Better Health and Fitness at School

Learning Forward Saturday

May 30, 3:00 pm, 45 min

 

Dhruv Mehrotra from FittGen presented a comprehensive fitness program for schools, emphasising the importance of health and fitness. The program, which includes tests for various parameters like hand-eye coordination and agility, costs ₹1,500 per child per year within Tamil Nadu and ₹2,500 outside Tamil Nadu. Dhruv highlighted a 95% improvement in children's fitness due to the program. He also discussed accommodating children with medical conditions and the importance of gradual fitness improvements. The session concluded with a discussion on the benefits of yoga and daily exercise routines for teachers and students.

Action items

  - Implement the Fit Generation fitness programme at Prateeksha’s school within the next 15–21 days, including providing iPads and the curriculum and ensuring the school follows the structured programme.

  - Share your email ID and phone number with the group so teachers can message or call you with any questions about the Fit Generation programme.

  - Share the nutrition plan that was previously sent with the parents so they can follow it for their children’s health.

Here are the questions asked during the meeting and the answers given (speaker noted where available):

1. Q: Can you share the PPT? (technical/help request)  

   A: Sneha Pundir offered to share the PPT and successfully did so so that Dhruv could present.

2. Q: What are the programme commercials/costs? (Brinda)  

   A: Dhruv — Cost depends on location and school size. For schools within Tamil Nadu and with >1000 students: ₹1,500 per child per year. For schools outside Tamil Nadu: ₹2,500 per child per year (higher due to the possibility of coaches needing to relocate). There is variation (example: a ₹500 increment in some cases) depending on numbers and logistics.

3. Q: Why is the cost less for Tamil Nadu? (Brinda / Speaker)  

   A: Dhruv — Lower because coaches/local support are available; outside Tamil Nadu, extra cost accounts for coach relocation or finding local staff.

4. Q: How do you reach children from different/disadvantaged backgrounds (NGO schools, rural children) who may have different home situations? (Brinda)  

   A: Dhruv — Every child can benefit from basic daily movement; the programme uses simple exercises and technology for tracking so teachers can monitor progress. Even minimal, regular basic movements produce improvement. Fittgen adapts the curriculum to the school context.

5. Q: Can the programme work in schools that cannot spare daily timetable slots? Can children follow routines from home? (Brinda)  

   A: Dhruv — Yes. The programme is flexible; there are app-based sessions and routines that children (and parents) can follow at home if school time is constrained.

6. Q: Are there accommodations for students with medical conditions (e.g., diabetes)? (Minakshi Prasad)  

   A: Dhruv — The first step is medical identification by a doctor. Most conditions (including many cases of diabetes related to obesity) can be helped with gradual diet control and basic movement. Exercise plans must be gradual and tailored; severe conditions (e.g., certain heart conditions) may need medical clearance. FittGen also refers nutritionists (with discounts) and can work with medical partners (Apollo Shine Foundation mentioned for non-invasive tests).

7. Q: How to motivate or give tips to adult teachers for maintaining fitness/energy? (Brinda)  

   A: Dhruv — Daily 30 minutes of basic yoga/pranayama/walking and a modest diet change can yield large benefits. He shared personal/family examples (his parents’ improved health) and recommended making fitness a daily habit.

8. Q: Do you tie the programme into the school timetable and ensure mandatory participation? (Brinda / re: Vellumal school example)  

   A: Dhruv — The programme is designed to be integrated into school schedules; FittGen works with schools to make it mandatory and slot it into timetables. If schools can’t provide daily slots, app/home routines are an alternative.

9. Q: For Prateeksha’s school: Will you implement Fit Gen there soon? (implied by Dharma/Prateeksha)  

   A: Dhruv — Yes; he confirmed a visit/implementation in about 15–21 days, and provided iPads and curriculum, asking the school to follow the programme.

10. Q: How are students’ fitness parameters tracked and reported? (implied from presentation/teacher queries)  

    A: Dhruv — FittGen tests multiple parameters (height, weight, speed, endurance, flexibility, agility, reaction, coordination, balance, strength), provides dashboards and individually measured report cards, and gives teachers analysis to focus training where students lack skills.

