Sharing Good Practice
• Collaborative leadership;
• Higher levels of performance and
results;
• Greater
self-responsibility
accountability; and
• Increased
motivation
engagement; and
• Enhanced learning and creativity;
• Raised ambition and achievement;
• Improved behaviour and better
relationships;
The big question is how do we embed
this culture into our international
schools and achieve this aim? The
answer is simple:
“Coaching is the how to of achieving
outstanding performance.”
Coaching is both a philosophy and
a process. The process is quite easy
asking mostly open questions that
invite people to think for themselves,
listening with empathy to really
understand individuals and giving
effective feedback to enable learning
and progress.
However, it is the philosophy
underpinning coaching that is essential
for it to work in an international
school. It is a leadership style where
the emphasis is put on asking and
involving, rather than telling, where
staff and children feel empowered
firstly to be independent and then to
be interdependent or collaborative.
It is based on values such as trust and
integrity and the belief that everyone
has ability and as a teacher or coach
we can help unlock potential.
transformative. The language in a
school begins to reflect a new way of
thinking, being and doing.
There are 5 key steps which I have
identified that support the process
of coaching in international primary
schools:
Step 1 is ‘Scope the
Opportunity’.
This is ‘The Why’ of building a coaching
culture. It is very important that
everyone has a clear understanding
and rationale as to why you want to do
this; being able to describe the vision
is key and helps bring others on board.
Without it you will not get the buy-in
you need from across the school.
Step 2 is ‘Prepare the Ground’.
Once you have understood your why,
you need to analyse your current
situation and decide the culture you
wish to create and the outcomes you
want to achieve.
Step 3 is ‘Create a Plan’.
Without a clear plan you will not be
able to move forward. Treating it as
a project with relevant timescales,
training, case studies, research and a
budget will ensure that the plan is and
remains congruent with the priorities
in your school development plan.
Step 4 is ‘Take Action’.
Nothing is ever achieved without co-
ordinated and consistent action, and
staff will need training if coaching is
to become embedded and not just an
added extra.
Step 5 is ‘Measure and
Consolidate’.
As with all progress it needs to be
measured and evaluated. One of
the keys is to praise small wins, and
regularly review and communicate
progress.
If you have an interest in taking your
international school to the next level
of performance, then creating a
coaching culture in your school is a
highly effective way of achieving that
ambition.
To learn more about how you can foster
a culture of coaching in your school,
register to attend the upcoming
Middle East School Leadership
Conference, which takes place on
October 9-10, 2018 in Dubai at the Le
Meridien Dubai Hotel and Conference
Centre. Visit www.schoolleadersme.
com or search @schoolleadersme
on twitter. Alternately you can email
[email protected] for more
information.
Coaching is not a special tool to
be taken out just for performance
management but is an everyday
method of solving issues and helping
staff and children make progress. It
can also be used for developing your
School Improvement Plan, behaviour
management, CPD, with parents and
much more.
So the question to ask is – how does an
international school go about making
the change to embed the coaching
culture?
One of the mistakes made in
attempting to develop a coaching and
high performance culture is that, it
might be seen as a quick fix; the reality
is that it takes time and commitment.
However, the results are worth the
effort and if every child and teacher
does just a little coaching, it becomes
Les is a highly experienced one-to-one executive coach, facilitator and leader.
He is one of the founding Directors of Developing Potential Ltd, a not for
profit company set up with Olympian Dr David Hemery CBE to focus on high
performance in Business, Education and Sport. He has co-authored two Focus
Education publications about coaching that are available to purchase at www.
focus-education.co.uk
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