Have you considered incorporating coaching into your continuing professional development (CPD) offer for teachers, but you're not sure where to start?
Instructional coaching is a highly impactful form of CPD when it comes to improving pupil outcomes. But it only works if teachers and leaders are invested in the process and have created the right culture for coaching to thrive in schools.
Whether you are a teacher educator or school leader, this article explores five ways schools and trusts can build a culture that supports instructional coaching.
1. Embrace a coaching mindset
Instructional coaching encourages teachers to try new ideas and adapt their practice so that they can improve. That’s why it is best applied in a supportive environment that is open to learning and incremental improvement through coaching.
This starts with leaders adopting and modelling the importance of ongoing development to staff at all levels. The aim is to help staff buy into a culture which combines the goals teachers have for their pupils with the needs of the whole school or trust.
Embedding and supporting this belief of continual learning is particularly important for schools in the early stages of using CPD.
One way this can be reflected in the wider school or trust culture is by ensuring that CPD sessions feel like a safe space to explore challenges and solutions. They should also be developmental and low stakes, rather than being linked to a judgement such as appraisal.
2. Introduce modelling and practice into existing CPD
If the mechanisms of instructional coaching, such as modelling or deliberate practice, are new to staff, then one way to introduce them is by incorporating them into existing CPD sessions.
For example, when introducing teachers to a new strategy, share the success criteria with them (the specific ingredients of the strategy). Understanding the criteria in advance can help the teacher unpick a model and enact the strategy accurately.
It’s also a good idea for teachers to have plenty of time to practise a new strategy and receive feedback. This should be done with a colleague in pairs during a CPD session before implementing it in the classroom.
This gentle introduction means teachers will already be familiar with the mechanisms of instructional coaching to ensure wider success when rolling out the approach.
3. Test first before rolling out
Many schools begin coaching with a pilot group of teachers, often volunteers. This allows the school to refine its coaching offer and iron out any issues before implementing it more widely.
A pilot is also often useful for wider teacher buy-in, as willing volunteers begin to share their feedback and experiences about how the approach has worked for them.
4. Make it empowering
When coaches take the time to draw up an agreement with their coachees, they can address any fears and ensure it is a mutual and empowering process.
This could look like discussing the process together, agreeing on procedures and giving coachees time to ask questions and discuss an area of focus.
5. Choose staff with the skills for the role
Part of building a strong culture that values coaching is ensuring coaches understand the foundations. To make a success of coaching teachers, choose coaches with:
- Broad knowledge and experience of teaching.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Willingness to learn about the mechanisms underpinning this approach.
- Understanding of the research that underpins approaches to effective teaching.
When considering suitability, remember that ongoing training for coaches in these areas is important, as is the time and resources to coach teachers effectively. Training will likely take place through instructional coaching models and informal peer-to-peer support, which should be part of any implementation planning.
As well as learning to deliver coaching conversations, coaches also need to be willing to receive feedback on their coaching practice. This can be done in the form of a coaching-on-coaching conversation, for example using video footage of their feedback.
Our Instructional Coaching programme enables experienced classroom teachers to learn the foundations of instructional coaching from an expert coach to develop other colleagues. To find out more, visit the programme page. Applications close Tuesday 4 March.
