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.
Mentees seeing mentors as a font of knowledge rather than a coach who will aid their thinking. I would work around this by starting with a point of what went well and why followed by what would be changed and how.
A positive that I have taken from the video about coaching is that the trainee will always be part of the decision making process and will therefore feel ownership of their own teaching. During discussions with the trainee, it will make me really think about the questions and prompts that I will use so that I don't impose my own practice onto them but allow them to feel their own way through the processes and problems to find their own solutions.
There may be an issue of low confidence with students who are on their first or an early placement in their course. They may look to their mentor for suggestions about how they could teach a lesson and what strategies would be best to use with the class they are working with. Although the dialogical approach does allow the student to discover what works through trial and error and encourage them to become more independent in developing their skills.
I think it will be difficult to get the trainee to ‘think for themselves’ initially with dialogical coaching. Questioning in a certain way will be the biggest challenge to ‘draw out’ how the trainee will get to their goal effectively and smartly. One model that could be used to help with this is the G.R.O.W model; G - Goal - what will be different as a result of working on this area? How can we make the goal measurable so we know when you’ve achieved it? R - Reality - What have you tried already? O - Options - What resources could you draw on to tackle this? What have you seen others do that might work for you? W - Will - Which option will you pursue? Are there any obstacles we need to address to make sure this step gets done?
I'm finding it harder to work with this model of coaching with a quieter trainee and finding myself filling the silences too much! Must work on questioning techniques I use.
The challenges for me with dialogic teaching would be that I would find it difficult not to persuade the trainee to do things my way. I would need to remind myself that there are different ways of doing things and to let the trainee try out their ideas.
My concerns and potential barriers have already been mentioned: I foresee there being difficulty with me not imposing my own experiences and practice on the trainee, and they in turn might find it jarring that I won't be there supplying them with "the answer" all the time. To overcome this, I will use more tentative phrasing and will encourage them to consider the different options available to overcome any issues, rather than just "what I would do" in feedback sessions.
As per all the other forum contributions, it will be difficult to change from giving direct live feedback as this is the way in which we address teaching and learning with all staff in school. However, during meetings we will have the time to reflect and allow analysis and evaluation to take place. I will have to be careful about not leading questions.
To reflect on evidence of teaching gives time for analysis and this allows for the time to identify and share strategies modelled or to be modelled in future scenarios. models can be planned and tested in lessons and learning from experience is a powerful and personal way to understand how to improve. Providing a framework for this to happen is essential and is the biggest responsibility of the personal mentor. The biggest obstacle is time. Mentor and teacher must have the time to engage in this cycle regularly.
I think initially it would be difficult to not to share my own experience with the trainee; however as I get to know them then discussing a wide range of options with them and allowing them to use or adapt what they think is right for them would become easier. In this way they will develop resilience as they will be problem solving themselves rather then being reliant on the mentor.
Reflecting on my mentoring experience with a previous trainee, I tried to take a "dialogical coaching" approach by offering different points of view and suggestions as to how to strengthen particular parts of lessons, but unless I was saying to him "you must make sure you do ____", he did not respond to feedback and did not improve. Therefore, from that experience, I think dialogical coaching is effective when working with a reflective practitioner with the confidence in their colleagues' advice. I think there needs to be a mixture of dialogical and directive coaching, in order to encourage the trainee to progress and become aware of the effectiveness of lessons.
I think dialogical coaching will be difficult to implement as i find it hard not to give instructions to trainees and will have to try and work to be more dialogical.
not to scaffold the trainees thoughts, allow them to determine the best strategies to overcome situations.
I am likely to find it difficult to avoid giving advice based on my own experience. I feel many trainees will lack the confidence to test out their strategies and problem solve in the early stages. Definitely a good idea for them to maintain observations of a range of teaching practices to avoid a narrow perspective.
I think it will be difficult not to give direct advice, especially to students who are having difficulties or who are on an early placement. I think it is important to encourage the trainees to be reflective about their practice from an early stage and I also think clear target setting with clear models is a good way to help them to develop.
I anticipate that early on it may be difficult for the teacher to identify specifically where their focus needs to be. I think this is where paired observations will be useful. I think I will initially find it difficult not to fall back on my own teaching styles and preferences. I think it could be difficult if the mentee identifies targets as a key focus if I feel that another target needs to take higher priority.
I am struggling not to give structured advice because one of my mentees requires a great deal of support. When I ask questions they find it very difficult to find the answers themselves and so I need to consider how I guide without telling them what to do!
I feel it may be difficult to not tell the trainee what I would have done in a certain situation and base it on my own classroom practise. Instead I will be asking what the trainee may feel they would have done differently, and what they would do next time.
I think the main challenge, as others have mentioned, is making sure that the trainee is given other points of view to consider when reflecting on their practice and making sure not to give them direct instruction or advice. They should be given a range of suggestions rather than just the ideas and direct feedback from the mentor alone.
It will be important to make sure that questioning is used to support the trainee to find the answers and develop their skills, allowing them to problem-solve. This can be facilitated by having a strong and open, constant dialogue between mentor and trainee so that the dialogical coaching style becomes embedded right from the start. Reflection time will be an important part of this strategy so that the trainee has time to think and process everything they have learned and can think about what they need to do next. This can then be supported by the mentor in the form of conversations and open-ended questions, empowering the trainee to be the decision-maker in the classroom based on their experiences and discussions.
