Welcome back to Creative’s Friday Learning Lab! Today, Simon King and Ilham Nasser examine why education programs often rely on habit rather than evidence, and explore innovative pathways that are supported by research.
I'm curious about what research and evidence was considered to reach this interesting conclusion. In South Africa, external coaching seems to work well. As things stand, head teachers don't have the time to do coaching well because they too are still full-time teachers with their own classrooms to handle. Veteran teachers, as suggested, may have deep knowledge and understanding of the system but that alone doesn't make them excellent at pedagogy (the science of reading, for example, is new to us all) or coaching (interpersonal relationships). In this case, would it not be useful to look into younger persons with a background in Psychology and Linguistics, perhaps? The other reality in South Africa, one we can't ignore, is the fact that at some point in our history (context, which you acknowledge is important), the only viable professions for black women were teaching and nursing. So, there are a lot of teachers who are in the system simply because teaching was less daunting than nursing. Teachers have also seen many a intervention come and go so they're jaded. What I would like to see is an in-depth analysis of what coaching is and what it looks like in practice. Perhaps we're all coaching very differently?
Hi Simon and Ilham Nasser, your article explored an interesting perspective to teacher support - one that can be easily overlooked as a result of the Mandela effect. I agree with you that change is emotionally triggered and adult learning is socially motivated. Do you strongly argue that peer coaching and teacher circles are more effective than external coaching? Especially in cases where the external coaching model is built on first establishing a positive relationship with the teacher and letting the teacher lead the process. If so, what other reasons will you advance aside from the fact that they (peer coaching and teacher circles) are cheaper and more sustainable? What role can external coaching play in peer coaching and teacher circles?
Mary Burns
2w
Great piece. Thank you! Bruce Joyce for 30 years hammered home the importance of peer coaches over external ones. And the fundamental weakness of donor funded projects still is the obsession with numbers and the resulting practices of coaching as accountability and cascading coaching. We are in danger of ruining a practice (coaching) that teachers find valuable. Sharing this from a few years ago since it echoes many of your points: https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/traps-donor-funded-coaching-and-what-do-about-them
Ilham Nasser and Simon King, rarely now do I read something that really resonates and makes me think and reflect on my beliefs. Your article did this. Thank you. As a longtime proponent of coaching I see that a veteran teacher coach or another alternative to current model the way to go. Thank you again.
This is really thoughtful and ideal in this contemporary moments...
Very informative
Chief Executive Officer at Bean Group Global
2wWhile I appreciate the sentiment of the article, the definition of professional "coaching" is inaccurate and has little to do with sports coaches. First and foremost, are these external coaches trained and certified as professional coaches? It does not seem so, and therefore contributes to the misapplication of the concept of coaching, and renders the findings equally inaccurate. The article states "coaching is also believed to provide a mentoring relationship between professional expert and teachers" Coaches, typically, are not (necessarily) technical experts - they are behavioral change experts with tools and approaches to cultivate client-driven shift. Mentoring and coaching have fundamentally different outcomes - and as someone who has trained seasoned LTTAS embedded in technical ministries, there is a deficit of understanding of true coaching skills. Before drawing the conclusion that coaching doesn't work, please clarify that your staff likely does mentoring and not coaching, as they are not trained professionals in this expertise of coaching.