Leading Coaching in Schools
The National College for School Leadership has produced Leading Coaching in Schools – a practical guide for school leaders about the implications of the new National Framework for Mentoring and Coaching.
More than 50% of heads say that they now spend significantly more time coaching colleagues than they did previously.
Developing coaching helps leaders address many of the key issues facing schools today, such as:
- school improvement
- reshaping the workforce
- succession planning
- personalisation
- standards, and
- accountability.
Propositions
The workbook sets out six propositions about the role of school leaders.
- Leaders have a moral responsibility to promote everyone’s learning: adults and pupils.
- Leaders have a moral imperative to develop the next generation of school leaders.
- High-quality coaching in schools supports professional development, leadership, sustainability and school improvement.
- Leaders therefore have a responsibility for providing the processes, structures and resources to support coaching.
- Central to these propositions is the role of learning conversations, which make tacit knowledge explicit and engages staff in open and honest feedback.
- Leaders should model the dialogue and personal approaches that create a culture of high-quality coaching interactions across the school.
The workbook explores the implications for school leaders based on successful school practice, research and coaching theory.
Seven action implications
- To develop a system, first develop yourself.
- Make sense of the whole.
- Create systems – that emphasise learner entitlement and responsibilities.
- Focus on principles.
- Equip staff with coaching skills.
- Review and reward good coaching practice.
- Use and build external links and networks.
For further details and resources visit www.ncsl.org.uk/coaching.
