Coaching within the Education Sector has been transformational for my work as a coach. Parent coaching, although commonplace in the U.S. is relatively new in the UK and is definitely a growing area.
“In my opinion, every parent, family and child are unique and so therefore their challenges are unique to them too, and there isn’t a parenting magic wand! It makes this area of coaching varied, exciting and rewarding”.
When I coach, I initially work to dispel the myth of the “perfect parent” and then move towards a strength based approach to help clients realise that they are doing the best job they can with the tools that they have available to them at the time. Coaching gives parents more tools to do an even better job. Supporting parents to become the parent or family they want to be can be an incredible and rewarding journey! Some of the feedback I’ve received from clients has included the words like...
“Life-changing”, “I feel like a better person for my young person”, “we now communicate and we have fun together, I’m now enjoying my parenting like I never have before”
Many people see parenting as one of the hardest jobs there is, and in some ways, it’s true, however coaching in this area enables you to empower parents to see parenting through a different lens. Helping them to realise that what we focus on we notice more of. As a parent, do they focus on all the things they find irritating and challenging? As a coach, we can help them see their child’s uniqueness and strengths and to become confident in their parental authority through, positive approaches to discipline, good communication and valuing relationships. Coaching also helps parents to have a more coach like approach in their parenting style too.
In this area of coaching I have developed working relationships with local Children’s Centres and my local authority. Parenting is very high on the political agenda, and things are changing in this area all the time, being aware of this I have been able to tap into local government funding to deliver group coaching programmes to many different parents. This work often leads to parents also approaching me for private 1-1 coaching either for themselves or through recommendations to their family and friends.
“Parents will also approach me to coach their children around many aspects of wellbeing, raising aspirations or managing exam stress and empowering their young person to reach their full potential”.
As a result of the work I have done in Children’s Centres and alongside the funding from my local authority I have come into contact with parents who work for big corporations. Development of these contacts has led to working alongside Shell UK and also Aviva Insurance UK to help develop initiatives for their working parent networks providing regular lunch bite coaching sessions and 1-1 parent coaching surgeries in their London Head Offices.
I also work regularly in schools, where I am asked to provide coaching workshops for parents on many aspects of parenting support as well as resilience and wellbeing evenings to support schools in developing parental engagement. This has also spun off into other areas of business development where I have been able to provide;
So to sum up…
This area is varied and exciting area to coach within, not least of all because it influences the outcome of the next generation. I feel so passionate about this area of work as I have found that at the centre of everything is the child. So, whether you are working with a parent, a teacher or a family support worker, it’s all about the child, which is a very empowering and motivational thing to be influencing.
If you really want to make a difference and make a positive impact on the lives of parents, teachers, young people and inspire the next generation, this area is one I would highly recommend. It’s exciting, rewarding and I truly believe as a coach, the sky is the limit!
If becoming qualified to coach within education is something you would like to know more about, please contact Jamil Bah at The Coaching Academy here: jamil@the-coaching-academy.com or alternatively you can visit our Coaching in Education micro-site here: https://www.the-coaching-academy.com/coaching/coaching-within-education/
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