Coaching reflection activities for participants on the Level 5 Coaching in Education Apprenticeship and Level 5 Coaching in the Early Years Apprenticeship
Suggested reading
Books:
1. The Art of Coaching – Jenny Bird and Sarah Gornall
o A practical resource offering foundational skills and tools needed by new coaching educators.
o Presents an overview of knowledge and theory based into practice.
2. "Coaching Skills: The Definitive Guide to Being a Coach" – Jenny Rogers
o Comprehensive overview of coaching principles, ethics, and techniques.
o
Online resources:
1. "Two sides of the same coin"? Coaching and mentoring and the agentic role of context STOKES, Paul, FATIEN DIOCHON, Pauline and OTTER, Ken (30m read)
o This article depicts and interrogates the claims for seeing coaching & mentoring as being distinct from each other and rather suggests that context is agentic in determining which aspects of these two helping orientations are likely to be used by practitioners.
1. CLEAR Coaching model -Contracting, Listening Explore, Action, Review (15m read)
Audio/visual - some examples to promote thinking
What is coaching? (2m 12s)
Contracting in coaching (6m 10s)
Setting boundaries – an example (3m 33s)
Pre-programme activities – please keep your answers and notes made somewhere safe.
Do not upload anything yet.
1. “What is Coaching… to You?” – quick reflection
Activity:
“In one or two sentences, how would you define coaching? What do you think makes coaching different from advice or mentoring?”
Purpose:
• Stimulates curiosity about the nature of coaching
• Encourages reflection on assumptions and prior experience
• Provides a starting point for comparison once formal learning begins
Optional: Write down some notes to revisit on Day 1 at your First Day of Learning (FDoL) Please keep the notes separate – do not upload them anywhere yet
2. Coaching in Your World – Where Might It Fit?
Activity:
Think about your current role. Where do you already listen, ask questions, or help others explore their thinking?
Note down one or two situations where you might already be coaching even informally.
Again, just keep the notes to yourself for now for further reflection when you start your programme of study.
Purpose:
• Builds relevance to your context
• Begins the habit of identifying coaching behaviours
• Encourages confidence by showing you are already part-way there