1
2
3
Establish within the school’s sen- ior leadership team:
•
• a shared understanding of
what coaching is
•
• its potential in your context •
• a commitment to developing
coaching in the school.
Formulate an action plan for the introduction of coaching into the school (first year).
Raise staff awareness about:
•
• what coaching is •
• the power of coaching to develop
good practice
•
• the plans for coaching in the
school.
Steps to take
•
• What evidence is there to sug- gest that the school is ready to embrace coaching?
•
• What is likely to be the focus of coaching for the school in the first year of operation?
•
• Who will present the case for coaching to the senior team (e.g. headteacher, CPD coordinator, lead teacher(s))?
(See Chapters 1 and 2 for some ideas)
•
• What are the staff needs that coaching may help to address How do you know?
•
• What will be the intial contexts for coaching in your school? (e.g. experienced teachers, trainee teachers, children, new teachers, all staff)?
•
• To what extent will topics for coaching conversations be directed?
•
• What are your success criteria for year 1?
•
• How will you monitor and eval- uate the impact of coaching? •
• Who will lead the initiative at the start?
•
• Who will write the action plan? (See Chapters 8 and 10)
•
• How will you do this? In what forum? At what stage in the devel- opment of coaching? Who is able to ‘sell’ coaching to colleagues without threatening or patronis- ing them?
(See Chapters 1, 2 and 9)
Questions to consider
(Continued) Allison & Harbour-(Suggested):Allison & Harbour-Time line 4/11/2009 11:42 AM Page 100
SUGGESTED TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTING A COACHING PROGRAMME
101
4 5 6 7 8Identify teachers who have the potential to become effective coaches.
Train staff in the skills of coaching.
Set up opportunities for colleagues to practise their coaching skills.
Develop protocols and proce- dures for conducting coaching.
Establish working coaching partnerships.
Steps to take
•
• What criteria will you use to identify potential coaches? •
• Do any staff have prior experi- ence of coaching?
•
• Have you decided to train all staff in ‘the basics’?
(See Chapters 1 and 8) •
• Who will train the staff? Over what period of time? How many staff will be trained?
•
• To what extent will the training need to be differentiated? (See Chapter 8)
•
• Will all the staff be able to prac- tise coaching skills as part of their CPD?
•
• Will coaches work with each other before ‘going live’ with coachees?
•
• Do you intend to provide oppor- tunities for coaches to be coached in the early stages of their work?
(See Chapter 3) •
• Who will be involved in setting out the ground rules for coach- ing in your school?
•
• Do your protocols and proce- dures include:
−
− a code of conduct for coach- ing that includes a clear state- ment about confidentiality? – mechanisms for establishing
coaching partnerships and for dissolving them when the work is completed, or if the process is found to be of no benefit?
– clarity about the use of time for coaching?
– a method for evaluating the impact of coaching?
(See Chapters 3, 8, and 9) •
• Will all staff be expected to engage in a coaching relationship?
Questions to consider
(Continued)
(Continued) Allison & Harbour-(Suggested):Allison & Harbour-Time line 4/11/2009 11:42 AM Page 101
THE COACHING TOOLKIT
102
9 10 11 12Set up a forum for the discussion of issues arising from the coach- ing process.
Evaluate the impact of coaching on pedagogy and practice.
Review the development and impact of coaching in the school and consider the steps for year 2.
Write the action plan for year 2. Steps to take
•
• How will coaching partner- ships be established? How will personalities and needs be matched?
(See Chapter 9) •
• Will the forum be for all staff or for a group of identified coaches? •
• Who will chair the meetings? •
• How will confidentiality be maintained?
(See Chapter 9) •
• How should coaches, coachees, children and colleagues with a monitoring role contribute to the evaluation of the impact of coaching in the school?
•
• How will confidentiality be maintained when evaluating the success of the programme? (See Chapter 10)
•
• Have the targets been met? •
• In the second year, will coaching have a different focus?
•
• Who will lead the second year of development?
