peercoaching in education for professional growth

What is peer coaching? A definition
Peer coaching is a confidential
process through which two or more
colleagues work together to reflect
on current practices; expand, refine,
and build new skills; share ideas;
teach one another; conduct
classroom research; or solve
problems in the workplace
(Robbins,1991).

We can dissect several elements from this
definition:
1) peer coaching takes place between two or more
colleagues who reflect on current practices, this
looks a lot like giving feedback;
2) the second part is about building skills, which
has a development element to it;
3) the third part is about sharing ideas and
teaching one another which also has a learning
and development element to it;
4) the last part is about solving problems in the
workplace which reminds us of the importance of
soft skills – and collaboration in particular – to
solve (future) workplace challenges.

1. It gives people a 360-degree view of their performance
2. It empowers people to learn new skills
3. It can boost leadership skills (and soft skills)
4. It increases camaraderie and engagement

Peer coaching best practices
1. Start small and set ground rules
Stewart D. Friedman explains some of the base rules for setting up a peer
coaching network. Friedman has extensive experience when it comes to peer
coaching, having provided peer-to-peer coaching opportunities in his Wharton
courses and in various types of organizations for decades.
The first thing Friedman says is to start small. He recommends setting people up in
trio’s or to ask people to find two other people to form a ‘peer team’ with.
The next thing to do is to set some ground rules. There is a practical aspect to this:
how will the trio’s work together when and how will they meet? And there is a more
personal aspect to these ground rules: what are people’s expectations, interests,
hopes and fears? The most important rule being that everyone chooses what they
want to disclose (or not) and that everyone respects each other’s privacy and
preferences. This is, by the way, fully in line with the definition of peer coaching I
gave at the beginning of this report.

2. Teach teachers how to give and receive feedback
An important part of peer coaching
is, of course, about being able to give
– and receive – feedback. After all, the
idea is for your feedback to be
constructive so that your peers can
use it to improve themselves. Effective
feedback is the result of keen
observation, listening, and
communication.

3. Set goals
As with all learning and development activities, your peer-
to-peer coaching program should include personalized
goals. What do people want to achieve? What skills would
they like to work on? What kind of knowledge do they want
to obtain?
In order to answer these questions, people will have to
take some time beforehand to self-reflect. They’ll have to
think about what their goals are from both a teacher and a
learner perspective. One way to make sure goals are
realistic and achievable is to use the SMART model
(SMART standing for goals that are specific, measurable,
assignable, relevant and time-bound).
Once everyone has decided on their goals, it’s good to
make them transparent so the entire team can see them.
This makes people accountable for reaching their goals
while also making potential coaches aware of what their
peers would like to learn.

4. Get everyone on board and in the right
mindset
As with most school-wide initiatives, it’s important to get leadership on board.
Not just because they can be great advocates of your school’s peer coaching
program, but also because they can be great peer coaches themselves!
Principals, department heads and other organizational leaders tend to have more
(specific) experience and know-how which makes them ideal candidates for peer
coaching.
Another important ingredient for a successful peer coaching program is people’s
mindset. This means that everyone in the organization needs to have this ‘eager
to learn and teach from my peers’ mentality. They should see peer-to-peer
coaching as an opportunity to develop and improve themselves. When it comes
to learning and development we call this having a growth mindset (as opposed to
a fixed mindset).

Pre –observation
meeting
observation
post–observation
feedback
Reflection

Assess
Determine preparation required by both
coach and coachee.
Set Goals (Pre-Observation Conference)
Coachee and Coach work collaboratively
to:
Identify school goals.
Determine classroom goals.
Identify activity/project.
Determine required skills.
Prepare
Coachee and/or Coach:
Set model for learning activities.
Plan activity/project.
Share lessons/resources.
Create/adapt materials.
Review/learn ICT skills.
Implement (Observation)
Model/team teach (Coachee and/or Coach)
Apply/adjust (Coachee)
Observation and data collection (Coach)
Reflect/Debrief (Post-Observation
Conference)
Presentation and analysis of data (Coachee and
Coach)
Reflect on learning (Coachee)
Plan future activities (Coachee and Coach)

