Instructional Coaching Conversation Guide

What This Skill Does

Designs a structured coaching conversation between an instructional coach and a teacher — using Knight's (2007, 2018) partnership approach and the Impact Cycle model — that helps the teacher identify a specific improvement focus, analyse evidence from their practice, and commit to a concrete next step. The critical principle is that effective coaching is a PARTNERSHIP: the coach does not tell the teacher what to do (that's directing) or simply affirm what the teacher already thinks (that's cheerleading). Instead, the coach uses questions, data, and dialogue to help the teacher think more clearly about their practice and make their own decisions about what to change. The output is a conversation plan with specific questions, anticipated responses, dialogue strategies for the coach (pausing, paraphrasing, probing), and clear next steps with accountability. AI is specifically valuable here because designing a coaching conversation requires anticipating the teacher's likely responses, selecting the right questions for the right moment, and balancing challenge with support — a real-time facilitation skill that benefits from advance planning.

Evidence Foundation

Knight (2007) established the partnership principles of instructional coaching: equality (the coach and teacher are equal partners), choice (the teacher decides what to work on), voice (the teacher's perspective is central), dialogue (real conversation, not one-way telling), reflection (the teacher examines their own practice), and praxis (learning is applied in the classroom). Knight (2018) operationalised these principles into the Impact Cycle: Identify (what's the current reality and what's the goal?), Learn (what strategy could close the gap?), Improve (implement, monitor, adjust). Kraft, Blazar & Hogan (2018) conducted a meta-analysis of 60 teacher coaching studies and found a pooled effect size of 0.49 standard deviations on instruction quality and 0.18 on student achievement — making coaching one of the most effective forms of professional development. They found that coaching is most effective when it is sustained (not one-off), focused on specific practices (not general), and includes observation and feedback cycles. Costa & Garmston (2016) developed Cognitive Coaching, emphasising that the coach's primary tool is questioning — questions that help teachers become more self-directed, self-monitoring, and self-modifying. Aguilar (2013) added the emotional dimension: effective coaching requires attention to the teacher's emotions, beliefs, and identity — not just their techniques.

Input Schema

The teacher must provide:

• Coaching focus: What they're working on. e.g. "I want to improve my questioning — I ask too many closed questions and don't give students enough think time" / "My Year 10 class is disengaged and I can't work out why" / "I've been told I need to differentiate more but I don't know where to start"
• Teacher context: Brief background. e.g. "NQT, first year of teaching, Science, generally enthusiastic but overwhelmed" / "Experienced teacher (12 years), English, recently had a critical observation and is defensive" / "Middle leader, 6 years, Maths, keen to improve but time-poor"

Optional (injected by context engine if available):

• Observation data: Evidence to ground the conversation
• Coaching phase: Where in the cycle