Coaching World Issue 8: November 2013 | Page 19

All of Isikkent’s teachers and support staff have completed several hours of coachspecific training in order to better understand and support the school’s coaching culture. approach to teaching; a high premium on global citizenship; and a commitment to ethical speech and behavior, Isikkent Schools strive to develop young people into highly motivated, self-aware and thoughtful adults passionate about lifelong learning. Given the willingness of Isikkent’s leaders to innovate in service of student development, it’s no surprise that the school joined Turkey’s coaching movement in its earliest stage, adopting coaching at a time when ICFapproved training curricula had not yet been translated from English into Turkish and collaborating with the coaches who led the charge to create the first Turkish-language coachtraining program. A Foundation for Success Isikkent has made a significant investment of time and money in coaching with the full support of leading school administrators, allocating 24 percent of the school’s professional development budget for coach training for teachers. Since the school implemented coaching in 2009, more than 40 teachers have voluntarily completed an ICF Accredited Coach Training Program. All of Isikkent’s teachers and support staff have completed several hours of coach-specific training in order to better understand and support the school’s coaching culture, and coach training is integrated into Isikkent’s newteacher orientation. Faculty members are encouraged to apply their coaching skills to interactions with students, parents and colleagues. Isikkent’s coaching committee, established by coach-teachers in the school’s first graduating coach-training class, helped develop an infrastructure for the program. In addition to adapting the ICF Code of Ethics to form a cornerstone of the school’s culture, committee members revised commonly used coaching questions to suit different age groups. The coach-teachers collaborated with members of Isikkent’s information technology department to develop an electronic coaching log that they could use to document their coaching sessions while ensuring 100-percent confidentiality, CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE > Coaching World 19