Coaching

The programme has been designed to be age and developmentally appropriate for children. However, its success in delivering the evidenced outcomes for children depends largely upon the skills and abilities that teachers delivering it can bring to ensure that it is implemented and provided as designed.

The Barnardo’s Coaching and Implementation Plan has two primary purposes:

1. Fidelity

Research on professional development has found that for teachers to implement The PATHS^® Programme for Schools (UK Version) with fidelity, they need ongoing support in the context in which they are implementing the programme. Group trainings, as planned, help teachers understand the concepts and philosophical underpinnings of an intervention, and become familiar with curriculum content, but it is the ongoing support that they receive in the classroom from an experienced coach that is critical to ensuring that teachers transfer what they learn in the training to actual practice in the classroom. The support offered by Barnardo’s is designed to ensure that teachers receive high quality training as well as support in the classroom.

2. Quality Assurance

The training and coaching support will help improve programme delivery in The PATHS^® Programme for Schools (UK Version) in the following ways:

1. It will provide information on the fidelity with which the teachers implement the programme and help to understand what challenges or obstacles are faced in implementation;
2. It will provide teachers with new and innovative ideas developed locally by Barnardo’s coaches and teachers,
3. It will provide teacher feedback on both possible improvements as well as how to improve integration with other academic areas including language and literacy, social studies, and science,
4. It will provide information on the frequency, duration, and perceived usefulness of the coaching process in order to improve and streamline the process; and
5. It will identify barriers and other supports to implementing the programme effectively.

Barnardo’s coaches

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