Coaching Plan Part 1

Posted: August 26th, 2021

Unit 3 Assignment Coaching Plan Part 1

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Unit 3 Assignment Coaching Plan Part 1

Overview

            An increasing body of research has ably demonstrated that teachers can significantly improve their performance and that of their students through coaching and mentoring. Through the 2014 ratified National Program Design and Curriculum Frameworkthat focuses on the coaching of all grade teachers; for example, India has ever since recorded improved student performance. The Indian government has attributed the improvement to the teachers’ enhanced effectiveness in the classroom after they undergo vigorous coaching and mentoring sessions that the policy framework introduced. Structurally, this policy framework borrows a lot from Malcolm Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory, which highlights the various coaching techniques that a teacher can employ to improve the teaching experience of his or her fellow teacher (Lofthouse & Hall, 2014). In this paper, therefore, I seek to uncover some of these coaching and mentoring techniquesas I practically weave them through the coaching plan that I intend to develop for my mentee teacher. My mentee, who doubles up as my coaching colleague, is a new teacher to third grade. To develop a relevant coaching plan for this teacher, it is crucial that I highlight his teacher profile first since that is what will inform the steps and information that will be included in the plan.

Mentee Teacher Profile

            The new third-grade teacher that I am coaching is like most other early career teachers. That is, when it comes to the school curriculum, he follows the lead of his more seasoned colleagues. He has a background in mathematics and science whose concepts and instructions he teaches in a reasonably good way to the third graders. As his mentor and coach, I have observed some strengths and weaknesses in my coaching colleague. His notable strengths include excellent communication and social skills, ability to solve conflicts between students, his ability to explain complex concepts straightforwardly and understandably, ability to connect easily with students even on a personal level, and his high enthusiasm for teaching.

On the other hand, I have observed in him weaknesses such as lacking in patience, he takes on too many risks at a given time, and he occasionally delegates his teaching duties. In the course of my interaction with my coaching goals, he shared with me about his desire to produce students who can get not only good grades in science and mathematics, but also be able to apply the knowledge and skills picked from the classroom in the working world after leaving school. It is upon this professional goal and the observed strengths and weaknesses that I intend to design a coaching plan to help him overcome his weaknesses and foster his strengths so that he can realize professional development in the course of dispensing his duties.

Malcolm Knowles’s Adult Learning Theory

This theory details how adults’ learning differs from that of children. For instance, the theory noted that adults tend to be more self-motivated and ready to learn as opposed to children who, most of the time, expect to be pushed around by their parents or teachers for them to learn (McDonough, 2013). The theories suggested by Malcolm Knowles form an essential foundation upon which the effectiveness of coaching and mentorship sessions with teachers can be increased. Hence, it is vital to dissect through some of these theories to see how each one of them can be instrumental in enabling the new teacher to draw the best results from my coaching sessions before embarking on drafting the final plan. 

Firstly, Malcolm Knowles theorizes that adults are generally at an advanced developmental stage as compared to children. As such, they have a better sense of awareness, which in turn allows them to take part in directing their own learning (Allen, 2016). Applying this theory in my coaching sessions, it is expected that my coaching colleague will be self-motivated to take in all the instructions I will issue him during our sessions. Secondly, Knowles postulates that since adults have a vast array of past experiences to draw on, hence, they understand better when taught by fellow adults. Being that the new teacher has a background in mathematics and science, I expect that he will easily understand what I will coach him as he is in a position to even draw parallels with what he was taught in college. In sum, since teachers are full grown-ups, the prepositions in Malcolm Knowles’ theory are very relevant in teacher coaching.

Teacher Assessment Models

Teacher assessment is essential since it forms the solid foundation upon which effective teaching can be realized, which in turn leads to students receiving a good education. Thus, teacher assessment is paramount in ensuring teachers’ professional and personal development that results in their students’ improved performance. The three main teacher assessment models in existence include Value Added Model, teacher observations, and the framework model. Each of these models is described below.

The Value Added Model (VAM)

            This model assesses how a teacher contributes to the progress of his or her students from one testing period to another. The teacher’s value addition is estimated by calculating the average difference between the students’ predicted scores and the actual scores. This model has the advantage of being simple to implement since it involves only a simple difference calculation. On the other hand, the model only allows one to see the best and worst teachers, but not the medium performers. Due to its simplicity, I intend to make use of this model in coaching my colleague.

The Teacher Observations Model

The findings by Soisangwarn and Wongwanich (2014) suggest that this is an effective way of seeing how effectual a given teacher is. To implement it, I will have to place my colleague teacher in a classroom or in the field with his students during coaching sessions for observations throughout the entire assessment duration. The benefit of this model is that it can enable an administrator – in this case, me- to see the extra details within the classroom. For example, how the grade 3 teacher strikes rapport with his students alongside the amount or respect that his students accord him. According to Reinke, Stormont, Herman and Newcomer(2014), the only disadvantage of this model is that it is time-consuming.

The Framework for Teaching Model

            This model covers the four important responsibilities of teachers. These include instruction issuance, planning and preparation, professional duties, and enhancing the classroom environment. The goal of this model is centered around giving both the school administrators and teachers the ability to better their skills. The advantage of this model is that the discussions involved in it are more focused than in the observation model (Soisangwarn & Wongwanich, 2014). Also, the feedback collected is more evidence-based as opposed to purely being subjective. Upon application of this model on my coaching colleague, therefore, he will be able to develop his skills and help his students improve their grades. Hence, this is the best model that I intend to use.

The Coaching Plan

            Taking the earlier highlighted teacher profile, and the above-discussed theories and models into consideration, the following coaching plan will allow me to help my teacher mentee to reach his professional development goals.

References

Allen, S. (2016). Applying adult learning principles to online course design. Distance Learning, 13(3), 25.

Lofthouse, R., & Hall, E. (2014). Developing practices in teachers’ professional dialogue in England: using Coaching Dimensions as an epistemic tool. Professional development in education, 40(5), 758-778.

McDonough, D. (2013). Similarities and differences between adult and child learners as participants in the natural learning process. Psychology, 4(03), 345.

Reinke, W. M., Stormont, M., Herman, K. C., & Newcomer, L. (2014). Using coaching to support teacher implementation of classroom-based interventions. Journal of Behavioral Education, 23(1), 150-167.

Soisangwarn, A., & Wongwanich, S. (2014). Promoting the reflective teacher through peer coaching to improve teaching skills. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 2504-2511.