Wednesday, August 06, 2014

A Coach's Coach

An education leader I admire has her own coach.

She relies on her coach to help her achieve best efforts and endeavor.

This year I decided to follow this leader's efforts by getting my own coach--a coach that knows me well, shares my philosophy of education, and has broad experience in the field.

I'm looking forward to this personal support. I am also looking forward to experiencing coaching first hand, and replicating this kind of coaching in my own work as I work to coach each child ahead with care.

My favorite part of my job as a teacher is knowing each child well and working to help every child grow with confidence, skill, and vision for their future efforts.

Many school systems hire coaches to coach teachers ahead, yet in many systems these coaches have varied roles that may put the teacher coach more in a position of evaluator than actual coach depending on that person's job description, evaluation criteria, goals, and more.

There is a currently a growing field of life coaches, people removed from your day-to-day life who are able to coach your best efforts forward with care and a good sense of objectivity.

In a sense, these life coaches replicate a type of apprenticeship model that's existed throughout time.

I'm looking forward to greater depth and growth as I move ahead with this support.

Do you work with a professional coach? If so, how has this deepened and broadened the work you do? If you don't work with a coach, how might you add this to your learning/teaching repertoire in a formal or informal way--a way to help you achieve your personal goals and professional learning?