A COACHING CLASSROOM ABOUT THIS BOOK This book talks about the How CHAPTERS and Why of using coaching in the classroom. 1 Positive Language It is based on three decades of teaching and coaching. 2 Humour, not Jokes It is filled with stories, coaching 3 Ask more than Tell dialogues and practical activities. 4 Open-ended Questions 5 Asking for Feedback 6 Learning from Mistakes 7 Agreements 8 Agendas 9 Setting Goals 10 Role Models 11 Learning Experiences 12 Values and Beliefs All text is (c) Martin Richards, Sweden, 2023 2
ABOUT ME the students, not the subject. Since then, I have been putting that thought into practice – I was born in Kent, England, coaching in the classroom. in 1956. Martin Richards, I worked as a Mathematics Sweden, 2023. teacher. I asked my students questions, mostly to uncover what they did and did not know My biography about Mathematics. I was trained at an experiential I moved to Gothenburg, Sweden, PCGE, Post Graduate Certificate in 1987. of Education, teacher training I taught English. I used the same course at Sussex University, UK, to strategy of asking questions to be a Mathematics Teacher. find out what my students knew I taught at a Secondary School and about English. a Primary School in the UK before In 2004, I learned to be a Co- I became an independent English Active Coach. trainer in Sweden. I was trained to ask my clients I was trained by CTI, the Coaches questions to uncover what they Training Institute, to be a Co- did not know about themselves. Active coach, gained the CPPC, I was taught to focus on the Certified Professional Co-Active client, not the problem. Coach certification and the ACC, Associate Certified Coach, credential. 3
THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIN International School where I RICHARDS combined teaching with coaching. As part of my volunteer work, I As part of my development have delivered inspirational talks strategy, I often receive coaching called ‘Choices to be proud of” to teenagers at colleges near from other professional coaches. Gothenburg. My coach invited me to interview During the final phase of his myself. I came up with this list of truths about me. coaching career, I coached teachers at schools in Sweden on behalf of the Swedish National Interview by Martin Richards Education Agency. In 2014, close to retirement, I Enjoys being outside the box, not wrote two books ‘Six Steps to a confined by ‘normal behaviour’ Coaching Classroom’ then ‘Six Has a meta view, sees the bigger More Steps to a Coaching picture Classroom’, which were the inspiration for the '12 Steps Humorous (language-based) Newsletter' on LinkedIn in 2022 Sees the ‘good’ in others, Hopes and 2023. Those newsletters have and Dreams been brought together in this Sees the ‘bad’ in others (auto- updated ‘12 More Action Steps to warning) a Coaching Classroom’. Connects people (who’d like each In 2023, I continue my voluntary other, or benefit from meeting) work, supporting young students Stable in an emergency, rapid, at several local schools. unrepentant decisions (smashes window to escape) 4
Cook (combines above) how without reasons for it Inner World Explorer (of which Has Big Dreams, (INFP) this is an example) Senses what others feel (not Home-builder (combines much of always correctly) the above) Predicts what others are going to Able to use words (persuasion) say (not always right) instead of muscle (force) Has a strong sense of Justice (as a Able to understand (guess at) right) other people’s drives and relate to Willing to experiment, what if , them (even the worst) what if? Able to put strong emotions into Eager to move ahead, what’s next, words what’s next? Able to turn adversity into story Happy to be here (in this location) (lessons learned) Entrepreneur (summarises some Able to hold conflicting emotions at the same time of the above) Risk-taker, but not dangerous And finally, some adjectives to Spontaneous describe myself: Loyal (family and causes) Stable, intelligent, talkative, Trust-worthy (promises are kept) communicative, good teacher, Stable, in professional mode smart, wonderful, impressive, (ENFP) experienced, facilitator. Good listener (at deep level) Gardener (combines much of the above) 5
ABOUT NINA very excited about, is supporting a school in South Africa to make SMITH ED. D their pre-K very child-centred. Embedding Social-emotional learning (SEL) to learning I regularly work with education experience design empowers professionals and coaching students to learn on their own! professionals. What a delight it Currently I live in the U.S. and was to find a Finnish professor of work as a mentor for instructors, Education who was interested in teachers, and trainers pursuing reading my work and linking it their M.Ed. degrees in to her own. Instructional Design, Learning & All Nina’s Notes links included Technology, and Curriculum & in this book can be found on: Instruction in an online university. https://notesfromnina.com/about/ My M.Ed. degree in learning ninas-notes/ sciences and teaching credentials Martin Richards is from the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland and in 2017, I I am very passionate about earned my Doctorate in Education providing good quality education from Northeastern University, and for every student, so I help did my dissertation research about instructors and teachers around Learner Agency. the world to design better learning Nina Smith experiences for their students. Getting to help Martin with this book has been so much fun, and I have learned much more about coaching! 6
A WORD FROM DR. and ask for help. They may say something like, “I JOHN don’t get this?” or “What do I do now?” or “Is this right?” How you reply says a lot about Dr. John Steinberg has been one how your approach your of my heroes since I attended one of his lectures. His books and profession as a teacher. lectures about the teaching You can just give them the profession have inspired me and information they need. “Do it this thousands of teachers. way.” “Try this”. “Look here, I’ll So, I asked him to contribute to show you?” this book. Of course, John wrote You can also fall into the trap of a story. reminding them that, “If you had done your homework and listened Martin Richards in class, you would know what to do”. But we know that neither of those responses is acceptable these days. Another approach is to understand that a big part of your profession is to be a coach – to help them to help themselves, to give the students faith in their abilities and potential, to help them think meta-cognitively about their process for learning, to ensure that they engage in the task ahead with energy and 7
Martin Richards coaching in the You might engage them in a short classroom approach will show you the skills and thought conversation by asking “coaching- processes of a good coach – and style” questions: an excellent teacher. “Tell me about a time you got This book give you examples and through something you thought models as well as describing a you couldn’t do or learn. What higher purpose for collaborating helped you succeed in the end?” with your students on their way to “Pretend you are coaching becoming proficient learners and yourself, what advice would you responsible citizens. give yourself?” John Steinberg, PhD, “If you are going to pass this test (finish this essay, complete this author of project), what would be a good Two Ways to Walk way to start?” into a Classroom and Questions like this are not always Designing Schools easy for students to answer, but part of your long-term goal is self- for WeKids efficacy – that the students understand the process of learning and have faith in their ability to learn. The quality of your questions and brief talks with students says a lot about how you see yourself as a professional teacher. 8
INTRODUCTION TO subscribers. All the stories are true, and based on lived COACHING IN THE experience. For the sake of privacy, I have CLASSROOM removed names and locations. Martin Richards, Sweden, 2023. Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. Teachers are coaches too Aristotle If you are a teacher, you already coach. You do not have to attend I assert that teachers are also any formal coach training. But it coaches. helps if you do. Further, I claim that everyone You might not know how to form benefits when teachers behave as the coaching bubble, yet. But you coaches. do it from time to time, because that's what it's called when you sit Moreover, I wish that teachers next to a student and give them could receive coach training; and your full attention. be coached by professional As a teacher, every time you focus coaches. your attention on a student's well- This book offers a description of being, as well as their academic coaching, as it is practised in progress, you are coaching them. classrooms. I illustrate my descriptions with articles and What is a Coaching Classroom? stories. A coaching classroom is one that Most of the articles have has a strong focus is on the well- previously appeared in my online being and development of the 9
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