Cultivate Coaching Relationships

The skills of the coach should help unlock the potential of the coachee and encourage them to adopt new instructional strategies. These strategies may include: flipped classrooms, project-based learning, blended learning, gamification, differentiated instruction, microlearning, personalised learning, culturally responsive teaching, collaborative learning, place-based education, social-emotional learning, inquiry-based learning, augmented and virtual reality.

ISTE states that coaches should establish trusting and respectful coaching relationships that encourage educators to explore new instructional strategies. 

The coach should develop the coaching relationship by establishing trusting and respectful dispositions that strengthen the working relationship between coaches and educators, such as social-emotional awareness, self-awareness, a sense of ethics and integrity, active listening and effective communication. The coach should encourage educators to learn, try out, and iterate a variety of proven, promising and emerging instructional strategies. 

One area of new emerging instructional strategies is the use of Artificial Intelligence. All educators will have different levels of experience and knowledge of AI in education, and a good starting point might be the courses on Microsoft Learn. Coaches can encourage staff to use A.I. in education and tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot. You can learn more about AI in education if you follow Dr Sabba Quidwai. Virtual live presentations can be useful too, or simply joining a Zoom or Teams call with someone with more knowledge to share good practice.

When there has been a commitment to growth and development, then recognition can lead to further motivation. Staff can be encouraged to use Credly and other forms digital badges to encourage further success. 

Even when the purpose of coaching is to improve teaching and learning through the use of technology, the human element is important. The coach needs certain soft skills to be a good coach. They can be learned but also need to be practised.