SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS RESEARCH IN PRACTICE


College’s strategy to develop great TLA coaches to support practitioners


Newcastle College, a SET Corporate Partner, has been developing a coaching team to support teachers and trainers. Coaches help teachers share ideas and improve practice. By Jonny Rees and Diane Thurston.


There is no magic recipe for what makes a great teacher or a great coach, but at Newcastle College we have found that these five qualities are common across our most effective teachers and coaches. 1. They are principled about people and learning, and work with integrity.


2. They are passionate and articulate about practice.


3. They demonstrate full commitment to making a positive difference, improving their own practice and that of others.


4. They treat teachers as fellow learners. 5. Their credibility shines through all this. We try to harness and develop these traits further through the rich experiences practitioners can gain as teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) coaches in a large, varied organisation like ours. Consciously, TLA coaches work outside their curriculum area. This places a greater emphasis on core pedagogical principles and learner impact. At Newcastle College, and more


broadly the Newcastle College Group (NCG), coaches are exposed to hundreds of different teachers and teaching approaches over the academic year. A lot of internal TLA development activity is carried out jointly with heads of curriculum, directors and vice principals. This accelerates coaches’ development. We have found that the passion, commitment, empathy and drive of successful TLA coaches re-energises teachers, improving their practice. Our approach is underpinned by


research from Tyler et al, and was supported by a panel discussion on coaching at last November’s annual


REFERENCES


•Walls, R.T. et al, (2002). Teacher Education Quarterly. The characteristics of effective and ineffective teachers. Vol. 29 Iss. 1. • Tyler, E. et al, (2017). Institute for Employment Studies. Understanding the Role of Advanced Practitioners in English Further Education, (Education and Training Foundation). Page 5.


• SET Annual conference, 6 November 2019. • Lofthouse, R. et al, (2010). Improving coaching: evolution not revolution. Reading: CfBT Education Trust.


22 ISSUE 39 • SPRING 2020 inTUITION A COACHING CHECKLIST


1. Develop an organisation-wide culture of improvement that is developmental in nature and values learning from mistakes.


2. Develop a common language relating to TLA. 3. Invest time in your teachers and managers to help support them in their professional development.


4. Give teachers and managers ownership over their own development, which can include teachers setting their own TLA goals.


5. Clear and regular two-way communication – teachers and managers need to be aware of what is and what is not working.


Society for Education and Training (SET) Conference. Both stressed the importance of the coaching relationship being voluntary. Equally important is establishing a supportive ethos around the TLA coaching team, starting with team managers having a coaching culture. Face-to-face conversations are also


key. Coaches work with teachers to share ideas and improve practice. More teachers are asking for support from coaches, and more are sharing resources and willing to try new things. Some people are reticent and, to


overcome this, the team has developed approaches to build trust and rapport. Coaches have an open-door policy, allowing teachers to watch them teach. A common pitfall is the ease with which


a TLA improvement approach can morph into a quality assurance or performance management process. Having a team of like-minded individuals, with a culture of improvement at the forefront of their minds, keeps development at the heart of each activity. We have also located the TLA Improvement and Quality Assurance


teams separately. When development activity takes place with a teacher, detailed information stays between the coach and teacher – essential for trust. When trying to develop TLA, the single most important message is ‘keep it simple’. Our coaches try to do this by: • Developing a common language for TLA – for use with teachers and managers;


• Providing guidance documentation (a side of A4) for teachers and coaches;


• Being transparent with teachers – for better and for worse;


• Providing tools and ideas to take into practice – for example, an online platform filled with resources;


• Live coaching with teachers in lessons; • Providing 15-minute TLA briefings to managers.


Jonny Rees is head of teaching, learning and assessment at Newcastle College, and Diane Thurston is its director of curriculum.


The college is a Corporate Partner of SET, enjoying professional development support for teaching staff.


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