11. Q: Can parents be involved, and are there nutrition plans? (Minakshi / others)  

    A: Minakshi — She had shared a nutrition plan with parents.  

    A: Dhruv — FittGen provides nutrition charts at the beginning of the year and refers nutritionists (with discounts) to support families.

12. Q: Are there medical/health partners for testing? (implied)  

    A: Dhruv — Yes; Apollo Shine Foundation was mentioned as a medical partner for non-invasive tests when needed.

Notes courtesy of Otter AI

Meet And Greet with Dr Anupam Sibal

To discuss Dr Anupam Sibal's book "Is Your Child Ready to Face the World?" and explore parenting insights with educators.

Key Takeaways

•⁠  ⁠Values like compassion, humility, and gratitude remain crucial for raising children, even as technology rapidly changes society

•⁠  ⁠Deeper parent-teacher engagement is needed beyond formal PTAs to support children holistically

•⁠  ⁠Time management, creating a positive environment, and teaching forgiveness are key habits for children's development

•⁠  ⁠The current generation faces unique challenges with impatience and mental health due to the instant gratification culture

Topics

Dr Sibal's Background and Parenting Philosophy

•⁠  ⁠Grew up in Kashmir until age 16, then moved to Delhi for medical studies

•⁠  ⁠Emphasises balance between mother's "soft touch" and father's "hard touch" in parenting

•⁠  ⁠Believes in a collaborative spirit between child and parent, allowing for open debate

•⁠  ⁠Stresses the importance of finding one's calling rather than forcing career paths

Challenges of Modern Parenting

•⁠  ⁠Today's children have much more exposure and access to information

•⁠  ⁠Parents struggle to accept children's logical arguments against their views

•⁠  ⁠Need to create an environment for meaningful dialogue and accept that children may know more about some topics

•⁠  ⁠Important to teach time management, balance, and patience in an instant gratification culture

Developing Compassion and Empathy

•⁠  ⁠The current generation is perceived as lacking in compassion/empathy compared to previous ones

•⁠  ⁠These traits can be trained, but shouldn't be forced - need to create the right environment

•⁠  ⁠Impatience and desire for instant results make it harder to develop these qualities

•⁠  ⁠Mental health issues are more prevalent in the current generation due to a lack of patience

Parent-Teacher Engagement

•⁠  ⁠Formal PTAs are insufficient for authentic engagement - need deeper, more frequent connections

•⁠  ⁠Suggestion to create an app/tool to better connect teachers and parents

•⁠  ⁠Home visits by teachers (1 per week) can dramatically improve engagement

•⁠  ⁠Understanding family challenges is key to supporting students holistically

Next Steps

•⁠  ⁠Explore creating a parent engagement platform as part of GSA initiatives

•⁠  ⁠Consider inviting parents to "Brewing Knowledge" sessions for shared learning

•⁠  ⁠Encourage schools to have teachers conduct regular home visits (1 per week)

•⁠  ⁠Join the upcoming My Good School Sunday session on communication skills with Kartik Bajoria

Lifelong Learning - Sandeep's Post via Linkedin

A big thank you to the wonderful people who believed in me and continue to invest their faith in me. Their love and belief are my most considerable earnings, so I thought I would share some beautiful words they have penned for me.

Kunal Rajpurohit with Sandeep at The Fabindia School. The photo is of the steps leading to the principal's office. Kunal is currently a Fellow at The Teacher's Academy.

Photo credit - the official school photographer at The Fabindia School Annual Day celebrations.

One person whose contribution I would particularly like to highlight is Sandeep Dutt, who joined us as Chairman and Executive Director of the Bhadrajan Artisans Trust in 2012. He has facilitated many of the landmark achievements we celebrate today. - William N Bissell, Founder & MD Fabindia

You rarely come across a stand-out talent like Sandeep. He never fails to make a dramatic difference in any role he occupies. He can juggle multiple projects without compromising on the results. He can get teams to work to the highest standards through a strategic and inclusive leadership approach. Sandeep is a committed humanitarian and educationalist who has influenced change in the development and corporate sectors. He is highly recommended as a leader and as a team member.  - Cristal de Saldanha,  Leading Commonwealth Youth Adviser.

