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 Sarah’s Video

Sarah says…

The idea of having this year long course really attracted me, because so many coaching courses are these very intensive eight days, and you’re working and you’re practicing, and then again, you’re back into school and you don’t have a structure to continue what you’ve learned. In a previous school we had an intensive training, and then we didn’t really have a structure that helped for it to happen. I could see without a kind of structure, it just, the impact wasn’t there as much as we had hoped it would be.

This idea of having a year long course where I could be talking to you every two weeks, I could be in this global cohort of people who were giving me feedback and it just deepened my practice. And that was what I was really after, it really deepened my learning.

After completing the course, I’m lot more mindful about the type of conversations I’m having.

Last week I counted how many conversations I have in a day. There are a LOT. Now, as I’m approaching one of those many conversations: I’m saying to myself: is this a coaching mindset conversation, a collaborative conversation, a FOG conversation, a coaching cycle conversation? And all of those require a cognitive shift for me, and , I didn’t have that intentionality before.

The outcome of the conversation is where I have to tweak my work. I’m always thinking about what is the outcome of this conversation? And that’s where the tweak in me has to happen as well, what does this teacher need right now or in a week’s time or so? It’s again, always thinking about that impact on the students

I think it’s something that you’ve said over and over in the course when you say that teachers are busy people. That is a narrative that you say repeatedly. And now I think to myself, I have this moment. I try and breathe, make a cognitive shift in my head, and then say, what is gonna be the most impactful with this very, very busy person?

Something that I’ve been thinking about a lot is, that tool toolbox that you have. That’s where, in  a coaching cycle, when I’m in the coaching cycle conversation, I know that I can prep for that. It’s not just the conversation in the corridor where I just have to be able to maneuver very fast, but for the coaching cycle, I actually spend a lot of time really contemplating what question does this teacher need? And I think that’s where the power lies because you’ve got a little bit of time to really, really think and prepare. 

That’s what I’ve loved about the course, being able to pull all the resources that we’ve got and thinking like, what is the thing? It’s that quest for the conversation that’s gonna land and a teacher’s gonna beam to you that this is unlocked something.

I got so much out of the program. One thing is systems. I feel like I have been trained as a coach for quite a long time, but my systems weren’t that great. The way you are so intentional about the agenda, and keeping records, has really helped me systemize the way I’ve been working.

Coaching is a lot more complicated than just sitting down and having a conversation. Knowing what the different types of conversations look like. The space in between when a teacher might feel like they’re not making an impact. Each of those parts of the coaching cycle might need different types of questions and structures. It’s like a life cycle of learning. If you can have a good system, good at taking notes, good at knowing, next steps. It took ages for me to trust in the metacognitive. All those little bits, try and get your systems.

The other piece that really impacted me was thinking about leadership. Coaches thinking about themselves as a leader. As a Curriculum Coordinator I’m part of the program leader team, it just made me really consider that part of it. Who am I working with, how am I being intentional about who I’m working with. Curriculum Coordinator and Coaches are so similar. I’m trying to fuse those two together at the moment for next year.

I loved the course, I really loved the way it’s paced, the reflective nature of it, how much I learnt, I’m so grateful for the experience.

---

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!