CPD: The Coaching & Mentoring Model Saba Shafiq

What is Coaching & Mentoring? Kennedy describes the defining characteristic of the Coaching and Mentoring model to be the importance of the one-one relationship, generally between 2 teachers, designed to support CPD. The difference between them? Coaching appears to be more skilled based. Peer coaching is based on mutually working together to improve teaching skills in order to improve student learning. Mentoring involves an element of ‘counselling and professional friendship’ (Rhodes & Beneicke, 2002, p.301).....Generally with one partner being more experienced and the other a beginner. Mentoring, particularly in its traditional sense, enables an individual to follow in the path of an older and wiser colleague who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities. Mentoring is a temporary collaborative relationship between two teachers that is based on a relationship between an experienced teacher or a master teacher and a novice or new teacher. The goal is to provide the new teacher with a support system that can help him/her succeed. Research has shown that there is a connection between teacher collaboration and student achievement and that teachers who are mentored are more likely to remain in the teaching profession than those who are not. Effective mentors need to have training and practice in working with adults, listening, conducting observations, and solving problems.

Something we can all relate to! Peer coaching is built upon trusting relationships that develop between teachers. It is based on mutually working together to improve teaching skills in order to improve student learning. Collegial Coaching Collegial peer coaching consists of three basic parts: a pre-conference an observation a post-conference During the pre-conference, teachers meet and discuss the elements that the teacher being observed wants to focus on. They discuss the specific lesson planned, its context, and other relevant factors that influence student outcomes. The peer coach is responsible only for providing that teacher with another perspective of the learning environment so they can mutually improve teaching and learning. Implying...notion of professional learning can take place within the school context and can be enhanced by sharing dialogue with colleagues! Schools in Scotland, ensure that all new teachers are given a ‘supporter’ who supports their CPD (General Teaching Council for Scotland 2002) Next, the peer coach observes in the teacher’s classroom as an collegial observer. FEEDBACK AND REFLECTION Finally, the peer coach schedules a post-conference, to discuss the outcome of the lesson. This is a collegial discussion. The observed teacher should take the lead in this conversation, with the observer adding factual information about what happened during the lesson. They may discuss what worked well, what didn’t work at all, and what could be changed or improved to have a positive impact on the teaching and learning in the classroom. Important aspects of this stage are • The observed teacher is in control of the lesson. • The emphasis is on reflection on what has happened during the lesson and an analysis of its impact on student learning.

Transmission Vs Transformative Characterised as the ‘top tips’ approach, where experienced practitioners consider their solution to be the correct one (experienced professional vs novice) Teaching is not a science  Teaching is highly complex and context specific Can neglect the individualisation of the learning process of the student teacher. Transformative learning allows for critically reflecting on current practices and consciously making and implementing plans that bring about new ways of teaching. Transforming teachers so they see themselves as agents of social change can be a challenge within education. Strategies for transformative professional development include action plans, reflective activities, case studies, curriculum development and critical theory discussions. This model can support both the transmission and transformative views of professional development. Science: It is very difficult to identify a solution to a problem that will work in every context and every time. Transmitting knowledge as ‘the way to do it’ can be counterproductive if the student teacher then experiences situations in which the suggested solution it isn’t successful. Schools have their own underlying principles, beliefs and values that manifest themselves in the way they teach pupils and in how they expect teachers to behave. Again, a teacher moving between contexts may find one approach is not effective in other contexts.

Benefits of the Coaching & Mentoring Model of CPD! Facilitate the exploration of needs, motivations, desires, skills and thought processes to assist the individual in making real, lasting change. Peer support: (in pairs or small groups) to encourage, extend and structure professional learning, dialogue and experimentation - in combination with... Specialist support: including modelling, workshops, observation, feedback, coaching, introducing a menu of research-based strategies for enhancing learning. Planned meetings for structured discussion -including exploring evidence from the teachers’ classrooms about their experiments with new approaches and of their beliefs about teaching, the subjects being explored and their learners. Processes for sustaining the CPD over time to enable teachers to embed the practices in their own classroom settings - including informal day-to-day discussions and observations between teachers, and using work they would have to do anyway (such as lesson planning and designing schemes of work or curriculum development) in workshops. Recognition and analysis of teachers' individual starting points and building on what they know and can do already. Developing teachers' ownership of their learning, by offering them scope to identify or refine their own learning focus (within a menu set by the programme or the school/college), and to take on a degree of leadership in their CPD. A focus on pupil learning and student outcomes, often explicitly as a way to analyse starting points, structure development discussions and evaluate progress, both formatively and summatively.

CPD in terms of the coaching and mentoring model relies upon on a one-to-one relationship between 2 teaching professionals. It can be dependent on either a transmission or a transformative conception of CPD.