Learning Forward has developed best practices for the world through innovative innovations like the byte-sized PD, which focuses on core values and every individual's personal and social development. - Kalyani Chaudhuri, Principal Billabong High International School Thane

Read more

Humility and Appreciation - Laxmi Kant Bhatt

Children feel encouraged and confident when they are appreciated; in fact, every person feels encouraged when appreciated. To boost their confidence, I decided to perform a task which could contribute to my subject at school. I came up with an idea to make an activity related to maths which could also be fun for the students.

With humility, I walked up to the principal and explained that we should provide a maths challenge every week and divide the students into junior and senior groups. Each group gets one question. The student who comes first with the correct solution will be the winner of the challenge. For appreciation, we will announce the child's name in the assembly, and the child will be rewarded. 

My principal was very supportive of the idea and suggested that you take the winner child out for coffee, and we can call it coffee with the coach. 

Cheered when ma'am accepted my idea, we announced the challenge in the assembly the next day and put the challenge on the notice board. Good response from the children, and we did get winners of the challenge. The winners were taken out for a coffee. The children felt obliged to go out for a coffee. They were full of excitement and felt appreciated for being awarded this way. The other children were encouraged by this and were discussing and excited about the new challenge. They approached me and continuously asked for a new challenge.

I am glad that the children enjoyed my activity. This way, we found a good way to appreciate the children for their excellent work.

Laxmi Kant Bhatt

The Doon Girls' School Dehradun

JOL Cohort 2022

Audra Gold "I am passionate about Education...

Episode #96: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Audra Gold, the CEO and co-founder of Vurbl, one of the largest non-music databases of streaming audio in the US with thousands of audio creators publishing content for millions of listeners that are consuming millions of minutes of audio from a library of over 30 million titles across 100's of content categories. Audra fell in love with the Internet in college in the 1990s, during the first years of the Commercial Internet. She started developing start-up ideas and launching them with fellow students, and she has not stopped since. Audra has helped build, launch and grow digital-first businesses from the first dot-com boom through many economic ups and downs after that, learning just about every lesson you can imagine in the many start-ups she has been a part of. She has been awarded a Primetime Emmy Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for her work at Fourthwall Studios, which the Nantworks group of companies later acquired. She has also helped author and develop several digital media and ad-tech related patents throughout the last 20 years.

Audra shares what learning means to her in today's Episode, her passion for education, and the importance of audio learning. As a child, she was an inquisitive person; she spent a lot of time in the library, the internet for learning in that era! She comes from a family of educators; what drove her to audio and the idea of Vurbl was born through her personal consumption of audiobooks, as this was her first passion, you listen and learn, perhaps the easiest way to enrich your brain. The successful womenprenuer shares three ingredients for a successful career recipe: passion, knowledge acquisition, and hard work ethics in life. Her favourite teacher story and how she learnt from watching her teachers - patience, discipline and enthusiasm - have helped her become a good mentor for people in life. She has spent a lot of time teaching, her teacher was her cross country coach, and he taught her the benefits of juicing, which helped him batter cancer. This was real-life learning about nutrition and holistic health. A maths teacher changed her diet perspective! Her favourite quote is, "Be suspicious of what you want; this keeps her motivated as it helps her delve deeper and find out what is the motive, what is driving you to do x,y and Z? Competitive sports shaped her approach to life, team building for business was indeed learnt from the soccer team.

"Building a business is one of the hardest, most difficult things you'll ever do. You better make sure you are building something meaningful to you and brings you joy at the end of the day. If I did not love the audio medium and believe in our ability to truly revolutionize the audio space for creators, listeners and brands, I would never have survived the last 6 months." Inspirational Women Leaders Of Tech: Audra Everett Gold Vurbl is an audio streaming destination for all audio creators and anyone who loves listening to audio. They support audio creators through our station model and help listeners connect with meaningful content to listen to. Useful links: https://vurbl.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/audragold/ https://twitter.com/audragold https://www.instagram.com/audra_gold/

Audra Gold Audio Bio.
https://vurbl.com/listen/audra-gold-co-founder-ceo-1U1R230l9Vm/ 
Listen to her answer our 10 questions about audio. 

