We would like to introduce you to one of our graduates of The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program! With over a hundred graduates since 2019, educators taking The Coach come into the program with different backgrounds, experiences and goals. Because the program is designed to be flexible and practical in nature, each graduate is able to customize their learning experience for exactly their needs – with the support of a mentor and the global community the whole way!
The Coach follows the Thrive Model for Sustainable Instructional Coaching, a proven framework for success in developing your coaching practice – for you as an individual coach and for your coaching program in your school. These educators have graciously given us permission to post some of their learning and reflections from the private coursework they are undertaking during this program.
Meet Angela
Angela came to The Coach right after graduating from our foundational course, Getting Started as an Instructional Coach. She started learning with us when she realized she wanted to build her coaching capacity, and she new after graduating from Getting Started that coaching was definitely in her future! When she started The Coach, her goals were to build clarity and a deeper understanding of instructional coaching so she could take her knowledge (new tools and strategies) forwards to support early years educators.
She says…
I think this is only upon reflection of doing both of these courses that I’ve understood now that it really resonates with my own values, which also resonates with the approach of Regio. I’ve had an “aha moment” doing these courses, realizing that wow, there are other people who actually feel this way as far as leading in this way. It was something that deeply resonated with me, primarily because the relationships come first. Leading in this way deeply resonated with me, primarily because the relationships come first. In Regio it starts with the child first, in coaching it starts with your coaching partner first.
Angela was fortunate to have had positive experiences being coached in her career as an educator, and those opportunities helped her see the ways that coaching can be a powerful skill set and valuable learning for all educators.
She says…
One of the things that has really stood out from this course for me is also about listening. As an Early Years Educator, I try to listen to children and listening to adults is more difficult, because you always wanna jump in and help with their challenges. This is something that coaches really taught me by nature of having a framework for the coaching conversation, and knowing that there are many different ways to be supporting somebody without telling them what they need to do. It’s quite emotional. You experience the fluctuation of frustration, and it’s hard to put that aside.
Now that’s she’s graduated, she says…
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.
Watch Angela’s Final Project
At the end of The Coach, all participants complete a Learning Journey Video Reflection…
The Learning Journey Video Reflection is a chance for you to reflect on everything you’ve learned and/or discovered throughout this Certificate Program. You will create an 8-10 min video sharing on the goal that you set, documenting the process of working towards your goal, reflecting on your achievement and sharing the process/outcome with our learning community. The most important part of your personal project is that it’s relevant to you, and you can demonstrate, through documentation and video, the impact your work has had on your school.
Watch Angela’s Learning Journey Video Reflection here.
Learn more about Angela’s Learning Experience
Angela was recently featured on the #coachbetter podcast in a Case Study episode. These case study episodes are designed to share the story of a coach, and the development of their coaching program and practice in their unique setting. At the time of recording, Angela had just graduated from The Coach, and we talk about how well instructional coaching aligns with her vision as a Regio Emilia trained Early Years Specialist. If you’re curious about how you can embrace a coaching mindset in your work, this episode is for you!
Ready to create a thriving coaching culture that improves student learning and builds belonging?
Come learn with me!
I help educators, instructional coaches, informal or positional leaders work together to create thriving coaching cultures that improve student learning and build belonging.
Coaching programs based on the Thrive Model, with clarity, consistency and community, can create time and space for educators to feel seen, heard, respected and valued for the experts that they are – creating a sustainable system of educator professional growth that ultimately improves student learning.
For this kind of coaching to thrive we need to focus on both the micro view of your coaching practice and the macro view of your coaching program, so while you’re developing your individual coaching practice you’re also intentionally developing a sustainable coaching culture.
If you’re ready to build this kind of coaching culture in your school community, join us for the Thrive Coaching Certificate program!
Wherever you are in your coaching journey, we can support you!
When you’re ready, there are three key ways we can work together:
- in the Thrive Coaching Certificate,
- in a private mentoring package, or
- through work directly with your school.
Leave a comment below, or reply to any of my emails and let’s start a conversation to see how we can work together to create a thriving coaching culture in your school setting!
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