What steps can you take to build a strong coaching culture in your school?

In my experience trust is the essential ingredient for creating a culture of coaching in your school. In order for coaching to be effective, teachers need to trust that the coaching will be non-evaluative and that it will translate to success in the classroom.

Before you begin, you must assess the current climate around observation and coaching. If your school has used observations as a 'gotcha' moment for teachers, you haven't established the conditions for growth and excellence. Your vision must contain a commitment to radical humility that says we all have room to grow.

Building a strong coaching culture in our school can transform our educational community. By clarifying the purpose, providing professional development, aligning coaching with school goals, selecting and preparing coaches, establishing clear structures, cultivating trust and collaboration, celebrating success, fostering reflection, developing a feedback culture, and consistently evaluating our progress, we will lay a strong foundation for a coaching culture that nurtures professional growth and enhances student outcomes. Let's embark on this journey together towards a brighter future for our school community.

Taking the time to share the vision and purpose of the coaching program with all staff, and further providing opportunities for input or concern allows for the program to be about collective growth, rather than judgement. The communication of the vision and the value staff see in the program is hugely impactful on the program's success.

To foster a robust coaching culture in K-12 education, start by carefully choosing a coaching model aligned with your school's vision and resources. Models such as instructional coaching, peer coaching, cognitive coaching, and transformational coaching offer distinct strengths and challenges. Research best practices and evidence for each model, selecting the one that best suits your objectives. Ensure alignment with the school's mission and the needs of educators. Provide training for coaches and stakeholders, emphasizing consistent implementation. Regularly assess and adjust the chosen model to optimize its impact, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented coaching culture within the school community.

Implementing school wide protocols for coaching conversations can be highly effective to support teachers and teacher-leaders into the role of coach. Developing teachers into coaches is a fruitful opportunity to build high-level interpersonal skills and a good understanding of purposeful observation and data-driven conversations.

A coach at school should have the following skills: 1. Empathy: Understanding students’ individual needs and feelings. 2. Communication skills: Clear and motivating communication, listening and conveying understanding. 3. Conflict resolution: Ability to recognize, address and resolve conflicts constructively. 4. Pedagogical knowledge: Basic knowledge of teaching and learning methods to support learning processes. 5. Goal Orientation: Help set realistic goals and plan steps to achieve them. 6. Self-reflection: Ability to engage in self-criticism and continuous training. 7. Motivation: Inspiring and motivating students to recognize and utilize their potential.

A school coach uses a resource-oriented approach to promote the positivization of negative thought patterns. Instead of “not” or “none”, he focuses on constructive alternatives, uses hypotheses and stimulates thought in the subjunctive. The focus is on future-oriented solutions, with scaling questions and the miracle question expanding the scope of possibilities. The coach communicates primarily through questions, avoids direct advice, keeps his own answers brief and thus promotes the student's self-reflection. The clarification of the order and an initial contact phase with an assurance of confidentiality set the framework for a trusting interaction.