Learning Forward Station on Vurbl.Com
https://vurbl.com/station/learning-forward/

You will love the stories shared by our happy teachers and passionate educators. We grow the capacity of your people to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources. Each person in your school contributes to the culture of your school. School culture is built on the actions and interactions of the people. You make your school stronger by adding value to others and making others feel valued.

Vurbl app for ios at the app store and that Android will be releasing soon!

Hard Conversation with Jennifer Abrams

Episode #90: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Jennifer Abrams, an international educational and communications consultant for public and independent schools, universities, and non-profits. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators, and others on new teacher/employee support, having hard conversations, collaboration skills, and being your best adult self at work. Jennifer was a high school English teacher, new teacher coach, and professional development facilitator over two decades at Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA, USA). She left PAUSD in 2012 to start her full-time communications consultancy, in which she works with schools and organizations across the globe. Jennifer presents at annual North American-based conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, NAESP, AMLE, ISACS, and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium. Internationally, she facilitated with the Teachers’ and Principals’ Centers for International School Leadership (TTC and PTC) and presented with EARCOS, NESA, ECIS, AISA, AASSA, CEESA, and Tri-Association, and consults with schools across Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada. Jennifer’s publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicating, Collaborating & Creating Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked – the Whos, the Whens and the What Ifs, Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives, and her newest book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work. Jennifer has been recognized as one of “21 Women All K-12 Educators Need to Know” by Education Week’s ‘Finding Common Ground’ blog. She considers herself a “voice coach,” helping others learn how to best use their voices – be it collaborating on a team, presenting in front of a group, coaching a colleague, supervising an employee. Her website is www.jenniferabrams.com.

Her new book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work, is www.miravia.com.
Follow @jenniferabrams on Twitter and @jenniferbethabrams on Instagram.

Jennifer Abrams "I am passionate about Education...

Aug 14 • 12:19

In the show, she shares how she set out to be a grammar teacher and evolved to a Coach for adult learning. She had in her the inherent credentials for communicating efficaciously. Building humane relationships, her work syncs with what Learning Forward India delivers with their Joy Of Learning Program, focusing on self-confidence, resilience, and a happy teacher.

The Learning Forward Show

https://anchor.fm/learningforward

You will love the stories shared by our happy teachers and passionate educators. We grow your people's capacity to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources. Each person in your school contributes to the culture of your school. School culture is built on the actions and interactions of the people. You make your school stronger by adding value to others and making others feel valued.

Courage and Patience - Engaging Minds BHIS

A stumble may prevent a fall.

COACH ME

and I will learn

CHALLENGE ME

and I will grow.

BELIEVE IN ME

and I will win.

Magic happens when you do not give up, even though you want to. The universe always falls in love with a stubborn heart - J.M. Storm.

Albert always grew with the thought that only children with good grades are successful in life. Albert's performance was always the best, he was brilliant at academics,  Now Albert was heading to high school. Along with this, grew the expectations of all his teachers. Albert began to feel nervous. Each day built new pressure on him. It was like a mountain of expectations that he was unable to hold up. He couldn't confide in anyone. He lost his self-confidence. His courage disappeared in a blink of his eye. Needless to say, his performance began to suffer.

Ms Daisy, a middle-aged teacher who had always observed Albert since his childhood, was puzzled by this sudden display of low self-esteem. She approached him. She understood the underlying issue and showered him with her continuous encouragement and personal attention. Days turned into weeks. With a lot of patience and perseverance, Albert gathered courage and decided to attempt his final exams. And there he was - topping the rank list. His happiness knew no bounds. He couldn't thank Ms Daisy enough. This combination of courage and patience teaches us to not give up in life despite the situation.

The Patience to wait for the right moment and the courage to accept whatever you encounter are the two hardest challenges in one's life!!!!!

