What makes a good coach?
In his excellent book The Little Book of Big Coaching Models, Bob Bates draws some important distinctions between different roles using a ‘learning to drive’ analogy.
He says that a
- consultant will advise you on the most appropriate car to drive
- counsellor will adress any anxieties you may have about driving
- mentor will share their own driving experiences with you
- coach will encourage you to get in and drive the car correctly
Coaches focus more on getting people to develop specific skills and coaching is very much a ‘pragmatic trade’.
Bob Bates uses the COACHING acronym to get at the nitty-gritty of coaching and what is involved. The 8 elements are as follows:
Clarify the role: find out who does what, when, where and how.
Organise goals and objectives: get those you are working with to create a vision about what they could be and set goals that will support them get there
Act with conviction: don’t dilly-dally but choose the most appropriate coaching method and follow through with commitment and conviction
Confirm that expectations are being met: get feedback on the process and be prepared to edit accordingly
Have a strategy for dealing with setbacks: accept that things won’t run smoothly and have strategies for dealing with them
Inspire creative thinking: encouarge your coachee to be constantly thinking outside the boxes
Never be afraid of failure: if someone fails a task, they have failed the task – they themselves are not a failure
Get to know the person you are coaching: relationships count for everything so build the coach-coachee relationship and establish trust and respect
[…] For example, one NQT engaging in low stakes quizzing employed peer marking. I immediately sought to question this. I felt it may endanger the nature of the formative nature of the quiz. The NQT was able to explain that this peer assessment ensured completion of the quiz improving motivation of the class. Where parts of the lesson were maybe less successful I could ask how could that be approached differently and we may employ some instructional coaching. […]