We want to give you a peek inside our Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program. Coaches taking part in this academic-year-long journey have graciously given us permission to post some of their learning and reflections from the private coursework they are undertaking during this program. Where possible, we have shared the course and the action task to give context for the guest post.

Watch Angela’s Video

Read Angela’s Reflection

At the beginning of the course my goals were to Have clarity and a deeper understanding of Instructional Coaching Take my knowledge (new tools and strategies) forwards to support early years educators

Designing artifacts such as ‘I believe’ statements and artifact 1 served as useful tools to help me gain clarity around Instructional Coaching and also to begin advocating for this way of practice. In spreading the word about coaching, I would attach these artifacts to and emails to help explain what I was actually offering as an Instructional coach.

My biggest area of growth was navigating all the moving parts of a coaching conversation. This was an area where I felt I needed a clear structure and my second artifact was designed as a ‘cheat sheet’ to offer words, phrases and questions that I could use ar a quick glance. Balancing the three stances of consultant, coach and collaborator is an area of ongoing growth.

Creating artifact 2 has had the most impact on my professional growth this year. It was a simple tool that assisted me with being more intentional and aware of how I was facilitating a coaching conversation.

Areas of growth include all aspects of the Coaching course as there is so much to remember and consider. However, remembering the flow of a conversation, allowing the coachee to guide the direction of the conversation and developing trust are specifics that I would like to focus upon. Keeping up to date with documentation is another area for improvement..

It surprises me that Instructional coaching is still fairly new to many international schools, but it’s also heartening at the same time to learn about schools who are investing the time and budget into their teams to begin creating a coaching culture.

Next time I would delve deeper into the plethora of resources that are shared during each module. I found that I was eager to get to the task and could have allocated much more time exploring the curated information.

Asynchronous discussions and live meetings with my mentor provided much needed support and insights which helped propel me to move forwards.

My mentor’s modeling of effective coaching techniques was invaluable. She demonstrated how to navigate conversations seamlessly and maintain a judgment-free environment, something which I am trying to work towards.

One of the greatest learnings of this course has been about building relationships and understanding that leadership is about influence and not authority. I value trust and inclusivity over positional authority and this has formed the very foundation of my coaching philosophy.

As I transition from my current school In Vietnam to a startup preschool In India, I feel more prepared to begin establishing a new coaching culture. I would really like to continue working with my mentor next school year as I move into more of a leadership role as a coach of a small preschool.

---

Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach!

If you are ready to dive deep into your coaching practice, to help you #coachbetter and build a thriving coaching culture in your school, please join us for our next cohort of The Coach!

Wherever you are in building a coaching culture in your school, The Coach will give you the strategies, skills and tools you need to make coaching a success and will empower you to confidently apply instructional coaching strategies in any situation – from building a coaching program, to having coaching conversations, to being a leader in your school community. We facilitate only one cohort each academic year so we can offer individualized support for each participant.

Coaches of all levels are welcome: you’ll start the program with a self-assessment to determine exactly what the next steps are for you!