7th Coaching in Education Conference

I will give examples of practice from my own context of how a leader of professional learning can work alongside nature, offering the right conditions, tools, and processes to prepare our school landscape for the sustainable development of initiatives.

I hope that the examples I can provide will offer insights into this nuanced area of leadership that other educators can equally make sense of in their own school settings.

I am a Deputy Head and Whole School Leader for Professional Learning. I currently work in a British, international school setting in Belgium. I believe that as educators we are all professionally curious and want to develop to improve learning outcomes for all, and that the role school leaders play to foster a culture of trust is key. I have a thirst to explore how collectively we can challenge our thinking, bring new insights to our work and co-create learning initiatives.

This workshop focuses on one Kāhui Ako in the North Island of New Zealand which comprises of eight schools and 4750 students.

Early in the life of this Kāhui Ako the school leaders identified a shared desire to improve student outcomes by supporting their staff with teacher coaching. This workshop shares the learnings from implementing teacher coaching across eight very different schools. Why teacher coaching was chosen, how were programmes structured, how were coaches chosen, how were they trained, what ongoing support was provided and how was the success of the coaching evaluated?

Paul Bennett is currently an Associate Principal at Howick College, a large multi-cultural, co-ed high school in East Auckland, New Zealand.

Paul has taught at all levels of both the British and New Zealand systems of education. His interest in teacher coaching began when he became a Specialist classroom Teacher (SCT), using coaching to support first year teachers to develop their practice.

In 2019 Paul completed his doctoral thesis which focused on how teacher coaching was being implemented across New Zealand high schools.

In each of the schools Paul has worked he has implemented school-wide teacher coaching programmes. Currently at Howick College he leads a team of 12 trained teacher coaches who coach 134 teachers.

In this session, we will discuss (1) what it takes to be a confident, strong coach; (2) short and long-term impacts of coaching; (3) concerns with scaling coaching; and (4) the differences between life coaching and coaching in education.

Coaching in higher education is growing at a rapid pace. In the United States, there are 900 separate coaching programs and very few affordable trainings exist to support coaches in higher education. Lack of training will limit the quality and value that coaching can bring. Coaching has the power to truly transform our students, our institutions, and our world. Alicia is full of hope because the people who are drawn towards coaching see the potential in each one of our students and are eager to become better humans themselves.

Alicia Sepulveda, PhD grew up in a small town in Florida in the U.S. and was the first in her family to attend college. Alicia has coached over 1000 students across the United States for the past 11 years at various institutions include Florida State University, University of Northern Colorado, and University of Colorado at Boulder. She has published articles to understand the role and efficacy of coaching in the higher education context. She is also one of the Founders of the Coaching in Higher Education Consortium and currently serves on the Board of Directors.

Alicia is currently a Research Fellow for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado System and is Host and Producer of the College Life Podcast.

Firstly, I will explore ‘connecting community’ with a lens on the students themselves and their development as student coaches. A second aspect to the workshop will explore the connections made by students in coaching their parents as well as outline strategies used to develop parent knowledge and awareness of coaching. Finally I will highlight the connections made through coaching in my role as principal.

The session is intended to be both informative as I share how I have developed this culture of connecting community through coaching, and collaborative as we expand on ideas together.

Alison Spence is an experienced school leader passionate about the difference coaching can make to her students. Alison is in her 14th year as Principal of Kohia Terrace School in Auckland, NZ, a large primary school situated in the heart of Auckland which attracts students from a multitude of cultures.

Our school community experienced collective trauma when the Headmaster abruptly closed school doors on the final Friday of school in June 2020, stating the 81-year-old school “could not be sustained in the face of ongoing uncertainty with the Covid-19 pandemic”. As the shock settled, resilience sprouted through a group of teachers and parents who stood together to plant the seeds for our “new” school, Sonder Creek Academy. I started teaching at SCA in January 2021 and established my new role this August. The understandable distrust in leadership led me to begin by earning trust, creating psychological safety and leaning into the discomfort and courage of learning how to get it right.

Student and Educator Flourishing Specialist. I serve educators by advocating for their autonomy, authenticity and agency as educators. Optional coaching sessions center on prioritizing educator flourishing. As an educator, I teach Positive Psychology and Positive Psychology Coaching for K-8 students.

The relationship built over four years with Terri Anderson in Australia and Delfina Rueben and Grace Swai in Tanzania, has been strengthened by three visits to Babati as well as many Zoom meetings and coaching sessions.

Head teachers and classroom teachers as well as So They Can staff have participated in Coaching Programs and in turn have coached each other to achieve their teaching goals. The outstanding success of this program has been due to the Tanzanian staff and teachers, their openness to learning, their humility and their respect of others. ‘Ubuntu’ is an African term meaning ‘human dignity’ it fits perfectly with our ‘Way of Being’ and explains how Coaching is a perfect fit in Tanzania.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

I joined The Academy as Deputy Rector in 2015 having previously worked as a Deputy Head and Head of English in Bishopriggs Academy. On arrival at The Academy, I recognised the need for development of some aspects of school culture and approach. In conjunction with and inspired by like-minded colleagues we have identified key areas of the school where coaching can have a beneficial impact; following consultation with staff and pupils we have implemented programmes of training and brought coaching into the heart of our professional development, how we work with each other as staff and with young people.

I have been a Geography teacher in Secondary School’s for over 16 years during which time I have also worked as a Head of House and Head of Geography. In the last six years in conjunction with the Leadership Team I have helped to raise the awareness of coaching within the school and helped to establish a Peer Coaching system to support exam students and establish coaching in the School’s Professional Development programme. I have completed the GCI Online Accreditation Programme

In this session, I share bits and pieces of what I know now and wished I had known to start my journey as a coach in the gray as well as exploring the ways in which you might consider working on yourself with the intention of showing up more impactfully for others you serve.

