Embracing Coaching techniques in the classroom

Teaching traditionally involves conveying knowledge and promoting skill development in students. However, adopting a coaching mindset can enhance this process by focusing on supporting and motivating students through active listening, questioning, and challenging them. Integrating coaching principles into teaching could transform a teacher into a more effective motivator and guide.

​This concept was fundamental during the new edition of the course “Emotional intelligence and coaching inside the school and educational context” that took place in Palermo from 01/09/2024  to 07/09/2024. The participants came from all across Europe, with Iwona Ulfik-Jaworska, Anna Radziwiłko, Klaudia Haponiuk and Paweł Ciszek from Poland, PROGRESS Kalińska, Talik sp. j.; then other two participants from Norway, Molde University College, Signe Williamsen Bugge and Hild Meland Welle.

​A key topic of the course was Emotional Intelligence, which involves recognizing and understanding both our own emotions and those of the others. Teachers with high emotional intelligence can better connect with their students and assist them in managing their feelings. Being aware of ourselves and our surroundings is a fundamental skill to recognize student’s emotions.

​Coaching involves inspiring and guiding others to reach their full potential. To facilitate this, participants learned to set SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound objectives designed to enhance personal and professional growth.

Conflict management was another crucial skill discussed. Effective coaches must maintain self-awareness and emotional control to prevent conflicts from escalating. Rather than providing solutions, coaches should help students analyze conflicts, make decisions, and evaluate their actions, ultimately turning conflicts into opportunities for growth and positive outcomes. This skill is fundamental in both workplace and classroom environments, it’s important to create a dialogue, the role of the coach is the role of a guide, that helps and supports students in finding a solution to the problems. ​

Another subject covered in this course was the impact of questions. Questions can stimulate thinking and self-reflection, encourage the creation of meaningful answers, and inspire actions as well as idea development. For this reason, participants in the course examined how to formulate learning-focused questions by beginning with an invitation to engage, presenting a topic for consideration, and emphasizing a cognitive focus for deeper thought and elaboration. Additionally, the "Solution Focused Brief Coaching" model was explored to foster a solution-oriented mindset in students.

During this training week, participants had the opportunity to exchange shared experiences, learn from their diverse cultural perspectives, and enhance their coaching abilities, while gaining insights on how to implement these skills in their classrooms.

Discover more about this course here.