education

Beyond the Classroom: Navigating the Dual Realms of Education

 in quote  tagged coach / coaching / education / quote / training
A green chalk board is mounted on a cream coloured wall. It has a wooden shelf at the bottom of the board where 5 books are pilled to the right hand side. On the centre of the shelf us a rectangular board cleaner. The corners of the board are darker then the central area presumably due to chalk having been wipped off that section more. In white on the board is written "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." (James Truslow Adams)

Today’s Quote of the Day is:

“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.” (James Truslow Adams)

Today’s quote by James Truslow Adams serves as a poignant reminder that education encompasses more than just the pursuit of a career. It beckons us to explore the dual realms of learning — one that equips us with the skills to make a living and another that imparts the wisdom to truly live. As coaches, let’s delve into the expansive landscape of education beyond traditional classrooms that this quote point towards.

Education Beyond the Classroom:

Contrary to the conventional image of education confined within classroom walls, todays quote encourages us to envision a more holistic approach. It’s about embracing the idea that education is not solely about diplomas and certificates; it’s a lifelong journey that extends into every facet of our life and existence.

Reflecting on Your Educational Journey:

As we embark on this new year, take a moment to contemplate the areas of education and learning you wish to focus on. Is it the refinement of a specific skill, the pursuit of personal growth, or the exploration of a new field altogether? Whether it’s mastering a language, enhancing cooking skills, or delving into the intricacies of emotional intelligence, the possibilities are boundless.

My 2004 planned Educational Journey:

Personally, I’m embarking on a new coaching certification. The opportunity to be mentored and receive personalised support from a coach with decades of experience was too enticing to pass up. For me, my decision to pursue this certification aligns with the belief that education is not a static achievement but a dynamic process of continual growth and refinement.

It’s getting on for a couple of decades since I first did any sort of coaching course and I view continuing professional development as part of my natural development. Its about finding those spaces that allow me to play and explore and in some instances to re-examine.I think theres an art and a science to coaching and it has always just seemed natural to me to delve deeper into whatever aspects interest me at any given time.

It’s seldom about getting the bit of paper at the end of the course. (In fact the one time I did that, it was actually one of the least rewarding courses I’ve done). For me its about that learning experience and the rewards that come from that.

The Power of Sharing:

Education is a journey best shared. In the comments, I invite you to articulate the areas you’re focusing on this year. It could be a skill you’re honing, a language you’re learning, or a new perspective you’re seeking in the realm of personal or business development. Sharing your educational aspirations not only fosters a sense of community but also has the potential to inspire others on their unique journeys.

Enriching Lives and Making a Difference:

The essence of Adams’ quote lies in recognizing that education has the power to enrich our lives and empower us to make a difference. It’s about acquiring knowledge that goes beyond the immediate demands of a career and seeps into the very fabric of our existence.

Conclusion:

As we navigate the dual realms of education, let’s embrace the breadth and depth of learning opportunities available to us. Whether you’re pursuing a traditional course of study or venturing into uncharted territories of some other form of personal development, every step is a valuable contribution to the tapestry of your educational journey. I’d love to hear your plans and how you’re embracing the transformative power of continuous learning and growth – feel free to share in the coments below.

About Jen Waller

Jen Waller

Jen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.

As an experienced coach and trainer Jen is happy to utilise all skills at her disposal to assist clients from getting out of their own way and making a difference in the world with their coaching. Find out more about the support Jen offers here.

Destination nowhere without a change

 in Guest Post  tagged Amanda Clegg / behaviour / change / choice / coaching / cycle of change / DiClemente / education / failure / Lao Tzu Prochaska / teacher coach / Thomas Edison

Returning guest poster, Teacher Coach Amanda Clegg shares more real life coaching experience in today’s guest post.

Destination nowhere without a change

by Amanda Clegg

A guest post by Amanda Clegg

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
(Lao Tzu)

As a teacher of some thirty years, I have often seen students with talent and ability throw it all away. The reasons are different, but the waste of opportunity is always the same. Recently I met an ex student in a deserted street, I had sadly permanently excluded him when I was Principal. These situations are never pleasant and I wondered how he would react all these years later.

Luke* noticed me almost as soon as I noticed him. He crossed the street and came right up to me blocking my passage on the pavement. He put out his hand and greeted me in a jovial fashion. I shook it and smiled back as my heart rate and adrenaline levels slowly decreased. He told me he was doing well now and that he had a girlfriend, a job and a flat of his own. He went on to say he was pleased I had taken a hard stance with him, because it was what he needed to make him recognise where he was headed. I cannot tell you the joy that I felt in my heart when we had finished talking. The heartache at the time was all worthwhile. Luke* was only one of two students I had to make the decision to admit we had failed. I now realise that with Luke* we had not failed, but made the right decision to help him on his first step to success.

