Coaching
Coaching was originally used in business to describe support given to people who were seen as under-performing in some way. Now it is more usually seen as a means of supporting people on the job in order to help them improve their competence and achieve their maximum potential. The analogy of the sports coach developing the tennis player to improve their techniques and win more matches may be helpful.
Coaching is generally considered to be a fairly short-term activity, related to specific objectives. It consists of a one-to-one interaction between the coach and the person being coached in a relatively informal setting. The aim is to provide the learner with feedback in their performance together with suggestions on how to improve from a knowledgeable and skilled person.
Skilled coaches know when to be directive and when to be passive. They can distinguish between situations when it is appropriate to intervene to support the learner and when it is more effective to permit independent learning even though this involves the learner making mistakes.
Let's look now at Mentoring ...