“COURAGE DOESN’T ALWAYS ROAR. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow’”

Engaging Minds @ Billabong High International School Thane

- Ginny Franklin, Yojana Suryarao, Ishita Thakkar, Kiran Pandey, Nilka Gandhi, Geeta Mali, Meenaz Khan.

Edthena - Virtual Support

PLP3 Better Learning Outcomes

Learning Program (PLP) for Smart Teachers

Maybe you are already considering using videos of teaching in your professional development plans but feel overwhelmed by how to begin, worried about the limited time you and your teachers have to devote to figuring out a new system. Maybe video coaching already plays a role in developing your teachers, but you suspect it could be more effective. Maybe you’re somewhere in between. Wherever you are, this playbook will help you make and implement a plan for how to best use video-powered professional learning with your teachers. If you’re just getting started, our learning program will help you get up and running quickly and successfully, providing insight into techniques that can be used to deepen the learning teachers get from video-based professional learning. It will also expand your thinking about the types of strategies that can be used with a video platform and the opportunities they afford you and your teachers. But first, it’s important to have a clear sense of the goals in mind.

Focus: BETTER STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (15 Sessions) ­ The Program will help teachers use Edtech for enhancing student learning. The book 'Evidence Of Practice - Adam Geller, will help you adapt video-powered professional learning and prepare you to be a future-ready teacher.

Edthena is the award-winning classroom observation platform for using teaching videos as part of professional development. Teachers upload classroom videos to share with colleagues who leave timestamped comments. Edthena also offers specialized collaboration tools to help organizations implement best practices for video-based professional learning.

”Educators will appreciate that the authors tackle the issue of trust-building while at the same time providing best practice and practical examples that promote successful implementation. An important tool that belongs in every school’s professional library.” STEPHANIE HIRSH, Executive Director at Learning Forward

VIDEO-POWERED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING STRATEGIES Strategy 1 Classroom Tour Strategy; 2 Self-Interview Strategy; 3 Example Analysis Strategy; 4 Pre-Teach Strategy; 5 Video Observation Self-Reflection Partner-Supported Reflection; Strategy 6 Skill Building Sequence Strategy; 7 Video Learning Community Strategy; 8 Virtual Walk-Through Strategy; 9 Video Rounds Strategy; 10 Longer-Range Reflection Strategy; 11 Iterative Investigation Strategy; 12 Online Lesson Study.

”Video can dramatically accelerate professional learning in schools. A primary reason is that video helps educators get a clear picture of reality, which should be an important point of departure for any learning–to move forward, we need to know where we are”. JIM KNIGHT, University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. Contact our School Improvement Coach Sandeep Dutt by email sd@ebd.in

Schools may be closed, but education continues.

If teachers are still teaching, even if it is virtual, 

they still need professional development and support. 

For teachers: Tips for Capturing Online Teaching


Success Guide for recording your video conferences

For coaches: Supporting Newly Virtual Teachers


35-minute webinar

#StayHome
#WashYourHands,

Experience the Joy Of Learning from your home

Learning Forward India Professional Learning Program (PLP)

PLP1 The Joy Of Learning

We live in a society consumed by materialism and the desire for more. Does this mean our next generation of children will grow up being literate and numerate greedy consumers whose lives are judged by the size of their houses and the latest model BMW on the drive? Or can our society, along with the desire of educators, teach our children the values they need to take responsibility for living and learning? It's simple; the children are our future, it's our moral duty in schools to provide a Values-Based curriculum.

The future of education will be built on immutable values alone. 

Appreciation, Caring, Co-operation, Courage, Freedom, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Hope, Humility, Love, Patience, Peace, Quality, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Thoughtfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Understanding & Unity.

The Joy Of Learning (JOL) explores twenty-two values that can be taught through schools. This program will inspire you by using examples of where the costs are already being used by children and adults in schools and share practical tools to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate. It will also help people to take stock of their values and how they wish to lead their life. On successful completion, the individuals receive a certificate of participation.

The Joy Of Learning (11 Sessions) The teachers collaborate and work in groups to explore the 22 values and discover how the values help in the personal and social development of an individual. The benefits come alive at their school and enhance learning at the classroom level.

