Coaching non-adult students for enhanced examination performance: a longitudinal study

Abstract

This paper reviews the development of coaching in schools and presents findings from a multi-school site longitudinal study in the UK. The paper starts by reviewing the coaching educational literature and identifies the growth of coaching in educational settings for teacher development and principal/head teacher performance. The paper uses as an example leading work in Sandwell Council to explore the potential for coaching to be extended to working with non-adult populations, specifically with children preparing for examinations and builds on previous studies in this area. The paper highlights the processes involved in training coaches in this project, the coaching process and the outcome of a three-year longitudinal study. It moves to discuss the emerging potential for coaching in working with non-adult students and how educational authorities can use the Sandwell example to develop their own programmes. The study shows the benefits of coaching when used as a personal development tool to support learning. It also reveals the potential for coaching as an intervention for non-adult populations, specifically in enhancing examination performance and its potential to become a government tool to address social disadvantage and, if targetted, to increase the number of children from lower socio-economic groups progressing to university. The paper lastly raises the question whether coaching can be used to address challenges faced by young people during periods of stress.