Mentoring and Coaching – (Grad.Cert.)

Coaching and mentoring are increasingly seen as forms of professional and organisational learning whose effects go far beyond what can be achieved through traditional training courses.

The purpose of this module is to develop a deep understanding of the personal, social and organisational learning processes that take place when these approaches are used competently, and to explore and develop the capabilities and attributes needed to promote them.

The module is designed to serve the needs of those directly involved in coaching and mentoring, and those whose personal effectiveness can be enhanced by a thorough knowledge of what is involved and how it can be of benefit to individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole. Likely beneficiaries therefore include senior and middle leaders/managers, MTL coaches, induction tutors, subject mentors and others wishing to develop their practical capabilities as coaches and mentors in educational settings. Note that whilst the course does deal with the mentoring of trainee teachers, this is not the main focus since the role and impact of coaching can best be enhanced by the creation of a pervasive coaching culture (rather than a managerialist culture) within the organisation.

Since modern conceptions of leadership and management embrace coaching as central to personal and organisational effectiveness, this module is strongly recommended for all leadership pathway students and includes alternative assignments for them which cover planning the introduction of a coaching programme for all staff and evaluating the impact of coaching. For students who wish to focus on their own development the assignments include a deep analysis of personal practice and a case-study.

The MEd is studied part-time over three years. This course requires attendance on two weekends.

There are alternative routes to the modules. These are the intensive Work Based Learning (WBL) route, available to school groups only and is taught and supported in the school, and the fast track Advanced Practitioner Pathway (APP) which has an exclusively oral examination based on core and elective reading.