ACEP: Coaching for learning

Reflection: ACEP Coaching for Effective

Professional Learning Teams

Facilitators: Kaye Fletcher, Robyn Barratt and Catherine Kleinitz

So. What did I hope to gain or learn from this PD?
The main skill I was hoping to get out of this PD was to become a more useful contributor to professional discussions, including those with colleagues, in particular those within my PLAT. Although all of the skills I learnt about and practiced would also be useful when discussing problems with colleagues in general as well as with students in my role as a facilitator.
A brief overview of aspects to successful coaching that I found interesting is that:
•    Change is an internal choice and the role of a coach is to guide the colleague or student in question to make change for them and feel empowered by this process.
•    Coaching is not about problem solving but rather by helping colleagues or students to reflect on their own skills and strategies to solve issues.
•    Paraphrasing is a skill refined over time.
•    The role of a coach is different to that of a friend or ‘problem solver’.
Other main points discussed about change included:
•    Culture and the importance of recognising the individuals backgrounds and beliefs through
o    Use of language
o    Accepting diversity
o    Use of protocols
o    Building trust
o    Rapport/body language
o    Use of tone
o    Physical versus verbal signals
•    Paraphrasing being an important step in the coaching process by acknowledging and clarifying problems in a manner that is supportive through
o    Emotional paraphrasing that displays a genuine sympathy to the person
o    Content paraphrasing that highlights your understanding of the underlying issue and seeks clarification
•    The use of protocols when providing feedback to peer observations. The format we discussed and role-played being GAIN SO FAST.

In reflection I found today an informative and useful experience in that it provided a framework to help me build upon the skills I already have in coaching. It also helped me to clarify what the actual role of a coach is.

Some useful documents including power point presenattions and proformas: ACEP Documents

Tags: acep, coaching