Recently more so than ever before, I have noticed an increasing lack of willingness by students to even try to answer a question or start a task. For some reason they seem scared of getting it wrong. They do not want to see scored out work or teacher crosses on their pristine work. I am doing my best to get students to have a go and explain I really do not mind if they get it wrong. I deliberately do not rub out my work on the board anymore if I get something wrong. I put a line through it. I actively go overboard at thanking students who have a go at a question but don’t quite get it correct. Later in the lesson or the following one, I will quietly check with this student that they now know the answer. Then you guessed it – I ask them in front of everyone and they give the right answer so being rewarded with a merit (or chocolate or sticker). They have learned from making a mistake.

I told a class about Thomas Edison and how he is reported to have exclaimed “I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that did not work” when experimenting with the light bulb. A lad said “That is inspirational Miss”. I thought he was being flippant, but afterwards he told me he really did find it a good way to look at things.

James and David* did not see how their continued low level disruptive behaviour was affecting their teacher. This is where I came in to try and assist as I was coaching this particular teacher. They did not see that it affected the work they completed or that they did not understand much of the content being taught. James and David* failed to recognise that some of their class mates were getting frustrated by their antics. The more the teacher tried to discipline them, the sillier they became. The class teacher was using all the tools available to her and when she finally had to send them out I took the opportunity to work with them.

We went into the Science work room. I placed four sheets of sugar paper around the room on the walls.

You may not be able to discern exactly what is written on each sheet, however just by looking at the number of comments it is possible to unpick their thinking.

sugar paper answers 1

sugar paper answers 2

It was so interesting to see James and David* work together on this task and the sudden realisation that carrying on the way they were was not going to get them to their destination or preferred future.

This task was adapted from the work of Prochaska and DiClemente on the Cycle of Change. Both boys were certainly in the precontemplation phase during the lesson. They did not realise that their behaviour was having an effect on their future or that of others. It was just a bit of a laugh to pass the time of day.

When I set them a task with the four questions posed above, they were made to think about change and how it would benefit them or how it would be a drawback. The speed of realisation was quite fast and they were both very honest about how the process made them think about what they were doing.

A summary of the stages in the Cycle of Change

1. Precontemplation : I’m not even thinking about change/ I did not realise there was a problem
2. Contemplation: I may change or I may not – I am thinking about it
3. Decision: I have decided to change / I have decided not to change
4. Active Changes: I have started to change
5. Maintenance : I am keeping up with the change/ I have changed
6. Relapse : I have gone backwards

It is important as a coach to recognise and remind yourself that you cannot bring about change in another person. They must want to change themselves. It is their choice to decide whether to make a change or not.

After doing the task, I asked David and James* what they thought about the future and explained to them whatever they did was a choice. They were making a decision.

James said he felt that sounded “heavy” and he had never really thought about it before as being a choice. David said he felt ashamed he was affecting other people’s chances in the class as he was not too bothered about his future as his Dad would always have a job for him. He however was the student saying how hard it was to think and maybe he was doing it because he had lost the knack of thinking through a problem.

As always in a school, life is governed by the bell and the boys went off to their next lesson. The thing that struck me most about this session was that I did not have to do or say anything other than to ask them to be honest and answer the questions on the sugar paper. I have brought the horse to water- will it drink is the question?

I have had many such conversations with young people over the past thirty years and most where I did the “telling” rather than facilitating. I look back to the first part of the blog and wonder if I could have prevented myself and Luke from a lot of angst if I had let him do more of the talking.

*Names have been changed to protect their identity.

Further Reading:

Prochaska,J.O , Norcross, J.C and DiClemente, C.C. ( 2007) Changing for Good, William Morrow & Co.

