Relationship Based Professional Development Coaching
"The test of a good coach is that when they leave, others will carry on successfully."
-Author Unknown
Coaching can be defined as a relationship in work or education settings in which a person with known expertise and skill in a specific area offers assistance to a person(s) in identifying and achieving skill development.-
Coaching goals are designed to increase individual skill acquisition and the integration of new skill into the professional/personal environment.
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Coaching relationships rely on client input, and utilize specific skills designed to empower the client including goal development and mutual accountability.
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Coaching usually continues until significant progress toward the goal, or desired results, have been achieved. (back to top)
Coaching in the field of early childhood education is used to:
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Improve teaching and instruction approaches
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To build problem solving skills
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To enhance relationships between colleagues within the early childhood education field (Gallacher, 1997).
Coaching has five key characteristics in the field of early childhood education:
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Joint planning - There has to be a shared agreement between the coach and learner of the roles each will play, the plan of action and what will be done between coaching sessions.
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Observation - By watching the person's actions the learner can develop new skills, approaches and ideas.
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Action - It is important to use real-life situations to practice new skills.
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Reflection - Examine current strategies against evidence-based approaches to see if they can be implemented without change or with modification to the situation.
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Feedback - "Information provided by the coach on direct observations of the learner by the coach, actions reported by the learner or information shared by the learner to expand the learner's current level of understanding about a specific evidence-based practice." (Rush and Shelden, 2005)
A new concept in the field of coaching is Culturally Proficient Coaching, aimed at helping the person being coached to be "educationally responsive to diverse populations of students". "Culturally Proficient Coaching mediates thinking toward values, beliefs and behaviors that enable effective cross-cultural interaction to ensure unbiased environments for learners, parents and all members of a community." (Lindsey, Martinez, and Lindsey, 2007)
This type of coaching is becoming more and more important as the diversity of practitioners and children increases in the field of early childhood education. Coaching to increase cultural proficiency will allow more practitioners to be better skilled at working with diverse populations, as a result increasing the access to quality of care to underserved populations.
The Minnesota Center for Professional Development has adopted a set of Core Competencies for Effective Coaching. These skills and competencies are important for a meaningful coaching relationship with the client. A coaching relationship is based on understanding the needs of the client, and providing support to gain the skills necessary for success. These competencies build upon the foundational General Core Competencies for Relationship Based Professional Development.