(See Chapters 4–7 for ideas about different uses and contexts for coaching)
•
• See step 2.
Questions to consider
GLOSSARY
Active listening: Occurs when the coach pays full attention to the coachee’s lan- guage, tone of voice, verbal images and figures of speech without being distracted by his or her own thoughts or internal listening.
Clarifying questions: Help the coachee to identify the issue with precision and to deepen thinking as well as to sort out misconceptions.
Coaching: A non-directive helping process that enables people to identify and clarify issues, solve problems, commit to action, develop their skills, motivation and self-esteem. The coach enables the coachee to find his or her own solutions by using the skills of listening, questioning, reflecting and clarifying.
Co-coaching: An activity in which two colleagues coach each other in order to develop aspects of their practice.
Group coaching: When one or two teachers coach a group of colleagues who may have similar issues.
Incisive questions: Questions that are intended to get to the nub of an issue and to cut through perceived limitations. They may present the coachee with real chal- lenge. They should therefore be used with care.
Internal listening: The self-talk that goes on inside one’s head that can act as ‘interference’ in a coaching conversation.
Intuitive listening: This occurs when the coach tunes in to the coachee’s thoughts and feelings, to what is implied or suggested by non-verbal cues, to what lies under the surface of the conversation.
Leadership coaching: Coaching that focuses specifically on leadership issues.
Locus of control: The mechanisms that people perceive are present to guide and control the events in their lives and their behaviours. These may be internal (determined by self) or external (determined by others). In coaching, the aim is to help the coachee to identify which aspects of the situation are truly within their control.
Mentoring: A helping process in which the mentor will offer expert knowledge, advice and guidance. While the mentor may use the skills of coaching (listening, Allison & Harbour-Glossary:Allison & Harbour-Glossary 4/13/2009 4:08 PM Page 103
GLOSSARY
104
questioning, reflecting and clarifying), they have a responsibility to oversee col- leagues and for the evaluation of progress.
Mirroring: Used by the coach to reflect the body posture of the coachee in order to put them at ease. This will require the coach to observe small signs in the body language of the colleague and to respond appropriately. It may involve, for exam- ple, adopting a similar seating position or respecting the coachee’s sense of what constitutes a safe distance between the two individuals.
Outcome questions: Useful towards the end of the conversation when the coachee wishes to commit to action.
Peer coaching: A term used to stress that coaching is a relationship of equals.
Preferred future state: An imagined future in which issues are resolved. Coaches often help their clients to visualise this state in order to begin to formulate the first steps towards it.
Reflective questions: Help coachees to think about their practice and why they behave as they do as well as how they might change.
Scaling: A tool used in coaching to test the degree of success so far or to check com- mitment to future action. The coach may ask the coachee to assess, for example on a scale of one to ten, the likelihood of taking the next step. A low score in this case is likely to indicate lack of commitment or uncertainty about the course of action.
Self-talk (negative): The state of mind in which we feel that we cannot control or improve our situation. The task of the coach is to assist the coachee to adopt realistic, positive self-talk rather than the action-sapping negative.
Self-talk (positive): The talk that goes on in our heads in which we adopt a pos- itive ‘can do’ attitude to our challenges.
Solution-focused coaching: A term used in the literature to stress the positive, action-focused nature of coaching – that it is concerned to assist the coachee to work away from a problem and towards a solution.
Specialist coaching: This occurs when a teacher uses specific expertise to support the development of a particular aspect of a colleague’s practice. It may require real restraint on the part of the coach in order to avoid telling the coachee what to do.
Summarising questions: Help to focus the conversation and to clarify what has been said.
Team coaching: This occurs when a department or other distinct team within the staff use coaching techniques to develop their practice.
References
Department for Education and Skills (2004) Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: London: DfES.
Flaherty, J. (1999) Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others. London: Butterworth- Heinemann.
Fleming, I. and Taylor, A. (1998) The Coaching Pocketbook. Alresford: Management Pocketbooks.
