1. An introduction to Coaching
Using coaching to improve attainment in staff and students
An introduction to Coaching
WELCOME
An introduction to coaching – is the first in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to coaching as a tool to raise attainment in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Improving Learning and Teaching series include:
Top tips: Outstanding teaching
Top tips: Outstanding learning
Effective marking and feedback strategies for every situation
Meeting the needs of exceptional learners
Helping boys learn better
Performance coaching strategies
In order to facilitate today’s training, you will need:
Copies of the PowerPoint slides printed three to a page with space for notes for each participant
Copies of the accompanying ‘Starting to lead’ handout for each participant
Flip chart paper and marker pens
All resources for this training are available to download from the SecEd website (add link) or by from
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2. By the end of this Bite Sized Training you will be able to:
Explain what coaching is, and when it can be useful
Describe the key skills of coaching, and provide examples of good practice
Use the GROW Model to structure coaching and achieve a positive outcome
Introduction
By the end of this Bite Sized Training you will be able to:
Explain what coaching is, and when it can be useful
Describe the key skills of coaching, and provide examples of good practice
Use the GROW Model to structure coaching and achieve a positive outcome
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3. Understanding Coaching
“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn, rather than teaching them”.
Timothy Gallwey (The Inner Game of Tennis)
ACTIVITY
Given this definition, what does coaching look like to you?
Working individually, write down an example of how you might use coaching to improve either staff or student attainment.
Now discuss your ideas in pairs.
Finally, working in small groups, come up with your top five ideas for how coaching might be used to enable a colleague or a student to ‘maximise their own performance’.
Share your ideas with the group.
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4. The Coaching Continuum
Coaching, as a term, has come to mean a variety of things to both participants and coaches. Some refer to ‘training’, others ‘coaching’ whilst it is common in schools and academies to use the term ‘mentoring’. Whilst the terms in themselves do not really matter, since it is the improvement action that makes the difference to staff and students, they do have different meanings:
Training – Here, the coach is used to impart information and skills. The trainer is able to show the participant WHAT to do, WHY a certain action needs to be done; and HOW to go about it. There is most input from the coach and least input from the participant. Class teaching or traditional whole school CPD are both examples of Instructional training
Coaching – Here, the coaching relationship is based on questioning – the coach works with the participant and uses questioning tools to determine WHAT and WHY they both feel needs to be done; and there is agreement between both parties on HOW to go about this. Small group work with staff or students to improve something particular – GCSE performance for students or classroom management for particular staff – are both examples of where coaching fits on the continuum.
Mentoring – Here, the coaching relationship puts most emphasis on the skills, knowledge and input from the participant. The coach uses their skills and experience to support the participant in facilitating their own ideas for WHAT and WHY needs to be done; and helps the participant with the actions that identify HOW things need to be done. Supporting a colleague who wants to action their own improvement idea or mentoring a student who has identified their own learning needs are both examples of inspirational mentoring.
Coaching is a continuum of input and skills from both the coach and the participant. At one end of the continuum, the coach has the most input and the participant the least. At the opposite end, the coaches input is minimal with most input coming from the participant.
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5. Questioning Listening Coaching Skills Coaching Skills
Wherever coaching needs fall on the continuum, ALL coaching requires two specific skills:
Questioning
Listening
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6. Questioning Open Probing Specific Hypothetical Closed Silence
Coaches will use six key types of questioning dependent on the needs of the participant and where the coaching relationship is on the coaching continuum:
Open: Questions that can’t be answered with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ are often good for exploring coaching ideas. ‘What do you think you could do to …..’
Probing: A coach will build on previous answers from a participant and use probing questions to get to the heart of an issue or explore things in greater depth. ‘What do you think you did to cause that to happen?’
Specific: Specific questions can be used by a coach to focus on a particular issue. ‘You say that there are a number of things you want to try, if you had to choose one, which strategy do you think would be the most effective and why?’
Hypothetical; Hypothetical questions can be used to approach difficult issues in a safer and less threatening way. ‘Some people might ask the question ‘why would anyone want to let that happen?’
Closed: Although closed questions do not allow the participant to express the breadth of their thinking, they can be useful for clarifying that bottom line. ‘So, is this something that you would be prepared to try?’
Silence: Silence can be a coach’s most powerful tool; either saying nothing and allowing the participant to fill the silence or not, or using non-verbal questioning techniques – raised eyebrows, open hand positions and other body language to suggest that a question is stilling ‘hanging in the air’.
ACTIVITY
Working in pairs, choose one of these two scenarios and draft a set of questions that show a range of questioning skills to support the participant.