Practice Activity: An Introduction to Peer Coaching Using GROW
GROW model is used for coaching. This will be your second opportunity to practice
coaching someone else using the Grow model.
30
Minutes Facilitator Guide
Peer Coaching 5 minutes
Facilitator Instructions: After you have walked everyone through the four stages of the
GROW model, break the room up into pairs for a time to practice the new model. Here are
a few ground rules to share with everyone:
1. Try to ask questions only...this is a model built on the ability to draw a person out through
asking questions.
2. No fixing! Try to resist the temptation to tell the other person what they should do or even
give advice. It’s a time to listen and draw the other person out.
3. Quickly decide on an issue that you would like to be coached on that relates to the
Groups Ablaze material. Once you have told your partner what you want to talk about, go
right into the “Reality” section of the model.
4. You have 10 minutes to coach. After I call “time,” I will ask the person to give you some
brief feedback about what you did well and if they have one “polishing” comment for you to
consider. After the feedback we will switch roles.

Practice Activity: An Introduction to Peer Coaching Using GROW
Debrief
Application Activity
Facilitator Instructions: As a group review the Peer Coaching Questions for the Four Factors on
the following page.
Goal:
What’s our Goal?
What do you need to talk about today?
What’s a good outcome of our time together?
Reality
What’s your reality?
Tell me more about…
What’s going on?
What’s been challenging?
How has that been challenging? Why? Why? Why?
Options
Let’s explore some options…
What are some possible ways forward?
What has worked before?
Will
What will you do?
What can I hold you accountable for?
What would you like me to ask you about next time?
What are you going to act on from our time together today?

“RULES” FOR PEER COACHING
THE STANCE
1. We’re engaging in exploration, not criticism. We’re unraveling a mystery (teaching and
learning) together, not monitoring each other.
2. An observed lesson is a shared resource; both teacher and coach should take something of
value away from any discussion of it.
3. Look for, describe, and assess the practice and its results, not the person’s
competence.
THE TALK
1. Describe first, discuss details later. First describe what happened, using your data. The
teacher can take or leave that. Only then discuss what the results were, and only if the teacher
initiates the discussion.
2. Talk specifically and concretely. (“You called on Will three times,” rather than “You tend to
call on boys a lot.”)
3. Talk about things which can be changed and which are worth changing. (e.g., Ignore
personal mannerisms, unless they are interfering with student learning.)
4. Remember to comment on strengths. Important learning comes from building on our
strengths as well as from addressing areas of weakness.
5. Check to insure clear communication. Paraphrase a lot: “Are you saying that…?” “Let
me see if I understand you…”
6. Interact. The basic human interaction skills of attending, listening, responding, and
acknowledging are important for both the coach and the teacher.

Characteristics of a Successful Peer Coach
Teachers have identified the following success characteristics for Peer Coaches:
• Ability to build trust with peers
• Builds on a teacher’s needs
• Open to learning about new and emerging technologies
• Team player
• Communicates well, listens to teachers
• Knows what teachers are doing in their classrooms
• Can show teachers how to build on what they are doing with different approaches and integration
of ICT
• Able to give teachers a menu of options and let them decide what might be useful for them
• Always has a back-up (plan in case of ICT glitches)
• Highly organised, plans well in advance
• Strong work ethic
• Understands that there will be a lot of extra work
• Provides a safe risk-taking environment - is non-threatening, non-judgemental and accepting
• Flexible
• Has enough depth and breadth of knowledge to help teachers who are at various stages of ICT
integration, including knowledge of sound practices
• Knowledge of how to organise/structure an ICT-rich learning environment
• Recognised by staff as a strong or outstanding teacher

Teacher readiness to become a coachee
What coaches say are the success characteristics of teachers who use
coaching effectively. The teacher:
• sees the need and purpose for this work
• is able to see how valuable it is
• recognises it is okay to make mistakes or ask ‘dumb’ questions
• is open to learning and open to being supported to think more deeply
about their teaching practice
• is committed to learning, and willing to try new things out
• feels okay about taking risks and failing
• maintains a flexible classroom approach, including willingness to change
teaching styles, curriculum and timetable
• able to make use of peer coaching as a professional learning
opportunity.

