Executive
Coaching
BC
and Education
One of
the expanding areas
of Behavioural Coaching is in the field of education.
Behavioural Coaches provide individuals, groups, teachers,
students and administrative personnel with a wide variety
of coaching interventions. They train senior teachers to coach
new and experienced teachers and students as well as establishing
and monitoring peer coaching
programs. Coaches also work with students on life skills,
study skills and social skills as well as career choice and
preparation.
-Coaching
the teacher
BC is
not simply another term for traditional
mentoring or peer supervision between teachers. Instead,
coaching focuses on assessment of the teachers’ strengths
and weaknesses, developing a personalized action plan and
working
to the coachee’s agenda rather than that of the
governing educational body. The coach’s role then, is
distinct from supervision and is unrelated to performance
evaluation. Of course, if the coachee wishes to set objectives
around performance evaluation, the coach acts in a strictly
confidential
role as support, guide and giver of feedback.
-Peer
coaching
Experienced
teachers also derive significant benefits from coaching, especially
in relation to enhancing their skills and general professional
development as educators. The aim of peer coaching is
to refine present teaching skills and it has proved particularly
effective with senior teachers.
Peer coaching
allows teachers to share a professional dialogue about the
science and art of teaching. It involves teachers receiving
support, assistance
and feedback from fellow teachers. Typically, all teachers
involved in the peer coaching program are trained in the fundamentals
of BC including goal setting, action planning, interpersonal
and helping skills.
-Coaching
students
Teachers,
of course, have to teach and they do not have the resources
or time to individually coach all students. However, two types
of coaching, namely Cognitive Coaching and Coaching for children
with Attention Deficit Disorder have been translated to the
classroom.
Teachers
also employ BC techniques when coaching students in a group
setting. The group may be composed of students who have a
common problem to address or may be part of a life skills
coaching curriculum. Indeed, a study of socially-rejected
fifth graders found that coaching improved their social skills
and increased their ability to be liked by peers.
Skiffington
and Zeus
|
