The Art of Coaching: Addressing Mobile Technology Integration in a Complex Hospital School Environment

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the effects of a coaching program as part of a professional development effort to support integration of mobile technologies in a hospital school setting. The professional development consisted of two components: (a) the researchers introduced pedagogical models for incorporating mobile technology in education and (b) a technological expert (the iCoach) provided one-on-one and small-group personalized coaching. After studying the contextual challenges and teachers' needs over a period of 12 months, an effective coaching model emerged. This was a personalized model geared to each teacher and tailored to the unique features of this hospital context. An integral part of the model was a reflection strategy, which encouraged teachers to question their teaching with the purposeful use of technology. Data collection involved teachers' reflections, iCoach reflections, and semi-structured interviews. Many themes emerged from the data analysis; the two main ones were the uniqueness of the setting and the multiplicity of demands on the teachers and the iCoach. The study developed a set of guidelines to help teachers use technology in an integrated pedagogical way.

Continuous Professional Development for Hospital Teachers: a scoping review of the literature.

“…Both Keehan and Hen remark that hospital teachers need to be incredibly proactive and flexible to provide for their diverse set of students by accessing an array of curricular knowledge, often in an impromptu fashion. This view is validated in a number of studies (Perry et al, 2014;Maor et al, 2020;Hen, 2020;Keehan, 2021). Their planned lessons often need to be differentiated on the fly in order to meet both the changing emotional and educational requirements of the child with medical needs (Capurso & Dennis, 2017;Benigno & Fante, 2020;Keehan, 2021).…”

“…Benigno & Fante's 2020 study looking at the professional relationships of hospital teachers, found that compared to their mainstream colleagues, hospital school teachers must work within a far more complex web of relationships. Six of the studies point out that in addition to their students and colleagues, hospital teachers have daily interactions with parents, a variety of medical staff and teachers from the student's base school (Keehan, 2021;Hen, 2020;Benigno & Fante, 2020;McCarthy et al, 2017;Äärelä et al, 2018;Maor et al, 2020). Keehan reports that they must also work as part of a teaching team and collaborate with their colleagues daily unlike their traditional classroom counterparts.…”

“…A further two of the studies focus on the importance of digital and mobile technologies for the professional development of hospital teachers (Maor et al, 2020;McCarthy et al,2017). McCarthy et al (2017) recognise that it is more challenging to implement digital strategies in the complex environs of hospital teaching.…”

“…They stress that any professional learning on digital and mobile technology must take the context into account and so needs to be specifically tailored to hospital schools (McCarthy et al,2017). Maor et al (2020) agree stating professional development relating to mobile technology integration must meet the unique needs of hospital teachers, it must be practical and tailored to the context.…”

“…They face a unique set of challenges over and above those expected in the traditional classroom setting (Hen,2020;Shore, 2020). Hospital teachers must teach across various locations within the hospital, most of which have not been designed for education and are not appropriate for creating a learning environment for the children (Closs, 2000;Maor et al,2020). The teachers must also compete for the student's attention with medical staff, visitors and a range of other distractions (Closs, 2000;Shore, 2020).…”