Harbour, M. (1996) ‘Collaboration, Competition and Cross-phase Liaison: The North Lowestoft Schools Network’, in D. Bridges and C. Husbands (eds) Consorting and Collaborating in the Education Marketplace. London: Falmer Press.
Hawkins, P. and Smith, N. (2006) Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Jackson, P.Z. and McKergow, M. (2007) The Solutions Focus: Making Coaching and
Change SIMPLE (2nd edn). London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (1996) ‘The Evolution of Peer Coaching’,Educational Leadership, 53(6): 12–16.
Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (2002)Designing Training and Peer Coaching: Our Need for Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Kelly, S. (2007)The CPD Coordinator’s Toolkit. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Knowles, M., Holton, E. and Swanson, R. (2005) The Adult Learner. Boston, MA:
Butterworth-Heinemann
Powell, G., Chambers, M. and Baxter, G. (2001)Pathways to Coaching. Bristol: TLO. Rewards and Incentives Group (2007) Performance Management for Teachers and
Head Teachers – Guidance. London: DfES.
Rotter, J.B. (1954)Social Learning and Clinical Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Starr, J. (2003)The Coaching Manual. London: Prentice Hall Business.
Thomas, W. (2005)Coaching Solutions: Resource Book. Stafford: Network Educational Press.
Thomas, W. and Smith, A. (2004) Coaching Solutions: Practical Ways to Improve Performance in Education. Stafford: Network Educational Press.
Whitmore, J. (2002)Coaching for Performance. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Allison & Harbour-References:Allison & Harbour-References 4/15/2009 6:27 PM Page 105
Index
A action
committing to 24–5 considering options for 24 active listening 6–7 adult learners 45–6 attitudinal surveys 95, 96f audits coaching 97, 98f conducting CPD 67–8 B
Bognor Regis Community College coaching
after special measures 60–1 Ian’s story 63–4
team development 51
under challenging circumstances 58 bottom-up approach, establishing protocols 74–5 C
Career Entry Development Profile (CEPD) 36–7 case studies
coaching
after special measures 60–1 in challenging circumstances 54–5,
58, 63–4 conversation 23 in group 46–7, 49–50, 51
in performance management process 30–1 relationship 2
trio 20
conducting CPD audit 67–8 The Learning Toolkit 33–4 Clarendon College 75–6 clarifying questions 4–5 CLEAR model 9–10 co-coaching 36, 37–44 coachees feedback from 87–9 matching coaches and 84–5 coaches
feedback from 91 identifying needs of 81–4 identifying potential 29, 69–70 matching coachees and 84–5 sample invite letter 72f
training a group of (case study) 70–1 coaching
action
committing to 24–5 considering options for 24 appropriate, considering 68–9
coaching cont. audits 97, 98f
case studies see case studies in challenging circumstances 53–64 checking current reality 24
continuum of support and development 3f conversations
conducting 22–3
establishing ground rules 21–2 coordinators 95–7
defining 1–4 demystifying 74, 80 feedback see feedback goals revisiting 25 setting 24 group sessions 45–52 listening 6–7, 22–3 logs 89–91 management 60 measuring impact of 86–99 and mentoring 2–3 models 7–11
for new teachers 36–44 ownership of 30, 38, 74, 75 partnerships, setting up 85 programme timeline 100–2 prompt cards 39f protocols 21, 71–6 qualities 3–4 questioning 4–6, 23, 24 reasons for 14–18 relationships 2, 85 request for (form) 83f review template 90f reviewing 97 skills see skills
solution-focused coaching 23 specialist 29–35
trios 19–20, 55–6, 80–1 vs other CPD activities 16–18
Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development 9 Coaching for Performance 8
Coaching Solutions: Practical Ways to Improve
Performance in Education 7 Coaching Solutions: Resource Book 7, 24
collaborative leadership 34
continuing professional development see CPD contract (coaching) 10
conversations conducting 22–3
establishing ground rules 21–2 Added to a page number ‘f’ denotes a figure.
