Coaching of experienced principals

 

Mr Andrew Jackson & Mr Mike Sherry Australian Principals Centre & MS Consulting Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

 

Abstract: This paper provides a snapshot of a successful coaching program developed by the Australian Principals Centre (APC) for the Department of Education and Training (DE&T), in Victoria, Australia. It is divided into two parts. The first outlines how the program was conceptualised and developed and provides some preliminary evidence of its impact on the work of school principals. The second, through the eyes of a coach who works in the program, offers a sense of the transforming power of coaching. Through some illustrative case studies, it shows how principals can be assisted by their coach to step back from the 'busyness' of their everyday work, to consider new and more effective ways to exercise their leadership.

 

Background

The 'Coaching for Experienced Principal' program described in this paper was developed for the Victorian Department Education and Training by the Australian Principals Centre (APC) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

The coaching program is one of a number of strategies identified in the Blueprint for Government Schools, which focuses on building leadership capacity through professional learning of various kinds. As can be seen below, the coaching program is one of a suite of programs for aspirant, recently appointed and experienced principals.

• accelerated development for high potential leaders (a Masters program in school leadership);

• mentoring for first-time principals;
• coaching to enhance the capacity of experienced principals;
• a development program for high performing principals,

It was a clear intention of the tender brief that the program should be accessible across the State and provide support for the majority of Victorian principals at some point in their career. So far, nearly 300 principals have been coached in the program.

Coaching for experienced principals

Coaching for experienced principals is a relatively new concept. Typically, coaching has been viewed as something that is undertaken by business executives or sports men and women. While there are many examples in the literature that focus on coaching or mentoring support for new school leaders, particularly in their first year, there has been much less interest in coaching for more experienced leaders. Yet there are strong arguments for coaching to be at the centre of professional learning for principals.

Given the length of time many principals will lead their school and the professional isolation many experience, it is critical that their learning and development needs are addressed in ways that will give them the tools for a more reflective leadership style, which can respond to changing school priorities. Coaching, especially if it is approached with an empowering rather than a directive focus, is an ideal mode for working with experienced leaders. Unlike some professional learning that needs to be translated to fit the unique web of relationships and circumstances of each school, coaching is undertaken within that context and is an ideal vehicle for principals to 're-think their leadership' with the help of a skilled facilitator.

Design principles

The program was designed around:

• the need for coaches to be familiar with the context and policy priorities of the Victorian Government;
• based on high levels of confidentiality;
• a coaching approach that was developmental and collaborative, rather than interventionist;
• the use of a set of coaching tools, including GROW and Appreciative Enquiry;
• an approach that would foster the development of transformational leaders;
• a focus on reflection as a tool to bring about leadership development and improvement;
• a 'leadership development project' as a focus for action;
• a belief that coaching should be a transparent process in which coach and coachee have access to the tools and resources used in the program.

The elements

1. Training program for coaches - two days. Coaches were drawn from recently retired principals and regional officers, educational and business consultants/coaches and practising principals.
2. Matching principals with their coach - an iterative process involving input from principals, regional officers and the program organisers.
3. Completion by principals of an online 360 degree Educational Leadership Feedback Instrument (ELFI). This, along with other school data, provides a starting point for the coaching relationship.
4. Program roll-out for each cohort (100) - principals and their coaches meet together at a series of regional programs throughout Victoria.
5. Coaching -coaches provide 10-15 hours face-to-face coaching, plus email and phone conversations.
6. Mid-program refresher program for coaches to build professional learning community and support among the coaches.
7. Program monitoring.
8. Evaluation of the program and the coach's effectiveness.

Some reflections on the program

Honourable work. What has been most striking about the feedback from the coaches involved in the program has been their belief that they were involved in 'honourable work'. Many expressed the view that it was a privilege for them to be able to work with principals in developing their leadership skills. In many instances, principals and coaches have maintained contact after the formal coaching period has expired. We also have a steady stream of applications to participate in the coach training program we conduct each year.

Private conversations. A key factor, in the overwhelmingly positive response to this program, is linked to a principal's confidence about the confidentiality of the relationship with his or her coach. Principals are rarely able to reveal their vulnerability as leaders and really appreciated that their coach's only motivation was to help them become more effective in their role. We suspect that principals were much more willing to share their 360 degree feedback with their coaches because it was to be used in a confidential conversation, as part of a developmental journey, rather than as a summative judgement of their performance. The only accountability they faced, was that of any professional, to engage seriously with their coach and the coaching process.

One principal reported that: 'it was re-affirming and almost indulgent to have time to reflect, discuss, plan and be supported to do so'.

New perspectives. Perhaps the most pleasing feedback we have received from principals is about how their coach has helped them 're-think' their leadership. The coaching had, for one principal, 'made me more confident in my own abilities, in a way it has re-energised my performance and restored my confidence in my own ability'. Another principal noted: 'my natural instinct is to keep everyone happy but the reality is some personal issues (of staff) are out of my reach and improved outcomes for students is my number one priority'.

