APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2020 , Vol . 6
© BlurryMe / Shutterstock . com one question at a time . When I first got the book , I initially read the chapters of topics I was most interested in , or needed to learn about at the time . Since then , I have found myself picking it up on a regular basis to refer to a particular question , or just skimming through , reading what takes my attention .
As for the content , we are treated to an insight into the minds of some of education ’ s best thinkers . It really is a who ’ s who of education ’ s foremost researchers and practitioners . Again , the brilliance comes in the format , as we get to hear from so many renowned people about the topic they are considered an expert . Dylan Wiliam and Daisy Christodoulou on assessment ; Paul Kirschner and Yana Weinstein on memory ; Doug Lemov on questioning ; the list goes on .
This is another point the book made me consider about the world of coaching ; we have so many researchers and experts in so many specialist areas , such as physiology , psychology , skill acquisition and sociology , yet lots of learning in coach education tends to be delivered by people who are more generic or technical in their expertise . I wonder how we can tap into specialist experts more in some of these fields in coach learning and development ?
The experts get to discuss some of what research is finding to be the ‘ best bets ’ of teaching practice , such as spaced learning and retrieval practice , but more importantly , they give many hints , tips and examples about how the research findings can be applied in the classroom . It ’ s great that most of the experts are current teachers or have taught in the past , so they can draw upon real examples and ideas they have actually used . Applying this to coaching , it is good to see lots of coaching
researchers purposely getting out and coaching more and I would suggest we can learn from the book ’ s approach by encouraging even more coachresearchers and researcher-coaches to collaborate and work together to shape research and practice in the future .
Another lesson from this book is one about professional learning . The authors make the point about the millions of pounds being spent on professional development every year and the frightening reality of the quality of that development being at best mixed . It is devastating to think of the amount of time teachers have spent preparing resources , lessons and curriculum based on fads or dubious initiatives and not evidence from research . On the other hand , this book , and others like it , as well as blogs and quality online learning and development can provide low-cost and ongoing professional learning that actually has a positive impact on practice . In fact , the authors argue that reading as a form of professional learning is the way forward ! As I write this review for this Applied Coaching Research Journal , I wonder if this is another lesson we can transfer into our world of coaching ?
Not only is this book a great read and reference guide that can be picked off the shelf time and again , the method it uses to bridge the gap between research and practice is a genius one . For me , the challenge has been laid down here for research and practice in coaching to come together more and in the ways this book shows . I will certainly be taking the idea of gathering coaches ’ questions to ask experts to answer for content in the future .
How could you help bridge the gap ?
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