An excursion into perspectives on coaching in the classroom with Martin Richards, Teacher, Coach, Author
The names of the teachers and the themes of their journeys. The teachers are fictional, see the Appendix for their origins. Daniel Fraser – Letting Go of Control Helena Cruz – Learning to Trust Young Learners Marcus Dean – Overcoming Ego and Competition Priya Deshmukh – Struggling with Vulnerability Jorge Alvarez – Confusing Empathy with Rescuing Sophia Lin – Managing Emotions in Creativity Oliver Bennett – Perfectionism and Overplanning Fatima Noor – Balancing Compassion with Accountability 1
When teachers first encounter the language of coaching, it often sounds deceptively simple. Listen more. Ask better questions. Believe in others’ capacity to grow. Easy enough in theory. In practice it’s a quiet revolution, one that upends the habits, defences, and beliefs that many of us have spent years building. This book is about that revolution, not as an ideal, but as a lived, messy, human process. These eight narrative interviews are stories of teachers who didn’t get it right at first. They each tried to “do coaching,” stumbled, got frustrated, misread the silence, or misunderstood what trust actually means. Their journeys are full of good intentions colliding with the complexity of classrooms. They are, in other words, real. 2
Every teacher in this book begins with a familiar belief: that to teach well is to know, to direct, to protect. These are beautiful instincts; the instincts of care, precision, and service. But they can also get in the way of learning. When teachers start to explore coaching, they often discover a gap between what they know and who they are being. You can memorise the questions from a coaching book, but if you still need to be in control of every moment, those questions will sound hollow. You can plan reflective activities, but if you can’t tolerate silence or discomfort, students will sense it immediately. That gap between skill and presence is where these stories live. Daniel Fraser learns that silence can be a form of listening. Helena Cruz discovers that “trusting children” means slowing down, not speeding up. Marcus Dean redefines strength as humility. Priya Deshmukh trades certainty for curiosity. Jorge Alvarez learns that empathy without boundaries can disempower. Sophia Lin learns that feelings need to be witnessed, not fixed. Oliver Bennett replaces perfection with possibility. And Fatima Noor learns that compassion and accountability are two sides of the same coin. 3
and contexts, but the emotional terrain is remarkably similar. Each story charts the uncomfortable but necessary process of unlearning: the shedding of control, ego, or rescue instincts in order to stand beside learners rather than in front of them. Why these stories matter In many schools, the language of coaching has become commonplace. We talk about “growth mindsets,” “reflective practice,” and “empowerment.” But language can be deceptive. It’s possible to speak the vocabulary of coaching while practising the habits of control. A teacher can ask, “What do you think you should do next?” in a tone that says - you’d better give me the right answer. The teachers in these stories reveal what happens when theory meets reality. They show that coaching isn’t a toolkit or a trick. It’s a transformation of posture. It’s about shifting from doing to and doing for toward being with. And that shift doesn’t happen overnight. It begins in small, uncertain acts of trust; trusting the learner, the process, and oneself. Each of these stories contains that moment of trust: the pause before jumping in, the deep breath before saying, “I don’t know, let’s find out together.” Those are the quiet acts of courage that define real coaching. 4
What unites these teachers is not expertise, but willingness. They are willing to be unfinished, to see themselves as learners in their own classrooms. That willingness is the beating heart of a coaching culture. It replaces perfectionism with curiosity, authority with presence, and fear with faith. There is vulnerability in this. Coaching asks teachers to step into uncertainty without losing professional clarity. It asks them to model reflection not as a performance, but as a way of being. It asks them to believe that agency can exist alongside structure, that freedom and focus can coexist. The truth is, becoming a coach isn’t about acquiring new skills. It’s about letting old reflexes soften: The instinct to rescue. The need to impress. The fear of silence. The habit of control. Each story in this book is an act of letting go. 5
These narratives are not case studies or models to copy. They’re mirrors and invitations to see your own practice reflected in someone else’s struggle. Their power lies not in offering answers, but in showing the work of questioning. In many ways, this section celebrates a different kind of professionalism, one that values presence over perfection, learning over image, and connection over control. It asks us to redefine what “good teaching” means in a coaching culture. Good teaching is not flawless delivery. It’s thoughtful improvisation. It’s knowing when to guide and when to stand back. It’s listening for the thinking behind the words. Coaching doesn’t erase the teacher’s role; it expands it. It allows teachers to become facilitators of growth, not by stepping away from instruction but by stepping deeper into relationships. 6
As you read these eight interviews, you may recognise parts of yourself. You may see your own control in Daniel, your own urgency in Helena, your own fear of vulnerability in Priya, your own overhelping in Jorge, your own exhaustion in Sophia, your own perfectionism in Oliver, or your own compassion in Fatima. That’s the point. These stories are not about them, they’re about us: the collective journey of teachers who are learning to coach not because it’s fashionable, but because it’s necessary. In classrooms shaped by performance pressures and rapid change, coaching offers something profoundly human, a way to slow down, listen, and restore agency to both learner and teacher. But it begins, always, with discomfort. My book “Eight Teachers” introduced coaching in the classroom as an idea, “Eight More Teachers” explores it as a practice lived in the tension between the ideal and reality. These are stories from that middle ground, the messy middle, where growth actually happens. Read these stories not as instructions, but as invitations. 7
where you resist, where you’re still learning to let go. Because becoming a coach is not a destination. It’s a daily decision to listen longer, trust deeper, and believe that learning belongs to everyone - including us. 8
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