SES

The Power of Co-Coaching

Building capacity and achieving improvement through coaching &

collegial lesson observations

From this morning …

Lifelong yearning to educate themselves Active participants in whole of British community A pupil - centred school Develop high order thinking skills / independent learning Success is the journey not the destination This is who I am … invite you to understand me, to find

out what I stand for. Outstanding learners and outstanding human beings Personalised learning and personalised excellence Promote the owls and shoot the foxes

More from this morning … The dreams we want for our children Community cohesion Shift happens Building self-esteem Only 38% look forward to going to school Peer mentoring / coaching for achievement Transformation of society Islamic education versus secular education … mathematics

and Islam … N (texts per day) > N( people on planet) … 2.4million Muslims in UK

Outline

Nature of coaching Coaching trios Management implications Emotional intelligence Skills required for co-coaching

What is collaborative teaching?

Collaborative teaching provides an opportunity for a symmetric relationship between fellow professionals; one based on respect and trust.

Collaboration can take place in all phases of teaching:

Planning

Preparation

Implementation

Monitoring & Assessment

Evaluation

THE TEACHING CYCLE

Plan Teach Monitor Outcomes

Reflect

Where can coaching make a difference?

Plan Teaching

Attempt

Monitor Outcomes

Feedback

Diagnosis/ promotion of understanding of teaching issues, awareness of strategies, help with preparation & planning

Diagnosis / assistance/ Guidance/ encouragement & collaborative support

Diagnosis/assistance to relate monitoring back to teaching plan intentions

Diagnosis, assistance, provision for monitoring outcomes and processes of teaching attempts

Reflect

Mentoring or Coaching?

Mentoring Specialist Coaching Peer Coaching / co-

coaching

CUREE model

Mentoring or Coaching

Coaching

The focus of coaching is the in-depth development of specific knowledge, skills and strategies.

Coaching does not depend on the coach having more experience than the ‘coachee’; it can take place between peers and staff at different levels of status and experience.

Coaching is usually informed by evidence.

Coaching Trios

Video of coaching trios

Coaching Trios (notes)

Sharing good practice Teaching & learning focus (AfL) Trios cross-curricular initially ============ Departmental trios Status of observer and teacher Focus is on sharing and developing expertise ============ Discussion then within trio of what has been learnt

EQ & Coaching

John Whitmore claims the following.• Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an attitude, a way

of being.• Coaching is a behaviour, the practice of EQ.• Both are invaluable life skills which can be

developed.• Coaching is the practice of emotional

intelligence – both are invaluable life skills.

Leading Coaching in Schools www.ncsl.org.uk

A barrier to deliberative reflection Skilful improvisers often become tongue tied or give

obviously inadequate accounts when asked to say what they do. Clearly it is one thing to be able to reflect-in-action and quite another to be able to reflect on our reflection-in-action so as to produce a good verbal description of it; and it is still another thing to be able to reflect on the resulting description.

Schön 1987

Leading Coaching in Schools www.ncsl.org.uk

Nature of teacher knowledge

Teacher knowledge versus knowledge for teachers

• Knowledge for teachers … knowledge as a possession capable of being monitored

• Teacher knowledge …embedded in teachers’ lives … knowledge in context … personal … based in values

• Connelly F M & Clandinin D J in …. Tomorrow’s Teachers

Self-awareness

Awareness of others

Self Management

Social Skills

Change

Change comes through people’s actions.

We cannot or should not seek to re-bake people.

They cannot change unless they are aware.

Confronting unawareness can be a gift Leading Coaching in Schools

(www.ncsl.org.uk for full details)

Building strategic capability

Davies & Davies Developing a Model for Strategic Leadership

Coaching practice in schools is built on four essential qualities:

• a desire to make a difference to student learning

• a commitment to professional learning

• a belief in the abilities of colleagues• a commitment to developing

emotional intelligence

Coaching is grounded in five key skills:

• establishing rapport and trust• listening for meaning• questioning for understanding• prompting action, reflection and learning• developing confidence and celebrating

success

www.ncsl.org.uk/coaching

The art of questioning …

Questioning Skills

Purpose and direction of questioning

Sample openers and question stems

Narrative Tell me about …

Description Can you describe it?

Connecting to previous knowledge

?

Self awareness ?

Identifying with others ?

Leading Coaching in Schools www.ncsl.org.uk

Activity

In pairs, discuss and record alternative ways of working collaboratively

What issues might arise if both partners are experienced teachers?

Collaborative Planning

Teaching sessions will need to be planned in more detail than normal.

Experienced teachers should aim to give partners a detailed insight into their thinking and planning

This would entail explaining:

Purpose of activity

Justifying teaching strategies

Clarifying structure

Clarifying responsibilities

Teachers should have theoretical underpinnings for their pedagogical decisions.

This will include:

• subject knowledge

• knowledge of educational aims, goals and purposes

• knowledge of other content related to broader aims

• general pedagogical knowledge

• knowledge of learners and curricular knowledge

Collaborative analysis & reflection

Collaborative working enhances teaching by providing:• Opportunities to observe each other teaching

• Reflect in practice (mini-discussions during teaching)

• Reflect on practice by joint analysis and evaluation after the teaching session

Analysis & reflection within co-coaching

• Opportunities to discuss the quality of (individual) children's learning

• Opportunity to monitor the effectiveness of teaching in the light of pupil learning

• Discussion of the teachers’ practice in order to deepen understanding of the teaching process. (Note collective practice)

Activity

Identify the advantages of collaborative working as a teaching and learning strategy for experienced teachers

Identify the potential ‘pitfalls’ of collaborative working with less experienced colleagues.

Advantages

Access to real teacher thinking and teacher knowledge

Non threatening context Context for focussing on particular strategies /

phases / skills Gradual but flexible ‘scaffolding’ of trainee

learning Builds professional relationship

Pitfalls

Joint planning & evaluation can be time-consuming

Need to work with several different teachers. (Harder in smaller schools)

Needs to be a flexible balance between collaborative and independent working

Charm

“When people came to see Gladstone they departed believing he was the wisest person in the world”

“If you came to see Disraeli, such was his charm that you went away thinking that you were the wisest person in the world”

Gordon Brown quoted in Education Guardian 29th March 2005