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What is coaching?
You've probably heard people talking about coaching across many professions, for example sports coaching. You might even have received some coaching in the past or used informal coaching techniques to support a colleague at work.
But what is coaching? What are the benefits of using coaching in early education and care? And what are the skills that make someone an effective coach? In this article, we will answer some of these key questions.
What is coaching?
There are many definitions of coaching often depending on who is being coached, whether it's an athlete, a patient or an educator.
The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as ‘partnering in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires a person to maximise their personal and professional development.’
The Coaching Academy considers coaching as being ‘about setting and achieving goals. A coach uses insightful questioning to help their clients identify their goals they want to achieve, recognise their current circumstances, consider all the options open to them and choose which actions they will take within a defined time frame coaching centres around the belief that everyone can achieve their goals through acknowledging and using their own resources rather than being told what to do.’
The bottom line is that coaching is a relationship-based professional development approach that can be used to support the personal and professional growth of individuals.
Why is coaching important?
Coaching offers a practical solution and an individualised approach to professional development within the workplace that can lead to higher quality practice and improved children's outcomes.
The benefits of coaching for individuals include:
- improvements in communication and interpersonal skills
- increased personal confidence and higher levels of well-being
- improved staff supervision skills
- positive changes in attitudes and motivation
- feeling more engaged valued and supported
- greater career satisfaction and fulfilment.
What are the core skills that make someone an effective coach?
Emotional intelligence
It is vital to establish trust and respect through a supportive environment. Allowing time for staff to talk freely about challenges without judgement helps laying the foundation for open and honest communication. Showing a genuine interest in, and commitment to, your staff and their development will also help to build trust and make coaching an engaging process.
Active listening
It’s vital to listen carefully to the other person, and to pay attention to what they are saying and how they are saying it. It’s often a challenge in a busy setting to actively listen for more than a few minutes at a time. Proactively creating time and space to listen is the key to establishing respectful relationships.
Questioning skills
Using questioning as a means of conducting a session helps to ensure that the focus remains on the person being coached and their agenda. Asking open question sets the tone for positive engagement and helps the individual to reflect and arrive at their own conclusion.
Giving constructive feedback
It's important to give honest, clear and specific feedback while making sure the relationship stays positive and open.
When giving feedback, try using the BOOST model, which stands for:
- Balanced: focus not only on areas for development, but also on strengths.
- Observed: provide feedback based only upon behaviours that you have observed.
- Objective: avoid judgements and relate your feedback to the observed behaviours, not personality.
- Specific: back up your comments with specific examples of observed behaviour.
- Timely: give feedback soon after the activity to allow the team member the opportunity to reflect.
Key takeaways
Coaching is great for helping people develop their skills and abilities, and for supporting the personal and professional growth of individuals in the workplace.
By embracing a coaching approach, people feel valued through the recognition of their individual contribution. This helps to improve and maintain standards of practice. Coaching makes a real difference.
