Mā te kimi ka kite, mā te kite ka mōhio, mā te mōhio ka mārama

Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened

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.

Learning Material:

As Deputy and Associate Principals, you are in a prime position to foster a coaching culture within your kura. This module will start to 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 Deputy Principal, 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).

Extra practice! Comment on someone else’s post with a coaching question to make them think.

Assessment:

• Completion of all readings.
• Participation in the online forum discussion.
• Reflective post on forum