About Amanda Clegg

Amanda CleggAmanda Clegg has been a science teacher in state secondary schools for almost thirty years. She was a member of a Senior Leadership team for 15 years before being asked to lead a private sixth form college through their initial ISI inspection. The college achieved an outstanding judgement. Amanda now works as an Educational and Coaching Consultant in Oxfordshire and Swindon. She is currently acting as temporary Head of Science two days a week in a local secondary school, as well as being an Associate trainer for Creative Education, co-author of a GCSE revision guide and an Associate Lecturer for UWE on the PGCE programme.

www.akc-edconsultancy.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/AKCConsultancy

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/akcconsultancy

email: cft-acleggsupanetcom

Twitter: @Teachercoach1

 

Are we talking the same language?

 in Guest Post  tagged Amanda Clegg / coach / education / Karpman Drama traingle / language / progress / teacher

Returning guest poster, Teacher Coach Amanda Clegg shares more real life coaching experience in today’s guest post.

Are we talking the same language?

By Amanda Clegg

"Are we talking the same language?" by Amanda Clegg

Coaching is taking us from where we are to where we want to be. But what if you want to change, but are finding it difficult to trust in the process and also your coach?

This was one of my current challenges as a Teacher Coach. I am working with George* who has received three lesson observations graded as inadequate or requires improvement in the last academic year.

George has tried to evade our coaching meeting for the last 2 appointments citing coursework marking as the reason. He even cancelled all the pre-booked meetings on the school electronic diary system with no reason. It was difficult to decide how to approach this from a coach’s point of view. I was busy too with lots of marking to do myself and at this time of year I could benefit from some extra time.

However, the internal voice began chattering away saying:

– How rude!

– If you let him get away with this now, then he will always make excuses!

– Maybe you can’t coach him- he is too difficult!

– Maybe he is one of those people they tell you about on training- not all people are suitable for coaching- you can only be coached if you want to be.

– Maybe you will be letting him down if you let him off coaching this week.

– Maybe he is just trying it on

– Maybe he doesn’t think you are any good and not worth the time.

I have a personal rule which is not to respond immediately wherever possible when I feel annoyed by something or someone. It has always served me well. I might write an email or plan in my head what to do at the time, but I always leave time for further contemplation. Sometimes just the act of banging out an email on the uncomplaining computer keyboard and saving it to send the next morning make me feel a lot better. I rarely ever need to send the email because after calming down, I think of a better cause of action.

I was reminded of a saying one of my own trainers often used.

“The mind works like a parachute, it works best when it is open.”

“The mind works like a parachute, it works best when it is open.”

This situation was not about me, it was not personal and why was I starting to question my own competence. I was also reminded of the Karpman Drama triangle. If we were to enter into a coaching relationship, I needed to remind George of what coaching was and was not. I could not collude with him in deciding coaching was not important. What message would that give to George about the sort of coach I am and also what coaching is about? If George ultimately decided not to have coaching then again that would be a decision rather than the vagueness of coaching when we have time or the inclination. I considered looking at the Cycle of Change work that has been done by Prochaska and Diclemente, but decided this might be a bit heavy. It is however sat in my toolbox should I need George to decide if he wants to stay as he is or decide to make a change.

I saw George the following day and asked him for an alternative time to meet, but it had to be within the same week. He gave me a time the same day, much to my surprise. Glad I didn’t send the email telling him how arrogant he was and didn’t he think I was busy too etc.

In our meeting, George told me he felt he needed to work on “progress” as this was where he felt he was inadequate. I asked him to tell me where he thought he was in terms of progress on a scale of 1 to 10. George was unwilling to commit to a number, going on to describe his current feeling about work as not enjoyable. He felt the fun had gone from teaching. This was not always the case and we were able to go back to a time when George felt he was well liked, respected and was doing a good job. George suddenly had a smile on his face and his physiology changed. He sat upright and lifted his head.

Gently guiding him to look into the future, we looked at what life was like in April 2019, five years from now. After a couple of moments, George was describing the life he wanted with great detail- the house is finally finished, the two children are at secondary school, his wife is back at work, they would both be 40 and having a family party and so the picture went on.

I was wondering what type of employment George would be doing as this was never mentioned. I asked him what he would be doing during the week and he looked at me quizzically and said “Teaching, it is what I love”. The smile had stayed put and he accused me of tricking him light heartedly. I felt glad that I had not let him brush me aside as I was sure we would be able to work together now. George had shared a moment with me and let me see what he could see for his future.

I reminded him that coaching was confidential between us and he said he believed me, but that it didn’t matter really. I felt it important to reiterate I would not be talking to anyone else about anything we discussed.

I asked him what he would like to focus on for the remainder of the session and he returned to “progress”. Then out of the blue – came a question which changed the course of our session and reminded me about one of the fundamentals of coaching. I asked George to define progress.

George found it incredibly hard to describe progress. I wondered what George had taken from the sessions we had received over the year from the senior management on being able to demonstrate progress. How did George interpret the Ofsted Framework?

