Approaches to Coaching-Chp 4-Instructional Coaches

There are many different types of coaching that can take place within a school.  All types of coaching play an important role in helping teachers.  The most well known types of coaching within schools are:

• Peer Coaching-  This coaching was first developed by Beverly Showers and Bruce Joyce in 1996.  It provides structures and procedures to help teachers oversee each other and engage in converstations about teaching.
• Cognitive Coaching-  Developed by Art Costa and Robert Garmston in 2002.  This is a process used to improve one's thinking practices.  It is intended to help people help themselves and become self-managing.  Cognitive coaching works to improve higher-level thinking in teachers which will help improve the way they teach.
• Content Coaching- First introduced by Lucy West in 2009, it is focused on improving content. This coaching looks at big ideas in teaching and works to work out the issues within the content. 
• Data Coaching-  Described by Nancy Love in 2009 as coaches developing the capacity to help their school use data in order to improve teaching and student achievement.  These coaches lead teams in collecting, analyzing, and monitor student learning.
• Literacy Coaching-  In 2009, Cathy Toll described this type of coaching as focused on literacy and related aspects of teaching. 
• Instructional Coaching-  Introduced by Jim Knight in 2007 and is described coaches that encourage professional learning within their schools. These coaches bring a teacher's ideas to life.

A supportive school will encourage all type of coaching within their school and seek to best meet each teacher's needs.