Contextual coaching; from curiosity to concept

I first met Trista Hollweck several years ago; first over twitter and then in person. That is not an unusual pattern in academic and professional circles (although somewhat interrupted by the pandemic), but in this case it was made possible by being a recipient of the UCET travel award as I needed to get to Canada for it to happen.  The purpose of my visit was to explore the policies and practices of mentor-coaching developed in the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB).  I wrote some initial reflections on some of the conversations that I had with teachers and leaders there in an earlier blogpost.

During this study visit our shared curiosity regarding the realities of coaching in education was further stoked.  Coaching in education is defined as ‘is an interpersonal and sustained dialogue-based practice in which a coach works with a coachee to facilitate self-reflection and effective decision-making and action in the context of their own personal and professional challenges’ (Lofthouse, Rose and Whiteside, 2021). Coaching remains a practice with potential, but one that takes a number of forms and which can be deployed be distorted in performative cultures (Lofthouse and Leat, 2013). This is one of the tensions that has led Trista and I to continue to think, write and work together with a focus on coaching. 

Most recently we have completed a research study (Hollweck and Lofthouse, 2021) which drew on two cases of coaching in education - the mentor-coaching programme for colleagues newly appointed to schools in the WQSB and the deployment of a coaching model in a DfE Strategic School Improvement Fund project in primary schools in England. Through this study we coined the term ‘contextual coaching’. We aimed to shed light on the nuances of coaching in the two specific education settings and to recognise the reciprocity of the relationship between coaching practices and school contexts. Our analysis led us to develop five key themes which characterise contextual coaching: deliberate yet flexible designs and structures of support, responsiveness to school culture and context, a shared purpose and understanding, teacher autonomy and leadership, and long-term commitment and resources.

The study also offered insight into how contextual coaching can lead to school improvement through the development of staff capacity for leadership. As coaches and coachees worked together, they expanded their coaching repertoire, engagement, competency, and confidence. This had significance for their career development and helped to further embed the contextual coaching as they gained local intelligence invaluable for their decision-making.

In January 2022 Trista and I will participate in the ICSEI virtual congress, and our contribution is a CollectivED session in which we will be exploring contextual coaching further. We start with a video featuring practitioners to reflect on what this looks like in their settings. You can watch the video here. We are grateful to CollectivED Fellows and friends for their contribution and look forward to our discussion with conference participants. 

References

(if you cannot access these via the journals you are invited to email r.m.lofthouse@leedsbeckett.ac.uk requesting a copy)

Hollweck, T. and Lofthouse, R.M. (2021), "Contextual coaching: levering and leading school improvement through collaborative professionalism", International

Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 10. [4] 399-417.  

Lofthouse, R. & Leat, D. (2013) An Activity Theory Perspective on Peer Coaching. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 2 (1), pp.8-20.  

Lofthouse, R.M., Rose, A. and Whiteside, R. (2021), "Understanding coaching efficacy in education through activity systems: privileging the nuances of provision", International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Published online (no vol or issue number yet). 

Additional resources

The video ‘Coaching, context and culture in education: Reflections from practice’ can be found here.
A Schools Week summary of the research can be found here.

With thanks to our video contributors:

Paula Ayliffe @PaulaAyliffe  Co-headteacher, Primary School, England
Mark Dowley @coachdowley Senior leader, Secondary School, Australia
Rebecca Grant @BeccaAMGrant Senior Leader, Special School, England
Julia Skinner @TheHeadsOffice Former Primary School Headteacher, England
Lizana Oberholzer @LO_EduforAll  University Lecturer, BAMEed Trustee, England
Antony Winch, Instructional Coach leader, International school, Germany
Sarah Whitehouse and Karan Vicker-Hulse, University-based teacher educators, England
Henry Sauntson @HenrySauntson School-centred teacher educator, England
Natasha Stokes, Senior leader, Secondary School, England
Melanie Chambers @BSBMelanie,  Senior leader, International School, Belgium
Jasen Booton @JasenBooton Teacher, advisor and researcher, England