Coaching for the field of education
Socrates has said: "I cannot teach anyone anything, I can only make them think."
Coaching uses a Socratic approach, asking thought-provoking questions rather than giving instructions. At the core of coaching is the cultivation of awareness and responsibility. Therefore, the coachee does not get the knowledge from the coach, but from him/herself.
COACHING IN EDUCATION IS AN INNOVATION THAT SUPPORTS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RAISES SELF-AWARENESS, FOSTERS MINDFULNESS AND CONTINUOUS LEARNING, ENHANCES COOPERATION AND IS A PREREQUISITE FOR GREATER HAPPINESS AND WELL-BEING.
The history of coaching in schools dates back to the 1980s and began with peer coaching. Joyce and Showers saw coaching as an important method for the professional development of teachers.
It enhances the ability of teachers to transfer skills and knowledge into practice in the real classroom and facilitates collegial learning and experimentation in the classroom.
Scientific background
Coaching in education is based on research:
- a high-quality professional development opportunity that IMPROVES TEACHER SKILL in the classroom (Kraft, 2018) and student performance (Allen et al., 2015).
- Provides a risk-free environment in which it is SAFE TO EXPERIENCE BENEFITS given emotional and developmental needs (Sossick et al., 2019).
- Provides an opportunity to DISCUSS and find SOLUTIONS to everyday work and life PROBLEMS (Adams, 2016).
- Increases well-being and self-confidence, and as a result, participants feel more effective when working in a team (Adams, 2016).
- FOCUSES on the coachee's strengths and defining outcomes to "move towards a preferred future", fosters PROGRESS and POSITIVE EMOTIONS (McNulty & Smith, 2022).
- Supports the teacher as a leader to look to the future and take responsibility for their own emotions and learning, and is a useful way to IMPROVE LEADERSHIP in the classroom (Grant et al., 2010).
- Keeps a focus on reflecting on their value systems in order to increase SELF-RESPONSIBILITY and purposefully embed NEW BEHAVIOURS (Grant et al., 2010).
- A method of promoting SELF-EFFICIENCY for both novice (Suleyman, 2006) and more experienced educators (Johnson, 2009).
- Collaboration based on a trusting relationship, which sets teacher values, creates meaningfulness, makes sense of daily activities, thereby reinforcing self-reliance in abilities, and sets the stage for the development of an AUTHENTIC LEARNING STYLE (Haavisto-Visnapuu, 2022).