An analysis of the 'leadership initiatives' undertaken by principals in the program clearly points to a focus on transformational leadership activities (see Leithwood and Jantzi), rather than those concerned with maintenance of the status quo.

Coach quality. As part of the quality control for this program, each cohort of principals is asked to rate their coach on a five-point scale about how effective they had been in helping them achieve their leadership initiative. Over 90% indicated that they felt their coach had been successful or very successful.

The program - through a coach's eyes

This section of the paper examines the impact and effectiveness of the Coaching for Experienced Principals (CEP) program, through the experiences and reflections of one program coach. It is based around two questions:

• Are there specific factors that contribute to a successful coaching experience?'
• What value does a principal gain from having a coach?

Success factors

Let's examine the first of the questions: are there particular factors that contribute to the likelihood of a principal experiencing success with coaching? Three factors in particular contribute to the likelihood of success.

a. Check in the ego. Competent and capable principals are likely to feel just that - competent and capable - so what do they have to learn? After all, they are a principal entrusted with significant responsibilities that include leading a school community, and managing student learning and school facilities.

The coach approaches working with principals from a position based on respect for them, their competence and ability. An invitation is issued: 'Work with me in a respectful relationship - we have much to learn from each other'. As coaching involves a conversation with the principal around aspects they choose, associated with their work as leaders, there is no place for ego, from either the principal or the coach.

b. A common language. Just how many leadership models are there? Which, if any, are useful in schools? These and other questions take a back seat as a consequence of a decision taken by the Victorian education system to use a common approach to talking about leadership in schools, an approach based on Sergiovanni's transformational leadership.

The real advantage with this (irrespective of personal views on the adequacy or otherwise of the approach) is that, in the coaching relationship, the coach and principal have conversations using a common leadership language. What a relief that has been for both the coach and principals! For example, being able to focus on leadership capabilities, such as managing relationships or delivering through people, has meant the increased possibility that both people are using common leadership concepts and principles.

c. A coaching process. At the beginning of each coaching relationship, the coach provides the principal with an outline of how coaching sessions might operate. This outline highlights the importance of two things. First, both people make commitments to each other in relation to working together and how this will look in behavioural terms. For example, they commit to keeping appointments, to spending uninterrupted time together, both acknowledging that, in schools, 'stuff happens' that may get in the way (for example, the coach kept an early morning appointment only to learn that, late the day before, a large number of students had witnessed a murder several blocks from the school. (The principal had a few other things on his mind that morning) These commitments are formalised and signed off as a memorandum of understanding.

Second, the intention is to base coaching conversations (sessions) around a four-step structure:

1. Introduction. The things the coach does to get the specific session under way.

2. Routine. The regular things the coach does to help ensure that the focus in sessions is always on the relationship of the principal to his or her goals. Of course, there are sometimes unintended consequences, as we see later. For example, using strategies designed to help both people 'clear the mind' which, given the nature of school life, is so important to holding a focused conversation.

3. Discussion. The coach uses a framework for the discussion part of the session; this might include:

• what has been achieved regarding homework that has been set;
• obstacles encountered;
• lessons learned;
• where to next;
• what do I need to achieve it (people, tools, resources, knowledge);
• timelines;
• next session;
• homework.

4. Recap and closure. The coach makes sure that there is a recap and a clear picture of what's next, making sure that this is positive and affirming.

Value from coaching

The value that coaching provides can be examined through some work done by Erik de Haan (2005) who, in a recent paper, argued that a coach makes two main contributions. The first is the direction of his or her contribution: exploring or suggesting. The second is the nature of the contribution: supporting or confronting. Haan goes on to suggest that combining each of these gives what he refers to as ' a basic playing field for the coach encompassing four options':

1. Person-focused: here the coach attempts to explore the issue together with the principal and contributes warmth and understanding to the conversation.
2. Insight-focused: the coach attempts to look at what the principal is leaving out and cannot appreciate personally; the coach contributes understanding and objectivity to the conversation.
3. Problem-focused: the coach attempts to offer the principal a new framework or approach to the problems being considered; the coach contributes ideas and recommendations to the conversation.
4. Solution-focused: the coach attempts to send the principal off on a more positive, constructive train of thought; the coach helps with suggestions for the future.

Each of these options offers a useful framework for reflection based on specific experiences the coach has had with principals, whose names have, of course, been changed.

Person-focused

'Mark' is the principal of a large secondary college in a growth corridor on the outskirts of a major capital city. He has worked outside the college in significant professional roles and has had overseas experience. Mark's leadership focus is on capacity building by developing individuals through planning and delivering a succession planning program.

The major focus of the coaching conversations was to work with, and support, Mark in exploring how to best plan and structure a program. The coach supported Mark in a number of specific ways, for example, in preparing and developing a program brief designed to educate staff on the plan; and in sourcing and using cost-effective instruments for use in the program itself.