Benefits of Peer Mentoring
The primary goal of the peer observation project is to rethink the way we do things and adapt to
changing times, students, and circumstances. The benefits of observing went both ways. Not
only did observed teachers get specific feedback but those doing the observing were exposed to
an increased number of children of varying ages, learning styles, and academic, developmental,
and emotional levels. All of us have benefited from seeing a variety of teaching methods and all
have enhanced our “bag of tricks,” so to speak.
There have also been what one might call “hidden benefits.”
After a few months of observing each other, we recognized that we tended to over-prepare for
the time we were observed. We wanted to impress each other and keep our “warts” hidden. As
trust built, this need to appear perfect dissipated and we became more comfortable with letting
down our defenses. This led to an unexpected development: Team members found that while
teaching unobserved, they helped maintain their focus by pretending that someone was observing
them.
Another interesting benefit was how our colleagues acted as a “reality check.” For example, one
teacher said she felt as if she were always yelling at her students. The observers reported
something very different. They saw a teacher who appeared to be patient and tolerant. Clearly,
her own thoughts and frustration had shaded her view of her teaching. The team discussed this
further and helped the teacher to focus on the reasons for her frustrations.
A third hidden benefit is that the children see their teachers practicing what they preach. We
make it a point to be very open with the students about our observations and our team mentoring.
In essence, we are modeling important lessons such as teamwork and learning through
observation. These are the same skills we want our students to learn. Seeing their teachers
struggle to improve and work with their peers is a powerful example.

Three Types of Conversations Where
Coaching Takes Place
A. The Planning Conversation – occurs before a colleague attempts a task.
B. The Reflecting Conversation – occurs after a colleague completes a task
C. The Problem Resolving Conversation – occurs when a colleague feels stuck
Clarify Goals
Specify Success Indicators and a plan for collecting evidence
Anticipate approaches, strategies, decisions
Establish personal learning and processes for self-assessment
Reflect on the coaching process
Summarize impressions and recall supporting information
Analyze causal factors; compare, analyze, infer, and determine
cause-effect relationships
Construct new learning and applications
Commit to applications
Honor the existing state: Express Empathy
Frame the existing state: Reflect Content
Locate and amplify existing resources
State the Goal
Presuppose Readiness
{
The content
{
The content
{
The content

Developing the Tools for Peer Coaching
e) Questioning – Inquiring (to broaden thinking) Probing (to focus
thinking)
c) Pausing – wait time/ (1) after the coach asks a question, (2) after
the coachee responds, (3) before the coach responds
d) Paraphrasing - a rewording of the thought or meaning
a) Listening Set-Asides -Autobiographical/ Inquisitive/Solution
b) Rapport – skills to address tension/anxiety, to help coach
understand/pay attention

Developing the Tools for Peer Coaching
a) Set-Asides - Autobiographical/ Inquisitive/ Solution
Autobiographical – it all started in a 5,000 watt radio station
(Same problem in interviews – 3 things!/ 3 minutes).
Dealing with one’s own experience or life history
Inquisitive – curious about portions of the story that are not
relevant to the issue at hand. Unduly or inappropriate questions.
Solution – here is how I would solve it/ do it as I would do it and
you will do it right!/ here is the way I think about it
Activity # T-1: Pair with another person; the conversation will be about what
influenced the coachee to become a teacher; the coach will
engage in conversation by employing all of the above set-asides. Rotate roles.
the coach!
In peer coaching we are interested in what the coachee thinks

Developing the Tools for Peer Coaching:
Note: Trust is belief in and reliance on another person developed over time.
Rapport is comfort with and confidence in someone during a specific interaction.
Proportion of Meaning inferred from nonverbal and verbal components
Nonverbal
Verbal
65%
35%
Nonverbal
Components
Verbal
Components
Posture
Gesture
Proximity
Facial Expression
Pitch
Volume
Pace
Words
Activity # T-2: Pair with another person; the conversation will be about the most
difficult parent with whom the coachee had to deal; the coach will match the posture,
gestures, and voice qualities of the coachee. Rotate roles.
b) Rapport/Trust - matching posture, gestures, or voice qualities

Developing the Tools for Coaching:
Note: There are three key times to pause: (1) after the coach asks a
question, (2) after the coachee responds, (3) before the coach responds/paraphrases
Activity # T-3: Work in a trio (coach, coachee, coach’s coach); the
conversation will be about the development of course exams; the coach
will ask a question and the coachee will respond; the coach will count
(silently) to 5: (1000 -1, 1000 -2, …, 1000-5) at each of the times listed in
the note, above. [The coach will also employ set-asides and will match
posture, gesture, and voice qualities.] [The coach’s coach
will observe and provide feedback to the coach.]
Rotate roles.
c) Pausing

