Why coaching can make a significant difference to learning outcomes and teacher performance

Coaching is a form of collaborative CPD and can support the development of teachers’ skills across many dimensions
Coaching provides an alternative approach to planning a CPD strategy where it is linked to the vision and aims of the whole organisation
Coaching allows a dialogue to develop that fosters enthusiasm about good and outstanding practice and cascades high quality approaches to teaching and learning across the whole organisation
Where coaching is embedded and works well the process helps to create a culture of professional dialogue where teachers and their managers probe into the impact of a wide range of pedagogical approaches on learners and learning
Coaching can help teachers to work together to evaluate their performance and that of learners to inform target setting and deliver positive outcomes
Coaching can be a lever for innovation and creativity allowing for the celebration and sharing of good and improving practice
Coaching can be a valuable performance management tool, when it is used to develop a collaborative approach to improving the quality of teaching
Coaching is not about addressing weaknesses in teaching, it can however, have a powerful impact on helping teachers in difficulties to change and flourish
Coaching is a powerful tool in creating a cost effective and sustainable approach to delivering whole school CPD
Coaching can have a significant impact on improving teaching and learning across the whole school
Coaching can help managers to focus on the impact of their management style on those they manage and consider how they might change to create a more collaborative approach to achieving the vision or the aims of the school
Coaching can be highly motivating for both the coach and the coachee allowing both to reflect and develop new techniques and ideas to support their own and others professional development
Coaching is about what is going well and how one can build on success, it is never about failure or about dwelling on past performance
Good coaches use their skills to prompt their partner to challenge their own practice and work together to innovate and inspire
Coaching can support a senior leadership team to embed new initiatives and manage the process of change effectively
Coaching enhances teachers’ metacognition in relation to their practice, in other words giving insight for teachers of their impact on others and how the decisions they make affect learners and other teachers in their sphere
Effective coaching practice supports capacity building and leads to stronger staff relationships, greater levels of moral and motivation and addresses some of the issues related to retention, absence and poor performance
Coaching is ‘an evolution not a revolution’ it is a process offering long term solutions to school improvement, improved teacher performance and a reflective model of learner and teacher interaction creating a truly sustainable CPD model