Exploring the role of coaching in the professional development of teachers at a large further education college

This research investigated coaching practice and how it influenced the professional development of teaching staff at a large further education college. The study was situated in a constructivist and interpretivist research paradigm with the purpose of discovery through collaborative meaning making. Qualitative methods were used to collect rich data about the lived experiences of coaches, mentors, managers, coachees and mentees. Data was collected using two focus groups and 20 semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis, as a recursive process, was employed to analyse all the data sets. The main findings of the study are that coaching and mentoring are collaborative processes with overlapping elements; coaching is effective when a range of strategies are deployed; the nature of manager referrals can present a barrier to coachee engagement; and coaching can have both positive and negative impacts. Further findings identified the performative demands on teachers in FE, the emotions related to the referral process, lack of engagement with coaching and mentoring support and the need for strategic planning and vision for the future practice and policy of coaching. The existing coaching and mentoring practice encouraged regular one-to-one meetings, with coaches and mentors deploying a myriad of strategies to build rapport, including use of questioning, providing advice, guidance, tailored support and conducting ‘friendly’ lesson observations. The main barriers that impeded coaching and mentoring practice were workload issues, time constraints, lack of engagement with support and lack of trust. The impact of coaching and mentoring practice was found to be both positive and negative, closely linked to the willingness to receive support. Positive impact was experienced through opportunities for professional discussions and reflections, resulting in increased confidence, trust and collaboration whilst the negative aspects of coaching and mentoring practice included its potential for it to be a judgmental process and the coachees’ over reliance on the coach. The main recommendations include the need for meaningful dialogue between managers and coaches; the necessity to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate coaching policy and practice through research-based initiatives; and to use mentoring concurrently with coaching approaches for FE teachers. The research has added to the theoretical knowledge of the role of coaching in the professional development of FE teachers by proposing seven architectural elements that can facilitate coaching, namely: organisational commitment, clear coach-mentor lead roles, rigorous methods of coach selection, coach professional development and networking opportunities, coachee training to cultivate a productive mindset, coaching relationships of sufficient duration and review and evaluation of coaching policy and impact.