Insight-focused

'Ray' is the principal of a large, high performing primary school in a growth corridor. The school is, by all accounts and evidence, outstanding. Ray is a superb networker and is spending a great deal of time outside the school, which has been to the significant advantage of the school in many measurable ways. His coaching goals are to better manage staff relationships through actively disengaging from outside activities, and re-engaging with his staff without disadvantaging his school and, by the way, regain some work/life balance!

In a conversation around how he proposes to achieve these goals, particularly his staff goals, Ray comments on how difficult he finds holding deeper performance conversations with a small number of his staff. The coach asked Ray to record their names. He then asked Ray to identify those staff he saw or interacted with least on a regular basis. He then asked him to compare his responses to both questions. From the coach's own notes: ' What interesting answers!'

Problem-focused

'Mary' is the principal of a small secondary college in the outer suburbs. She gets on well with most of her staff and is implementing a performance and review culture in her school. She is experiencing a great deal of frustration at the seeming unwillingness of several senior, male, members of staff to keep commitments. This has resulted in Mary doing some of their work.

Coaching conversations reflected on performance review discussions and their outcomes, typically these had included staff making commitments and then not keeping them. During these conversations, Mary identified that the keys to successful performance review included preparation, courage and follow-up. Working with her coach, Mary prepared for these discussions, practised what she would say and how she would hold the discussions, and considered how she would ask for commitments and then plan for follow-up.

Solution-focused

'Paul' is the principal of a suburban primary school, which counts among its parent body a number of high profile community leaders who can sometimes cause considerable angst! The school is regarded in the particular community, and by the system, as high performing. It was suggested to Paul that he consider moving into a senior management role, a role that would take him from the school.

Paul recognised his need for change, he also recognised the need to consider the change on his terms and that he would benefit from assistance from outside the system. He and his coach worked on developing a strategy around analysing career options, a process that led to the principal developing a transferable career management strategy for use with his staff.

Serendipitous or unintended consequences

There is a fifth option, one that the coach refers to as serendipitous-focused - or recognising that opportunities open up in conversations.

For example, a session with 'Paul' opened with him talking about a very difficult telephone conversation he had just experienced with a parent who had recently moved a child to the school from an interstate school. (This implies a different school system, different curriculum). Paul experienced the parent as quite aggressive in his demands around what he expected the school to provide for his capable child. The coach asked permission of Paul to spend a little time talking about what he had experienced and if he would find this of value. He asked Paul to consider his responses to these questions:

• 'What did you actually do in the case of the parent conversation? Try to remember the actual words you used and what happened next.'
• 'How do you normally deal with these types of what can be challenging conversations when there are strong emotions at play?'
• 'What are the outcomes from these types of conversations? How do you feel about this?'

They spent time examining why Paul had reacted in the way he had. This resulted in them spending a session working on developing alternative responses to dealing with challenging behaviours, whether from parents, staff, bureaucrats or politicians. Paul indicated that this was the first time he had been able to spend dedicated time on this specific skill.

Concluding comments

Success is, of course, 'in the eyes of the beholder'. The CEP program has evidence that principals are thinking and acting differently because of their experiences in the program. The coach has evidence, gathered from principals using a 'post-pre approach' based on the work of Carr (2004), that their leadership capabilities have improved because of their participation in the program.

References

O'Mahony, G. and Barnett, B. (2006). Advancing School Improvement in Australia: The influence of peer coaching on experienced principals, AERA, San Francisco.

Carr, R.A. (2004). 'Measuring Change in Coaching, Peer Assistance or Mentoring: Thinking out of the Box', accessed at www.peer.ca/Docs.html 29 May 2006

de Haan, E., (2005). 'Coaching: Old wine maturing in new bottles'. In Training Journal, November.

Leithwood, K. & Jantzi, D. (2005). A review of transformational school leadership research. Paper, AERA, Montreal, Canada.

Victorian Government Blueprint. Accessed at: www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs3/default.asp

 

Mr Andrew Jackson is Project Director of the Australian Principals Centre, at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Mr Jackson began his career as a primary school teacher. He then spent nearly eight years working in teacher education, returning to schools for a period before accepting a position as a writer on a large curriculum development project. After a year working with schools as a curriculum consultant, he decided it was time to 'practise what he was preaching' and returned to schools. In the next phase of his career he was appointed as a school principal for over ten years, in two different, but equally challenging, school communities. After a period working with principals in a cluster of 35 primary and secondary schools, he was appointed to the Australian Principals Centre, where he now works as Project Director. Most recently, with other colleagues from ACER, he has developed, advice for Teaching Australia on national leadership standards. His work in schools is largely focused on providing coaching support for experienced school leaders and consultancy work in the area of school improvement.

 

Mr Mike Sherry is an independent professional, consultant and workplace coach. He has extensive experience in education, having worked in various roles. For 20 years he has worked as an independent professional in consulting, training, coaching and management roles. His focus has been on work with people who know that things could be better, and who are optimistic about possibilities. His work takes him into a broad range of sectors and industries with people ranging from CEOs to people working 'on the shop floor'. His current coaching work in schools is with experienced principals as well as intact work teams. Mr Sherry is also working with school support staff in customer service related areas.

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