Professional learning developed in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Education and system leaders
Our vision and commitment have been to create professional learning programs that matter, make a difference and “shift the stance in education.” Our approach has a measurable impact on capacity building in teaching and leadership.
As educators, facilitators and professional coaches, our co-founders, Kate Sharpe and Jeanie Nishimura, recognized the relevance and potential of foundational coaching skills for teacher/leadership development. Partnering with the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ontario Principals’ Council in 2007, Kate and Jeanie developed leadership programming, bringing mentoring and coaching together as powerful allies.
“Coaching has also shifted my stance as a leader. I have come to recognize that a coach-like leadership style can effectively change the behaviour of people in a positive way. Rather than continuing to be directive as a leader, I have learned to ask questions, listen deeply, and resist the urge to fix and solve. I have become increasingly aware that coach-like leadership really supports the development of people and the achievement of desired results.”
Jean Zu
Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering,
University of Toronto
Coaching has also shifted my stance as a leader. I have come to recognize that a coach-like leadership style can effectively change the behaviour of people in a positive way. Rather than continuing to be directive as a leader, I have learned to ask questions, listen deeply, and resist the urge to fix and solve. I have become increasingly aware that coach-like leadership really supports the development of people and the achievement of desired results.
Jean Zu
Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering,
University of Toronto
Courses designed to support growth in leadership behaviours and shift the stance in education
By creating in-depth courses, offered over time, that cultivate robust development of the essential mentor-coaching skills and principles, we have been able to foster the mentor-coaching stance and mindset in educational leaders, in service of supporting others in building their own capacity. We see building capacity as the central mandate of education.
Thus, we have developed our two in-depth programs: the 4-day interactive mentor-coaching program and the 3-day foundational coaching skills program.
Both courses are designed to:
- Provide customized and adapted programming to align with the context and needs of the participants
- Provide a safe and challenging learning environment
- Provide a robust theoretical and practical framework
- Focus on coaching skills development through experiential learning and practice with feedback
- Happen over an extended period time to allow for practice and application in the field
- Include online support in service of integration and sustainability
Note: to accommodate the current social distancing requirements surrounding Covid-19, programming is available online.
Requests for more resources
Over the years, many participants asked us for further resources in order to support themselves in really stepping into the mentor-coaching stance as leaders. Wanting to capture the theoretical as well as practical aspects of the programs, we co-created our book, When Mentoring Meets Coaching: Shifting the Stance in Education, Pearson Canada Inc., 2017.
Evidence of shifting the stance in education
Shifting the stance in education and having a measurable impact on leadership behaviours is our vision throughout all our professional learning programs. And these shifts are exactly what many participants in our programs have identified as their most important learnings. As they develop more competence and confidence in their mentor-coaching skills and become ever more aware of who they need to be when supporting others in building their own capacity, the teachers/leaders find themselves having to shift their mindset, build new muscles and develop new behaviours.
What shifted for leaders?
The following captures the essence of the shifts identified by participants in the 4-day Interactive Mentor-Coaching Program, based on the distillation of their feedback and research since 2017:
- Being and staying present, more fully in the moment
- “Listening to” with care and intention
- Recognizing that the answers lie within
- Asking impactful questions vs fixing/solving/telling/advising/sharing
- Remembering that it is the mentee’s agenda/learning/work; not attached to own agenda, choices or outcomes
- Having a focused approach for building relationships and conversations with staff and students
- Assuming competence, resourcefulness and expertise
- Provoking a change in mindset re leadership: developing the capacity of others to come to own awareness/solutions vs managing/fixing problems
- Leveraging strengths, values, creativity, goals and intentions
- Offering and inviting mindful and discerning feedback sustains and enhances future performance
- Sharing own experience: relevant and focused, in service of the mentee
“The certified professional coaching and training provided to all of the mentors and many of the mentees comprised the pivotal element that inspired a genuine change in leadership practice for mentors, mentees and the steering committee members.” [i]
Dr. Joanne Robinson
Former Director of Professional Learning,
Education Leadership Canada and Ontario Principals’ Council
The certified professional coaching and training provided to all of the mentors and many of the mentees comprised the pivotal element that inspired a genuine change in leadership practice for mentors, mentees and the steering committee members. [i]
Dr. Joanne Robinson
Former Director of Professional Learning,
Education Leadership Canada and Ontario Principals’ Council
Research: our approach
A comprehensive study of our approach to pairing mentoring and coaching was completed and it was found to “accelerate learning”[ii] for the mentees and that it was “a powerful strategy for building capacity, reducing feelings of isolation, and promoting sustainability across a system”[iii]
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