Abstract
Focused on remodelling instructional practices, the teacher coaching programme anticipates School Improvement Specialist Coaches (SISC+ or SIS Coach/es) to collaborate with teachers, to observe their teachings, to model best practices and to engage them in reflective thought-provoking discussions. As this is not a norm, teachers often receive the suggestion of coaching with mixed feelings. Research proves that the way teachers comprehend and react towards the coaching programme can be a hindrance to its projection. In this qualitative multiple-case study, we sought to understand better the factors that lead to teachers’ anxiety towards the coaching programme. Three SIS Coaches and nine teachers’ coaching experiences show that three factors led to teachers’ anxiety when they were initially approached to work with the SIS Coach in the coaching programme. Fear, a well-known enemy of progress and success, prompts constant misunderstandings of the job and accountabilities of an SIS Coach. Thus, recognising and following up on teachers’ reactions from the earliest starting point can advance the rest of the coaching nature.
Highlights
Implementing change in the education system is vital, but it is fraught with obstacles, barriers and challenges which can hinder the impact and desired change to happen
It requires a teacher to collaborate with the School Improvement Specialist Coach Plus (SISC+) to reflect and communicate professionally about their classroom practices in a way that is individualised with one-on-one sessions, where teachers have to make time for coaching sessions during their working hours, receive coaching over an extended time and make necessary instructional changes (Malaysian Ministry of Education, 2013)
Each of these SIS Coaches was advised to choose any of their three English language (EL) teachers with whom to work during the study based on the prerequisite criterion of teaching experiences: veteran - above 20 years, 11 to 20 years, and, novice - 10 years and below, and that they have been collaborating with the SIS Coach in the coaching programme for at least a year
Summary
Implementing change in the education system is vital, but it is fraught with obstacles, barriers and challenges which can hinder the impact and desired change to happen. With the vision of bringing a change in the English language (EL) teaching and learning standards of the country, in the year 2014, the teacher coaching programme was introduced across schools in Malaysia (Malaysian Ministry of Education, 2013). It requires a teacher to collaborate with the School Improvement Specialist Coach Plus (SISC+) (hereafter termed as SIS Coach/es) to reflect and communicate professionally about their classroom practices in a way that is individualised with one-on-one sessions, where teachers have to make time for coaching sessions during their working hours, receive coaching over an extended time and make necessary instructional changes (Malaysian Ministry of Education, 2013). Through semi-structured interviews and observations, this multiple-case qualitative research provided a voice to the SIS Coaches and teacher participants to discuss the issue at hand – the factors for teachers’ anxiety towards the coaching programme (Given, 2008). Implications of this research suggest that the inceptive step of a teacher coaching programme should start by recognising and following up on teachers’ anxiety or in other words, how teachers react towards the programme and towards working with an SIS Coach
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