1st Edition

Coaching Psychology in Schools Enhancing Performance, Development and Wellbeing

By Mark Adams Copyright 2016
    228 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    228 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Coaching psychology is a distinct branch of academic and applied psychology that focuses on enhancement of performance, development and wellbeing in the broader population. In Coaching Psychology in Schools, Mark Adams demonstrates how psychological principles and approaches can be applied in schools to enhance the performance of education practitioners, teams and settings, with corresponding benefits for the children under their care.

    Coaching Psychology in Schools aims to put psychology in the hands of the reader, imparting psychology-informed coaching strategies that can enhance effectiveness in supporting others to learn, change and develop. The book challenges traditional notions of how psychology can contribute to education and illustrates how better outcomes for children can be achieved by helping adults to unlock and utilise their resources. The book covers how coaching psychology can be applied to:

    Develop classroom practice

    Improve teacher performance

    Support Continuing Professional Development

    Enhance practitioner and team performance, confidence and wellbeing

    Support practical problem-solving

    Develop individual and organisational resilience

    Real-life case examples are used throughout to illustrate practical coaching methods and techniques that are underpinned by established psychological approaches, including solution-focused coaching, cognitive-behavioural coaching, motivational interviewing and many more.

    Coaching Psychology in Schools will be essential reading for coaches, psychologists, and education practitioners who have an interest or investment in helping others to move forward, including school leaders, teacher coaches, CPD co-ordinators, advisors and consultants. It will also be of interest to those working in other professional contexts who are interested in finding out more about coaching psychology and its potential applications.

    Foreword by Stephen Palmer. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part One: Foundations. Introduction. 1. What is coaching? 2. Core coaching skills. 3. Structure in coaching 4. Psychology in coaching. Part Two: Applications in education. 5. Non-judgmental observation. 6. Coaching for performance. 7. Coaching for development. 8. Coaching for wellbeing. 9. Coaching for new-to-role practitioners. 10. Problem-solving and solution-finding. 11. Coaching for teams. 12. Developing resilience. Part Three: Reflections, conclusions, and future directions. 13. Pulling it all together. 14. Future directions. Appendix 1: Making coaching work. Appendix 2: Ethics in coaching. References.

    Biography

    Mark Adams is a Chartered Psychologist with fifteen years’ experience of working in education as a teacher, educational psychologist, and coaching psychologist. He is the director of Adams Psychology Services, Bristol, providing consultation, coaching and training services to education settings and practitioners, while also supporting others to develop proficiency in coaching skills. Mark is passionate about applying psychology to support others to learn, achieve, and develop.

    ‘A must-read for every head teacher and school leader who values the importance of supporting staff to grow and develop as practitioners.  It is skilfully crafted to give the right balance of psychology theory and practical coaching strategies and is easily accessible to those who do not have a psychology background.’ - Claire Banks, Head Teacher, St. Werburgh’s Primary School, Bristol

    'Like Mark, I have seen how powerful coaching can be in promoting performance, development and wellbeing in educational settings. In this book he clearly articulates why this is important and illustrates how it can be achieved through a range of case studies. He skillfully describes key psychological theories and practical coaching tools so that any practitioner can use them. Mark’s passion and expertise in coaching and the core values he discusses are themselves embedded within the book, resulting in a personal coaching experience for the reader however experienced, or whatever their role within education.’ - Dr Jak Lee, educational psychologist and coach, lecturer at University of Bristol 

    ‘This innovative book is the first coaching psychology book specifically concentrating on working within schools and will be of interest to professionals who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in order to enhance the performance, development and wellbeing of anybody within this community.’ - Stephen Palmer, from the foreword

    'This book provides one of the most comprehensive and accessible descriptions of the role of the coach that I have seen...this is a thoroughly enjoyable and very practical book, which not only clearly describes, but also actually employs, the structure and principles of coaching in its engagement with the reader.' - Carolyn Mumby, Coaching Today