A coaching way of teaching moves us on from the industrial and information age of education to an organic, model-based approach centred around people and purpose that incorporates the skills of effective coaching.
To enact a coaching way of teaching we will need to engage three approaches:
· Formal: you are the teacher
· Non-formal: you are the facilitator
· Informal: you are the coach
In a formal approach the teacher will:
· be contracting to set behaviour expectations
· be planning sequenced lessons including objectives and outcomes and engaging students through questioning, assessment and feedback
· be directive and knowledge-based around curriculum, exams and tests have a reliance on benchmarking of standards in relation to appraisals and observations
· timetable lessons around phases, age and subjects
In a non-formal approach the facilitator will:
· co-create content with the students
· display fundamental coaching skills such as active listening, open questioning as well as recognising energy blocks such a limiting beliefs and assumptions that prevent learning taking place
· focus on the student, developing self-management with the facilitator showing sensitivity to student’s needs
· harness group coaching techniques as the learning environment becomes more fluid such as action learning sets
· still scaffold learning at times with students developing agency
In an informal approach the coach will:
· stand back and become less of a teacher and more of a coach
· support learning rather than being the expert at all times; outcomes are determined by the learning process itself
· allow the breakdown of hierarchy and encourage effective dialogue at the heart of interactions
· allow students to choose content, across a range of subjects and phases
· place the onus on the development of teams and shared learning
To enact a coaching way of teaching we need a blended application of all three approaches: formal, non-formal and informal. All are needed at different times as we move from teacher to facilitator to coach, although not necessarily in that order! A first step could be identifying opportunities of when to engage with the three approaches across your own teaching practice in a series of lessons or over a longer period of time.
This article is taken from our book ‘All Ways Coaching’ available on Amazon here
