How Teachers Can Train to Use Coaching to Support Students

As a teacher, you already have most of what it takes to coach in your school. The conversations you have with students every day, the check-ins, the quiet moments after class, the pastoral catch-ups, are closer to coaching than you might think. Barr and van Nieuwerburgh (2015) found that the adults around young people already use informal coaching skills. What's often missing is explicit training to make those skills intentional. With the right training, those everyday conversations become more powerful, and more transformative for the young people in your care.

This article is for teachers, pastoral leads, SENCOs, and school leaders who want to explore coaching as a practical skill. Whether you're new to the idea or have been curious for a while, here's what you need to know, including why it matters more right now than it ever has.

You Don't Need to Become a Therapist

One of the most common concerns teachers share when they first hear about coach training is this: "I'm not a counsellor. Is this really for me?" Yes. Absolutely, yes. Coaching is not therapy. It doesn't require a clinical background or a complete change of role. As van Nieuwerburgh (2012) describes it, coaching is "a one-to-one conversation focused on the enhancement of learning and development through increasing self-awareness and a sense of personal responsibility." It's a structured, skills-based approach that builds on the relational strengths you already have.

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What coaching actually involves

Coach training teaches you to ask better open questions, listen more deeply, and hold space for a young person to find their own answers. You'll learn how to use solution-focused conversations, strengths-based language, and reflective techniques that help students move forward, rather than relying on adults to direct them. The skills are learnable. They are practical. And they slot into the conversations you're already having.

The research backs this up. Green, Grant and Rynsaardt (2007), writing in the International Coaching Psychology Review, found that teachers trained in coaching psychology through just two half-day workshops were able to deliver meaningful interventions that produced significant increases in student hope, cognitive hardiness, and wellbeing. Barr and van Nieuwerburgh (2015) reported similar accessibility: teachers who attended a short introductory workshop gained confidence, insight, and practical tools, with one participant resolving a long-standing classroom problem the very next day using the GROW model. You don't need months of intensive study to start making a difference.

What Coaching Does for Young People

Coaching gives young people something that's often hard to find in a busy school day: a conversation that's entirely focused on them, where they're supported to think, reflect, and act. Robson-Kelly and van Nieuwerburgh (2016) describe coaching as "a process, a positive relationship and a set of skills where the young person, through growing accountability, awareness and responsibility, develops choice and control over their thoughts, feelings and behaviour."

The outcomes you'll see

Students who receive coaching show improvements across a wide range of areas:

• Resilience and wellbeing: learning to manage setbacks, rather than being floored by them. Leach, Green and Grant (2011) note that solution-focused, cognitive behavioural coaching can significantly increase hardiness, a recognised measure of resilience
• Confidence and self-awareness: understanding their own strengths and how to use them. Robson-Kelly and van Nieuwerburgh (2016) found coaching develops communication, self/emotional awareness, and thinking skills
• Academic engagement: taking ownership of learning instead of waiting to be told what to do
• Attendance and behaviour: feeling a sense of belonging and agency that keeps them showing up
• Goal-setting and follow-through: breaking down big challenges into manageable next steps, drawing on the goals, pathways, and agency of hope theory (Leach et al., 2011)
• Emotional literacy: being able to name and navigate their own feelings

The need is real. Leach et al. (2011) report that only around 20% of the population can be classified as flourishing, and that in the UK one in five children and young people have a probable mental health condition (NHS Digital, 2023). Coaching offers a preventative, stigma-free route to address this, not by diagnosing or treating, but by building the psychological resources young people need before difficulties escalate. Robson-Kelly and van Nieuwerburgh (2016) describe this "languishing" stage as a crucial time to intervene, offering "an accessible option to improve mental wellbeing at a targeted early stage."

As one school coach reflected, a student would come in talking about struggling in a subject, and coaching would reveal something deeper: a friendship issue, a difficult relationship at home, a problem that no worksheet was ever going to fix.

What Teachers Gain From Coach Training

The benefits aren't just for your students. Teachers and pastoral staff who complete coach training consistently report professional and personal gains that go far beyond the sessions they deliver. Barr and van Nieuwerburgh (2015) studied teachers' experiences of coach training in depth, and their findings echo what our own delegates tell us.

Real-world changes delegates describe

Better conversations, less awkwardness. Trained teacher-coaches talk about asking better open questions and feeling far more comfortable with silence. One teacher in Barr and van Nieuwerburgh's (2015) study reflected, "What I got out of that night was I actually don't listen. I look as if I'm listening." Allowing a pause, rather than rushing to fill it, is one of the most underrated coaching skills, and it changes the whole quality of a conversation.

Clearer goals and stronger boundaries. Coach training helps staff set goals with students in a structured way and hold professional boundaries with more confidence. You'll know what coaching is, and what it isn't, and you'll be able to explain that clearly to students, parents, and colleagues. As one teacher put it, the training made her think differently about "the target-setting I do every month with the kids... the wording I could use to [encourage them] to speak" (Barr & van Nieuwerburgh, 2015).

A calmer, more grounded approach. Many delegates describe feeling more resilient themselves after training. Leach et al. (2011) note that coaching has potential to enhance "the well-being, resilience and hope of both young people and those who work to support them." The tools and frameworks you learn don't just support your students, they support your own thinking, planning, and emotional regulation.

More effective pastoral leadership. Pastoral leads and heads of year describe becoming more organised, more confident in leading support conversations, and more skilled at guiding colleagues. Coaching language spreads. Barr and van Nieuwerburgh (2015) found teachers were enthusiastic about "pulling not pushing" coaching through their schools. When one person is trained, the whole team often starts to shift. This matters: Cornett and Knight (2008) found that coaching follow-up, rather than one-off training, is what leads to wide implementation.

