Analyzing the Coaching Based Professional Development Process of a Special Education Teacher

Abstract

It is of paramount significance for teachers to develop themselves professionally, improving their theoretical knowledge, practice, and technological skills, as these elements bear a definitive influence on their teaching qualities throughout their entire vocational life. In this regard, one professional development approach is coaching. Adopting an action research design and conducted at the Research Center for the Education of Hearing Impaired Students (RCEHI) affiliated with Anadolu University in Turkey, this study aims to analyze the coaching based professional development process of a teacher-researcher working with hearing impaired students. The participants are a researcher, who is also the author of this article, and an experienced teacher trainer acting as a coach. The data collection tools used are video and audio records, documents, and reflective diaries. Data were analyzed using a systematic analytic analysis procedure. The data analysis revealed three primary themes concerning coaching based professional development; namely, planning and implementing professional development process, problems, and relevant solutions. Noteworthy features of the study are that the process is well-planned, goal-oriented, systematic, and cyclic. In addition, the process also takes into account individual characteristics and is based on effective communication with the coach and the coach' s guidance. In accordance with the findings, it is suggested that guidelines be improved to explain how to benefit from coaching to enhance professional development and that coaching based approaches be made more common. Furthermore, future research may focus on the role of coaching on teachers' professional development and students' academic success.

Professional Development and Coaching in the Science of Reading: Impacts on Oral Reading Fluency in Comparison to National Norms

“…Gersten, Chard, and Baker (2000) demonstrate that an "outside partnering force" and student success manifest continued use of the strategies by teachers. In addition, coaching, a PD practice defined as a more expert teacher in a specific topic striving to transfer knowledge and expertise to a teacher with less knowledge in a specific topic (Gürgür, 2017), has been found to significantly contribute to enhanced According to Moats (2020), in the United States, PD for teachers that reflects the scientific research about how children learn to read is lacking. Misconceptions about how to teach reading abound and find their way into the PD that is most readily available.…”