Coaching skills and questioning techniques for teachers

Print this page

The most effective teachers plan and deliver interactive, student-centred lessons and they also help students to reflect and evaluate their own progress and take responsibility for their own learning. Nothing too contentious there, but the tricky bit is how do we do this? Many schools, colleges and other organisations are looking to coaching and effective questioning to underpin interactive teaching and independent learning.

Coaching and elegant questioning promote thinking which is usually a pre-requisite for deep learning. They are used by the teacher to give developmental feedback to individual learners, to conduct frank conversations about under-performance and to facilitate sparky, collaborative and thought-provoking class discussions. Students learn these skills and guided by the teacher, they coach each other and themselves on current performance and next steps for improvement.

Learning outcomes and benefits

Teachers who:

Use coaching and mentoring strategies to inspire, motivate and help students to be creative, autonomous and solutions-focused
Conduct frank, assertive and solution-focused conversations with under performing students
Use coaching to facilitate collaborative, sparky whole class discussions
Help students and colleagues to solve their own problems, explore options, ‘think outside the box’ and ultimately take action
Engage in goal-orientated, deliberate, focused practice
Help students to be self-directing and reflective

Client Testimonials

“Perfect pace of the session. Great activities allowing interaction with staff. Really enjoyed the course and have learnt a massive amount”.

Amanda Martin
Stockport College

“Excellent session. Well planned, expertly delivered. Engaging style. Lots of ideas that I will apply to my lessons”.

Quinton O’Keine
BPCe

Click below to ask Bob about this course or any other subject.