How can coaching improve teaching and learning?

The CfBT Education Trust and the National College have produced a practical guide on how coaching can develop teaching and learning in schools. It is aimed at:

Coaches
Coachees ( the coached teachers)
Coaching co-ordinators
School leaders

The guide initially provides information about the emergence of coaching and how it differs to mentoring. It then moves on to argue the case for coaching in schools and provides advice for facilitating and improving coaching practice. A number of steps are suggested for this and each step provides trigger questions and review questions to be used as prompts for thinking and debate, preferably within a coaching development group. You can download the full report Coaching for teaching and learning: a practical guide for schools

Each of the following links will open up the applicable section of the report.

The case for coaching

This introduces coaching within strategic CPD and the levers and tensions that exist in developing coaching. It then outlines some of the common approaches to coaching. As such it will help you to locate your school’s policies and practices in a broader context, and may provide indicators of alternative approaches that you may wish to trial. Read the case for coaching.

Conducting a coaching review

In order to plan development of coaching it is useful to review the current context for coaching and the nature of existing coaching activity in school. It is also worth making a decision about who undertakes the review. The questions in this section could form the basis of a systematic review, or an opportunity for discussion and may stimulate initial actions in the development of coaching in your school. Read conducting a coaching review.

Establishing coaching practice

Research indicates that coaching is most productive when it is offered as a cycle rather than a one-off event. This abstract looks at creating the right climate for coaching and coaching cycles.Read establishing coaching practice.

Using video to support coaching

For some teachers using video to support the coaching process is a particular challenge. However, there is evidence from this research that when initial anxieties have been overcome it is seen as beneficial. There is also evidence that video is not used to its maximum potential. This section looks more closely at the value of using this technique and offers practical tips on how to use it effectively. Read using video to support coaching.

Scaffolding coaching conversations

The research demonstrated that many areas of teaching and learning practice make fruitful themes for coaching cycles. For our sample of coaches and coachees, issues related to student engagement and motivation came top of the list. These were closely followed by classroom talk,student group work, starters and plenaries, assessment for learning (AfL)and behaviour for learning. This abstract uses AfL as an example of how people can focus coaching conversations on specific themes. Read scaffolding coaching conversations.

Understanding the different dimensions of coaching talk

As coaching is a talk-based form of professional development the nature of the coaching dialogue is a critical concern if it is to be effective. Of course to improve coaching conversations, some frameworks are needed to determine the nature of the talk and a language is needed to describe and define it. Read understanding the different dimensions of coaching talk.

Developing the quality of coaching practice

CfBT believe that in order to support teachers in improving coaching, a framework for understanding development in coaching practice is needed. The question arises: what does progression in coaching practice look like? Four levels of coaching practice development are explained. Read developing the quality of coaching practice.

Leading and sustaining coaching

For coaching to be anything other than a minority affair demands vision, joined-up strategic thinking and effective leadership. Our research indicates that those schools in which coaching has become embedded create a leadership and management structure focused on enabling access to coaching for those who want it and providing effective training and support for coaches. The key research outcomes related to leadership and management of coaching, which schools are likely to find useful to reflect upon in relation to their own context, are outlined in this abstract. Read leading and sustaining coaching.