Coaching Cut 46: Wishy washy modelling

This pitfall shows up once the coach and coachee have agreed on the step the coachee will work on. This is a crucial moment in the conversation: it’s where the coachee should form a representation of the step in practice by seeing a model.

A model is the coach demonstrating the agreed step as if they were in a real lesson (or as if they were planning a real lesson). This often means standing up, using real content, and performing the technique so the coachee can see it in action. The reason this matters is that a coachee who has only heard a step described has to imagine what it looks like under the pressure of a real classroom. A coachee who has seen it modelled already has that image. Modelling begins to bridge the gap between understanding something in theory and being able to do it in practice.

It can be tempting to just explain ‘what you would do’ for the step and hope that your coachee gets it. But different people picture different things when they hear the same words. And if the coachee walks away with a fuzzy image of what “good” looks like, it’s much harder for them to do it well.

That’s wishy washy modelling at work.

It’s an easy pitfall to fall into…

Modelling can feel vulnerable. As a coach, you’re standing up and performing an aspect of teaching in front of a colleague, without students, in a quiet room. It can feel a bit odd.

The result? The coach settles for a half-hearted description of the step instead of actually showing it. Or worse, they do a bit of both: a few seconds of something that looks like modelling, mixed in with narration of what they want the coachee to try. The coachee can’t tell which bits are the model and which bits are commentary.

Here’s an example. The coach intends to model cold calling:

“OK, so what I’d recommend you try is cold calling. So essentially, think of a question and then pose that question, pause so everyone has to think and then name a student to answer… pretty straightforward?

So, it would go something like this: imagine I’m stood in front of my class, I’ll ask something like ‘What was the main cause of World War Two?’ I’ll give a pause like this… yeah? That’s essentially just to give them time to have a think and then I’ll name someone to answer. It doesn’t really matter who… Jack, Nimrat, Yemi… don’t worry too much at all about that.”

See the problems? The coach assumes the coachee already understands. They give the impression that the question itself, who is asked, and the amount of wait time are incidental details when actually, these are fundamental to the technique working. The coachee is left with no clear mental image of what cold calling actually looks and sounds like when done well.

The coach’s job is to provide a model that is concrete and where the key aspects (the success criteria) are unmissable. The coachee must know exactly what they are aiming for. If the coach doesn’t do this, the model is wishy washy and so will the coachee’s practice be afterwards.

In the clip below, coach Adam half models half explains the step that coachee Sarah is going to try. This makes it really hard for Sarah to work out what is narration and what is the actual model.

Sarah seems unsure but agrees anyway because what Adam says resonates to an extent, even though it doesn’t give her a clear picture of what to actually do. This lack of clarity makes it much less likely that Sarah will be able to change her practice.

We model the step clearly, as close to reality as possible.

This means standing up, using real upcoming content, and performing the technique as if students were in front of you. No narrating over the top. No half-in, half-out. The coachee watches a clean demonstration and can see exactly what they’re aiming for.

Then, after the model, we ask the coachee what they saw and why it is important for learning.

Instead of…

“So, I’d probably stand around the middle of the room and cold call Bill, like… err… what’s the capital of Spain? Bill. Get it?”

Try…

“What is the capital of Spain?” [scanning the room deliberately for six seconds] “Jack.”

That’s it. Clean, close to reality, and unmissable. The coachee can see exactly what the technique looks like — the deliberate pause, the scanning, the named student — without having to filter out narration or guess what matters.

Let’s see it done better…

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