Building Coaching Cultures in Schools: Roundtable Insights on Embedding Cognitive Coaching Across a School

Summary of the roundtable discussion

• The discussion brings together three educators—Paul Mitchell, Rory Courlander, and Hazel Brinkworth—while being guided by coach Martin Richards, to explore how coaching can transition from a personal practice to a school‑wide culture that benefits both students and staff. Each participant arrives with a distinct career path: Paul combines his UK roots and extensive experience in international settings with leadership roles and coaching methods; Rory focuses on instructional coaching and leadership development; Hazel brings a multinational teaching background and a personal journey through burnout that informed her adoption of coaching as a sustainable approach. (Page: N/A)

• The group emphasizes that their aim is to weave coaching language and techniques into everyday school life rather than keeping it as an add‑on. Their collective background underlines a shared belief that coaching can support not only student growth and well‑being but also staff reflection and professional development across the campus. (Page: N/A)

• Paul Mitchell’s career trajectory includes training in Cognitive Coaching and applying coaching principles beyond classrooms—aiming to make coaching a core element of how the entire school functions, rather than a niche activity for a few. (Page: N/A)

• Rory Courlander describes his path as moving from traditional instruction to a coaching stance, with a focus on shifting leadership and classroom practice from telling to asking. He notes that this shift has fostered greater student ownership, autonomy, and goal‑setting, and that he has trained numerous leaders to support a collaborative coaching culture in schools. (Page: N/A)

• Hazel Brinkworth explains that burnout pushed her toward coaching as a way to build capacity in others without carrying the load alone. She emphasizes experiencing coaching first and then scaling it through a whole‑school approach, starting with teachers and expanding to colleagues and students. (Page: N/A)

• When asked what attracted them to a coaching culture, Paul cites his sport‑inspired coaching mindset and the realization that listening and probing questions can unlock growth in both learners and colleagues. Hazel highlights coaching as a sustainable method to support well‑being and development after years of high‑pressure teaching in multiple countries. Rory points to resistance when new strategies were introduced and explains that adopting a coaching stance—especially asking questions—helped people open up and accelerate change. (Page: N/A)

• Regarding first steps toward embedding coaching, Hazel describes starting with private, curiosity‑driven conversations, then forming a coaching team, clarifying a shared vision, and drafting a three‑year plan. She established structured coaching spaces, integrated student leadership group coaching, and supported onboarding for new staff, gradually normalizing coaching across the school. (Page: N/A)

• Paul explains his approach began with empowering student leaders and training the student council to use coaching questions during meetings, then extending coaching practices to small groups of staff who were interested. The team started running teacher learning groups and what he would now call peer supervision groups to sustain momentum. (Page: N/A)

• Rory describes partnering with the senior leadership team to embed coaching tools into daily routines, such as lesson observations and feedback sessions, effectively modeling the coaching mindset from the top down and ensuring consistency across school operations. (Page: N/A)

• Collectively, the participants illustrate that a successful coaching culture grows from deliberate, small‑scale beginnings, clear vision, and the intentional diffusion of coaching practices through leadership, teaching, and student engagement. (Page: N/A)

Building Coaching Cultures in Schools - TwC Roundtable Interview - Flipbook by Fleepit