clare.barnett@synergiacoaching.co.uk 01785 711593

Implementing a Coaching Culture in schools

If a teacher or staff member is asked what it’s like to work in their school, their answer will probably describe the school’s culture. Leaders need to be aware that they will create a culture within their team or school, whether they choose to knowingly or not – in which case it is advisable to take a ‘knowing’ approach and think about the culture characteristics they want to achieve.

As we know, schools are learning organisations. This learning happens not just within a classroom but within every aspect of school life. Individual interactions can be transformational.

Coaching can shape these interactions to ensure each situation can be constructive and effective with the aim to create independent learners of our pupils and our staff.

This enables a Growth Mindset and encourages people to solve their own problems and think positively about challenges they face. It also enables the school community to work together more cohesively. It ensures a clearer focus on health and wellbeing, enabling people to openly discuss mindset and mental health.

A coaching culture isn’t the same from one school to the next.  It will look and feel different as each school has their own needs, history, strategies, values and unique community.

Evidence would suggest that in a coaching culture there “appears to be better staff retention and loyalty to the school; as well as reduced variation in attainment across departments.  Developing coaching abilities also provides useful life skills that can be used in non-professional and domestic situations.” (National College for School Leadership, 2005)

More benefits of coaching in education can be seen as:

  • “a means of whole staff or departmental improvement
  • Personalised professional learning for staff within schools
  • A process that promotes self-directed professional learning
  • A learning-centered mode of professional dialogue
  • A process that builds capacity for leadership.” (National College for School Leadership, 2005)

What is included in the school’s coaching culture programme?

In creating a coaching culture, all line-managers, teaching and non-teaching, will be trained in coaching-style skills which they can use in their day-to-day management of staff. This tool-kit includes:

  • Questions to support a variety of Coaching models, for different scenarios.
  • Frameworks for meetings, appraisals and other discussion environments which enable a coaching approach.

The activities included in the Introducing a Coaching Culture training are:

  • Understanding emotional Intelligence and how that shapes how we work with different personalities.
  • Learning more about coaching and how we would differentiate between coaching, mentoring, and counselling.
  • Reviewing two coaching models, and how they approach coaching slightly differently e.g., the GROW model, and the Skilled Helper.
  • Questioning styles and how to ensure we don’t lead our coachees down our own path.
  • Listening styles and how we enable ourselves to listen empathetically, remembering we have 2 ears and 1 mouth.
  • Learning more about how to give feedback as part of the coaching process.
  • Understanding how to start a coaching relationship.

‘Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn, rather than teaching them’ (Whitmore, 2017).

Coaching in educational settings encourage partnership, awareness, responsibility and collaboration through powerful questioning and active listening.
By adopting a coaching culture within your educational setting, you will enable progress in all aspects of a school community including:

  • Educational leadership
  • Professional practice
  • Student success and wellbeing
  • Community engagement

Coaching and development for school leaders, teacher CPD, school leadership and management is available via our dedicated ILM accredited courses:

  • ILM Level 3 Certificate in Leadership and Management
  • ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management
  • ILM Level 3 Certificate in Effective Coaching
  • ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring
  • ILM Level 7 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring

We aim to take a progressive approach to your learning, adopting a ‘building block’ mentality; building on each skill successively until all the building blocks are in place and we can forge ahead with strength, resilience and structure.

To begin introducing a coaching culture to your Independent school, please contact Clare on 01785 711593.