Abstract:

Goals for this presentation. Listeners will learn:
What the characteristics of a coaching culture in schools are.
Why create a coaching culture?
Ways to nurture a coaching culture in school.
Listeners will gain:
Practical ideas to apply in their own work derived and adapted from the different examples presented.

Coaching has much in common with learning and teaching. Coaching has much in common with managing as well. School is therefore the natural place in which to use coaching .
Coaching in school can be anything from a leadership style to a whole school structure, involving the principal, managers, teachers, students, teams and parents. It may take the form of informal conversations on the one hand and of a formal and structured processes with specialists on the other. Coaching in school is at the most developed form, as a coaching culture when everyone in school, educators and students, are coached, and coach others.

A coaching culture can be defined as a humanistic approach to work, in which growing the organization is embedded in a parallel commitment to growing the people in it. When this happens, a highly professional organization of closely welded and committed staff is developed.
Creating a coaching culture in schools is one of the important ways educators can contribute to coping better with the increasing pace of change in the world.

This talk suggests creating a coaching culture with the help of a "coaching culture coach" (CCC), an external expert coach. The work with the CCC may consist of coaching school leaders, managements and/or specific teams. It may consist of helping to create new and varied frameworks and activities in school, based on coaching for students and/or staff. All these possibilities are chosen according to school needs and priorities. However, most of the work is focused on helping all the school members to adapt and internalize coaching values and a coaching language in order to take over the responsibility of implementing these into their everyday work.
As the coaching culture takes root in school, fostering both organizational and personal-professional learning for the whole school community, the ability to adapt to change grows and significant improvements may be reached faster.

Methods for presenting the topic:
 An article
 An on line power point presentation which will add to the article and-
• Explain the relevant ideas and terms.
• Present relevant information from both my researches on the topic.
• Include personal written and video testimonies of educators sharing their experiences and the benefits of work within a growing coaching couture.

Source:
The workshop is based on my work and my academic research on coaching in schools over the past 12 years. Learning from practical work and by reading, meeting and discussing with other professionals from around the world. I gradually understood the importance of the coaching culture, as much for schools as for non-educational organizations. I learnt of ways to help create, nurture and maintain such a culture, and am doing my best to learn more every day.

Keywords:

Coaching in school, coaching culture in school, research on coaching in school, organizational learning.