Basketball Yes

18 M 62 High Baseball -

19 M 66 Junior high Table tennis Yes

20 M 72 Junior high Soft tennis Yes

21 M 74 High Kendo Yes

22 F 22 High Dance Yes

23 F 23 High Softball -

24 F 40 High Dance Yes

25 F 56 Junior high Volleyball Yes

views (Table 3). “Negative feelings” included worries about

coaching (“I’m bothering with my coaching method”), physical

and mental fatigue, concerns about team members becoming

injured, and lack of enjoyment. “Inadequate system” described

a primitive system (“Mediation system should be more visible”,

and “Is it difficult to create environment where coaches can

learn?”), limitations of the system (“I am sometimes told please

don’t come to the SBECSA more than twice a week because of

a lack of budget”), lack of compensation, and unclear status or

role (“I wonder how much should I intervene in SBECSA”).

“Lack of support” contained a lack of understanding from the

school, uncooperative SBECSA teacher, poor relationships

with parents, lack of communication (“It is better to share in-

formation about the school with teachers”), opposition from

external coaches family, and uncooperative athletic association

(“I have many requests for athletic association that I belong to,

118

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

Table 2.

Facilitators of involvement of external coaches.

Large category (7) Middle cat egory (24) Small category (53)

f1. sharing a dream with team members

f2. feeling enjoyment

f3. having a r efreshing change

f4. achieving a sense of fulfillment

f5. feeling enjoyment to consider team members

Enjoyment

f6. having f un as a coac h

f7. feeling parental-like warmth toward team members

f8. desire to continue to involve team members

Parental-like warmth toward

team members

f9. desire to help team members continue to e ngage in SBECSA

f10. desire to coach

Desire to coach f11. desire to have a positive influence as a coach

f12. love of the sport that external coach plays

Love for the s port f13. vitalizing the local sport the external coach plays

f14. having a commitment o r r esponsibility

Commitment or responsibility f15. desire to repay an obligation

Positive feelings

Desire to wi n f16. desire fo r t eam mem bers to win

f17. affable status of external coach for team members or their parents

Little responsibility f18. having little sense of responsibili ty by getting no compensation

Compensation f19. getting compensation

Strong request from an organization f20. being requested by the organization to which external coach belongs

Adequate system

Rights of the external coach f21. having the right t o enter the competition site

f22. havin g a cooperative SBECSA teacher

Cooperative SBECSA teacher f23. adjusting pra ctice tim e around external coach’s schedule

Understanding from t he school f24. under s tanding f ro m teachers other tha n th e SBECSA te acher

Understanding from p arents f25. understanding from parents

Positive social support

Cooperative family f26. support f rom own family members

f27. acceptance of team members

f28. respec t f r om team members Acceptance of SBECSA

f29. team members who take external coach’s advice

f30. seein g technical i mprovement in team members

Growth of team members f31. seeing personal progress in tea m members

Comfortable climate

of SBECSA

High motivation of team members f32. high motivation of team members

f33. alma mater of external coach

f34. close proximity of school

f35. being able to go to practice facility using only a commuter pass

Easy access

f36. having a coaching environment available

f37. having a SBECSA teacher to learn from

Environment where an external

coach can grow f38. being on a powerful team

Environment

Inadequate environ ment f39. being motivate d by a poor SBE CSA environment

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

Continued

f40. learning of external coach

f41. growth of external coach

f42. enhancement of communication s kills

f43. learning ways to communicate with team members

f44. enhancing competi t ive ability of external coach

Growth of external coach

f45. enhancing physical fitness of external coach

f46. having an educational experience

f47. accumulating coaching experience

Growth of external

coach

Coaching e xperience

f48. talking with other coaches or SBECSA teacher

f49. being able to network

f50. increasing acquaintances Networking

f51. increasing customers for self-employed external coaches

f52. perceiving that external coaching is helpful in passing the teacher adaptation examination

Network build ing

Positive influence on future career f53. getting a position as a part- ti me teacher

