COACHING PROCESS
A snapshot of various coaching approaches/models
Coaching is not defined consistently across the coaching in education literature, and the various types of coaching that exist just seems to add to the confusion. I like the way Elena Aguilar (The Art of Coaching, 2013) describes what coaching is not and lays out coaching models as primarily directive (behaviour focused) or facilitative (belief/being focused) and introduces the transformational (being, behaviour and belief) model. Each model has their own supporting strategies and processes. Rather than promote one particular type of coaching, I use a patchwork quilt approach and use elements from a variety of models to create my coaching quilt. Jim Knight (Instructional Coaching, 2007, 2017) lays out three models of coaching in this useful diagram:
A more detailed explanation of the three models, you can check out Jim Knight's blog post here.
I prefer to use the term mentoring rather than directive coaching. For me, both stances are important but serve different purposes. The trick is to know when to shift stances based on the relationship, context, and needs. Rather than get too hung up on the terminology or models, I find it most useful to reflect on which models resonate for a particular context and for each coach’s vision/mission statement.
The following is certainly not an exhaustive list and in no particular order. I have focused mainly on eight coaching in education models: