Are you interviewing for an instructional coach position this year?

We can help!

At Eduro Learning, we’ve worked with educators in building their coaching skills and confidence in The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program and through Private Mentoring. This experience has led many of our Coach participants to explore new opportunities in coaching. This may involve transitioning into a coaching role (or even helping create a new position) within their school or organization or looking at the possibilities beyond their current placement. 

There are many paths to a new, exciting coaching job but all involve critical interviews where schools and coach candidates need to find out if there is a good fit with their school community.

In today’s post, I’ll share how to approach an instructional coach interview including a list of 10 questions to help clarify the role you are interested in and how it works in a specific school or organization.

So when you think about interviewing for a coaching position…

• Are you wondering about how to prepare?
• Are you finding that you need some guidance in presenting your interest, knowledge, and experience around coaching?
• Are you concerned with finding the right situation for you based on your vision of coaching? 

All of these questions are part of the process of finding Clarity in a coaching role & program, which is where we start in Phase 1 of The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program. While you’re actively seeking a “fit” with a school whose vision aligns with yours, the practical application of that vision will likely take additional work. Which is exactly how we can support you inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program.

Getting into the Interview Mindset

Let’s take a closer look  at interviewing  as a candidate for a coaching role and a bank of questions you might use to clarify what the school or organization is looking for and the role of coaching in their community.

There are all sorts of questions you can ask in an interview, but because the expectations around coaching can vary from school to school, gaining understanding around a specific coaching role is critical. This is a major topic we talk about in the Coach – the importance of Clarity in your role as a Coach. 

The goal is to find the right “fit” – where your vision of the role aligns with the school. Where you’ll be able to coach in a way that matches with your beliefs about coaching. This is essential in building (or sustaining) a successful coaching culture. Once there is  alignment in your and the school’s vision and implementation of coaching, you are empowered to be consistent in your coaching practice, which is what ultimately builds a coaching culture.

This means it might be  necessary to make a shift in your approach in an interview. You’ll need to be okay with asking targeted questions to get that clarity. Too many times we think, “I’m so lucky they’re offering me this job.” but you need to make sure you’re being set up for success. You need to consider how a coaching role in  a school or organization is presented and how it actually functions.

In an interview, you may only get a chance to ask a few questions, so we’re sharing a selection here for your consideration. This is not a prescriptive or exhaustive list,  it’s designed to prompt your thinking about what you might want to ask to help find clarity about the role, the vision and practice around coaching, in a  school.  You may already have answers to some of these questions before or during the interview from your research or what the interviewers share. These questions might help you identify if you want to continue the interview process, or help uncover additional questions you might want to ask as you proceed through the interview process with other school community members. 

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What’s YOUR level of coaching mastery?

All coaches go through various stages of coaching mastery. Once you identify where you’re at, you can begin to build the skills needed to move to the next stage.

This quiz is based on real-life case studies compiled from years of working with coaches inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program!

When you receive your results, you’ll also get your matching case study from the STRIVE Case Studies to see where you fit in the stages of coaching mastery.

Ready to tackle your challenges and move on to the next level in YOUR coaching practice?

The STRIVE Model of Coaching Mastery quiz will help you identify your level of coaching mastery by matching you with case studies compiled from years of working with coaches inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program so you can easily see where you fit!

When you complete the quiz, you’ll get:

• Your matching case study,
• Specific strengths & challenges aligned to your result;
• Suggested next steps for each stage;

Plus the Case Study Document includes:

• Case studies leveled by coaching mastery;
• A framework to identify essential stages of professional growth & key areas to focus on in your professional learning;
• Alignment with the THRIVE Model for a Successful Coaching Culture;
• Space for you to reflect & prioritize so you can take action immediately!

You’ll go straight to the Quiz, and get the Case Study Document via email.

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The Top 10 Questions to Ask as the Interviewee

So here are ten recommendations for types of questions for coaching candidates to ask…

1. What’s your school’s biggest strength in your coaching program right now? What is it’s biggest challenge?
2. Differentiate if they have a coaching program or if it’s a new coaching program – if it’s new, what are they planning, if it exists, what’s the vision 
3. How do you delineate professional growth from evaluation and  supervision?
4. Who else has the job title of “coach”  in this school community?
5. How is the role communicated to the school community?
6. Who advocates for coaching on the senior leadership team?
7. How do coaches work with principals and other school leaders?
8. How do you expect coaches to divide their time? What do coaches typically do? What might a day look like?
9. How do teachers feel about working with a coach?
10. What coaching model do you use?

You’ll need to navigate  the responses to these types of questions, and any additional information you get about the role and the school  to help you identify if an opportunity is the right fit for you right now. We can help you debrief the responses inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program if you’re recruiting this year.

In Phase 1, Finding Clarity, we help you articulate and define your approach to coaching. In Phase 2, Implement Consistently, we focus on building your coaching skills so you can confidently address how a coaching vision is put into action. And in Phase 3, Grow Community, we explore how coaching can impact teams and groups in building a coaching culture. By the end of the program, you’ll be more confident in assessing the vision and implementation of coaching in a school or organization.

Curious to dig deeper into how you clarify your own vision of coaching and expand your knowledge, skills, and experience? 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.  Find out more at edurolearning.com/coach

References

Coaching Matters 2nd edition by Joellen Killion, Chris Bryan, & Heather Clifton, see Ch 2: Conditions for Successful Coaching

Watch the Video

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Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach!

If you are ready to develop your coaching practice over the next academic year, and explore topics like transitioning your work from individuals to teams, 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.

Registration for our next global cohort opens once a year – check the website for details!

Find out more at: https://edurolearning.com/coach/