Note: “f” placed in front of small category means “fac i l i t ator”. Additionally, each small category was given identica l n umber for discussion.

rather than school”). “Uncomfortable climate of SBECSA”

consisted of poor relationships with team members, low moti-

vation of team members, and despair or distress of team mem-

bers. “Poor environment” involved inconvenient practice time,

inconvenient location, inadequate facilities or equipment, and

bad weather. Lastly, “burdens” comprised time burdens, pres-

sure or expectations (“Others expect that the SBECSA will be-

come stronger by my coaching, but sometimes it is a burden for

me”), and negative effect on primary job. There were 24 middle

categories and 54 more detailed small categories, as shown in

Table 3.

Discussion

In the present study, interviews were conducted with 25 ex-

ternal coaches to explore facilitators and barriers associated

with their involvement in SBECSA. Numerous facilitators and

barriers were identified. The middle category level of barriers

included concerns about team members becoming injured, un-

cooperative SBECSA teacher (“b24. SBECSA teachers who

rarely come to the field”), poor relationships with parents, low

motivation of team members, inadequate facilities or equipment,

time burdens, pressure or expectations (“b52. Unrealistic ex-

pectations from teachers or parents”), and a negative effect on

primary job. These barriers are consistent with the results of

previous quantitative researches that were conducted with ex-

ternal coaches in two prefectural areas (Shioya, 2002; Kana-

gawa Prefecture Board of Education, 2008; Miyagi Prefecture

Board of Education, 2008). The results of the present study

suggested the existence of concurrent barriers in other areas of

Japan.

Issues and barriers to the recruitment of external coaches

found in previous studies conducted with teachers revealed low

coaching frequency, lack of compensation, role or responsibil-

ity of SBECSA teacher toward external coaches, differences in

coaching policies compared with that of external coaches, com-

plicated procedures to involve external coaches, poor relation-

ships with students or parents, and geographical isolation (Iba-

raki Prefecture Sports Promotion Council, 2007; Yamagata Pre-

fecture Board of Education, 2010; Williams, Hay, & Macdo-

nald, 2011). External coaches who participated in the present

study also indicated barriers in the middle category level such

as limitations of the system (“b13. Institutional limitation on

coaching frequency”), lack of compensation, unclear status or

role, lack of understanding from the school (“b22. Cumbersome

approval procedure to enter the school”), uncooperative

SBECSA teacher (“b26. Conflicting opinions with SBECSA

teacher”), poor relationships with parents, poor relationships

with team members, and inconvenient location. Interestingly,

these barriers were reported by both external coaches and tea-

chers. The concurrent perception of these issues indicates that

reducing these barriers would affect not only external coaches

but also teachers (acceptance side) and would therefore become

an effective promoter for the involvement of external coaches.

To reduce these barriers, several kinds of support would be va-

luable. For example, the policy maker could try to increase

compensation for external coaches or make procedures easier

for entering the school. Furthermore, SBECSA teachers should

have increased meetings with external coaches to help build

better relationships among students, parents, and external co-

aches. To address the unclear status or role of external coaches

and teachers, some sports associations have defined rules and

the rights of external coaches (e.g. do not change practice times

without the consent of SBECSA teachers and do not have con-

tact with parents) (Hokkaido Junior High School Physical Cul-

ture Association, 2006; Nagano Prefecture Board of Education,

2010). Using these guidelines, it is possible to define clearer

roles for external coaches and teachers.

Although some categories were similar to those of previous

studies, most facilitators and barriers identified and categorized

in the present study, were novel and expressed in more detail.

Some categories revealed in the present study suggest that there

are many ways to promote the involvement of external coaches

in SBECSA. According to a previous questionnaire study, tea-

chers demanded an increase in compensation for external

oaches to promote their involvement in SBECSA (Miyagi c

120

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

Table 3.

Barriers to involv ement of external coaches.

