Leading coaching in schools
Learning to be
a coach or mentor is one of the most effective ways of enabling teachers or leaders to become good and
excellent practitioners
. CUREE 2005, p7This
page describes the qualities and skills that underpin successful coaching. In Leading
Coaching in Schools we have set out some propositions about the role of school leaders in a coaching
culture and how they might respond to these. You can read more about these in the full publication.
Four essential qualities
Coaching practice in schools is built on four essential qualities:
- a desire to make a difference to student learning
- a commitment
to professional learning
- a belief in the abilities of colleagues
- a
commitment to developing emotional intelligence
School leaders have an
important role to play in promoting everyone’s desire to make a difference to student learning and demonstrating
their commitment to their own and others’ professional learning. This means that professional learners
become increasingly committed to: understanding their own learning needs, reflecting on their own practice,
taking an ever-more active role in their own and others' learning and acting on what is learned to improve
pupil learning.
Five key skills
- establishing rapport and trust
- listening for meaning
- questioning
for understanding
- prompting action, reflection and learning
- developing
confidence and celebrating success
Six
propositions
NCSL sets out six propositions about the role of school leaders.
- Leaders have a moral responsibility to promote everyone’s learning, both
adults and pupils.
- Leaders have a moral imperative to develop the next generation
of school leaders.
- High-quality coaching in schools supports professional development,
leadership sustainability and school improvement.
- Leaders therefore have a responsibility
for providing the processes, structures and resources to support coaching.
- Central
to these propositions is the role of learning conversations, which make tacit knowledge explicit and
engages staff in open and honest feedback.
- Leaders should model the dialogue and
personal approaches that create a culture of high-quality coaching interactions across the school.
Seven action implications
What should school leaders do in response to these propositions? Leading
Coaching in Schools offers seven action implications for school leaders.
- To develop a system, first develop yourself.
- Make sense
of the whole.
- Create systems – that emphasise learner entitlement and responsibilities.
- Focus
on principles.
- Equip staff with coaching skills.
- Review and reward
good coaching practice.
- Use and build external links and networks.