INDEX
108
coordinators coaching 95–7 CPD 17, 31, 69 CPD action plans 30, 31, 32 activities 67f, 68 audit (case study) 67–8 coaching vs 16–18 staff questionnaire 66fThe CPD Coordinator’s Toolkit 16–17
culture of coaching 43, 79 D
dialogue about pedagogy 16 E
efficiency 15–16 environments, for
conversation 22 external locus of control 15 F faculty approach 34 feedback from coachees 87–9 from coaches 91 from students 91 lesson observation 25–7 FLOW model 8 G glossary 103–4 go-betweens 84 goals revisiting 25 setting 24 group coaching 45–52 GROW model 8–9 H HILDA model 11 I incisive questions 24 inset days 51 interference, in listening 6 internal listening 6 internal locus of control 15 intuitive listening 7 J
job performance pie 87, 88f job satisfaction chart 87, 88f K
knowledge acquisition 17 L
leadership 34
Leadership Pathways 50 Leading from the Middle 50 learning
application of new 17 measuring quality of 91–5 The Learning Toolkit 33–4
lesson observation feedback 25–7 review sheet 40f
line-management structures 51 listening 6–7, 22–3
Littlehampton Community School conducting a CPD audit 67–8 establishing protocols 74–5 group coaching 46–7 introduction to coaching 20 performance management 30–1 The Learning Toolkit 33–4 training a group of coaches 70 locus of control 15 logs (coaching) 89–91 M MA education programmes 18 Mayfield School 54–5 mentoring 2–3, 18
Middle Leader Development Programme 50 middle leaders, developing 50–1
mirroring 23, 27 monitoring
for identifying coaches 29 relationships 85
N
National College for School Leadership 50 negative self-talk 23, 24
newly qualified teachers
Career Entry Development Profile 36–7 co-coaching process 37–42 O open questions 6 OSKAR model 10–11 outcome questions 6 OUTCOMES model 9 ownership of coaching 30, 38, 74, 75 P partnerships, setting up 85 pedagogy, dialogue about 16 ‘Pedagogy and Practice’ pack 51 peer coaching 73f, 78–85 performance management
coaching in 30–1, 43 review meetings 31
performance-enhancing, coaching as 14 positive future state 24
positive self-talk 23 posture 22–3
preferred future state 1, 8, 24 professionalism 17 prompt cards 39f protocols 21, 71–6 Q questioning 4–6, 23, 24 questionnaires, feedback 88–9 R
reality, checking current 24 recently qualified teachers 42–3 Allison & Harbour-Index:Allison & Harbour-Index 4/15/2009 6:30 PM Page 108
INDEX
109
reflective logs 89–91 reflective questions 5 relationships (coaching) 2, 85 review sheet, lesson observation 40f review stage 10, 97
review template 90f S
scaling 11, 24
school development plans 29, 32 school improvement cycle 32f school improvement teams 34–5 school leadership 34
schools, in challenging circumstances 53 self-esteem 15 self-sufficiency 15 self-talk 23, 24 skills 3 acquisition 17 audit 69 practising 19–21 solution-focused coaching 23
The Solution Focus: Making Coaching and Change SIMPLE 10 specialist coaching 29–35 staff CPD questionnaire 66f meetings 51 team development 51 star diagrams 88, 89f STRIDE model 7–8 student feedback 91 student outcomes 95 student survey 94f subject action plans 32 subject leader meetings 50
subject-based compartmentalisation 34 subject-based teams 49–51
summarising questions 5 support and development,
continuum 3f T
teacher attitudinal survey 96f Teacher Learning Academy (TLA) 43 teachers
coaching for new 36–44 skills audit 69
teaching, measuring quality of 91–5 team development 51
team work 16 tone of voice 23
training (case study) 70–1 V
voice, tone of 23 W
whole-school audit 98 ‘why’ questions, avoiding 23 Allison & Harbour-Index:Allison & Harbour-Index 4/15/2009 6:30 PM Page 109