The NTNAU Instructional Coach Development Program 2024 is well underway with over 20 participants from schools in Tasmania, Victoria and NSW. This week we explored the work of highly regarded Instructional Coach and author, Jim Knight, looking at building learning alliances to walk alongside our coachees, developing intentionally dialogical coaching styles rather facilitative and or more directive coaching styles.
Coaching Styles
Dialogical Coaching (based on Jim Knight's The Impact Cycle, 2018) emphasises a partnership between the coach and the teacher, where both engage in open, reflective conversations. The coach listens actively and asks probing questions to help the teacher reflect on their practice, identify areas for improvement, and develop their own solutions. The focus is on mutual learning and understanding, with the coach guiding rather than directing, allowing the teacher to have ownership of their professional growth.
Facilitative Coaching also centres on guiding the teacher to self-discovery and self-directed learning, but it may involve a more structured approach. The coach provides support, resources, and feedback to help the teacher reach their goals. However, the emphasis is still on empowering the teacher to come up with their own strategies and solutions. The coach's role is to facilitate the process rather than directly instructing or providing the answers.
Directive Coaching, in contrast, involves the coach taking a more authoritative role. The coach provides explicit instructions, models best practices, and directs the teacher towards specific actions and changes. This style is more prescriptive, with the coach identifying areas for improvement and offering concrete steps for the teacher to follow. It is often used when a teacher is struggling significantly or when quick, clear guidance is necessary.
Active Listening for Deeper Understanding
We considered different modes of listening and reflected upon how we show up as active listeners in our coaching relationships in order to ensure our coachees feel acknowledged, recognised, and validated on a fundamental level, which is key to building an effective coaching relationship.
Why Does Listening Matter?
If a coach listens only at a surface level, they can assist only in shifting smaller, surface-level things. The deeper we listen, the broader our understanding, and the greater our chances are for finding an access point to cause profound transformation.
We listen so that people can unravel what’s going on for them so they can discover their own solutions and figure out their next steps.
Listening carefully allows the coach to understand the client’s patterns of thinking.
Over time, a coach will notice patterns running through narratives a client has shared, allowing us to help the client connect the dots and see the themes in what they have shared with us as “data sets” to begin shifting their thinking or behaviors.
A small selection of coaches pictured above as we came together to discuss coaching styles and how we show up as a listener in different contexts, and as a coach.
Coming Up
Next session we’ll dive into the principles and practices of designing Active, Social, Equitable Learning for Adults and creating a safe, inclusive learning culture for adults with NTN Practice Cards which are suitable for use both in staff professional development and in the classroom. with students. Well done to each of the teachers dedicating their time to this program and their contribution to learning at their schools, both in the classroom and with colleagues.