What is Coaching?
This paper tries to explain what “coaching” is and how it relates to individuals and schools.
The term coaching means different things so it is important to clarify what it means in a
school context. Coaching has a variety of forms and three common forms are listed below.
Cognitive
Coaching
Consultancy
Collaboration
Cognitive coaching requires the coach to be non-judgmental, to encourage
reflective practice, and to guide another person to self-directed learning. To
encourage reflection, cognitive coaching focuses on a teacher’s thinking,
perceptions, beliefs, and assumptions and how these affect one’s practices. A
cognitive coach collects data and learns to pose questions to engage the teacher
in reflective thinking. It is a reciprocal learning process between both individuals.
Effective cognitive coaching involves a process of planning observing (collect
data)  reflecting.
Consultancy involves the coach giving advice, suggesting strategies, resources
and ideas that may help the teacher.
Collaboration involves the coach and teacher working together to plan curriculum
and teaching strategies.
Reference: “Cognitive Coaching” Costa & Garmston
It is usual that all of these forms will be applied in any coaching relationship.
Peer mentoring and Peer observation are also mentioned in the context of coaching. This
is most effective when it is designed to provide benefits for both the observer and the
person being observed. It is more effective when the observation is planned and
purposeful, data is collected and time is made for reflection and feedback.
Who should be coached? Who should be a coach?
To modify an old social worker joke: “How many learning coaches does it take to coach a
teacher? Answer: Only one but the teacher must want to be coached.
The reality is that most teachers have acted as informal coaches, giving and receiving
advice and collaborating on curriculum development. However,
most teachers have not had the opportunity to engage in forms
of “Cognitive coaching”. Cognitive coaching requires the coach
to have skills in listening and questioning and the teacher
needs a willingness to engage in guided self reflection.
Cognitive coaching is driven by the needs of the teacher. The
role of the “coach” is more like a “STAGECOACH” assisting
the teacher on a personal journey. It is the teacher who defines
the direction.
Building and Sustaining a coaching Culture
DEECD has provided 200 “Learning Coaches” across the state and is providing them with
training and support. Coaches in schools are learning about and practicing coaching.
Participant teachers are also learning about coaching.
As more people become aware of what coaching and peer observation is and what it may
achieve and more people get involved and more skills are developed. Then we will be
moving towards a coaching culture.
Source: [email protected]
6/05/2008
Some theory…
The process of Cognitive coaching involves the following stages. (adapted from Costa &
Garmston)
Preplanning
What are the teachers
Goals? (for student learning)
What Actions are planned?
What are the Indicators of
success?
What New learning might
occur? (for the teacher)
Observation
Observe teacher:
Actions/Activities
Observe student:
Indicators of success
G.A.I.N
Reflection
What were the teacher’s Feelings
and impressions about the session.
Analyse the causal factors that
might explain what happened
Synthesise/construct new
knowledge
Plan to transfer that knowledge
F.A.S.T
The alleged benefit (backed up by some research) of experiencing a “cognitive coaching”
process is that over time teachers consciously and subconsciously adopt the stages in
each of the boxes above and become more effective and reflective practitioners.
Two common models used in coaching literature are summarised in the diagrams below.
The Johari window refers to a teachers self awareness. The assumption is that expanding
the open/free area will increase teacher’s capacity to self monitor and work with others.
The coaches role in this model is primarily to increase the area known by the self through
the use of reflective non judgemental questioning.
The conscious/competence framework attempts to describe the stages of learning
undertaken during the coaching process. The coach’s role is to facilitate through non
judgemental reflective questioning progression through these stages
Johari Window
Application: Self Awareness
Consciousness/competence
Application: Learning Stages
Source: http://www.businessballs.com/consciouscompetencelearningmodel.htm
Source: [email protected]
6/05/2008