Coaching Leadership. Building Educational Leadership Capacity through Coaching Partnerships
PUC, Santiago August 8th, 2006

General

In Chile, there is growing agreement that improving the quality of education for all children will require many more great school leaders. How can this ambitious goal be achieved within a reasonable timeframe and in a sustainable manner?

Coaching Leadership is one answer. In this one-day Seminar-cum-workshop by New-Zealand Profesor Jan Robertson, a world-known expert on the topic, participants will not just learn the theory and practice the skills of coaching leadership. They will also enjoy a professional development experience that will help them establish and develop personal and work-related goals, facilitating their own coaching tasks as school leaders. Profesor Robertson will be accompanied by Mr Mike Sutton, a distinguished Principal and long-time colleague who has pioneered the approach.

This will be the 4th event in iNet Chile’s Leadership Festival 2006, entitled “Yes it CAN be done and this is HOW”.

Objectives

Drawing on a range of theory and research in psychology, sociology, business management, and organizational development, and using Dr Robertson’s extensive experience working directly with leaders all over the world, the seminar/workshop will :

• Familiarize the participants with the concepts underlying modern educational leadership, leadership coaching, and their scientific foundations

• Equip them with practical, proven strategies, techniques and tools for Leadership Coaching that can easily be adapted to the Chilean context

Themes

Coaching is a relationship between 2 or more people committed to establishing goals and collaborating to achieve them. It supports the principles of lifelong learning, capacity-building and continual improvement and is a new way of working with colleagues.

During the morning Seminar, the participants will be exposed to modern leadership in action and the competencies it calls for, as well as to key concepts, some relatively new, such as the co-construction of knowledge, the value of shared learning, and action-research.

Based on examples and exercises, the afternoon Workshop will emphasize concrete ways to develop the coaching relationship as well as the skills that build trust and understanding and those that move leaders forward. It will discuss the challenges likely to arise along the way and how to overcome them, illustrating the capacity of the model to break inhibiting boundaries and help entire school teams realize their full potential.

Methodology

The methodology used for the Workshop will, through examples and exercises, model that which underlies Leadership Coaching. It is a methodology for deep learning, based on reflection on pratice as triggered by questions about one’s own effectiveness, evidence of impact, goal setting, the need for and direction of change, etc.

Programme

9:00-9:30 : Registration

9:30-10:00: Opening remarks

10:00-11:00: Keynote presentation by Prof. Robertson

11:00-11:30: Coffee

11:30-13:00: Q&A, Testimony

14:30-15:00: Opening of Workshop – methodlogy, etc…

15:00-16:30: Give breakdown of sessions

16:30-17:00 : Coffee

17:00-17:30: Plenary and closing