Large category (6) Middle cat egory (24) Small category (54)

b1. gap between a coaching idea l and actual experience

b2. concer ns about own coaching method Worries about coaching

b3. having to engage in tasks othe r than techni cal coaching

b4. feeling fatigued

Physical and mental fatigue b5. poor competiti on score for external coach

Concerns about team members becoming injuredb6. concerns about team members becoming injured

Negative feelings

Lack of enjoyment b7. not enjoying the coaching experience

b8. no mediation system for external coaches

b9. no credit on teacher adaptation examination

b10. no educational system for external coaches

b11. no environment where coaches can work

Primitive sy s tem

b12. not continuing the involvement of external coaches

b13. institutional limitation on coaching frequency

b14. institutional limitation on working range Limitations of the system

b15. institutional limitation on number of external coaches

b16. little o r no compensation

Lack of compensation b17. not an hourly wage

b18. unsure of status or role

Inadequate system

Unclear status or role b19. no official request from school

b20. school po licy that prohibits involvement of exte rnal coache s

b21. teachers who have negative opinions about involvement of external coaches

b22. cumbersome approval procedure to enter the school

Lack of understanding from the school

b23. being unr ecognized by student s (excludi ng team members)

b24. SBECSA teachers who rarely come to the field

b25. insufficient efforts to accept external coaches

b26. conflict i ng opinions with SBECSA teacher

Uncooperative SBECSA teacher

b27. insufficient contact with SBECSA teacher

b28. lack of understa nd ing from p arents

b29. poor relationships with pa r ents

b30. insuffic i ent parentin g

Poor relationships with p arents

b31. poor re lationsh i p s b etween parents and SBECSA teacher

b32. no cha nce for information e x change

Lack of communication b33. no interaction among coaches

Opposition from external coaches family b34. lack of support from external coaches family members

Lack of supp ort

Uncooperati ve athletic association b35. uncoope rative athletic associa tion

b36. poor relationships with team members

b37. havin g team members who do not accept e xt ernal coach’s instruction Poor relatio n ships with team mem bers

b38. retirement of external coach’s own child from SBECSA

Low motivation of team members b39. low motivation of team members

Uncomfortable

climate of SBECSA

Despair or distress of team members b40. despair or distress of team members

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

Continued

Inconvenient practice time b41. inconvenient practice time

Inconvenient location b42. long distance to school

Inadequate facilities o r equipment b43. inadequa t e facilities or equipment

Poor environment

Bad weather b44. bad weather

b45. decrease in private time

b46. requi r es time

b47. no extra time to do part-time job

Time burde ns

b48. havin g t o sacrifice holidays

b49. having the responsibility

b50. not finishing co aching obligations before the ne xt coaching day

b51. pressure from alumni organization

Pressure or expectations

b52. unrea li stic exp ectations from teachers or parents

b53. difficulty balancing primary job and coaching

Burdens

Negative effect on primary job b54. having t o compete against ot her school te ams

Note: “b” placed in front of small category means “barrier”. Additionally, each small category was given identical number for discussion.

Prefecture Board of Education, 2008). Williams et al. (2011)

also indicated that prohibitive costs were one reason for not

outsourcing coaches. However, some external coaches in the

present study indicated that having little or no compensation

was a facilitator in the adequate system category (“f18. Having

little sense of responsibility by getting no compensation”). Ad-

ditionally, 10 of the participants in the present study were co-

aching in SBECSA, even though they did not receive any

compensation. Furthermore, several categories considered fa-

cilitators that represented non-monetary compensation (“f4.

