N.B. When planning training for your coaches, we would advise using our newer resources Steplab in-school training and The Coaching Skills Builder in the first instance. These resources share our latest thinking on Responsive Coaching.
However, lots of schools continue to find the Steplab Coaching Programme a useful resource, so do feel free to dig into these resources too.
For an overview of how to train your coaches effectively using Steplab’s training resources, check out our webinar How can I effectively train and give feedback to my coaches.
Introduction
Ongoing training for coaches is a vital driver in implementing a successful instructional coaching (IC) programme. The two stages of the Steplab Coaching Programme provide you with training materials to develop your team of coaches as your IC programme evolves.
Stage 1: Instructional Coaching Basics
Stage 2: Proficient Instructional Coaching
Both stages are broken up into units and sessions. Each session focuses on one granular aspect of coaching, allowing coaches to reflect on and hone their practice incrementally. They are designed to last for 30 minutes, meaning you could run sessions during a weekly lunchtime or after school slot, or join 2 or 3 sessions together if you have longer chunks of time. The structure of each session deliberately follows the same sequence:
Retrieval Practice Do Now to support with recall of key concepts
Introduction and modelling of new concepts
Opportunity for scripting, practice and rehearsal
An Exit Ticket which invites reflection, checks for understanding and allows the facilitator to explore the coaches’ mental models of effective teaching and coaching.
The formulaic structure of each session is designed to reduce the cognitive load of busy coaches and facilitators, allowing them to focus their attention on the complexities and nuances of developing into expert coaches. As coaches progress through the sessions, facilitators can explore the coaching taking place on Steplab, and may choose to edit sessions responsively when they identify strengths, gaps in knowledge, or context-specific needs.
Sessions are fully resourced with PowerPoint presentations, exemplar videos, and a booklet accompanying each unit. Each slide has a detailed script for the facilitator (found in the notes section), with timings and guidance on how to lead the session.
Stage 1: Instructional Coaching Basics
Stage 1 is designed to support the initial training of your coaching team. Coaches will be introduced to the evidence and rationale behind instructional coaching, as well as how the scaffolds on Steplab support lasting improvement to teacher practice.
It is made up of four units:
Unit 1: An Introduction to Instructional Coaching
Unit 2: Setting High Leverage Action Steps
Unit 3: The importance of Modelling in feedback conversations
Unit 4: Leading deliberate practice and rehearsal.
Our recommendation is that you use these resources to train coaches over a half term, asking them to practise their coaching skills between sessions. Therefore, we advise that in your first session you place your coaching team into reciprocal coaching pairs.
By the end of Stage 1, coaches will have a clear overview of the five stages of the coaching cycle, having seen modelled examples, reflected on their impact, and practised each stage.
We recommend that you print booklets 1 sided to allow Exit Tickets to be cut out and handed to the facilitator at the end of each session.
Stage 2: Proficient Instructional Coaching
Stage 2 is designed to develop coaches who are already familiar with the basics of coaching on Steplab – ideally they have been coaching for at least a term – and are now ready to begin fine tuning their approach. It explores how to use the science of learning to diagnose the right area to coach on, ensuring that decisions are rooted in carefully selected lesson evidence and a clear understanding of how both students and teachers learn.
It is made up of three units:
Unit 5: Diagnosing the right area for change; practising our feedback
Unit 6: Building effective, impactful rehearsal
Unit 7: Building mental models through analysis.
Units examine what each stage of the Steplab observation and feedback cycle looks like when it’s working well, and how to avoid common pitfalls. Sessions will work best if coaches come ready to reflect on the work they are doing with an existing coachee, and have the opportunity to put new learning into practice between sessions.
We recommend that you print booklets 1 sided to allow Exit Tickets to be cut out and handed to the facilitator at the end of each session.