Summer 2024
The Global Compendium of Teachers who Coach From the start of 2024, I have been sharing stories of how teachers became more coach-like in the way they teach, and why they chose to do so. The teachers have shared the benefits of the outcomes they have experienced. They can be found on LinkedIn, here https:/ /www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7148962123249876992/ Who am I? I am Martin Richards, a retired teacher and coach. I am based in Scandinavia and have worked with teaching since the 1980s and with coaching since the early 2000s. My last employment - coaching teachers in Sweden - was wonderful. I miss it. You can read a little about me at the end of this compendium. The combination of coaching and teaching is powerful. It takes teachers and students out of the victim dance that blights our schools, into a working relationship that’s assertive, caring and vulnerable. I have written a string of books to share my experiences of coaching and teaching. My aim is to inform, inspire and encourage teachers to add a little coaching magic to their teaching day. I have gathered teachers’ stories about how they add coaching to their classrooms, and the results they get. 1
This brief compilation contains the principal change agents in the education system. The compendium also includes the general principles and leading strategies of the emerging phenomenon of coaching in an educational context. Teachers are coaching worldwide, collaboratively. This compendium aims to facilitate global connections. It connects teachers with coaches and coaches with teachers. Reaching out for help, support, ideas, information, encouragement, training, coaching or mentoring should be as simple as clicking on a link. You are not alone. You are unique and valued. Teachers. There are many kinds of teachers. Their experience ranges from a few years to many decades. Their skills, training, qualifications and certifications are as varied as the subjects and students they teach. Teachers are always learning and growing. We need them all. Coaches. There are many kinds of coaches. Their experience ranges from a few years to many decades. Their skills, training, qualifications and certifications are as varied as the adults and youngsters they coach. We respect them all and their journeys towards being a better coach. It is the client who chooses their coach. We need them all. 2
Stories from teachers who coach, plus some analysis. Strategic Steps. There are so many different ways to combine coaching with teaching. Some begin as teachers and later add on coaching skills. Others begin as leaders and add on teaching skills. Some dance between the skill sets like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Outcomes. There are so many beneficial outcomes from combining coaching and teaching. I will let these teachers who coach tell their own stories. Teachers’ Reflections. There are many tools in the teaching and coaching worlds. One of the best is to pause and reflect before taking any next steps. 3
1. Jean Ramsey, United Kingdom 2. Madhav Murthy, India 3. Humaira Baig, India 4. Monika Szijjártó, Hungary 5. Sam Moinet, Portugal 6. Monica Stevens, United Kingdom 7. James Barringer, United Kingdom 8. Rory Courlander, United Arab Emirates 9. Helen Bowen, Turkey 10. Stephanie Carlin, United Kingdom 11. Flavia Debora Palladino, France 12. Hazel Brinkworth, Thailand 4
Inspirational Personal and Professional Coach; Helping Teachers to Resolve the Overwhelm of ADHD https:/ /www.linkedin.com/in/jeanramseycoach 5
In 2003 I was teaching Drama full time in a large, mixed 11 -18 comprehensive school; married with 2 secondary age children who attended the school where I taught; directing whole school productions; elderly parents who lived a distance away; a difficult relationship with my brother; home admin….. the list went on and on. What I did not realise was that I was perimenopausal (I had never even heard the word before my doctor used it.). My husband took it upon himself to book me an appointment with my GP…apparently my daughters were afraid to speak to me for fear of getting their heads bitten off…that really dug deep. How I howled when he said that to me. That was the moment I broke down; family means everything to me. I couldn’t bear the thought that my daughters felt they could not come to me.. Now I have also learned I probably have ADHD as well…what a perfect storm! Then …a miracle…The Oxford Times ran a two-page advert. One page was advertising training to be a Mediator and the other was to train as a Life Coach with the Coaching Academy. My husband (a solicitor) said: “Don’t do the mediation thing…you will be dealing with people on the verge of divorce and you are miserable enough already…do the coaching.” So I did. I loved the training; I soaked it up like a sponge. As a Big Picture thinker, I immediately saw how I could use the coaching way of being in all the aspects of my life…especially in the classroom. 6
proposal the next Monday morning. Boys’ Underachievement was the burning issue at the time. My pitch was to take a group of underachieving boys in year 11 and coach them individually for 6 half hour sessions in school time to help them to achieve Cs instead of D’s in their GCSEs. The Head gave me the thumbs up. I gathered my guinea pigs. I treated them as coaching clients; explained what coaching was; how it worked and that it was confidential within the school’s safeguarding policy. I used Will Thomas’ STRIDE1 model and coached them in my office at the back of the Drama Studio. The young people responded brilliantly. We looked at their limiting beliefs about their abilities as students and we set goals; worked on the habits that were sabotaging them and put action plans in place. We looked at active listening to help them engage in the lessons better. We explored Growth Mindset and Grit. The end result was that they not only passed but one or two got B’s. It was the unforeseen benefits that took us all by surprise. Attendance in year 11 went up; exclusions went down and, as my clients were the rump of the poor behaviour, getting them to engage with their learning had a knock on effect in my colleagues’ classrooms. Behaviour overall improved. People began to ask what I was doing…what had come over these unruly lads? I was delighted to tell them all about coaching. My pilot was such a success that we rolled it out to KS3 as well and I devised training on introductory coaching skills for our staff and then for all our partner primary schools as well. In fact, Cooper School featured as a case study in Will Thomas’ next edition of 7
Education.’ I love forming meaningful relationships with young people who my colleagues think of as being unreachable or much worse. I do not like labels as I think people live up or down to the labels we give them. Who are we to label other people anyway? I never come across a young person who does not want to be a success on their own terms. I always say I learn far more from the young people I work with than they ever do from me. As Head of Drama, the whole school production was my baby. We used to put them on just before the Easter Holidays so that I could cast the year 11’s as well before the pressure of GCSE revision kicked in. My family used to dread it when I was in ‘director mode’. I had so many thoughts I had to carry in my head; so many tasks to do. I had the vision for the show in my imagination; I had to share that with the cast and crew. I decided to use a coaching model for ‘South Pacific.’’ I called all those interested in taking part in any aspect of the show. We met in the drama studio and I wrote ‘South Pacific’ in the centre of the white board and the dates of the shows. Then I asked, “How do we get from here to there and give professional performances and enjoy the journey?” I now understand that my ADHD brain thrived on that problem solving; visualization; teamwork and collaboration. The ideas came thick and fast. We decided who was going to take on responsibility for what. We worked out the rehearsal schedule. Some of the biggest laughs came during those rehearsals. What was 8
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