JOL is an extensive and profound learning experience that immerses members in a model of inquiry and problem-based learning. Staff members work collaboratively to gain knowledge to solve significant student learning problems in their schools. We seek to understand individual members' needs and then assist them in meeting objectives through a collaborative learning environment and with the support of experienced coaches.

Outcome and Certification: The educators are recognised for their effort with a Certificate Of Appreciation for every level of the Progam, a Gold Badge is awarded on completion of the three levels.

The PLP offers a great challenge and rewards the educators for the extra effort. The Certificates are awarded at the Graduation Ceremony/Annual Day of the school.

Register for the April 2020 Cohort
Experience the Joy Of Learning at Rs. 1100.00 (Rupees Eleven Hundred) only, delivered exclusively as an eLearning Program using ZOOM (Video Conferencing) & Telegram Messenger.

You may know about sports coaching

You may know about sports coaching
But did you know that Educators can have coaches too?

Is this new to you? Would you like to find out what coaching has to offer you? The not-for-profit  LFIN Foundation connects educators with professional coaches, for free. Educators receive coaching support at no cost. In our work to bring coaching to educators, LFIN coaches waive their fees for the introductory session.

Just like a sports coach, your LFIN coach is able to see your ‘performance’ from outside the box. They see what you can’t see. Your coach works in collaboration with you to shift what needs to be shifted, changed or let go of so you can perform to the best of your ability.

Leonie Hurrel shares why coaching has been important to her.
"My own experience of coaching played a significant role in my career as a Headteacher. As a leader, it enabled me to work more effectively, manage change, balance the demands of an intensive job with a young family and feel far more confident and happy in myself."

In India, you can connect with members of Learning Forward India, an association that shows you how to plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so you and your team can achieve success with your system, your school, and your students. Simply connect with us by email LF@ebd.in

We grow the capacity of your people to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources.

Sandeep Dutt founder Learning Forward India Foundation
As School Improvement Coach, he focuses on school transformation with an emphasis on culture as a service. With over 30 years of experience as a trainer and mentor, Sandeep has been involved with schools across the country and worked with teachers and students all over the world. Read more https://hundred.org/en/profiles/sandeep-dutt

Learning Forward India (LFIN) is an affiliate of Learning Forward, membership is open to any person interested in professional growth and organisational development.

- The post is inspired by the writing of Martin Richards, and he works for Inspiring and encouraging educators to believe even more.

www.LearningForward.Org.IN

School Improvement Coach

A school coach—sometimes called a school-improvement coach—is typically an individual hired to advise a school on how to improve its academic program, instructional effectiveness, and student performance. While a school coach acts much like a consultant, the use of the term “coach” is usually intentional—i.e., it’s meant to distinguish the school coach’s role from those of other professional educational consultants. While the specific role and responsibilities of school coaches may vary widely from school to school, there is some degree on consensus on what a school coach is, and is not, within the education community. For example, school coaches are usually mission-driven or expertise driven, as opposed to project driven, in the sense that they bring a particular educational perspective, belief system, instructional expertise, or advocacy role to their job. School coaches are often hired specifically for this reason: they are committed to helping schools achieve a specific goal, such as increasing educational equity (an ethical or social-justice goal) or expanding and improving the use of new learning technologies in the classroom (an instructional or programmatic goal).

While school coaches may be independent contractors, many are employed by nonprofit organizations or universities, and they may be hired by a state agency, school district, or school or by an outside organization or foundation. In many cases, school coaches are employed as part of a school improvement project. School coaches may work on a fee-for-service model—i.e., they provide narrowly defined services on a short-term contract that may be renewed annually or every few months. Yet it is also very common for school coaches to be contracted for a multiyear commitment as a school undertakes a comprehensive restructuring of its academic program.

In some cases, school coaches are described as “critical friends”—a common education term that refers to fellow professionals who are understanding, supportive, and empathetic but who are not hesitant to speak candidly about problems and provide constructive criticism about what needs to change. In this way, school coaches are similar to athletic coaches: they are experienced professionals with specialized expertise who advise, train, and mentor the team and who is not hesitant about making individuals put in the practice and hard work necessary to succeed.

