For ECE teachers working towards full certification!
Being involved in an effective mentoring and guidance programme is essential to moving from provisional to full certification. Adding the skills of a coach to this process enhances the value gained in both professional and personal development.
I believe coaching is a crucial component of mentoring. Both processes complement each other and work together enabling individuals to develop an awareness of their capabilities. The research article by Kate Thornton “The impact of mentoring on leadership capacity and professional learning” identifies the relevance that coaching and mentoring can have on leadership development within ECE.
“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them” Tim Galloway
Completing your teaching degree is the beginning of your teaching career. There are many complexities within the teaching role and having an experienced coach/mentor to support, discuss, give feedback, and partake in reflective learning conversations is key to a teacher’s professional and personal development journey.
Part of the coaching/mentoring process involves gaining positive critical feedback, evaluating where you are in your teaching practice, and identifying your future direction, and the next steps on your teaching journey. The process is about improving your practice, not just proving you have met the requirements /standards.
