Every headteacher knows that the first years in teaching shape a career. Early career teachers face a steep learning curve, and the support they receive through coaching can make all the difference for them and their pupils.
The Early Career Training Programme helps new teachers learn the core knowledge of teaching, learning and pupil behaviour, and coaching from a mentor supports them to apply it in the classroom. Knowing what great teachers do is one thing, but when new teachers are able to do it themselves, it helps build their confidence and skill.
That’s why our programme is underpinned by an instructional coaching approach, the best evidenced form of coaching when it comes to improving teacher practice. But coaching doesn’t just benefit your new teachers; it also helps retain your experienced colleagues too. Let’s explore the benefits for teachers, mentors and your wider school.
How coaching benefits early career teachers
Here’s why coaching matters for early career teachers:
Bridges the gap from novice to expert
Coaching supports teachers as they translate theory into practice, helping them become more expert over time. Regular, targeted feedback means early career teachers can focus on the classroom practices that make the biggest difference to pupils, developing at a pace that’s right for them.
Makes learning personal
No two teachers or schools are the same. Coaching allows mentors to contextualise teachers’ development to the school and its pupils. Steplab gives mentors a range of action steps to choose from, or they can tailor them to address the challenges and opportunities specific to their setting.
Nurtures wellbeing and professional growth
Coaching is not just about developing technical skill; it builds a supportive professional relationship that we know helps teachers flourish and stay in the profession. There’s also a pastoral coaching element to the programme which is less structured and can be arranged as and when teachers need. This allows teachers to get advice on anything outside of the classroom that they might navigate in their role as a teacher.
Helps them develop their craft as a teacher
While the programme provides a clear framework of core knowledge and skills, much of the craft of teaching is left for the individual teacher to develop with their mentor. Great mentors recognise that there’s no single way to be an effective teacher. They help their mentees reflect, adapt and grow into the teacher they, and only they, can be.
How coaching benefits mentors and schools
Enabling your more experienced colleagues to train to become mentors through the Early Career Training Programme for Mentors also benefits them and your wider school:
Develops leadership and expertise
Training to become a mentor is powerful professional development for experienced teachers. By mastering the art of coaching a teacher to get better, mentors develop skills that go far beyond supporting one early career teacher. They learn how to give precise feedback and identify marginal gains. This has the potential to impact all colleagues they work with. These are essential skills to learn to help them transition into middle and senior leadership roles.
Retains and stretches existing staff
Providing experienced teachers with the opportunity to mentor not only stretches and challenges them but also helps keep them engaged and motivated. It shows that you value their expertise and are willing to invest in their professional growth. This, in turn, supports retention of your more experienced staff as well as your early career teachers.
Steers improvement through small wins
The aim of instructional coaching is to focus on the areas which will most improve the more novice teacher’s practice and work towards this through manageable, bite-sized steps. By introducing people in your school who have the expertise to identify small improvements, the marginal gains they identify will ultimately add up. Sharing that knowledge and best practice can help make improvements across your teaching staff, which translates into better teaching for pupils.
Works with your school’s needs
The online learning platform Steplab provides a scaffold for mentoring, but it’s flexible too. Mentors can select from a range of action steps, or write their own, tailoring coaching to the specific needs of their mentee and school context.
What does coaching involve for early career teachers and mentors?
In their first year, early career teachers training with us receive weekly instructional coaching from their mentor; in their second year, this becomes fortnightly. The hour-long sessions are manageable for both teachers and mentors, involving a short observation and a focused coaching conversation at a time that works for both.
The process is structured and recorded on the Steplab platform, which helps mentors track progress and keep feedback specific. Mentors identify areas for praise and set one small action step to practise each week. This approach helps their mentees move from knowing about effective teaching to doing it confidently in their own classrooms. New mentors also get their own coaching to develop their coaching expertise.
Watch a mentor and early career teacher discuss what a typical mentoring session looks like.
Develop your new and experienced teachers together
Coaching helps your new teachers thrive, but also builds a stronger, more resilient team for your school’s future.
Find out more about how Ambition Institute’s Early Career Training Programme can help your school build a confident, expert teaching team.
