peer coaching (1)

PEER COACHING - the WHAT

There are many ways to define it ...from the root words 'peer' and 'coaching' anywhere! However, it depends on the client you (as a Coach) work with.

For the purpose of this discussion (in 5 series) I am taking EDUCATORS' environment to start with.

Peer Coaching

is a confidential process
through which
two or more professional colleagues
work together TO REFLECT
on CURRENT PRACTICES;
expand, refine, and build new skills;

SHARE IDEAS, TEACH ONE ANOTHER;
conduct classroom research or
SOLVE PROBLEMS in the WORKPLACE."

- Pam Robins, ASCD Virginia "How to Plan and Implement a Peer Coaching Program"

Note:
1. Peer coaching practices sometime referred as (used in school): peer support /consulting colleagues /peer sharing /caring.

2. The other names seem to have evolved, in some cases, out of teacher discomfort with the term 'coaching'. Some claim the word 'coaching' implies that the one person in the collaborative relationship has different status?

As research and experience inform us, "...the reality is that they are at the SAME RANK (Sizer 1995)... Teachers have the same classroom space, number of students and requirements. They all focus on the collaborative development, refinement and sharing of craft knowledge.