WalkThrus can provide the all-important instructional playbook for coaching, outlining the possible action steps teachers can take to solve the problems they identify in their classrooms. However, crucially, coaching can take various forms. In addition to one-to-one instructional coaching our toolkit offers the flexibility to support coaching in teams or small groups.
At the heart of effective coaching processes is a shared understanding between the coach and teacher. WalkThrus provides the all important reference point, supporting discussions about what the teacher is doing in the classroom, matching perceptions with reality, and what they might work on to improve their practice.
With WalkThrus deployed across a school, a shared language around teaching techniques develops very quickly. We find that this has huge impact on the quality of coaching and training sessions and all related observation processes.
As coaching expert Jim Knight says, it’s vital that coaches have knowledge of a range of techniques so they can offer guidance to teachers without redefining teaching techniques on the fly. It’s also quite difficult to keep multiple techniques in mind without prompts. WalkThrus offers the perfect answer - well-catalogued techniques accessible on any platform, to support coaches to give tailored guidance, matching solutions to the problems teachers experience.
A strong coaching process comprises multiple interactions over time. Ideally this includes observations of practice and dedicated coaching sessions.
WalkThrus help the coach and teacher to keep focused on the key elements of teaching techniques during a lesson and during their coaching conversation. Each step in the WalkThru offers a prompt for reflection - a possible area of success or something to develop further.
Our experience in the field has shown that a high proportion of schools and colleges favour team or small group approaches to professional learning, alongside or instead of one-to-one instructional coaching. We find that this can be highly effective, utilising existing structures and relationships. WalkThrus provide the same support: a common language and repertoire of techniques fostering shared understanding with specific prompts for reflection and action planning.
In our How? section, we provide multiple sources of guidance for teachers, leaders and coaches. Our most popular resources are based on the well-known Bambrick-Santoyo ‘5Ps’ approach: Praise; Probe; Problem; Practise; Plan ahead. The WalkThrus toolkit includes coaching session planning tools that can be linked to any technique, prompting discussion around the 5Ps. Crucially this creates a plan of specific action steps that form the basis for each subsequent session in the cycle.
