Best Practice

Instructional coaching: Cycles, systems and processes

CPD Pedagogy Teaching staff Lesson planning Coaching and mentoring
Considered by many to be the most effective form of teacher CPD, instructional coaching is gaining popularity in schools. In part two of a two-part article, Robbie Burns looks at implementing instructional coaching across the primary school
Image: Adobe Stock -

 

In my first article (Burns, 2022), I outlined why instructional coaching, according to recent research into professional development, might be a useful tool to support colleagues to improve their classroom practice.

I described three instructional coaching principles: it should always be focused on improving teaching, it should be only one part of wider CPD, and it must be attuned to the needs of the coachee.

In this article, I hope to share the cycles, systems, processes and some of our implementation journey so far.

 

 

The instructional coaching impact cycle

 

After considering a range of instructional coaching cycles, such as Bambrick-Santoyo’s work in Get Better Faster (2016), the GROW and BASIC models (described in the last article), and some of the recent work on instructional coaching produced by Ambition Institute, we felt that the most flexible, adaptive approach for us was Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle (2017). I will describe the cycle and how it works in practice in our school.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting Headteacher Update and reading some of our content for professionals in primary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcasts

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here