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Coaching for teachers has evolved as a form of professional development. The benefits of such interventions have been examined with regard to student, teacher and school outcomes, but the purpose of this paper is to present an investigation relating to the benefits of instructional coaching (Knight, 2006) to teachers as perceived by the teachers themselves.

The study utilises a subjectivist approach with a constructivist paradigmatic stance (Morgan and Burrell, 1985). Eleven semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted (King, 2019) with teachers at a secondary (high) school in the UK. The data were interpreted and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clark, 2006).

The research suggests the following four benefits to the teachers who participated in the study, which aligned well with the literature review: improved relationships, awareness, reflectiveness and enhanced practice. A fifth perceived benefit reported by the participants was positive attitude, which captured a sense of increased confidence, motivation and positivity.

Findings were based on the self-reported data of a small sample. Therefore it is not possible to generalise the findings but Thematic Analysis was used to understand perceptions and insights in a wider context (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003). This research builds on the literature focusing on perceived benefits to teachers. Findings generally support current theoretical understanding. The results of this exploration of the teacher perception of benefits of instructional coaching in one UK school contributes to the emerging literature about the benefits of coaching. The teacher perceived benefit of positive attitude does not appear to be identified in the literature.

In practice, this study raised awareness of the possible benefits of coaching to educators. The authors recommend that educators, policymakers and educational leaders should further explore the potential benefits of coaching in education settings. Utilising teacher perception, the study further confirms coaching to be a useful way of supporting educators to enhance their practice.

This paper fulfils an identified need to gain a better understanding of teacher-perceived benefits of coaching. This understanding will support school leaders and policymakers who may be considering how to best leverage coaching in educational settings.

There are significant challenges facing academics and senior leaders in higher education (HE) institutions internationally. These challenges have led to increasing levels of metrification and managerialism, which has fostered work intensification, reduced professional autonomy, stress and burnout amongst faculty staff. Traditional approaches for supporting and developing staff, such as mentoring and training, do not provide the resources faculty staff need to meet the challenges they face. In contrast, experiences in various other educational and professional settings have demonstrated the effectiveness of workplace coaching in fostering well-being, adaptability, flexibility and sustainable performance. This review argues that workplace coaching could similarly support academics.

A critical literature review evaluates coaching interventions across educational and comparable sectors to identify positive well-being and performance-based outcomes.

While there is limited research into the efficacy of coaching interventions for faculty staff in HE, research in other educational, as well as comparable professional contexts, identifies significant sustainable improvements in well-being and performance for professional staff.

The evidence that identifies positive outcomes of coaching in professional workplace contexts is compelling. This critical review uses some of that evidence base to propose an agenda to implement coaching programmes that support faculty staff to improve their well-being and performance.

While there are published research studies on the positive outcomes of coaching in primary and secondary educational contexts, as well as for postgraduate research students, there is very limited knowledge, practice and research about coaching faculty staff in HE. This article addresses this by critically reviewing a broad range of literature to identify coaching and research initiatives for faculty staff in HE institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the evidence base on coaching and mentoring in education, to provide a commentary on literature published in the first 10 volumes of the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education (IJMCE) in particular and to offer some directions for future research in the field.

This review and position paper draws on the authors’ knowledge of the extant literature on coaching and mentoring in education, their own research in the field and their perspectives as editors of coaching and mentoring journals.

Among the outcomes of their review and commentary, the authors observe that coaching and mentoring research conducted to date largely occupies two separate fields, and studies published in one field frequently fail to draw on relevant literature from the other or recognise the overlap between them. The authors highlight a number of additional limitations of the evidence base on coaching and mentoring in education and offer some potential means of addressing these.

The paper offers an original reflection on current research into coaching and mentoring in education. It is intended that the paper will inform the design and publication of future studies in this area to strengthen the evidence base and, in turn, inform improvements to coaching and mentoring practice. In particular, the authors hope to encourage the ethical deployment of coaching and mentoring which enhances, rather than inhibits, the well-being of all participants, while realising other positive outcomes.

Schools are traditionally hierarchical organisations with headteachers holding significant influence to effect change. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an investigation into the experiences of school leaders introducing coaching cultures into their schools.

This study adopts a phenomenological approach. In total, 20 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with headteachers and deputy headteachers in the UK. Thematic analysis was used to code the data and identify themes.

The paper reports on six themes based on the experiences of school leaders who participated in this study: personal beliefs about coaching are influenced by prior experiences; frustration about the pace of change; pressure of conflicting demands; feelings of isolation; the need for confidence to see the process through; and experiencing personal growth. The findings of this study shed light on the experience that school leaders may face when introducing coaching initiatives.

These findings are unique to the participants of this study and therefore not representative of a general population of educational leaders. Further research into factors that can influence the successful introduction of coaching initiatives into educational settings is recommended.