Note: begin paraphrasing with “So, you” and then repeat the content of
what the coachee said.
Activity # T-4: Work in a pair. Repeat the conversation about end of course exams
The coach will paraphrase every statement made by the coachee.
e.g. So, you believe we are spending too much time testing.
So, you are having a difficult time constructing end of course exams
So, you feel your end of course exams need considerable work
So, you believe working on end of course exams will improve the
the other assessments you do throughout the school year
Rotate Roles on cue.
d) Paraphrasing

Pacing
Honors what is
and makes visible
what is possible
Existing &
Desired State
Paraphrasing is an important skill in Pacing

Note: There are two arenas in which you are paraphrasing (1) emotion and (2) content
mediating
reflecting
You’re thinking about …
So, you’re wondering if …
You’re hoping that …
You’re frustrated because …
You’re concerned about …
So, there are three issues …
So, you’re ready to move on …
First you’re going to … then
you will …
On the one hand … and on the
other hand …
So, a goal for you is …
So, a strong belief you
hold is …
So, an assumption you
are operating
from is …
Activity # T-5: In a pair repeat the conversation about end of course exams; the coach
will paraphrase, moving to mediation, and using pauses. Do not forget rapport!
Rotate roles.
d) Paraphrasing - continued
There are Three Levels of Paraphrasing:
Acknowledging
And Clarifying
Summarizing
And Organizing
Shifting
Conceptual Focus
Goals, values, beliefs
Assumptions, concepts,
…

Developing the Tools for Coaching: Questioning
e) Questioning
Inquire
(to broaden thinking)
Probe
(to clarify or focus thinking)

e) Questioning – Inquiring: Characteristics of Mediational Questions
• Use an approachable voice
• Use plural forms –
• Use exploratory/tentative language -
• Use positive presuppositions -
What might be your thoughts about …?
What are some of the possibilities …?
What are your hunches about…?
What might be some of the goals you have in mind …?
What might be your indicators that you are successful …?
As you consider alternative strategies, what seems most promising …?
What are reasons for …?
What strategies are you…?

e) Questioning – Inquiring: To broaden thinking
e.g. How does your lesson fit into the major goals for this course?
Which key standards are addressed by your assessment?
Which standards will need to be assessed another way?
How will data from your assessment help students to meet the
standards?
External content is what is going on in the environment outside the
the person being coached while the internal content is what is going
on inside the mind of the person being coached.
Questions that most effectively mediate thinking link internal content
with external content.

e) Questioning – Probing - To focus thinking
e.g. Has there ever been a time …?
What would happen if you did not …?
Think, specifically how?
Which students specifically?
Better than what?
Skillful coaches look for the following speech patterns as places that require clarification:
• Generalizations (universal quantifiers) – all, everyone, never, always [Repeat & Pause]
• Rule Words (modal operators) – should, must, necessary, have to, ought [What if?]
• Vague Verbs (unspecified) – think, understand, learn, feel, make [How specifically?]
• Vague Nouns/Pronouns (unspecified) – students, women, administrators, people,
parents [Which …?]
• Comparisons (incomplete comparators) – better, larger, more, less useful [Than what?]

Practicing the Tools for Coaching:
e) Questioning – Probing - To clarify thinking
e.g. Help me to understand what you mean by …
What will students be doing if they are thinking …
What will students be doing if they are appreciating …

Coaching With Problem Resolving
Conversations
The Problem Resolving Conversation
Honor the existing state: Express Empathy
Frame the existing state: Reflect Content
Locate and amplify existing resources
State the Goal
Presuppose Readiness
(Pacing)
(Pacing)
(Pacing)
(Leading)

Existing
State
Desired
State
Resources
Note:
The coach must
honor the existing
state
Note:
The coach must
help the coachee
to frame the
desired state
Note:
The coach must
help the coachee
to tap into
personal
resources
Problem-Resolving Conversation Map
Note: Problem-resolving is different than problem solving!
Set asides include: closure, comfort, and comprehension

Pacing
Honors what is
and makes visible
what is possible
Existing &
Desired State
Leading
Locates and
amplifies
Resources
Resources
(States of Mind)
Pacing and Leading in
the Problem-Resolving Conversation
Use
Paraphrasing
Use
Questioning

Pacing in
the Problem-Resolving Conversation
Elements of Pacing
Honor Existing
State Via
Frame Desired
State
Empathy
Content
Goal
Pathway
You’re frustrated
because they aren’t really
trying
What you want is to be
effective in motivating
them
And you’re looking for a way
to make that happen

peercoaching in education for professional growth

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