It was so hard not to jump in and “tell” George my definition of progress. I was literally sitting with my hand in my mouth to stop myself. As George talked, I drew a circle and divided it up into sectors writing one of his key terms in each area. He looked at what I was doing and it spurred him on to more descriptions.

Our “Progress” wheel.

Progress wheel

I was glad I had asked the question as it became very apparent George defined progression in the same way I would define transitions. A useful little question I will not forget to use in the future!

George has taken what we called the Progress Wheel away to look at which areas in particular he would like to consider in more detail next week.

Thanks to George in helping me continue to learn.

*George is a fictitious name for a larger than life character.

About Amanda Clegg

Amanda CleggAmanda Clegg has been a science teacher in state secondary schools for almost thirty years. She was a member of a Senior Leadership team for 15 years before being asked to lead a private sixth form college through their initial ISI inspection. The college achieved an outstanding judgement. Amanda now works as an Educational and Coaching Consultant in Oxfordshire and Swindon. She is currently acting as temporary Head of Science two days a week in a local secondary school, as well as being an Associate trainer for Creative Education, co-author of a GCSE revision guide and an Associate Lecturer for UWE on the PGCE programme.

www.akc-edconsultancy.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/AKCConsultancy

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/akcconsultancy

email: cft-acleggsupanetcom

Twitter: @Teachercoach1

 

 

 

 

Co-Coaching

 in Guest Post  tagged AKC Consultancy / Amanda Clegg / Co-coaching / coach / education / goal / teacher

In today’s guest post Amanda Clegg shares some of her experience and observations about some of her recent coaching work.

"Co-Coaching" A guest post by Amanda Clegg

Co-Coaching

by Amanda Clegg

A teacher comes into a staffroom and says “I can’t…”

It doesn’t really matter what the end of the sentence is because you have probably already heard it many times before and it is not a joke!

I have found during thirty years in teaching and senior management that as a profession we are rife with self limiting beliefs. We are ready to talk ourselves down and often think we are not as good as the teacher in the neighbouring classroom etc.

I was coaching a teacher prior to the summer and she confided that she spent most of her waking hours every summer worrying what the GCSE results day would bring. This was a good teacher who was well organised and had no evidence to suggest she needed to worry at all.

The results were fine and whenever we see each other in the corridor this term, our mantra is “no evidence”.

A Co-Coaching Programme

I was asked to set up a co-coaching programme in a local secondary school. The Head teacher was clear that every teacher should be coached. The challenge was to support all teachers to deliver good and outstanding lessons consistently and that meant working with individuals to address their own particular strengths and challenges. This was to be an important part of the school commitment to continuing professional development.

In many schools up and down the country, teachers who wished to develop their practice in an area (or if their line manager felt they needed to) are given brochures of relevant courses. Research carried out in 2003 observed that:

‘there is a much better chance of learning from someone in the next classroom than from someone 20 miles away’ (Reynolds D. (2003) News & Opinions, TES 20 June)

This agreed with research in 1995, by Joyce and Showers, who reported that:

‘Training courses and workshops fail to make a long-term impact on classroom practice’ (Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (1995) Student Achievement through Staff Development. White Plains, New York places: Longman)

Regular coaching by staff working side by side in the same school with the same students should make an impact and it does.

The school in question has 60 teaching staff including the senior leadership team. Staff were asked to apply for the role of teacher coach by letter. The post would have two periods of extra non-contact time and a small monetary increase. Ten teachers applied for the role and all were interviewed and appointed. Coaching would be 1-1. The school had dabbled with coaching triads and buddies in recent history but these had not had the desired impact and quickly faded.

Teachers are ‘fast listeners’

I ran two twilight coaching training sessions for the newly appointed teacher coaches (6 hours in total) where we looked at what coaching was and was not. We practiced active listening, the GROW model technique, selected appropriate questions and developed a Coaching Protocol for staff to sign. The coaches also invited each other into their class for an observation and then conducted a coaching session with each other.

The Senior Team also wanted to be coaches and so I trained them using the same materials.

The most difficult aspect for all teacher coaches was to avoid suggesting what to do, giving ideas and solving the problem for the coachee. Teachers are “fast listeners”- usually solving the issue that is been presented before the person has stopped talking! This desire to solve the problem can stop us hearing what the issue exactly is.

We also need to stop letting others delegate their thinking to us. How often does someone bring you a problem to solve which is well within their capability? What do you do?