The paper includes implications for school leaders who wish to introduce coaching initiatives into their educational contexts. It is argued, for example, it is helpful for school leaders to reflect on their own beliefs about coaching before initiating cultural change within their schools.

This paper fulfils an identified need to understand leadership experiences in relation to coaching in schools. This understanding will support policy makers and school leaders interested in embedding coaching cultures within schools.

This paper adds depth to our understanding of how coaching works by exploring the experiences of 14 aspiring school principals who received one-to-one leadership coaching as part of a leadership development programme.

This study adopts a phenomenological approach. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. Thematic analysis was used to code the data and identify themes.

This paper reports on four themes based on the experiences of the participants: having time to reflect, feeling safe to explore, focussing on what's important for me and experiencing positive emotions.

The findings are unique to the participants who volunteered to take part in this study and therefore not representative of a general population of aspiring educational leaders. Further research is needed into the possible benefits of coaching to support educators undergoing leadership training.

The findings raise a potential dilemma within the teaching profession about the use of educators' time; while they need to give time and attention to multiple stakeholders, they also need to protect time for their own development and self-reflection. Based on the reported experiences of the participants in this study, it is recommended that coaching be considered a component of professional development for educational leaders.

This paper adds to the growing research base for coaching in education, providing a unique insight into the experiences of aspiring school principals who received one-to-one leadership coaching as part of a leadership development programme.

There is a significant volume of literature relating to the mentoring needs of new principals and vice/deputy principals, but little is known about the mentoring needs of recently appointed middle leaders in an educational setting. This study explored the mentoring needs of five female middle leaders at a K–12 case study school of 550 students in Perth, Australia.

Each participant had three mentoring sessions, followed by a semi-structured interview using open-ended questions to provide data on the participants' mentoring needs. The research was framed within an interpretive phenomenology paradigm that focussed on the participants' perceived experiences and how they then interpreted these experiences. One of the researchers was active in this research, acting as the mentor (Neubauer et al., 2019; Smith and Osborn, 2021).

The findings of this study revealed the importance of the mentor being a “critical friend”. In addition, the participants referred to leadership identity, leadership from the middle, managing relationships and gender as other important mentoring needs.

This empirical study contributes original findings on the mentoring needs of a previously neglected group of educational leaders who provide an essential bridge between classroom practitioners and senior leadership in Australian schools. This study is unique because it links these mentoring needs to the practice architectures, factors at the case study school that either constrained or enabled middle leading (Kemmis et al., 2014).

While current research is reporting on a crisis in school leadership aspirations and appointments, this research sheds light on the mediating factors that school middle leaders (MLs) attribute to their appointment as a leader and their aspirations to senior leadership positions.

Qualitative data from a larger, mixed-method, research project were collected using an online survey completed by 2,608 MLs in a large public school system in Australia and is analysed using an inductive thematic process.

The findings suggest that MLs experience varying and non-linear career progressions and that a range of personal and professional factors impact their career aspirations. The support of an “experienced other” such as a principal, mentor or coach and strategic career planning are all important in the identification, support, development and advancement of MLs.

This paper contributes to the scarce body of research on middle leadership identification and aspirations. The study recommends a system approach drawn from the empirical data and associated literature that may be useful to inform policymakers, school systems and school leaders in efforts towards middle leadership identification, development and advancement.

The purpose of the study was to gather data to determine whether instructional coaching partnerships can improve teachers’ implementation of learned mathematics instructional strategies. Teachers are willing to learn and implement new mathematics strategies after professional development sessions to see better student learning results. However, the implementation process can become difficult. Our purpose was to determine whether implementing mathematics strategies improved if an instructional coaching partnership supported teachers.

“Do instructional coaching partnerships improve teachers’ implementation of mathematics instructional strategies?” We gathered data to determine whether instructional coaching partnerships support teachers’ capacity to implement new learning. Data were collected using video recording or classroom observation as a pre- and post-assessment. Teachers received 4 to 6 weeks of instructional coaching support during the intervention. Teachers completed a questionnaire about their intervention experiences. Student testing data were also analyzed to determine whether the intervention increased learning outcomes.

Our findings showed improved mathematics strategies, explicitly implementing the open-ended questioning strategy used during mathematics instruction. Open-ended questions to check students’ mathematics understanding increased by 42%. Teachers responded to a qualitative survey and stated overall satisfaction with the support provided by the instructional coach. Additionally, state testing scores in Grades 3 to 5 increased proficiency levels. Grade-level growth comparisons increased between 5 and 28%.

This study adds to current research stating that instructional coaching cycles and the implementation of partnership principles can positively support the execution of learned teaching practices. The study also indicates the effects of coaching support on students’ learning.