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Last week saw the launch of our new MSc in High-Performance Sport. The programme takes the traditional theory of an applied sports science masters, blends it with coach education, emotional intelligence and inter-personal skills, all wrapped up in a problem-based learning approach.
I’ve spoken quite a lot on LinkedIn about the programme, and while I’m proud of it, this blog isn’t about the MSc specifically. Instead, today I want to zoom out to consider where it sits within the Graduate School of Sport and Professional Practice (GSSPP). The vision of the GSSPP is to develop innovative evidence-informed post-graduate experiences that shape future professional practice in sport, physical activity and rehabilitation. It is also one of my favourite things about my role.
Within the GSSPP my colleagues and I have the opportunity to innovate and challenge tradition in education, research and practice. The difficulty with this freedom is that doing something new is hard! It’s easy to follow standard formulae, and in some cases this is also the approach that should be taken. But not always.
Sometimes, if you really want to bring about change you have to be brave, do the hard work and see if your thoughts were correct! The High-Performance Sport MSc is the first new programme to come from the GSSPP and it’s a team effort I hope we’ll all be proud of.
Thankfully, as programme lead, I know I have the full support and backing of the GSSPP team to evaluate and refine as required. If we really want to be innovative we have to first take the plunge, and with a strong team that’s a much easier thing to do!
T.Brownlee@bham.ac.uk