Strengths-based communication. Learning to lead with strengths, rather than problems, changes the way you approach students who are struggling. Leach et al. (2011) point to validated tools such as the Values in Action Signature Strengths Survey as simple, practical ways to do this. Instead of focusing on what's going wrong, you start spotting what's going right. That shift has a ripple effect. These are not small changes. They're the kind of professional development that stays with you.

Why We Run a Summer Coach Training for Teachers

Term time is relentless. We know that. Timetable pressure, safeguarding meetings, parents' evenings, cover duties, lunchtime responsibilities, form time, pastoral caseloads: the list of things that make it almost impossible to commit to training during the school week is not short.

Removing the barriers

That's exactly why we offer a summer coach training option. It gives teachers and school staff the chance to invest in meaningful professional development at a time when the demands of the school day aren't competing for their attention. This matters because reflection is central to how teachers learn coaching. Barr and van Nieuwerburgh (2015) found that "the value of time to think" was one of the two key themes in how teachers experienced their training, alongside the value of collaboration. Summer training means:

• No timetable clashes: you can be fully present, not half-thinking about the lesson you're missing
• No safeguarding or pastoral emergencies pulling you out mid-session: the kind of interruptions that make term-time learning genuinely difficult
• No guilt about lunchtime or after-school commitments: you're not stealing time from other responsibilities
• Space to actually absorb and reflect: learning coaching requires practice and reflection, and those things are hard to do when you're exhausted

We designed our summer offer because we believe good training deserves your full attention. And you deserve the chance to develop without the pressure of the school day pressing in on all sides.

Why Coaching Matters More Than Ever Right Now

Schools are navigating a complex landscape. Emotional needs are rising. Attendance remains a significant challenge. Behaviour concerns are growing. And many schools are being asked to do more, with inclusion, with SEND provision, with disadvantaged pupils, with the same or fewer resources. Coaching is one of the most powerful, evidence-informed responses available to schools right now.

Early, targeted support that works

Coaching provides early targeted support that intervenes before needs escalate. It's accessible to all students, not just those with a clinical diagnosis or a referral. It's preventative, not reactive. Robson-Kelly and van Nieuwerburgh (2016) argue that the "languishing" stage is precisely when intervention is most valuable, and that targeted, selective prevention can be more effective than universal approaches (Horowitz & Garber, 2006). Because coaching is delivered in a non-clinical, conversational format, it carries none of the stigma that can put young people off engaging with support. This aligns directly with what schools are increasingly being asked to prioritise.

Alignment with Ofsted and inclusion priorities

Ofsted's framework highlights personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and the broader development of pupils as confident, resilient, and responsible individuals. Coaching directly supports each of these areas. It builds self-awareness, ownership, and character, not through a curriculum add-on, but through the quality of the relationships and conversations in your school. Leach et al. (2011) highlight that youth provision can help marginalised young people, including those with disabilities and those from minority communities, engage in their own development, which speaks directly to inclusion goals. For schools working on inclusion, whether through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund or wider whole-school strategies, coaching strengthens your offer across multiple dimensions:

• Early, evidence-based support for pupils before needs escalate
• Accessible provision that doesn't require external referrals or long waiting lists
• A safe, respectful culture where young people feel heard and valued
• Stronger belonging and attendance through relationship-based support
• Improved outcomes for SEND and disadvantaged pupils who benefit from structured, personalised conversations
• Enriched personal development provision beyond the classroom

Coaching also strengthens partnerships with families and wider services by giving staff a shared language and a more confident, structured approach to difficult conversations. We're not suggesting that coaching is a single solution; it isn't. But it is a practical, meaningful piece of a whole-school response.

Taking the First Step

Coach training is realistic. It's manageable. And it is one of the most valuable investments you can make, for your students, for your practice, and for yourself.

You don't need a background in therapy or psychology. You just need curiosity, commitment, and a genuine care for the young people you work with. If you've read this far, you've already got all three.

Ready to take the next step?

• Access our free introduction to coaching young people training to start learning today.
• Download the Coach Training prospectus to find out more about what you will learn on the full course.

Whether you join us during the summer or explore what term-time options look like, we're here to support you through a structured, evidence-informed course that gives you tools you'll use from day one. Find out more about the Worth-it Coach Training for Teachers here!

References

Barr, M. & van Nieuwerburgh, C. (2015). Teachers' experiences of an introductory coaching training workshop in Scotland: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. International Coaching Psychology Review, 10(2), 190–204.

Cornett, J. & Knight, J. (2008). Research on coaching. In J. Knight (Ed.), Coaching: Approaches and perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Green, S., Grant, A.M. & Rynsaardt, J. (2007). Evidence-based life coaching for senior high school students: Building hardiness and hope. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(1), 24–32.

Horowitz, J.L. & Garber, J. (2006). The prevention of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 401–415.

Leach, C.J.C., Green, L.S. & Grant, A.M. (2011). Flourishing youth provision: The potential role of positive psychology and coaching in enhancing youth services. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 9(1), 44–58.

Robson-Kelly, L. & van Nieuwerburgh, C. (2016). What does coaching have to offer to young people at risk of developing mental health problems? A grounded theory study. International Coaching Psychology Review, 11(1), 75–92.

NHS Digital. (2023). Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023. Retrieved from https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up

van Nieuwerburgh, C. (2012). Coaching in education: Getting better results for students, educators and parents. London: Karnac Books.

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