Having watched the YouTube video on instructional coaching, comment on the challenges you envisage with the process of dialogical coaching and strategies for overcoming these with your mentoring colleagues.
To post a message simply click on the blue Reply button; add your text to the Message section and then click on the Post reply button.The main problem I envisage is not enabling the trainee to problem solve and make decisions without making suggestions based on my own practice. I will need to overcome this by making sure the ground rules and expectations are set clearly before any coaching takes place.
I also think it will be difficult to not give advice but provide multiple points of view to facilitate shared thinking instead. It will be difficult to not be influenced by my own classroom practice and therefore I am going to try and overcome this by following the impact cycle. This way it ensures that focus remains on the individual situation at hand.
A key challenge may be to do with the amount of direct feedback we give. We are used to giving direct instruction (i.e. identifying something to improve and suggesting the way to improve it) and it is important that we allow the trainees to develop their own problem solving skills within the classroom. As already mentioned, it could be difficult to not be influenced by our own practice and therefore it is important that we give trainees time to reflect on what was successful and why and similarly, what would they do differently next time and why. I would encourage trainees to think about the observations of the wide range of practitioners that they have seen and apply/adapt this to their next lesson. The Impact Cycle could clearly be effective as trainees (with the mentors guidance where appropriate) should identify a specific area of focus, learn from it by adapting their planning where necessary and demonstrating that improvement in a future lesson.
It will be difficult to not give advice based on my own teaching practice, but rather make a wide variety of suggestions to encourage shared thinking. We are very used to giving direct feedback so this will require a little more effort to remain focused on this type of coaching.
I predict the main issues as being; supporting the student to identify their own ways to address any issues, being able to support that process can be difficult as students often want an answer any issues that arise. It can take them time to realise that there isn’t a one size answer as there are so many variables in the teaching process
There are clear benefits to using dialogical coaching as it enables the trainee teacher to be part of the decision making process and they are able to think for themselves rather than being told what to do and how to do it. The challenge with this is that not all trainees may feel confident enough as they are just starting out in their teaching career and at times they may need (or feel they need) more direction and guidance. Possibly the key to this is to ensure I focus on giving suggestions rather than dictating solution but also still giving enough support and structure when needed.
I think I share the concerns of others as how to not (with the best intentions) impose my own experiences on my mentee but I like the quote: "never push a perspective but if I have a chance to share something of value I do." So focusing on their experiences and what they have observed rather than how this relates to a similar experience of mine and "honouring their autonomy" will be a key focus.
Difficulty with not instructing the student based on my way of teaching. Trying to offer advice without telling them what to do.
I hope that I've understood it right because to me it's just common sense. When a child says 'I'm stuck', the last thing we should do is tell them what to do. Answer a question with another question and keep doing so until we've drilled down to the root issue or until the student has led himself or herself out of the dark by way of his/her own answers. This process should be even easier when dealing with grown-ups because they can appreciate the underlying principle, the difficulty comes from less frequently encountered issues to address means less practise doing so.
As most have stated the main challege I percieve is preventing myself from giving advise based on my own teaching practise and empowering my trainee to problem solve for themselves, this may be particularly challening at the start when they are perhaps lacking in the knowledge of various strategies. Therefore I am hoping that by observing as many teachers as possible I can empower my trainnee to use the insights they have gained from watching different teaching styles and enable them to use those observations to try out the strategies they like the best through the impact cycle as they are the decision makers in their classroom.
I envisage the most difficult part to be, not giving direct feedback from my own teaching practise, but provide the trainee with a wide variety of suggestions to encourage shared thinking. I believe the trainee may find if difficult to not just be given the answer, but to predict the outcomes of each scenario themselves. It way take time to realise there is not just one way of doing things. I believe The Impact Cycle will be essential in maintaining good working part scenario.
After watching the video I feel that the dialogical Coaching is a great way to identify goals and find strategies to solve them. A problem with this could be that the teacher may have limited experience in being able to identify their own next steps and therefore struggling to strategical problem solve/find solutions. A way round this could be to provide CPD or links to websites where they can do some research into this field.
Not all trainees, especially those on their first/second placement are confident enough to identify and voice issues.
I will find it challenging to change the way I listen. I know that I sometimes apply my own experiences to different scenarios. I imagine that allowing the trainee to speak/question without me applying my own values to the response will be awkward for me at first. I'll have to be aware of the feedback given without giving instruction.
It easy to ask the mentor to do things the way I would. However, we should advise and not enforce. Trying to get students to reflect on their own practice can sometimes be tricky.
The main issue with this form of coaching is giving advice without telling the mentees exactly how they should be doing things. Many trainees do not have the confidence or the knowledge/skills when they are first starting their training to identify their own areas for development and what they need to do to achieve this. This will become easier as the course progresses and the mentee's confidence and experience increases.
The challenge with dialogical coaching is ensuring the trainees feel confident to suggest and try different strategies right at the start of their teaching careers- they may feel and seek more guidance and direction from other colleagues rather than trying to 'unpick' and reflect themselves. ALL staff need to be more aware of the approaches within dialogical coaching in order that trainees can be part of the process.
I anticipate that the main challenge will be not giving advice based upon my own teaching practice, instead offering a wide variety of suggestions to encourage shared thinking.
A key challenge may not to give too much direct feedback as it is important that we allow the trainees to develop their own problem solving skills and identify their own next steps. It could be difficult to not be influenced by our own practice and therefore it is important that we give trainees time to reflect on what was successful and what they would change in the future.
