Why Trust Underpins Coaching

“We notice trust as we notice air, only when it becomes polluted or scarce.” (Blair, 1986)

Many teachers recognise and enjoy the benefits of feeling trusted as well as extending trust. We also fear the sting of betrayal and being enveloped in a toxic culture of fear, suspicion and mistrust. On a professional level, the erosion of trust can significantly harm our confidence and identity – some may say ‘agency’.

An important question to ask is how agency can grow ecologically in settings such as schools? Priestley, Biesta and Robinson (2012) suggest agency “is not something that people can have; it is something that people do. It denotes a ‘quality’ of the engagement of actors with temporal-relational contexts-for-action, not a quality of the actors themselves.” If agency is contingent on the types and quality of relationships developed through interactions and situations, it surely follows that trust and autonomy must be the foundations for agency to flourish.

Coaches work at an interesting intersection where the intention is to propagate conditions for growth through behaviours and practices which engender trust, but are also tasked with supporting coachees to attain goals. This might seem performative and at odds with developing agency. Feeling a strong sense of professional identity is important to people, so is it contradictory to say that coaching someone undermines this? Does the mere presence of an ‘actor’ such as a coach in a web of relationships suggest a person or their practice is not trusted? The answer will depend on whether the coaching is invited or foisted and the willingness of the coachee to be vulnerable.

Regardless of the context for coaching (leadership, instruction, sport etc.), vulnerability will likely surface in a way which can reveal the coachees degree of agency and signal their willingness to extend trust. Tschannen-Moran (2011) explains why the emergence of vulnerability calls upon coaches to be cognisant of the impact of their behaviours and expectations during interactions;

“No fault is different to high stakes. When conversations are high stakes, coaches have crossed the line into evaluation, watching and listening to analyse and correct what’s wrong. When teachers don’t do as well,as they would like, coaches need to listen carefully and express empathy. Through empathetic listening, coaches reduce defensiveness and increase engagement.”

A common issue schools have is linking evaluation and coaching as cause and effect. When deficiencies are identified in practice, one is likely to recoil and conclude that this will trigger performance measures. If coaching is viewed as the remediation strategy and an organisational necessity, trust in the system and the motivations is automatically paralysed before the relationship can get off the mark.

Tschannen-Moran (2011) suggests that for coaches to achieve growth-fostering and trusting relationships, they must be concerned with 5 key things:

Consciousness: using reflexive questioning, active listening and feedback to develop self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-monitoring in the coachee

Connection: regular and consistent prods to remind the coachee that support is present and that there is a horizon to work towards

Competence: appreciating the teachers current level of skill and clarifying where they wish to get to and the means by which the mutually agreed goals can be achieved

Contribution: acknowledging the hard work and effort that is required to be coached and adjust thinking and practice change

Creativity: developing the relationship to the point where the coachee feels they can research, innovate, test and trial ideas or interventions in a non-threatening and non-judgemental setting.

Coaching mustn’t be seen as the anti-venom to mediocrity in our schools or the silver bullet that creates legions of exemplary teachers – all moving at the same pace, in the same direction, doing the same thing. This doesn’t develop identity or autonomy. Moreover, coaching can be a highly professional and relational way of supporting practice growth, ecologically growing agency and fostering trust.

One thought on “Why Trust Underpins Coaching

  1. Great read Jon. Left wondering whether maybe trust underpins everything? Without trust, what have you got?

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