Instructional Coaching

The concept of peer coaching for teachers was first introduced in 1980 by Showers and Joyce as a dimension of teacher professional development. As a result of their research, Showers and Joyce found that teachers who participated in coaching sessions practiced new skills and strategies more frequently and accurately than those who did not.

Since then, peer coaching practices have been constantly evolving in theory and practice. However, the most prominent feature of schools aiming to improve the quality of teaching seems to be creating opportunities for teachers to learn from each other.

Colleague coaching means that teachers support each other with structured and planned methods and techniques to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their classrooms. In schools that adopt the Collegial Coaching model, participating teachers are offered trainings where they learn how to engage in meaningful dialog with others and how to supervise, mentor and coach them.

The feedback that teachers give to each other through lesson observations, goal-setting exercises and discussions essentially serve student achievement.

Collegial Coaching practices enable teachers to take responsibility for their own goals and encourage them to transform and empower their teaching by developing each other.

The aim is to encourage teachers to design each other's lessons in ways that better serve students' lasting learning, to raise awareness of their pedagogical approaches and attitudes, and to mirror each other's objective observations through developmental dialogues.

School leaders need to lead and support these efforts where teachers share ideas, brainstorm about teaching challenges, and learn from each other.

Dalton and Moir emphasize the importance of confidentiality in peer coaching as in all other coaching processes. Confidentiality is one of the main principles of a trust-based coaching relationship. In the conversations between the coach and the coachee, existing skills are strengthened, new skills are acquired, and methods or strategies for solving classroom problems are tried out. They concluded that coaching by one teacher to another colleague is not a school development initiative that can be considered in isolation, but should be part of a professional development training program and part of a school development plan that focuses on teaching and curriculum.

The coachee can share his/her experience with other colleagues if he/she wishes, but the coach should never share the positive or negative content of the meetings without the permission and approval of the coachee (Dalton & Moir, 1991).

When coached teachers receive periodic feedback that is reliable, supportive, unbiased, and focused on behaviors and their impact on the learning environment, significant changes in behavior are observed.

Showers also highlights five characteristics of successful peer coaching practices:

Camaraderie: Teachers evaluate the successes and failures of a new practice they have just tried. While this practice develops the teacher, it also helps teachers who are isolated from the group and do not feel a sense of teamwork to feel a sense of belonging to the group.

Feedback: Teachers focus on the skills to be developed and give each other objective feedback that is not graded.

Analysis: Teachers support each other until the new targeted skills are internalized to the extent that they can be used naturally and flexibly.

Adaptation: Teachers develop ways to make the new practices work in ways that are adapted to the specific needs of the students in their classrooms.

Support: The coaching teacher provides all the support that the coachee needs for the new strategy.

Collegial coaching has many aims. The first one is to create a community of teachers who work continuously on skills. Coaching should be seen as a common ground where professionals communicate and support each other to improve their skills.

The second is to contribute to a common language and perception in the acquisition of new professional knowledge or skills. When it is used in the development of the skills required by the teaching profession, it means that there are no teachers who act alone and independently of others, and no teachers who do not act with the group.

The third is to provide systematic support for the transformation of the knowledge learned in the trainings into skills (Russell & Kadevarek, 1993). Research shows that teachers transfer less than 5% of the new knowledge they learn in in-service trainings, seminars and workshops to their classrooms. On the other hand, when this knowledge is supported by practice, feedback and coaching, 75% to 90% of what is learned is transferred to the classroom. (Joyce & Showers, 1982) For these reasons, peer coaching is a great opportunity for sustainable development.

Peer coaching is based on a relationship of trust between teachers. It requires working in mutual agreement to improve student learning and fosters a win-win relationship for both parties.

What are the Benefits of Collegial Coaching?

The Coachee

• Develops an attitude of openness to constructive feedback.

• Experiences focused observation.

• Experience being proactive instead of reactive.

• Improve teaching practices.

• Try new methods and techniques.

• Contributes to team spirit and plays an active role in development with colleagues.

• Gain insight into why/how they do a certain behavior and gain awareness.

• Recognizes areas open to improvement.

• Gains self-confidence in sharing their good practices as well as their practices open to improvement.

• Makes a development plan and sticks to it.

• Communicates with teachers of other subjects and seeks ways of interdisciplinary cooperation.

• Focuses on learning outcomes.

The Coach

• Learns ways to communicate effectively.

• Discovers ways to build trust for professional development purposes.

• Applies techniques to cope with resistance

• Practices purposeful listening.

• Makes objective observation.

• Applies effective and constructive feedback techniques.

• Practices the discovery of needs, motivation, skills and thinking processes.

• Accompanies real lasting change.

• Uses questioning techniques to identify solutions.

• Supports in setting goals and evaluating the results.

• Encourages to take action.

• Adopts a positive, supportive and unprejudiced perspective.

• Explores the dynamics of learning while exploring the coaching field's values, beliefs and attitudes towards teaching.

• Develop leadership skills.

The coach guides the coachee to make a development plan and provides the necessary motivation and support to realize these plans.

The way to achieve all this is to first receive training on this subject and then to receive feedback on our practices and to adopt an attitude that is open to receiving feedback above all to learn together.