Strong relationships between principals, teachers, and students can make classroom observations more effective. When principals have a rapport with their staff and students, the observation process becomes more authentic and less intimidating. Building these relationships ahead of time is crucial for creating a comfortable and productive observation environment.

Increasing Support and Challenge Within Collective Leadership

Let’s take a look at Thomson’s Cycle of Development and how this supports the teacher’s professional development needs while enabling them to grow engagement to buy into the school’s cultural shift. 

Managed well within the coaching context towards collective leadership at team and individual levels, the coach acts as the intermediary to help facilitate change within the school. They bridge the gap between leadership and teachers by sharing teachers' beliefs, skills and practices with principals, while conveying the principal's ideas and priorities to teachers. 

Coaches also utilise their understanding of learning communities to facilitate collective learning within teacher teams, with the clear benefit of transferring learning from continued professional development (CPD) to classroom and whole school practice. 

To make this open communication even possible, we should note that a collective approach suggests that we must challenge ourselves to move beyond an individual focus to embrace individual development alongside that of the team and a team of teams that form an effective organisation.

Pause for Reflection

• How can we create a culture of psychological safety where teachers feel comfortable engaging in non-directive coaching and taking risks in their professional development?

• In what ways can we integrate positive psychology approaches into our coaching and evaluation processes to better support teacher well-being and long-term growth?