This session is grouped into three big ‘buckets’ – head, heart and body - and are generalized enough to include the areas of growth and yet, there are some very concrete examples that people can employ into their own practice.

Brian Sepe is educator, instructional coach, and consultant. He is passionate about exploring the habits, beliefs, and ideas of people who teach and is driven by the idea that everyone deserves a thought-partner and trusted coach.

Brian received his MA from Canisius College and began his work in classrooms as a teacher and coach through the partnership with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. He spent 17 years in Buffalo, NY as an elementary and middle school teacher and instructional coach.

During the day, Brian can be found in classrooms supporting and empowering educators to find their voice and pursue their goals for their own learning and their impact on students.

This workshop will focus on how the Professional Teaching Practice Team has gone about introducing instructional coaching as a high impact, job embedded form of professional learning for educators. It will also outline an action research project, using the coaches themselves as action researchers, utilising the key coaching skill of noticing.

Cheryl Wilson - Director, Professional Teaching Practice

Cheryl leads the Professional Teaching Practice team who partners with educators and teaching teams to build capability and develop teaching practice within a continuous improvement environment. Cheryl has over 20 years of educational leadership experience and her areas of expertise (and passion) include designing and delivering professional learning for educators, leading change, creating high performing teams and coaching for leaders.

Karen Dymke - Instructional Coach: Andragogy, Teaching and Learning

Andragogy is the method and practice of teaching adult learners. Karen’s portfolio focuses on learning and teaching in this space, underpinned by the latest research, and sharing evidence based high impact teaching strategies.

Lindee Conway - Instructional Coach, Learning Leadership

Lindee has been an adult educator for most of her working life. She is always curious and engaged in how learning occurs and what teaching involves. Instructional Coaching, the opportunity for extended professional conversations with educators, is of abiding interest to her.

Some teachers may feel personally, professionally and/or geographically isolated and visits to all teachers in their specific contexts helps to support them to feel more connected to the system and their peers. The retention rate of beginning teachers has significantly risen since the introduction of the program.

Sue Knight is an Education Officer with the Department of Education in Western Australia. Her current role is coordinator and head coach of the In-Class Coaching Program. Sue is responsible for;

• allocating the 200-300 graduate requests to coaches each semester
• inducting, training and mentoring new educator coaches
• ensuring ongoing professional development and self-reflective analysis of the coaching team
• coaching >15 graduate teachers each semester
• presenting professional development modules as part of the Graduate Teacher Induction Program

Sue has been coaching for 6 years within the program and states it's the best job she's ever had, and the 'aha' moments that make education worthwhile still happen when coaching.

In this workshop, Elle Smith, Senior Learning Coach will uncover what the successes and lessons learnt to develop the cultural change around coaching at SACS, starting with just one coach. Explore how SACS use evidence from their coaching programs to inform their next steps to achieve whole school strategic objectives.

Elle Smith is currently a member of the Educational Executive as the Senior Learning Coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School (SACS), a K-12 Co-Educational School in the heart of Sydney City NSW, Australia. In her role, she oversees the strategic direction of coaching K-12 with a strong focus on staff professional growth, student growth and leadership coaching.

Elle has a background in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education and has taught across primary and secondary in both the Public and Independent sector in NSW. She began her Growth coaching journey as a Learning Coach (Technology) at SACS in 2015, and further developed her coaching and leadership skills to build her current position as the Senior Learning Coach. Currently, she leads a team of 8 learning coaches across K-12 and supports leaders who are trained coaches who accumulate over 400hrs of coaching each year through the facilitation of 4 coaching programs.

Elle is currently studying a Masters of Educational Leadership at the University of Wollongong, focusing on the leadership of coaching and professional growth within the educational context. She is currently working towards producing research articles using data collated from the Schools New Staff Coaching program and the Coaching Triads.

At SACS Elle is focused on ensuring that coaching is a vehicle for achieving strategic objectives and coaches, staff and students at the school are provided the opportunity to develop their own coaching skills to build coaching culture together.

This workshop shares our journey in encouraging student growth through coaching conversations, training students to coach other students, and the creation of an Alumni Coaching Program. We will also discuss how we have brought the characteristics of effective coaching conversations into the classroom through student reflection, goal setting and student-led learning conferences.

Head Teacher Teaching and Learning, St Ives High School

Curriculum Writing Specialist, NSW Department of Education

Natasha Mercer was appointed as Head Teaching, Teaching and Learning at St Ives High School in 2016. During her teaching career she has taught at a number of secondary schools across Sydney, in London (U.K) and was previously the Learning and Innovation Coordinator for the North Shore 5 Secondary Schools Partnership.

In 2021, Natasha was selected as part of the NSW Department of Education’s ‘Best In Class’ Program, which seeks to amplify best practice in NSW Schools. This led to her appointment as a Curriculum Writing Specialist, supporting student writing at Coonabarabran High School in Western NSW, whilst also continuing to support and grow coaching programs at St Ives High School.

Cate Whittle has been teaching in secondary schools across NSW and London for twenty years. She is currently relieving Head Teacher Teaching and Learning at St Ives High School, and leads the student coaching student program at the school. As an established school coach, Cate supports both students and staff to develop, grow and achieve their personal best. Throughout her career, Cate has shown a passion for learning and pedagogy, particularly in the areas of positive and cognitive psychology. She is currently studying a Graduate Diploma of Psychology at the University of New England.

Pracademic; University of Ottawa: Part-Time Professor & Director of the ARC Education Project; Project Manager for the Leadership Committee for English Education in Quebec leading the Accompaniment Project: Research & Practice; [not official yet] Canadian Network Coordinator for the Playful Schools Initiative, LEGO Foundation.