Are you hooked in and solve the problem?

Or do you ask what they could do to solve it?

Get Out Of Jail Free Card image (c) Mark StrozierIf you are hooked in, then this person will keep coming back with issues for you to solve. If your advice is ever wrong they have their get out of jail free card – Mr X told me to do it.

.

Coaching can help if you let it

Last week, I hosted a fellow teacher from a different subject on a learning walk. Our focus was the quality of marking and feedback. Steve had commented in a 1-1 coaching session, that he felt his marking was not up to scratch. He carried around a feeling of guilt that he did not spend sufficient time on this area of his job, but also struggled to see how he could do more of this without it impacting on his lesson planning time. When I asked him what he could do about this feeling, he proposed a visit to see what happened out in the wider school.

Afterwards in our coaching session, he talked to me about what he had seen and how it made him feel. He realised that his marking was great and the students were getting good value from his efforts. The smile on his face was tangible; our fifteen minute foray across the quad to a different department had worked. He was able to let this feeling of being inadequate go and also began to think of the next steps for his own department in terms of marking and feedback.

The key principle I had to negotiate with the Head teacher was that coaching was confidential

In order to achieve the open, honest conversation about teaching and learning that was required, the process must be non judgemental. It was vital that the Senior Team or Head of Department did not require coaches to tell them how a particular teacher was doing with their coaching. Coaching must provide a supportive, open door approach in every classroom where teachers are encouraged to be innovative and take some risks which they would not necessarily do in a judged lesson.

It was agreed that the coachee is responsible for all the records of the meetings. The Coach can only be asked by the Senior Team to confirm how many coaching meetings have been held.

The Assistant Head teacher allocated the staff to the teacher coaches. I became the coach to the Senior Leadership team and also to the teacher coaches. Next academic year, I fully expect that I will not be required and the teacher coaches will take on my role. This is my goal – not to be needed!

Feedback so far – after term one

The co-coaching program has been in place for a term now and I have completed a brief feedback with the teacher coaches. It is pleasing to see the resulting comments summarised below:

  • Having support has helped. Taking to others about their teaching has also made me reflect greatly upon my own.
  • People are changing their attitudes and practise. They are thinking things through before reacting.
  • Time to reflect for coachees and giving the opportunity to focus on an area for improvement has been a luxury.
  • Staff are valuing the input and attention; goal practice is being shared
  • Staff have more confidence within their own teaching ability. Coachees now realise that lots of teachers have similar problems but just have different ways of dealing with things; this has led to independent success and cross sharing of ideas.
  • Identifying and raising people’s self limiting beliefs and challenging these has been beneficial.
  • It is great to have the chance to talk confidentially about things and not worry about it being repeated.
  • The chance to discuss aspects of pedagogy is great
  • Having someone who is non judgemental to talk to is great
  • More useful than anything else we have tried. I wish we had done this years’ ago.
  • Very beneficial – has opened a lot of conversations up and got people into different areas of the school and lessons.
  • My coachees are thinking about how to be outstanding consistently and willing to try new things
  • Wider relationships which are cross curricular. There is an openness to learn and teachers are talking about T&L
  • The coaching process is leading to meaningful, practical sharing of good practice and identification of areas for development which I believe is leading to a genuinely reflective process and better T&L. I feel we are both learning and improving our practice as a result.
  • I am hugely happy with the process and feel I am benefiting enormously

What types of goals are being set?

I asked coaches to summarise the types of areas their coachees were working on. It was great to see both the diversity but also the congruence of the goals.

distribution of goal areas from "Co-Coaching" A guest post by Amanda Clegg

As with any new intervention there are teething issues, but these seem very minor in comparison to the positive comments and benefits above. I am looking forward to term 2 and also setting up the co-coaching programme in another school.

About Amanda Clegg

Amanda CleggAmanda Clegg has been a science teacher in state secondary schools for almost thirty years. She was a member of a Senior Leadership team for 15 years before being asked to lead a private sixth form college through their initial ISI inspection. The college achieved an outstanding judgement. Amanda now works as an Educational and Coaching Consultant in Oxfordshire and Swindon. She is currently acting as temporary Head of Science two days a week in a local secondary school, as well as being an Associate trainer for Creative Education, co-author of a GCSE revision guide and an Associate Lecturer for UWE on the PGCE programme.

www.akc-edconsultancy.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/AKCConsultancy

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/akcconsultancy

email: cf********@su*****.com

Twitter: @Teachercoach1