Many of the colleges I have been working with have introduced coaching teams to support teachers and have seen the impact of their positive interventions on the improvement in the quality of TLA quickly.
Here are some of the ways I have seen this happen with a range of people:
New starters
- Helps them settle in, gets them integrated into the coaching and collaborative culture, increases confidence and gives them a ‘go to’ to discuss TLA with.
Experienced teachers at the top of their game
- Coaches can drive, facilitate and keep continuous professional development opportunities going. These involve discussion, innovation and encourage teachers to share their expertise and experience while discussing current pedagogical theories and innovation. They can encourage evaluation of evidence based research and empower teachers to lead communities of practice & action learning sets independently.
New, less experienced or teachers who need help
- Coaches can support with digital up-skilling in a supportive encouraging way differentiated to suit individuals and teams, increase confidence and encourage innovation. They can help build or rebuild confidence and inspire innovation by creating an axieity free learning environment for teachers. Coaches who visit classes informally to watch students in action support by prompting discussions around student needs and how to better meet these through collaborative planning, trying out new ideas, exploring options etc etc They can help bring things into perspective and keep a strong focus on teaching and learning.
Managers
- Can liaise with the coaches to match their own TLA and college KPIs to specific meaningful CPD. They have an internal ally, with broader perspective due to working cross college, dedicated to supporting them improve TLA through bespoke training and coaching to be able to support appraisal targets and actions set after learning walks or observations. These can feed into the data needed for SARs and QIPs. Coaches can also work with them to up-skill their own digital skills