Module Objectives:
- Articulate a clear understanding of coaching principles and their application within an educational leadership context.
- Develop and apply a range of effective coaching models and techniques to support the growth and development of individuals and teams.
- Cultivate strong coaching relationships built on trust, respect, and a focus on individual strengths and goals.
- Utilise powerful questioning and active listening skills to facilitate self-reflection and ownership of development.
- Provide constructive feedback and support accountability to enhance performance and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
As school leaders, you are in a prime position to foster a coaching culture within your school. This module will equip you with the knowledge and skills to lead through coaching, empowering your colleagues to reach their full potential.
Understanding the Coaching Approach:
Coaching in an educational setting goes beyond mentoring or directing. It is a collaborative process focused on:
- Empowering Ownership: Facilitating individuals to identify their own goals, solutions, and pathways for development.
- Focusing on Potential: Believing in the capacity of others to grow and achieve their best.
- Promoting Self-Reflection: Guiding individuals to critically examine their practice and identify areas for growth.
- Supporting Action and Accountability: Helping individuals translate insights into concrete actions and take responsibility for their progress.
- Building Capacity: Developing the skills and confidence of others to become more effective in their roles.
Key Coaching Skills and Models:
Effective coaching requires a specific skillset and often draws upon established models. Key elements include:
- Active Listening: Paying full attention, seeking to understand perspectives, and reflecting back what you hear.
- Powerful Questioning: Asking open-ended questions that encourage deep thinking and self-discovery.
- Goal Setting: Collaboratively establishing clear, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
- Providing Feedback: Offering constructive and timely feedback that is both supportive and challenging.
- Building Rapport and Trust: Creating a safe and supportive environment where individuals feel comfortable exploring their challenges and aspirations.
- Coaching Models: Familiarity with models like GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward) or TGROW (Topic, Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward) can provide a structured framework for coaching conversations.
Applying Coaching in Your Role:
As a school leader, you can integrate coaching into various aspects of your leadership:
- Supporting Teacher Development: Coaching teachers to enhance their pedagogical practices, classroom management, and leadership skills.
- Mentoring Emerging Leaders: Guiding and supporting staff members taking on new leadership responsibilities.
- Facilitating Team Growth: Coaching teams to improve collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.
- Having Difficult Conversations: Using a coaching approach to navigate challenging conversations in a way that fosters learning and growth.
- Promoting a Coaching Culture: Modelling coaching behaviours and encouraging others to adopt a coaching mindset.
Resources:
Introduction to Coaching in Education:
- Growth Coaching International – offers articles and resources on coaching in schools: https://growthcoaching.com.au/resources/
Developing Coaching Skills:
- Michael Bungay Stainer – Has written two excellent and easy to digest books if this is an area of interest for you. For now, have a look at his TED Talk, “How to Tame Your Advice Monster” https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_bungay_stanier_how_to_tame_your_advice_monster_feb_2025?language=en and this article (there are more if you are interested) on his Box of Crayons website – https://boxofcrayons.com/resources/how-to-be-coach-like-at-work/
- Explore the Instructional Coaching resources most relevant to you – https://www.instructionalcoaching.com/resources/
Task:
Practicing Coaching Questions:
Reflect on a recent interaction you had with a colleague where you could have used a coaching approach. Identify 2-3 powerful coaching questions you could have asked to encourage deeper reflection and ownership of the situation.
Post your chosen questions and a brief explanation of why you selected them and the potential outcomes you anticipated on the forum (150 words maximum).
Assessment:
- Completion of all readings.
- Participation in the online forum discussion.
- Reflective post on forum
3 Responses
Coaching Students for Athletics
Preparing our students for Athletics Day was a powerful opportunity to apply coaching principles. Rather than just giving instructions, I focused on building confidence and ownership. I asked questions like,
1.What’s one goal you want to achieve today?”
2. What do you need from me to feel ready?”
These helped students reflect on their strengths and take responsibility for their performance. I also used positive feedback to affirm effort, not just results especially for those who didn’t place but showed growth.
Brené Brown reminds us that trust is built in small moments, and I saw that in how students encouraged each other. Coaching helped shift the focus from winning to personal bests and team spirit.
The result? Our students ran with heart, and our small school placed third overall. More importantly, they believed in themselves, and that’s the real win. Gold and silver for girls discus and silver and bronze for the boys, my task to coach them.
In a recent discussion with a colleague who was finding it challenging to engage a group of students, I recognised that a coaching approach would have been more effective than offering advice. Coaching encourages reflection, self-awareness, and ownership – qualities that align well with our school’s values of respect, service, and personal growth.
Some coaching questions I could have asked include:
What do you think has been working well with this class so far, and why?
How might you build stronger connections with these students to support their engagement and wellbeing?
What is one small change you could try next week to create a more positive learning environment?
I chose these questions because they promote reflection and encourage my colleague to identify strategies that suit their own teaching style. Rather than focusing on the problem, they shift the conversation toward possibilities and action. The goal is to empower the teacher to recognise their strengths, take initiative, and build confidence in managing their classroom.
In a Catholic school setting, coaching also models the values of care and respect for others. It encourages supportive professional relationships where staff feel valued and trusted to grow — ultimately contributing to a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement across the school.
Coaching in Practice – Speed Training Context
(Note: I had some speed training with Pat during the CI Games but I embrase myself pulling a calf musule from the start)
Thank you for sharing this reflection it resonates deeply with how I’ve approached coaching during our student speed training sessions. I’ve found that theory alone isn’t enough. To truly support student growth, teachers need to see the techniques in action and understand why certain corrections matter. Coaching here means guiding teachers to move from knowing to doing.
When working with staff, I ask:
“What do you notice in the students’ movement that could be refined?”
“How might demonstrating the technique help students connect theory to practice?”
“What feedback have students given that could guide our next steps?”
These questions help teachers reflect on their own delivery and encourage them to model the technique with clarity or ask someone to do it for them. I would ask experts if I could not do it myself. It’s about building trust between teacher and student, and among staff so that learning becomes active, respectful, and rooted in shared purpose. Coaching, in this way, honours both professional growth and student achievement.