Achieving a sense of fulfillment” in the positive feelings cate-

gory, “f49. Being able to network”, and “f52. Perceiving that

external coaching is helpful in passing the teacher adaptation

examination” in the network building category). Therefore, mo-

netary compensation might not be the only purpose for en-

gaging as an external coach. Tomioka (1993) suggested that

compensation or reward from working included a sense of ful-

fillment, enjoyment, and having good colleagues. Thus, the

promotion of external coaches in SBECSA may require ex-

panding opportunities for networking and including external

coaching experience in the evaluation criteria of teacher adap-

tation examinations as well as providing compensation. Accor-

dingly, Saitama prefecture in Japan listed volunteer activity as

an evaluation criterion for teacher adaptation examinations

(Saitama Prefecture Board of Education, 2011). External co-

aching in SBECSA with little or no compensation could be

considered a volunteer activity. Thus, it is realistic and easily

achievable to state clearly that external coaching is a volunteer

activity in the teacher adaptation examination guidebook. Mo-

dification of evaluation criteria in the teacher adaptation exa-

mination could be an efficient promotional strategy for at-

tracting external coaches who want to be teachers.

As limitations of the system, “b13. Institutional limitation on

coaching frequency” and “b15. Institutional limitation on num-

ber of external coaches” were revealed as noteworthy barriers.

Similar limitations were interpreted in a project by MEXT,

where the number of external coaches was limited to 50, and

coaching frequency was limited to 25 times a year (i.e. ap-

proximately twice a month) (Kochi Prefecture Board of Educa-

tion, 2011). Therefore, it is critical to reduce or abolish institu-

tional limitations on coaching frequency to promote the in-

volvement of external coaches for SBECSA.

The involvement of external coaches can reduce the burden

of SBECSA teachers in relation to attending SBECSA (Japan

Senior High School Teachers and Staff Union, 2008; Tokyo

Metropolitan Board of Education, 2008). However, “b24.

SBECSA teachers who rarely come to the field” revealed that

uncooperative SBECSA teachers are a barrier. External coaches

requested that SBECSA teachers attend SBECSA more often.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (2008) suggested

that SBECSA teachers should engage in the SBECSA and share

roles of coaching and management with external coaches. To

address this barrier, cooperation between teachers and external

coaches is essential.

There were two conflicting views regarding compensation

and inadequate facilities in the present study. First, “f18. Hav-

ing little sense of responsibility by getting no compensation”

and “f19. Getting compensation” were considered facilitators

by some external coaches. Second, “f39. Being motivated by a

poor SBECSA environment” was considered a facilitator, and

“b43. Inadequate facilities or equipment” was deemed a barrier.

From these conflicting views, it is unclear whether increasing

compensation and improving the environment would be a fa-

cilitator or barrier to promoting the involvement of external

coaches. The present study only clarified the contents of facili-

tators and barriers, and their classifications. The influence of

each facilitator and barrier on external coaches’ involvement in

SBECSA related to their sociodemographics and characteristics

of SBECSA remain unclear. Thus, it needs to consider different

perceptions of categories by individuals with different socio-

demographics and characteristics of SBECSA in future studies.

Although there were some limitations in the present study,

clarification of various and detailed facilitators and barriers is

of value for future studies and the further promotion of

SBECSA. A wide range of sociodemographic characteristics of

participants helped to collect varied facilitators and barriers.

122

K. AOYAGI ET AL.

The SBECSA environment could be made more efficient by

enhancing facilitators and removing barriers identified by ex-

ternal coaches.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the present study identified multiple facilita-

tors and barriers associated with external coach involvement in

SBECSA. Providing opportunities for external coaches to net-

work, specifying external coaching experience as meeting an

evaluation criterion on the teacher adaptation examination and

increasing the number of meetings between teachers and exter-

nal coaches are important, as well as increasing monetary com-

pensation. Additionally, reducing or removing institutional li-

mitations and increasing cooperation between teachers and ex-

ternal coaches will hopefully promote the involvement of ex-

ternal coaches in SBECSA. These findings may help schools

and policy makers in discussions regarding appropriate SBECSA,

which would further enhance the attraction of SBECSA for stu-

dents, teachers, and extern al c oaches.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participating external

coaches, and the peers and teachers who introduced participants.

The present study was supported by the Sasakawa Sports Re-

search Grant from Sasakawa Sports Foundation, and Global

COE Program “Sport Sciences for the Promotion of Active

Life” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science

and Technology in Japan.

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