The importance of coaching

Helen Temperly’s 2009 summary of teacher professional learning and development, identified the need to create conditions to allow teachers to:

• experience and develop understanding of an integration of knowledge and skills;

• gain multiple opportunities to learn to apply information;

• challenge their beliefs with evidence which is not consistent with their assumptions; and

• have opportunities to process new learning with others.

Coaching can provide a vehicle for these principles to be developed thus enhancing teacher learning. As coaching supports a collaborative model and enables teachers to use their classrooms and practice for research, coaching can also encourage teachers to take risks.

How adults learn

Research shows that adults learn best when they are involved in the planning and evaluation of their learning; where learning has immediate relevance and is based on experience; and when it is problem centred rather than content-oriented. Coaching addresses all of these needs.

Spending the majority of their time in the classroom, means teachers are best placed to gather evidence of their practice and coaching can be the mechanism for

individualised professional learning. Identifying specific aspects of pedagogy that have the biggest impact on learners, means coaching is highly focused.

Developing a coaching culture

1. Are you coaching ready?Coaching requires an approach to professional learning that enables collaboration, challenge, risk taking and a willingness to make changes where necessary. It is worth considering whether your school is ‘coaching ready.’

There needs to be a clear rationale for coaching and the school development plan should reference it. Staff must understand the benefits, see and model coaching behaviours and be given regular training and opportunities to use coaching techniques. They must also be willing to take accountability for their own performance.

Coaching requires trust and a non-judgemental approach but there is also a need to track and measure impact. Therefore, to avoid conflict between confidentiality and accountability the relationship of coaching to appraisal needs to be clear.

2. Identifying and developing coachesUsing your school’s quality assurance process and self-reviews against standards highlights your expert practitioners to be developed as coaches. It is important that coaches undergo training to understand the skills required and have the ability to be reflective in their own practice.

GUIDANCE

Using Coaching to Drive School ImprovementStrategies shown to be effective in improving teaching focus on evidence based research, the development of pedagogy, and promote collaborative professional learning. One way to link these key features is through the practice of coaching. This guidance piece considers why coaching is important, how schools can develop a coaching culture and the different ways coaching can be used to support and measure school improvement.

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As part of the annual CPL strategy, necessary resources and succession planning should be identified.

The self-review and self-evaluation modules can assist in the identification of potential

coaches and 360 feedback can validate the reviews. Coaches can be assigned expert status.

3. Developing coaching partnerships and groupsIt is crucial for coaches and coachees to develop strong relationships through mutual respect where the coach provides a supportive but challenging role. This requires confidence that the process is confidential. The most successful coaching comes through coachees and coaches having ownership of the selection process. If partnerships, triads or groups are seen to be hierarchical or imposed, eg for intervention, the coaching process may not be as successful.

A coach and their coachee can share and record sessions and resources in BlueSky

Projects and Journal entries.

4. Integrating coaching into a professional learning strategyA successful coaching programme needs careful planning and should be built into the CPL strategy with resources allocated to it. If staff identify coaching as a way to support the development of their skills, there needs to be sufficient opportunity to build the coach and coachee relationship and the coaching should not be a one-off event.

The PLP module captures identified learning needs while CPL activity can encourage

reflection of the coaching process. The use of the training module can promote coaching opportunities.

5. Variations in coaching practiceYour school can use coaching in various ways. It can be peer or specialist, or focused on a specific aspect using a cyclical process to learn, make changes and embed new practice. For best impact the coaching process needs to be sustained over a reasonable period.

• Peer coaching (eg triad) is reciprocal and about investigating pedagogy together. Working as partners towards agreed plans and goals.

• Specialist coaching is where the coach has a greater amount of knowledge and experience in a particular field.

• A specific aspect could be to learn a new skill, make an improvement on an existing practice, or work towards career progression or promotion.

The way coaching is used must be transparent to staff. While it can support teachers in developing their own practice and improve whole school teaching and learning through routes such as performance management, it should be understood that the relationship is not supervisory and the coach is also a learner.

The impact of coaching

If coaching is embraced and undertaken well, teachers will become more reflective, articulate, be more confident to take risks and more aware of their strengths and areas for development. Because they are engaged in a cycle of improvement, staff will be more prepared to challenge their own performance. These ‘soft’ impacts are important although difficult to measure but establishing key ‘objective’ measures is also necessary. By measuring at the start of the process and using repeat measures you’ll be able to determine precise changes in practice relating to the coaching focus and on pupil learning.

BlueSky’s CPL, self-evaluation and lesson observation areas provide opportunities for

evidencing both soft and specific impact of coaching.

GUIDANCE

Ask for … 360 - User Guide and Projects - User Guide

Tel: +44 (0)1483 880004 | Email: support@blueskyeducation.co.uk | Twitter: @BlueSkyMatters | Web: www.blueskyeducation.co.uk

©BlueSky February 2019 GP-07-0219

BlueSky support and printed materials provide general guidance and should not be viewed as a specific recommendation when dealing with particular issues and practices.

Ask for … Using BlueSky to support coaching - Strategy and Quick Step Guide

CHECKLIST

Talk to us today about how BlueSky can support you in developing coaching.

Tel: +44 (0)1483 880004 | Email: support@blueskyeducation.co.uk | Twitter: @BlueSkyMatters | Web: www.blueskyeducation.co.uk

©BlueSky February 2019 GP-07-0219

BlueSky support and printed materials provide general guidance and should not be viewed as a specific recommendation when dealing with particular issues and practices.

Coaching to Drive ImprovementUse this checklist to identify how well your school supports

a coaching culture and areas for development.

A = Development needed B = Meets the statement C = Exceeds the statement D = Clear strength

A Coaching Culture A B C D

We have a clear rationale for coaching and the benefits are shared with staff

The role of coaching is made clear in the school development plan

We have a school coaching policy with clear links between coaching CPL, performance management and school improvement

The policy outlines how coaching is managed and evaluated

Within the policy, there is clear guidance for staff on how to access coaching opportunities

Senior leaders model coaching behaviours

All other staff model coaching behaviours

There is a clear model of coaching applied across the school

There is a confidential system for recording coaching interactions

Identifying and Developing Coaches

There are explicit and shared criteria for staff who wish to engage with the coaching programme, either as a coach or coachee

Coaches are identified through self-evaluation and self- review activities

As part of the professional learning plan, there is planned training for coaches and emerging coaches

There are opportunities throughout the year for staff to engage in training related to coaching

There is a clear succession plan in place to sustain coaching in the school

Integrating Coaching Into the Professional Learning Strategy

Within the annual professional learning plan, there are opportunities for staff to request coaching

Attendance at coaching activities are recorded as a CPL event in staff portfolios

We can report accurately on the number of staff engaged in coaching activities relating to the school development plan

The Impact of Coaching

The coaching policy makes clear how the impact of coaching on teaching and learning and leadership will be measured and reported

Impact measures are agreed as part of the pre-coaching process

There are ‘tools’ available that allow the impact of coaching on performance to be measured, eg peer observation templates