School coaches are often former educators and school administrators who can understand the workings and internal politics of a school from an educator’s perspective, although some have previously worked in other professions outside education, such as psychology, business, or communications. Coaches typically have expertise in skills such as group facilitation, interpersonal dynamics, public speaking, and conflict resolution, and they often help educators communicate, collaborate, and solve problems more productively and cooperatively. In some cases, though, a school coach will provide “coaching” on a specific issue, such as training teachers in specialized instructional techniques.

Another variation on the school-coach role is the on-staff coach—a full-time or part-time school employee who provides coaching services to educators in a local school system. While on-staff coaching may take many different forms, and job descriptions may vary widely, these positions are often created for educators with highly specialized experts who are tasked with delivering professional development to teachers. Two common positions, for example, are literacy coaches and learning-technology coaches; the former helps teachers improve the quality of reading and writing instruction in all subject areas, and the later trains teachers in how to use new technological devices and products as instructional assets.

While there are no formal credentialing organizations for school coaches, many organizations around the country offer training, resources, and support networks for school-coaching professionals.

Sandeep Dutt

As School Coach, he focuses on school transformation with an emphasis on culture as a service. 30 years of experience as a trainer and mentor, he has been involved with schools across the country, working with teachers and students across the socioeconomic environment. Sandeep is the Founder of Learning Forward India, you can support your teams to design the Future of Learning – which could be focused on the level of the classroom and transformation in organizational culture.

Email lf@ebd.in

Reference: The Glossary of Education Reform by Great Schools Partnership is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Sandeep Dutt: Approach Your Coach

A school coach—sometimes called a school-improvement coach—is typically an individual hired to advise a school on how to improve its academic program, instructional effectiveness, and student performance. While a school coach acts much like a consultant, the use of the term “coach” is usually intentional—i.e., it’s meant to distinguish the school coach’s role from those of other professional educational consultants.

While the specific role and responsibilities of school coaches may vary widely from school to school, there is some degree on consensus on what a school coach is, and is not, within the education community. For example, school coaches are usually mission-driven or expertise driven, as opposed to project driven, in the sense that they bring a particular educational perspective, belief system, instructional expertise, or advocacy role to their job.

School coaches are often hired specifically for this reason: they are committed to helping schools achieve a specific goal, such as increasing educational equity (an ethical or social-justice goal) or expanding and improving the use of new learning technologies in the classroom (an instructional or programmatic goal). #HappyTeachers

Approach your Coach, email Sandeep Dutt lf@ebd.in

Sandeep Dutt: A School Coach

A school coach—sometimes called a school-improvement coach—is typically an individual hired to advise a school on how to improve its academic program, instructional effectiveness, and student performance. While a school coach acts much like a consultant, the use of the term “coach” is usually intentional—i.e., it’s meant to distinguish the school coach’s role from those of other professional educational consultants. While the specific role and responsibilities of school coaches may vary widely from school to school, there is some degree on consensus on what a school coach is, and is not, within the education community. For example, school coaches are usually mission-driven or expertise driven, as opposed to project driven, in the sense that they bring a particular educational perspective, belief system, instructional expertise, or advocacy role to their job. School coaches are often hired specifically for this reason: they are committed to helping schools achieve a specific goal, such as increasing educational equity (an ethical or social-justice goal) or expanding and improving the use of new learning technologies in the classroom (an instructional or programmatic goal). 

While school coaches may be independent contractors, many are employed by nonprofit organizations or universities, and they may be hired by a state agency, school district, or school or by an outside organization or foundation. In many cases, school coaches are employed as part of a school improvement project. School coaches may work on a fee-for-service model—i.e., they provide narrowly defined services on a short-term contract that may be renewed annually or every few months. Yet it is also very common for school coaches to be contracted for a multiyear commitment as a school undertakes a comprehensive restructuring of its academic program. 

In some cases, school coaches are described as “critical friends”—a common education term that refers to fellow professionals who are understanding, supportive, and empathetic but who are not hesitant to speak candidly about problems and provide constructive criticism about what needs to change. In this way, school coaches are similar to athletic coaches: they are experienced professionals with specialized expertise who advise, train, and mentor the team and who is not hesitant about making individuals put in the practice and hard work necessary to succeed. 

