Nawton School, New Zealand

Mike Sutton, Principal, Nawton School, Hamilton, New Zealand

I have been involved in coaching as both coach and coachee, and as a researcher for over 10 years. I am convinced that it has made me a more effective leader and practitioner and has impacted hugely on the school culture, professional development and student achievement. In this brief reflection I will look at some of the key points about coaching and the factors that have contributed to it being a success.

Initially I was involved in a leadership reciprocal coaching partnership with another principal colleague as we reflected on each other’s practices and education. It was during this period that I came in contact with leadership coaching research by Dr Jan Robertson (1995). This helped my colleague and I move from what was informal discussion to a structure, including setting the issue to be the focus of our next meeting. It was during this time that Dr Jan Robertson (2002; 2005) introduced us to active listening and reflective questioning, which have become core coaching skills I use. 

Since the initial entry into coaching I have had a coach every year and it’s very much the reason that I continue to grow and develop as a professional educator. It has led me to increase my reflection on practice and to read widely, and encouraged me to complete a Masters in Educational Leadership with coaching as my thesis.

As a consultant principal with the University of Waikato Educational Leadership Centre I have continued to practise and learn as a coach. The art of active listening has continued to develop and has helped form a trust relationship with each colleague which has become the basis of the coaching partnership.

Last year each of the three colleagues I worked with struck major issues in their schools and had the trust and confidence to telephone me and work through the issues. I wasn’t the person with the answers but the colleague who listened and asked the hard questions that encouraged reflection and their decision making.

By far the most exciting thing that I have done in my long period in education was to introduce and research peer coaching in my school. It has enhanced the abilities of peers to work together, visit each other's classrooms and talk about teaching and learning, and has impacted on their classroom practice far beyond what I ever imagined.

The process started small at the school based on the beliefs of Hopkins (2001), who advocated a cadre or cascade approach to change. Four staff began to work with me and the skills developed were based on the work of Holmes (2003) and Robertson (1995; 2002).

About four months was spent training the initial group (less time now) to learn the skills of coaching and to develop trust. They each approached a colleague to become their coachee for four terms with a focus on pedagogical change. A key aim was to empower the coaches to get them to ‘buy in’ to coaching; Gottesman (2000), Bishop (1996) and Bishop, Berryman, and Richardson (2003) were key influences. Status or experience was not a factor in the partnerships that were set up. 

Some comments from teachers included:

 'I have been observed many times (as a student/beginning teacher) but I felt for the first time that the focus was really on me and that was great.'  Teacher W

 'When are the rest of the staff going to get this opportunity because it's changing my teaching so much?' Teacher X

Coaching is now part of all the professional learning that we do in the school as all staff strive to change pedagogical practice. My original belief behind coaching was that there was a huge amount of teacher talent in the school that was hidden away behind single cell classroom doors. I believe that this expertise has been unleashed. We also now have a teacher who was never a leader managing the process so that all staff benefit from peer coaching.

As I reflect on coaching I believe it’s important to start small and let the momentum grow and to empower teachers so that this change is done with them and not to them. It also has to take place in a school culture where trust is valued and encouraged. Teachers have become leaders as Barth (2001) has said they would. They have become investors in the school, not mere tenants, and the enjoyment of teaching has increased.

I believe that to be successful in embedding change you have to be patient and support teachers and what better support than other colleagues? There is a need to have a clear process and model of coaching that has to be flexible enough to meet teachers’ individual needs. I also believe that it is important that teachers are introduced to readings and develop some common language about curriculum and change. This needs to be an important part of the coaching process.

The best recommendation for coaching comes from one of my staff who joined Dr Jan Robertson and me when we ran a two-week online conference (2006) on coaching. Diana wrote:

'Some of the spin-offs that I have experienced from being involved in coaching have been: growth for myself as a leader, a higher level of professional talk, and an ever increasing circle of colleagues to share ideas and reflect with. We are developing a learning community within our staff which is growing as we pick up more people to be part of the coaching process. Being involved in coaching has definitely lifted my game and increased my professionalism, which will of course have major benefits for the children I teach.'

Take the risk, plan a process and remove the classroom walls that are barriers to teacher learning and ultimately student achievement. Enjoy coaching.

Contact:

For more information please email Mike Sutton.

References:

• Barth, R S, Teacher Leader, Phi Delta Kappan International, 82(6), 2001, pp 443-449

• Bishop, R, Whakawhanaungatanga: Collaborative Research Stories, Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1996

• Bishop, R, Berryman, M, and Richardson, C, Te Toi Huarewa. Effective Teaching and Learning Strategies and Effective Teaching Materials for Improving Reading and Writing in Te Reo Maori of Students aged Five to Nine in Maori-medium Education. Final Report to the Ministry of Education. Wellington: Ministry of Education, 2001

• Gottesman, B, Peer Coaching for Educators (2nd edn), Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2000 

• Holmes, D, One-to-One Leadership: Coaching in Schools, National College for School Leadership Research Associate Report, Nottingham: NCSL, 2003

• Hopkins, D, Improving the Quality of Education for All as an Authentic School Improvement Project, Paper Presented at the International Conference on Rejuvenating Schools through Partnership, 22-24 May, Hong Kong, 2001

• Robertson, J, Principals' Partnerships: An action research study on the professional development of New Zealand school leaders, A doctoral thesis, Hamilton: University of Waikato, 1995

• Robertson, J, Leaders Coaching Leaders Through Professional Partnerships, Hamilton: University of Waikato, 2002

• Robertson, J, Coaching Leadership: Building Educational Leadership Capacity through Coaching Partnerships, Wellington: NZCER, 2005