The Coach Matters: Facilitating Characteristics of PLC Coaches Within the Context of a Professional Development Trajectory for School Leaders

Group coaching for school leaders can make a positive contribution to supporting professional and school development. Little research has focused on the effect of group coaching as an integrated approach during a professional development trajectory. To maximize effectiveness, empirical research on perceived key factors is essential. A professional development trajectory for school leaders with integrated professional learning communities provided an opportunity to examine the experienced impact of coach characteristics linked to the coaching approach, coaching skills and coaching expertise on outcomes. Based on mixed-method research, we can conclude that the PLC coach matters. Depending on the didactic approach and coaching skills applied by the coach, school leaders sometimes experienced that coaching had a major impact on their ability to convert insights into concrete actions, as well as on their desire to continue working on the content of the trajectory. Both school leaders and coaches perceived that coaches with a large amount of domain expertise but little in the area of coaching were less effective than those more skilled with coaching and with less domain-specific knowledge. Nevertheless, both are important: coaches should use existing expertise in the development process, taking into account the needs and expectations of school leaders. Mediating factors that influenced the experienced effectiveness of PLC coaching were also examined.