School coaches are often former educators and school administrators who can understand the workings and internal politics of a school from an educator’s perspective, although some have previously worked in other professions outside education, such as psychology, business, or communications. Coaches typically have expertise in skills such as group facilitation, interpersonal dynamics, public speaking, and conflict resolution, and they often help educators communicate, collaborate, and solve problems more productively and cooperatively. In some cases, though, a school coach will provide “coaching” on a specific issue, such as training teachers in specialized instructional techniques.

Another variation on the school-coach role is the on-staff coach—a full-time or part-time school employee who provides coaching services to educators in a local school system. While on-staff coaching may take many different forms, and job descriptions may vary widely, these positions are often created for educators with highly specialized experts who are tasked with delivering professional development to teachers. Two common positions, for example, are literacy coaches and learning-technology coaches; the former helps teachers improve the quality of reading and writing instruction in all subject areas, and the later trains teachers in how to use new technological devices and products as instructional assets.

While there are no formal credentialing organizations for school coaches, many organizations around the country offer training, resources, and support networks for school-coaching professionals.

- The Glossary of Education Reform by Great Schools Partnership is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

School Coach: the role defined

A school coach—sometimes called a school-improvement coach—is typically an individual hired to advise a school on how to improve its academic program, instructional effectiveness, and student performance. While a school coach acts much like a consultant, the use of the term “coach” is usually intentional—i.e., it’s meant to distinguish the school coach’s role from those of other professional educational consultants. While the specific role and responsibilities of school coaches may vary widely from school to school, there is some degree on consensus on what a school coach is, and is not, within the education community. For example, school coaches are usually mission-driven or expertise driven, as opposed to project driven, in the sense that they bring a particular educational perspective, belief system, instructional expertise, or advocacy role to their job. School coaches are often hired specifically for this reason: they are committed to helping schools achieve a specific goal, such as increasing educational equity (an ethical or social-justice goal) or expanding and improving the use of new learning technologies in the classroom (an instructional or programmatic goal).

While school coaches may be independent contractors, many are employed by nonprofit organizations or universities, and they may be hired by a state agency, school district, or school or by an outside organization or foundation. In many cases, school coaches are employed as part of a state program or grant-funded school-improvement project. School coaches may work on a fee-for-service model—i.e., they provide narrowly defined services on a short-term contract that may be renewed annually or every few months. Yet it is also very common for school coaches to be contracted for a multiyear commitment as a school undertakes a comprehensive restructuring of its academic program.

In some cases, school coaches are described as “critical friends”—a common education term that refers to fellow professionals who are understanding, supportive, and empathetic but who are not hesitant to speak candidly about problems and provide constructive criticism about what needs to change. In this way, school coaches are similar to athletic coaches: they are experienced professionals with specialized expertise who advise, train, and mentor the team and who are not hesitant about making individuals put in the practice and hard work necessary to succeed.

School coaches are often former educators and school administrators who can understand the workings and internal politics of a school from an educator’s perspective, although some have previously worked in other professions outside education, such as psychology, business, or communications. Coaches typically have expertise in skills such as group facilitation, interpersonal dynamics, public speaking, and conflict resolution, and they often help educators communicate, collaborate, and solve problems more productively and cooperatively. In some cases, though, a school coach will provide “coaching” on a specific issue, such as training teachers in specialized instructional techniques.

Another variation on the school-coach role is the on-staff coach—a full-time or part-time district or school employee who provides coaching services to educators in a local school system. While on-staff coaching may take many different forms, and job descriptions may vary widely, these positions are often created for educators with highly specialized experts who are tasked with delivering professional development to teachers. Two common positions, for example, are literacy coaches and learning-technology coaches; the former helps teachers improve the quality of reading and writing instruction in all subject areas, and the later trains teachers in how to use new technological devises and products as instructional assets.

While there are no formal credentialing organizations for school coaches, many organizations around the country offer training, resources, and support networks for school-coaching professionals.

https://www.edglossary.org/school-coach/