Mentoring and Coaching in Schools: Professional Learning through Collaborative Inquiry

Can mentoring and coaching really improve professional practice? How can research and inquiry improve mentoring and coaching practice?

Mentoring and Coaching in Schools explores the ways in which mentoring and coaching can be used as a dynamic collaborative process for effective professional learning. It demonstrates how the use of practitioner inquiry within mentoring and coaching relationships in schools results in professional learning which is both transformative and empowering for teachers.

The book sets out a new model for mentoring and coaching which is centred on a process of critical inquiry and shows teachers how they can use this model to carry out their own collaborative inquiries. Features include:

• reflective questions, guidelines, task and templates to help collect evidence and evaluate inquiries
• detailed case studies focusing on teachers at different stages in their career
• practical guidance on carrying out practitioner inquiry and research
• an analysis of learning outcomes resulting from different coaching and mentoring relationships.

This timely text will be valuable reading for coaches and mentors in secondary schools, teachers undertaking continuing professional development and students on coaching and mentoring courses.

Suzanne Burley is Academic Leader for Teacher Education and Professional Learning at London Metropolitan University.

Cathy Pomphrey was Academic Leader for Initial Teacher Education at London Metropolitan University and now works as an education consultant.