Coaching in Education Podcast Series

In this episode of the coaching in education podcast series we hear how Paul Bennett, Assistant Principal of Howick College in Auckland New Zealand, upscaled coaching in his school to a very impressive level. Paul shares how his initial attempts 'bombed' but with sheer determination and an eye on the research from schools around the world, he managed to turn things around. Howick College now boasts a coaching system where 12 specially trained coaches support an incredible 134 teachers on a fortnightly basis throughout the school year. Listen to Paul explain their 'Tracking Outcomes' programme, developed in collaboration with GCI, to regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of coaching at Howick. This is a truly inspiring example of what can happen when theory and good intentions meet reality.

In this episode I'm in conversation with Ian Dickinson, Principal of Pigeon Mountain Primary School in Auckland, New Zealand. Listen in as Ian shares many of the wins as well as some of the barriers he has experienced over recent years developing a coaching culture. Join me as I learn how video peer coaching has provided a wonderful vehicle for improving the quality of conversations as the school aims to provide an 'Education with a Heart'.

In this episode GCI speak with Janice Lenarduzzi, Deputy Principal at MacGregor State School in Queensland, Australia. Janice shares with us the successes and challenges of introducing a coaching culture in a large state school of over 50 staff and 1300 pupils. Starting out with only two coaches Janice invests time and energy in unpacking what coaching is, succeeds in convincing 50% of the staff to take a risk and sign up and then shares with us the impact coaching has on both teaching practice and pupil outcomes. This story is well worth a listen.

In this episode I talk to Alison Spence, Principal of Kohia Terrace School in Auckland, New Zealand. Alison shares the highs (and lows) of establishing a coaching culture in her school. From a challenging first few years Alison has successfully developed coaching to a level where the majority of her staff are now trained coaches, an amazing sixty students have been trained as coaches and she herself spends time coaching leaders from neighbouring schools in the Kohia community. In Alison's own words Coaching is something we live and breathe at Kohia School. Join us for a truly inspirational story.

In this 're-launch' episode of the Coaching in Education podcast, GCI Managing Director Chris Munro introduces our new podcast host Richard Reid and interviews him about his own coaching journey. As you will hear, Richard is a school leader who has experienced and witnessed the benefits of coaching in school settings. Richard continues to work as a Principal in County Down, Northern Ireland and is a podcasting enthusiast in his 'spare' time. He brings the warm and humble perspective of teacher, Principal, coach and mentor to his new role hosting our podcast series.

"Effective communication is an essential skill for a fulfilled life, and we can't teach it to students if we don't know how to do it ourselves." In this podcast, Leigh Hatcher interviews Dr Jim Knight about his new book, Better Conversations Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected. He is joined by Gray Ryan, our Senior Consultant based in Victoria. Jim explores the beliefs and habits that are necessary to promote better communication leading to positive change. Gray talks about the benefits of better communication and how our new program, Better Conversations, is based on this book.

In this podcast, Leigh talks to John Campbell, GCI Executive Director, on the topic of schools as conversational communities. John talks about conversational contexts in schools and where the coaching style conversation could make a difference.

Do students have the emotional intelligence to coach their peers? And what would some of the other key considerations be for schools interested in implementing a student peer coaching program. In this short interview, we talk to Ben Calleja, Co-Director at GCI WA, SA & NT, who explains what others have found in this exciting new area of coaching.

Over the last 18 months GCI Director, Annette Gray, helped initiate and embed a coaching culture to improve safety at Laing O'Rourke, a multinational construction company. Laing O'Rourke is a quite a different setting to the education sector that GCI mostly works in. But in this conversation, Rob and Suzy share a lot of transferrable insights for educators. Listen to how taking a different approach to safety and changing the conversation to be more solution-focussed has helped Laing O'Rourke. In this podcast, Rob Mitchell, Coaching Lead at Laing O'Rourke and Suzy Ivy, Training Coordinator at Laing O'Rourke share the impact coaching has had on their organisation.

Growth Coaching International (GCI) is excited to announce a new partnership with Dr Jim Knight and the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). This partnership will enable GCI to deliver the world-leading instructional coaching programs to educators in Australia and New Zealand. In this interview, we talk with Jim about his work and what he's discovered in over twenty years' of studying professional learning.