At our school, all staff are trained as cognitive coaches: teachers, receptionists, finance staff … everyone. This is not the usual CPD you hear of, but it is a path our school has been following since 2016, and one that I believe has huge benefits for staff and students.

So, what is cognitive coaching? In its broadest sense, it is being able to actively listen and engage with someone, to ask open-ended questions that encourage deep thinking, engage in meaningful conversations and develop problem-solving skills.

This can help someone uncover answers they didn’t know they had, or articulate something important that a more cursory conversation would not allow.

When I first heard about this, I realised immediately how it could give teachers the skills to act as “mentors” to pupils and complement the academic provision that we were offering.

This is not the kind of thing you learn on a half-day CPD session; it’s quite the opposite. The course we use lasts eight days, split into two four-day sessions, which is a huge time and budget commitment.

There was some scepticism when we told staff about this training, but it was clear from the first cohort that the impact was huge, with teachers really buying into the idea of how the skills they were learning could help their pupils.

Cognitive coaching in action

So, how does it work in reality? Every Friday afternoon, each teacher has an hour set aside for mentoring. They will meet with four students, spending 15 minutes with each. As each teacher has eight mentees, this means that students will have a coaching conversation every fortnight.

This time can be used to talk about anything: how students are finding certain subjects or any issues in their personal lives. It can sometimes be the case that, in the process of these conversations, students reveal sensitive issues that need further action. There’s always more support available for staff if this happens, to help the student in getting help as they need.

This can be challenging at times, but it is a key part of the process. Mentoring allows proper conversations to take place and uncover issues that could, if not addressed, lead to poor choices. This is far better than a student struggling without support.

Of course, holding these types of conversations also means that safeguarding is a top priority. As such, we hold all the coaching sessions in a large open hall with everyone visible, so no meetings are being held “in private”.

While some conversations will be built around problem-solving, many others are inspiring and affirming as students share their personal and academic successes.

Cognitive coaching supports improved learning outcomes, healthy relationships and a stronger collaborative culture in school. It may not be for every school, but I believe it is an approach that can yield huge benefits and equips teachers and students with a raft of skills that help move our education offering beyond the academic - preparing for exams - into something far deeper.

Barry Mansfield is director of Halcyon London International School in Marylebone, London

This article originally appeared in the 26 November 2021 issue under the headline “Is cognitive coaching essential CPD?”