Book Description

Coaching skills are fundamentally about the quality of dialogues that happen at all levels of an organisation. Where coaching is part of a school’s ethos, performance improves and attainment is raised. The Coaching in Schools Pocketbook comprises a collection of highly practical skills and strategies that can be used by all educational professionals, regardless of role or status. The book begins by explaining the concept of solutions focused coaching. It describes a number of powerful tools that facilitate conversational shifts, moving people from: resistance to collaboration; anxiety to confidence; what’s wrong to what’s right; complaint to preferred future; limitation to possibility and potential. A key chapter on coaching skills looks at building trust and rapport, asking skilful questions, listening at different levels and offering supportive feedback. A coaching framework, developed and refined by the author over time, is provided. Further chapters cover goal-setting and developing coaching within a school. Illustrative case studies, along with cartoons, diagrams and other visually attractive presentational devices are used throughout to support the text and cement the meaning. Andy Vass is an internationally renowned educator and mentor who works with organisations and individuals to support improvement. Andy has coached more than 10,000 teachers from over 1,000 schools and draws on experience gained from 35 years in the field. Some of the content of this Pocketbook has been previously published in the Coaching & Reflecting Pocketbook, which this new title replaces.