21st Century Learning and Teaching

Teacher Andrew Jones explains the difference between coaching and mentoring, and how they suit different professional development needs

Coaching, on the other hand, consists of peer-to-peer discussions that provide the person being coached with objective feedback on their strengths and weaknesses in areas chosen by them. While discussion is led by the coach, they ask questions that allow the professional seeking advice to reflect on their practice and set their own goals for improvement. This is the opposite of mentoring as the coach does not evaluate, judge or set targets, and the person being coached is in full control of the discussion.

Unlike mentoring, coaching also gives the recipient more say on the direction of their professional development and encourages them to take more ownership of their CPD.

Learn more:

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/education-collaboration-and-coaching-the-future/

By: Dawn Casey-Rowe Teachers give homework. Mentors change lives. If schools replaced teachers with mentors, classrooms would be revolutionized forever. This isn’t semantics – it’s a paradigm shift...

As we redesign schools, we have a unique opportunity to find practices that work and use them. Mentoring is one of those practices. I don’t want to be a teacher anymore. Teachers give tests and assign homework.

I want to be a mentor. I want to support students as they create the masterpieces that will be their lives.

I can only do this if we make school less about the test and more about the mission–treating students like the unique individuals they are with gifts that will change the world.