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Module 4: Using Coaching Approaches in the Classroom

Week 1: What is Coaching and What are the Benefits?

This week the ECT focused on exploring what coaching is, and what it is not.  They identified the difference between mentoring and coaching and consider the reasons why offering advice and providing solutions to pupils is flawed and can limit development as well as reinforce limiting beliefs.

Evidence and Research:

Invite the ECT to share with you what they have learnt this week, specifically focusing on the role and aims of coaching.

The following questions will help frame your discussion:

  • What do you understand coaching to be?

  • How is this different to mentoring?

  • What might be the aims of coaching or indeed the areas of pupil development that coaching can support you in addressing?

  • Having watched the video on advice giving, what key messages chimed with you?

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT was invited to reflect on the following questions.  Invite them to share their reflections with you:

  • Do you currently adopt coaching approaches within your teaching?  When? How?

  • How might you be able to apply a more coaching approach to your work with your pupils?

  • What might this look like?

  • How might this benefit the pupils in the short and long-term?

  • Imagine you have embedded a coaching approach within your teaching and learning repertoire.   What would this look like if you were to observe this on a video?  What would this feel like?  

  • Now the 'weird' coaching questions... What would this sound like?

  • Even more 'weird'... What would this smell like?  And how would it taste?

You might want to end this discussion gauging how the ECT feels about exploring bringing coaching approaches into their teaching and learning to support their pupils.

Week 2: Coaching Approaches in the Classroom

This week the ECT focused on exploring 5 coaching tools and techniques that they can apply to their practice and that can support their teaching, learning and assessment as well as pastoral strategies.  

Evidence and Research:

Invite the ECT to share with you what they have learnt this week.  The following questions will help frame your discussion:

  • What coaching tools and techniques did you learn about this week?

  • Which are you most drawn to?

  • Have you tried any out personally?

  • Have you any thoughts about how you might use these within your classroom?

Reflection and Discussion

Invite the ECT to share their reflections on how these coaching tools and techniques might be applied to their practice.  The questions below may be useful in scaffolding this conversation:

  • Have you any ideas as to how you might utilise these coaching tools and techniques to support teaching, learning and assessment?

  • Have you any ideas how you might use these coaching tools and techniques to support pastoral and personal development?

  • Have you shared these tools and techniques with your TA/s?

  • What impact do you envisage these tools and techniques having upon the students?

Week 3: Coaching Approaches in the Classroom

This week the ECT built upon week 2 and explored more coaching tools and techniques - this week focused more upon tools and techniques that will support teaching and learning strategies. The ECT explored 4 tools and techniques.

Evidence and Research:

Invite the ECT to share with you what they have learnt this week sharing with you their knowledge of the coaching tools and techniques:

  • What coaching tools and techniques did you learn about this week?

  • What is the Coaching Wheel - and when might you use this?

  • What is The Disney Strategy - and when might you use this?

  • What are Edward de Bono's 6 Thinking Hats - and when might you use this?

  • Explain the zones of comfort, stretch and panic to me.

  • How can you support students in seeing mistakes as part of learning?

  • How do the coaching approaches align with 21st Century Skills and Building Emotional Honesty?  

Reflection and Discussion

Invite the ECT to share their reflections on how these coaching tools and techniques might be applied to their practice.  The questions below may be useful in scaffolding this conversation:

  • Have you any ideas as to how you might utilise these coaching tools and techniques to support teaching, learning and assessment?

  • Have you any ideas how you might use these coaching tools and techniques to support pastoral and personal development?

  • Have you shared these tools and techniques with your TA/s?

  • What impact do you envisage these tools and techniques having upon the students?

  • What might the barriers be?  How might you overcome these?

Week 4: Developing a Coaching 'Toolkit'

This week the ECT applied their learning and developed the coaching approaches they have been introduced to into a coaching toolkit for their students, and for themselves.

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

Invite the ECT to share their toolkits with you.

Invite them to discuss how they have shared these with their TA - the following questions will help frame this conversation:

  • How have you supported your TA in understanding the coaching approaches?

  • What feedback has your TA offered?

  • Have you adapted anything as a result?

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Share any feedback you have with the ECT - you may want to discuss next steps with them - the following question smay frame this conversation:

  • What do you think are the strengths of your toolkits?

  • What areas would you like to further develop?

  • Have you any ideas as to what or how you might build these moving forwards?

  • How might you share these with other staff?

  • Could these be shared with parents?

The ECT will spend the next 2 weeks practicing these techniques.  When undertaking your observation over the next two weeks, ensure that this has focused comments on how they are using coaching approaches in the classroom.

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Week 5: Applying and Embedding Coaching Approaches in the Classroom

This week the ECT applied their learning  to begin to embed coaching approaches into their classroom practice, experimenting with the coaching tools and techniques they have learnt about.  They do not need to apply them all - start small and develop things slowly and as the opportunities arise.

You will observe the ECT over the next 2 weeks with  a focus on how they are using coaching approaches.

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

Check in with the ECT as to how their practice is going and how they are finding embedding coaching approaches in their classroom.​​

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT has reflected upon the coaching approaches they have practiced this week - invite them to share their reflections with you.

The following questions will frame this discussion:

  • For what reasons did you choose to use the approaches you did this week?

  • What worked well?

  • What needs further refinement?

  • How did the pupils respond?

  • What impact do you think these approaches had?

 

If you have observed the ECT this week, discuss this - if not ensure you have an observation arranged for next week.​

Week 6: Applying and Embedding Coaching Approaches in the Classroom

This week the ECT continued practicing and embedding coaching approaches into their classroom practice, experimenting with the coaching tools and techniques they have learnt about. 

They were encouraged to try something they have not yet tried!

You may have observed the ECT this week.

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

Check in with the ECT as to how their practice is going and how they are finding embedding coaching approaches in their classroom.​​

If you observed them this week, use this time to hold a professional learning conversation based upon this observation.

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT chose a reflective framework (Gobs/Driscoll/Kolb...) to conduct a reflection on using coaching approaches in the classroom.

Invite them to share this reflection with you.

You might find the following prompts useful:

  • What impact have the coaching approaches had?

  • What is the evidence of this?

  • What are your areas of strength in using coaching approaches?

  • What would you like to develop further?

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