relationship itself has an impact on practice.
Tables 1 and 2 show that student teachers thought
their relationships were both positive and useful
for developing both aspects of their teaching and
the written elements of the course. Peer coaching
provided a forum in which student teachers could
listen and discuss their practice in a different
context – through doing this they not only
developed their listening skills but also skills of
giving advice, communication, sharing ideas and
reflecting on both their classroom practice and
relationships within their schools. Through the
process of coaching the students were able to
appreciate the benefits of teamwork. All of these
personal skills are important criteria to
successfully complete the PGCE course [31]. They
also develop classroom confidence, an attribute
required to be an effective teacher, which in turn
will help them to be successful practitioners.
From all the responses it was clear that the
students were positive about being given the
opportunity to discuss their teaching practice. They
also found the process very reflective and stress
relieving. Below are some examples from the
interim questionnaire about how useful the
students found the process;
“It was good having someone to bounce ideas
off”
“Good to get another person’s perspective”
“Able to support each other when morale is
down”
“My coach helped me to sort out my files and
paperwork”
All of the above indicate the peer coach was
someone they felt supported by and indicate a real
need for students to have access to a coach during
what is a very demanding and stressful time for
them. These quotes indicate that the students were
being involved in aspects of confidence such as
being more persistent [21] and open to ideas [20].
Coaching can help students to empathise with
different points of view, which can help them to
reflect upon what other people say about their own
teaching.
One of the emerging themes from the responses of
the end of practice questionnaires was that through
peer coaching, students had improved how they
would interact and respond to others in a
professional capacity – this is evidence, we
believe, of improved confidence and an evolving
teacher identity. Below are two further examples;
“Seeing how upset my friend was about the
underlying attitude of his mentor, it was clear
that the mentor, whilst not doing anything
directly insulting, was causing him to be made to
feel unappreciated and a burden unnecessarily.