The role of coaching in telecollaborative language exchanges

Dr Sabela Melchor-Couto Dr Kristi Jauregi Ondarra University of Roehampton Utrecht University (London)

Introduction

New teacher roles

Time investment

Learning curve

Training +

SupportCoaching

Summary of contents

Brief introduction to TILA

Coaching

Coaching evaluation in TILA

Perceived teacher competences

Conclusion

Bibliography

TILA

Funded by the European Commission

Context: the TILA project

2013-2015

269 teachers trained

550 h coaching

Coaching

Lofthouse, Leat & Towler (2010) Coaching for teaching and learning: a practical guide for schools. Reading: CfBTEducation Trust

Pedagogical innovation

+ technical guidance

BEFOREDURINGAFTER

TCSessionsTask design

Organisation

Implementation

Evaluation

Coaching assessment

Evaluation survey

Completed by 23 teachers

Positive feedback

Value of the guidance:

task design

organising TC sessions

coordinating with partners

Coaching assessment

Coaching assessment

30%

39%

26%

4%

Confidence for TC

5

4

3

2

1

Teacher competences

15 teachers

At least 3 TC sessions

No previous TC experience

Survey: Demographic information Organisational comp.: 9 items

Pedagogical comp.: 5 items Digital comp.: 3 items Attitudes & beliefs: 2 items

Telecollaboration Teacher Competences

(O’Dowd, 2015)

Organisational

Pedagogical

Digital

Attitudes & beliefs

Organisational

Digital

Teacher competences

Rate your ability to… …organise and structure real-time student interaction taking into account the particular affordances and technicalities of synchronous tools such as videoconferencing, chat etc.

…explain clearly to possible partner-teachers your plans and expectations related to a possible exchange

a)…employ various strategies to ‘match’ learners from the different institutions b)…to create effective partnerships and exchange groups

at the beginning / at the end of the telecollaboration experience

Scale 1-10

Teacher competences12 respondents

+1.48 +1.55+1.16+1.04

ORGANISATIONAL PEDAGOGICAL DIGITAL ATTITUDES & BELIEFS

Teacher competences

+2.7

+1.78

+1.75

+1.75

+1.83

+1.5

+1.66

+1.5

ORGANISATIONAL

PEDAGOGICAL

DIGITAL

ATTITUDES & BELIEFS

A2

Teacher competences12 respondentsRole played by the coach in TC competences:

•Excellent guidance.•The help provided by our coach has been priceless.•The experience would not have been so positive without the support and empathy provided by our coach. •We have felt supported and motivated by our coach.•Essential. I’ve felt supported at all times. We discussed different options and it was very useful in terms of fine-tuning tasks.

Teacher competences12 respondents

• Very helpful, especially for organisational aspects. • Their guidance in solving organisational and

technical problems has been useful and they have helped us achieve our common goals.

• Their help has been useful for choosing the most appropriate tool.

• The debriefing meetings held after every TC session have been useful to correct certain aspects.

Teacher competences

Results Summary

• Digital competencesDigital competences Organisational competences

Highest perceived

improvement

Real-time telecolaboration

Explaining use of tools Choosing the right tool

Designing the exchangeWorking with partner-teachers: -Negotiating -Explaining their objectivesCreating effective partnerships

& working with students

Conclusions Coaching is highly valued by participating teachers. It provides the necessary support, usually lacking at

their institutions. It provides motivation, essential when trying to

innovate It helps teachers develop pedagogical,

organisational and digital competences.

Limitations: Small number of participants Data gathered a few months after the TC experience Answers based on their perceptions

These limitations will be corrected in the next project!

Bibliography

Lofthouse, Leat & Towler (2010) Coaching for teaching and learning: a practical guide for schools. Reading: CfBTEducation Trust. Available at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cflat/news/documents/5414_CfT_FINALWeb.pdf

O’Dowd, R. (2015) “Supporting in-service language educators in learning to telecollaborate”. Language Learning & Technology, 19(1), 64–83.

Thank you!

Dr Sabela Melchor Couto: s.melchor-couto@roehampton.ac.ukDr Kristi Jauregi: k.jauregi@uu.nl