You are working with a student to explore issues around truancy from specific lessons each week.
You are working with a colleague to develop their teaching of high ability learners.
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7. 10 Coaching Questions
What is the outcome you’re looking to achieve here?
Would you share the specifics of what’s going on?
What have you tried so far?
How have you handled something like this before?
Why do you think this is happening?
What’s your opinion on how to handle this?
What’s the first thing you need to do to (resolve/achieve this)?
What resources do you need?
What are you willing to commit to doing/trying/changing (by when)?
When shall we meet again?
10 Coaching Questions
What is the outcome you’re looking to achieve here?
Can you share the specifics of what’s going on?
What have you tried so far?
How have you handled something like this before? (What was the outcome?)
Why do you think this is happening? (What’s another way to look at this/respond? What else can also be possible/true?  What assumptions could you be making here?)
What’s your opinion on how to handle this? (EVERYONE has an opinion. Seek to understand theirs first.) If I wasn’t here, what would you do to achieve/resolve this? If we were to switch roles, how would you handle this? What ideas do you have? What’s another approach that may work (which you haven’t tried yet?)
What’s the first thing you need to do to (resolve/achieve this)? (What would that conversation sound like when you talk with……? What resources do you need? (Who else do you think needs to be involved in this? How else can I support you around your efforts to complete this?)
What are you willing to commit to doing/trying/changing (by when)? If you couldn’t use that excuse anymore, how would you move forward?
When shall we meet again?
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8. A good coach will form their next question based on the answer to the previous question
They will ask for clarification and examples if necessary
When coaching, the other person should do more talking than you
Listening
Listening
A good coach will always listen more than they talk.
It is important to remember that listening needs to be ACTIVE – Actively engaged in what the participant is saying; giving your total attention.
A good coach will:
Form their next question based on the answer to the previous question. For example ‘You say that it is …… that you find most challenging. Let’s explore that in more detail. What things do you think make …. Most challenging for you?’
Ask for clarification and examples when necessary. For example ‘You mentioned that …… Does this mean that there is nothing you can do about this? Or ‘Would you give me an example of when this last happened?’
Talk less than the participant.
ACTIVITY
You will need to access this video clip - – or another suitable short clip that shows a coaching conversation.
As you watch this video clip of a short coaching conversation, make a note of:
The questioning skills used
How the coach shows they are listening
Discuss your findings with the group.
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9. The GROW Model What will you do now?
How COULD you get to where you want to be?
What do you want to achieve?
The GROW Model
The GROW model is a coaching model that is used internationally to support coaching conversations.
GROW stands for:
GOAL – What do you want to achieve?
REALITY – What is the situation at the moment? Where are you now?
OPTIONS – How COULD you get to where you want to be?
WAY FORWARD – What will you do now?
In this example, a coach is helping a KS2 pupil improve their behaviour.
GOAL – I want to stop getting into trouble with my class teacher.
REALITY – My teacher keeps telling me off for calling out in class and making inappropriate comments
OPTIONS – I could just stop talking altogether but I like my lessons and enjoy saying things. I could carry on calling out and put up with being told off all of the time. I could ask my teacher to stop picking on me. I could put my hand up when I want to say something and wait to be asked.
WAY FORWARD – I am going to try to put up my hand when I want to say something and wait to be asked, I’ll come and tell you at the end of the day how things go today.
ACTIVITY
Identify one element of your own professional practice (or that of one of your students) that you want to improve.
Use the GROW model to clarify an appropriate way forward.
What’s the situation at the moment?
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10. Make it Work at Work
What are you going to DO as a result of this Bite Sized Training session?
MAKING IT WORK AT WORK
ACTIVITY: What will you do as a result of this Bite Sized Training?
Working in groups, look at the action sheet you have produced during today’s training.
What are the three key learning points for you?
Use the GROW model to identify what you are going to change
How will you know when your change has been successful?
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11. Where next?
An introduction to coaching – is the first in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to coaching as a tool to raise attainment in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Improving Learning and Teaching series include:
Top tips: Outstanding teaching
Top tips: Outstanding learning
Effective marking and feedback strategies for every situation
Meeting the needs of exceptional learners
Helping boys learn better
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
WHERE NEXT?
An introduction to coaching – is the first in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to coaching as a tool to raise attainment in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Improving Learning and Teaching series include:
Top tips: Outstanding teaching
Top tips: Outstanding learning
Effective marking and feedback strategies for every situation
Meeting the needs of exceptional learners
Helping boys learn better
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
Bite Sized Training - Brought to you by Call or