 |
| Jane Shaddick-Brady |
Strategies for
professional learning and staff development in a school context has
traditionally been through the introduction
of an initiative by senior leaders or visiting providers or through focus
groups and twilight training internally or by staff attending external courses.
Other strategies have been to share classroom practice through team meetings,
through discussion and conversations about observations and ‘drop-ins’ on
classroom practice, although the results of these approaches have very little
sustained impact at individual level, possibly because of a lack of
understanding of the new initiatives or a lack of consolidation to embed the
new learning.
Professional
learning has led to the introduction of using coaching as a process for
performance management and enhancement. Through the use of coaching
conversations, it is hoped that the integration and realisation of new
approaches into an existing repertoire of skills sets will encourage new
thinking, reflective practice and ultimately improved teaching and learning for
the children.
At
present, appraisal and performance management is the preferred model for
accountability in many schools but these processes are often not very rigorous
or successful in driving change. Other strategies for development such as
mentoring or co-mentoring are also used; however, these methods also appear to
have very little sustained impact at individual level because of a lack of
understanding of the new initiative or a lack of consolidation or willingness
to embed the new learning.
Peer
learning, joint practice and support whereby staff visit classrooms and either
team teach or observe practice to develop teaching and learning objectives
again have been seen to have little impact because of a lack of time to
organise mutual sessions, a mix-match of timings with timetables or a lack of
commitment.
However,
in order for development to take place, support needs to be more personalised
and relevant to individual needs and performance management targets agreed,
which identify learning
outcomes and real changes in practice that would result in improved learning or
practice, rather than an imposed set of
targets.
This
approach again leads to the importance of introducing coaching as a process for
development
as this is at the heart of coaching and mentoring. The potential for the performance management
process to develop colleagues, to build motivating and collegiate
relationships, to achieve school priorities and to improve pupils’ learning and
experience can then be established and developed further through
solutions-focused coaching.
A coaching approach can support a more effective
culture for learning and development for staff in school and so support
professional development that makes a difference to the learning and experience
of pupils and which is why I believe coaching should be integral to the professional development
and performance management process in school.
‘The
use of coaching is not a difficult skill to learn. Perhaps the hardest part is
the willingness to give up what we did before, especially when it was a more
prescriptive style. Change is a challenge for all of us, but in the modern
world, it is inevitable and the better we understand the reasons for it and the
effects of better methodologies, the easier it becomes.
Coaching
should never be viewed as the flavour of the month or as just another new
initiative. It is more importantly another step in the ongoing evolution of
participative human interaction. As such it applies equally to leadership, to
management, to parenting and to teaching and learning’ (Whitmore, 2005)
Jane is Assistant Head Teacher at Dubai English Speaking School, who have spent the past 2 years implementing a Coaching culture within the school, with the help of British School of Coaching.
