I believe peer coaching is the
future for CPD in schools. With ever decreasing budgets and the constant strive
for improvements in teaching and learning a sustainable method is needed. It is
my belief that peer coaching is the way in which this can be achieved.
What is Peer Coaching?
Peer coaching is where another
teacher asks the correct questions to a teacher to enable them to discover
their own improvements in teaching and learning in a safe non-judgmental
environment. In my school we complete peer coaching within learning triads to
try to bring about input from other members of staff also focusing on teachers
own selected action research pieces.
Why is it So Good?
Once you have a team of coaches
who have been trained within your school the costs are very small beyond any
materials you will need for the sessions you run. We attend three to four
sessions each half term in our learning triads and then present on what we
discover to the rest of the teaching body.
My school is striving to
improve to from our current Ofsted grading of requires improvement to good so
there is a large push on improving teaching and learning at the moment. We were
recently visited by Ofsted and gained many more Outstanding lesson observations
than we had in the previous Ofsted and LA visits, with predominantly the same
set of staff. I put this down to our peer coaching program. I am a massive
advocate for it.
The teaching and learning conversations
that take place each term are really impressive and all focused on improving
small aspects of teachers performance. When the staff come together to share
their good practice it is like the schools own little teach meet!
Last year I was trained as a peer
coach in twilight inset sessions with the primary aim on coaching other
teachers with their own action research projects. As a peer coach I work with two
other members of staff and try to ask the right questions and guide them to
working out to improve their own practice. I feel this is key to its
importance, staff having the feeling that they own their own improvements. This
is where there is an important difference between traditional CPD and peer coaching.
I also have the option to observe the members of staff although the logistics
of that are not easy and some staff are not so keen on this aspect. I tend to
pop my head in their classroom while I am roaming to check they are ok, this
seems to break down the barriers and once you have popped in twice they tend to
feel more comfortable with you in their classroom, although praise is the key
to this happening.
Ultimately it is a cost effective
way of providing CPD if it is handled in the correct way. It does have its
limitations as everything. The quality of the coaches can vary considerably,
and coaches need time to improve their own practice, both as a coach and a
teacher themselves. Therefore time is needed to be invested into the program.
I for one though think the time invested into it is definitely worth it.
