Certificate in Coaching Competence

This programme is planned over three terms and will require commitment and time to work with colleagues who want to be coached as part of the professional development and learning.

Certification in Coaching Competence – A Journey in Coaching with Learning Cultures

Our certification is a journey towards putting coaching at the heart of a school culture. It is ensuring that those involved are learning how to use coaching to support the management of change, further build deep expertise in pedagogy and foster powerful knowledge and learning.

The essence of our coaching programmes is their sustainability, where the coaching skills are learnt incrementally and over time. Coaching is about promoting the use of professional conversations that lead to self-discovery, self-belief and a willingness to innovate and create outstanding learning opportunities for leaders, managers, teachers, pupils and other stakeholders.

The certification route with Learning Cultures is a flexible, hands on and practical approach without the need for academic research and writing. The duration of the programmes is for three terms and will require commitment and time to work with colleagues who want to be coached as part of the professional development and learning. It is a rolling programme that you can begin at any time throughout the academic year.

We offer this programme for individuals who want to develop as coaches. The cost is £1,500.00 per individual. Where a  group want to work together to support each other in their development as coaches we can offer a discounted price.

What the Certification in Coaching programme consists of:

• Working individually or with other members of your school or college flexibly over an academic year to develop your coaching skills.
• Comprehensive training, equivalent to three full days and three twilight sessions, will be delivered online by a qualified coach/trainer. Where there is a group of staff from the same school or college, there is the option of face-to-face sessions in the school or college, or indeed a hybrid model of online and in person. The training is challenging and in-depth and has a grounding in research, best practice and provides the springboard for the coaching activities you will be involved in as you develop as a coach over the year.
• Undertaking and reflecting on coaching sessions with other staff over the course of the year.
• Maintaining a personal reflective log of your learning and the impact of coaching on your coachees. This will be used to write a summary reflection of your learning for each module and a plan for next steps.
• Support from a qualified Learning Cultures’ coach who will provide online discussion/supervision opportunities and email contact between the training sessions.
• Resources provided by your coach/trainer to use in your own setting.

The benefits of this approach:

• There is a framework linked to outcomes over a clearly defined period of time for coachees to work towards their goals or priorities
• Coachees have a designated external coach who is available to support them in becoming confident and experienced in coaching techniques
• The training sessions and tutorials provide an opportunity for a trainer/coach to challenge and question coachees so that they continue to grow and develop as coaches
• Between the Certification in Coaching training days the coachees work with others within the school or college to support new initiatives, share ideas of focus on specific issues or problems so that coaching begins to be an integral part of professional learning and development
• The resources provided and the use of a reflective log guide coachees towards research, useful reading and reflection that will enhance their skills and knowledge and help them to develop as coaches
• Coaching is visible and provides all staff with the opportunity to ask for coaching as part of their own learning journey
• Creates opportunities for the sharing and cascading of good and outstanding practice where individuals learn how to talk about their own strengths and how they can find ways to continuously improve
• Provides a vehicle for action research linked to stated and clearly defined outcomes
• It is a cost-effective way of ensuring that investment in professional development has a lasting impact on learning and achievement for leaders, managers, teachers, support staff and pupils

How the certification course is structured:

Module 1

Pre-course activity

• Guided reflection on personal starting points
• Self and organisational review to ascertain impact measures for individual, team and school/college

Course introduction: Meet your course tutor via Zoom to review activities and share goals.

Module 1 content: Fundamentals

Two twilight webinars and additional reflection time personally/ with peers and with the Learning Cultures course tutor via Zoom tutorial discussion and email.

Overview:

• The essence of coaching
• Comparisons with other helping activities
• Coaching skills and qualities
• Exploring a coaching model
• Considering coaching tools to support a coaching conversation

Module 2

Guided tasks and reflections & preparation for session 2

• Coaching practice with peers, using the coaching model and tools from session 1
• reflection on knowledge, skills and practice
• Preparation activities for online session 2
• Support from your course tutor through email contact, by phone or Zoom discussion

Module 2 content: The self-aware coach

A second module consisting of two twilight webinars and additional reflection time personally/ with peers and with the Learning Cultures course tutor via Zoom tutorial discussion and email.

Overview:

• Explore the importance and impact of values, beliefs, and traits in coaching
• Continue to build on existing coaching knowledge and skills
• Further develop knowledge of models of coaching and techniques to support the coaching process
• Practise coaching skills and questions using additional coaching tools and techniques (with a peer in school or using an online platform)
• Reflect on your own continuing journey as a coach and plan next steps to move forward

Module 3

Guided tasks and reflections & preparation for session 3

• Coaching practice with peers using models and tools from sessions 1 and 2. Self-evaluation of own practice and using feedback from a coachee.
• Reflection on knowledge, skills and practice
• Preparation activities for session 3
• Support from your course tutor through email contact, by phone or Zoom discussion

Module 3 content: Taking it further

A third module consisting of two half day webinars and additional reflection time personally/ with peers and with the Learning Cultures course tutor via Zoom tutorial discussion and email.

• Review of learning so far
• Coaching practice and exploring approaches to feedback
• Boundaries, contracting, coaching ethically
• Peer support and supervision
• Developing coaching and your role within your school/college
• Where are you now and next steps in coaching

On Completion of the course

• Evidence of coaching with other staff during the course
• Summary reflection of understanding and application of skills and knowledge linked to certification outcomes
• Final tutorial with your course tutor/coach to discuss the above
• Receive certification from Learning Cultures.