Oct 2, 2020

The Dialogic Learning Weekly #191

By Tom Barrett • Issue #191 • View online

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Dialogic Learning Weekly. In this issue I share a preview of a new blog post about the conditions for coaching. It is live on my blog now and you can be one of the first to have a read.

In the full blog post I share 9 different aspects of coaching that play a critical role in successful professional growth. Below I have shared a few to get you started.

I have also shared a couple of other articles I have been reading this week.

Extracts below from my blog post “Creating The Conditions For Coaching And Professional Growth”

Choice

I think one of the downsides of the “roll out” of coaching, or large scale implementations in schools and organisations is that it forces people to participate when they are not ready. When people make an active choice to participate, they are signalling they are ready to be challenged by what coaching has to offer.

Our advocacy for coaching might mean we want everyone to have access to it. Which is completely understandable, it can have a high impact. But, that does not mean it needs to be forced on anyone. I imagine that there are many of you who have had bad experiences of coaching, simply because it was something you had to do.

Contracting

An extension to the idea of commitment, contracting is all about establishing the appropriate expectations and what coaching means for us both. During my coaching this is done in a few simple ways:

We establish a medium-term or long-term commitment within the coaching partnership.
It is all agreed within a formal written contract.
Regular time is set aside every fortnight for coaching sessions. These are organised in advance.
We agree to a set of protocols and expectations for each session which focuses on high-quality dialogue and collaboration.
In the first session, we share ideas about the roles and responsibilities we have in our coaching partnership.

Challenge

In the first coaching session with me, we spend some time reflecting on a set of provocations I put to you in advance. One of the questions is, “What do you hope coaching will be?”. The most common response I have received is the hope that coaching ‘challenges me”.

Challenge is unique to everyone. You might be seeking an alternative perspective on the challenges you face in your leadership team. Or perhaps you want coaching to increase your self-awareness, to help you see your strengths and those traits that need your attention. The challenge might come from the mirror I hold up and the behaviours that I observe.

Conditions

We both play a role in creating the right conditions for quality dialogue to flourish. It is not just my job and it is not just yours. There is a collective responsibility to contribute to the conditions for professional growth and dialogue that supports you.

This means different things for different people. For some of us, it is about focus and being present – ensuring that a coaching session is not interrupted or compromised by competing agendas. For others, it is about remaining open to the challenge of learning and hearing another perspective. We both play a role in creating the ideal conditions for coaching dialogue and collaboration.

I often think of it as creating a space for you to step into. As if you step out of your daily routine into a world that is operating under different conditions, an environment intentionally tuned to your needs. A space that is safe, yet challenges you. A space that is trusting, yet honest and direct. A coaching space that holds you accountable, but also provokes new thinking and generates inspiration.

Read the full blog post below

Creating The Conditions For Coaching And Professional Growth

In this post, I want to share some reflections about coaching, and how we create the best possible conditions for professional growth.

edte.ch • Share

Articles I have been reading this week

Reasons Revealed for the Brain’s Elastic Sense of Time

Research finds that the subjective experience of time is linked to learning, thwarted expectations and neural fatigue.

abstractions.nautil.us • Share

Valentino Gareri Proposes New Model of Educational Building for the Post-Covid Era

Valentino Gareri has proposed a sustainable and modular educational building for the new post COVID-19 era.

www.archdaily.com • Share

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Thanks for exploring this week’s issue. I am taking a break next week as I am moving house and having some time off. The newsletter will return on the 16th October, the day before my birthday!

Drop me a note to let me know what resonates from the newsletter, I would be happy to hear your experience of coaching.

In dialogue we trust.

~ Tom Barrett

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By Tom Barrett

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