Steplab

As an early career teacher on Ambition Institute’s Early Career Teachers programme, you
will use a technique called ‘instructional coaching’ to practise applying theory you have
learned from your self-study modules and apply them to your classroom practice. But what
is instructional coaching and why have we chosen to use it?

The aim of the programme is for you to develop your expertise as a teacher. Having
expertise involves having rich mental models around what makes effective teaching. By
mental models we mean the knowledge which you have and how that knowledge is stored
in your long-term memory. We will look in more detail about memory and learning later on
in this orientation and in conference 1.

Having expertise also means being able to apply that knowledge in practice. Teachers early
on in their careers can often experience the ‘knowing-doing gap’ – the difference between
learning a new technique and being able to use it regularly in their classroom. Instructional
coaching, with its focus on practice and feedback, can support you to overcome this
knowing-doing gap.

Instructional coaching is a weekly cycle of observation, practice and feedback focused on

incremental improvements. This diagram shows the key components of instructional
coaching:
Study
Self-study time is provided for you to work though the module materials online, prior to
meeting your mentor. For example, you would work through module 9 from the behaviour
strand before your mentor sets a step within this area of focus.

Observe, review and select

Your mentor will conduct a brief 15-minute non-judgemental, developmental observation
of your teaching each week and select an appropriate step to further your development.
The step will be based upon the self-study module for that week or linked to your prior
knowledge. Each week, in the majority of cases, you should receive coaching based on the
module you are studying. For example, in the behaviour strand you should study and be
coached on B6 Consistency within the same week. However, there may be instances,
depending on your mentor, where the focus of the coaching may not be directly linked to
the module being studied that week. However, the focus of the coaching should always be
based on what you already know and what you may have studied previously.

Feedback
Feedback sessions are a 30-45 minute session with the early career teacher and mentor.
During each feedback session, ECTs and mentors discuss a precise target for the ECT to
work on, which we call a step. Early career teachers deliberately practise their step
alongside their mentor before giving it a go in the classroom. Deliberate practice of a
precise step is a well-evidenced way of building expertise, in teaching and beyond (Berliner,
2001). Focusing on a bite-sized step that can be mastered in a week means that teachers
are better able to see tangible progress in their classrooms.

This diagram shows how the different components of instructional coaching interact with
each other:

The instructional coaching process relies on both you and your mentor working effectively
together and building a positive working relationship.