Search the Internet for a "Personal Coach" or check the shelves of the local library or bookstore, and you will find a nearly endless supply of resources offering to help you better manage the complexities of your life — career coaching, financial coaching, relationship coaching, life coaching, etc. The "coaching" industry thrives because so many adults are looking to others for support, advice, and direction. As the International Coach Federation puts it, "Coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives."1
Of course, the success of the coach depends a great deal on the quality of the coaching. What do good coaches do? The International Coach Federation describes it this way: "[Good] coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach's job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already has."2
Educators can take a lesson from the adult coaching industry. Who needs mature, experienced, caring, adult guidance, and support more than a high school or middle school student who wrestles with academic challenges, the stresses of an ever-changing world, a constantly morphing sense of self, a desire to "fit in" yet stand alone, and uncertainty about the future?
At the Darrow School (New York), as part of the overall curricular offerings, we have developed a tutorial program that involves nearly all of our classroom instructors and that serves about 90 percent of the students. Classroom teachers typically serve as one-to-one tutors/academic coaches during several class periods each day. The school's Program Description & Tutorial Expectations describes the essential value of the program: "We are dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student's individual talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life…. Tutorial is a one-to-one academic mentoring program that focuses on the individual skills of the student.... [It] is an opportunity for students to engage in a unique learning experience which helps students become independent learners."
This description is similar to the International Coach Federation's definition of "coaching," because the ultimate mission of each "coach" is the same: to help the client thrive. The academic coach helps students develop more creativity, furthering their understanding of the world and their place in it, developing resilience, and finding areas of interest and specific realms in which they excel. The coach helps students to identify clear purpose and direction, and to better know themselves, their learning style, their talents and skills sets. While the focus of the tutorial program is on academic skills development and involves content tutoring, it is the teachers' role as academic coach/mentor that often has the greatest and longest-lasting impact on the students. It is the connection the tutor makes with the tutee that helps the student feel grounded, supported, motivated, and valued.
The Darrow program is not reserved for those students who have fallen behind or who lack important academic skills; our percentage of students with diagnosed learning issues is in line with national average for independent schools. Nor is it solely the privilege of the students who want to "get an edge" in preparing for the SAT, ACT, or AP exams. Tutoring at the school is designed for — and available to — all students, since all students benefit from one-to-one academic support and guidance. The high percentage of students enrolled in the tutorial program has the added value of preventing the stigma that often impacts children who receive tutoring in other communities. Tutoring — like life coaching — is viewed as valuable for everyone. And, indeed, the program is designed for all learners and ability levels. There is an overriding understanding among the students and faculty that individuals learn differently and that cooperative learning often enhances creativity and productivity.
In other words, it broadly improves the educational experience for all.
"Darrow School values the personal confidence and sense of direction which adolescents acquire through sound academic accomplishments and through close relationships between students and teachers. Our tutorial program is integral in creating purposefulness in our students, and our teachers understand that their role as tutors has a strong impact in helping our students mature into responsible, motivated, productive, competent young adults."
The focus of tutorial is on academic skills. When the student is up-to-date with schoolwork and is faring well in all classes, the academic coach can help create other meaningful educational opportunities to benefit the student. A good academic coach validates the student's interests and builds upon those interests, harnessing that intellectual spark to fire the engine that keeps the child directed toward the development of transferable skills. Encouraging an artistic child to create a cartoon representing a conflict in American history, assisting a prolific writer in shaping the plot for an adventure novel to rival the Harry Potter series, practicing relaxation techniques, playing Taboo (a timed, word-play game) to help a child correct his or her tendency to overuse the word "like" in his or her speech pattern, accessing YouTube to view streaming video of a flying snake to appeal to the curiosity of a snake lover who is incredulous that such a creature exists, having a candid discussion about nutrition and sleep habits that impact the learning process, helping a math student design a skateboard ramp while implementing his or her understanding gained in the study of geometry, or researching colleges and/or careers possibilities with an apprehensive student — all of these exercises have served to nurture interests, develop skills and understanding, and increase the chances that the student will embrace a lasting love of learning.
In addressing why the school has such a support program in place — requiring classroom teachers to tutor and turning one boarding school's proverbial "triple threat" faculty member [classroom teacher, dormitory parent, athletic coach] into a "quadruple threat" — Headmaster Nancy Wolf says, "Darrow School values the personal confidence and sense of direction which adolescents acquire through sound academic accomplishments and through close relationships between students and teachers. Our tutorial program is integral in creating purposefulness in our students, and our teachers understand that their role as tutors has a strong impact in helping our students mature into responsible, motivated, productive, competent young adults."
Tutoring is a regular part of the daily academic schedule. The week contains a total of 28 academic blocks divided into seven groups. This means that each block meets four times a week on different days and at different times during the day. Most days contain six academic blocks, with Wednesday and Saturday each having two class blocks.
The tutoring needs of the school's 125 students are met by 21 of the 26 classroom teachers and by three full-time tutors. The typical teacher would teach during A, B, and C block and be assigned to tutor during part or all of two to three other blocks, depending on ancillary duties. This allows teachers to meet with up to six students in a one-on-one tutorial during the course of a week. Most students choose to have tutorial twice a week. For a handful of students, tutoring is required. Students for whom English is not their primary language typically choose tutoring four times per week, as do some other students. Parents pay an additional $3,900 for tutoring two times per week, $7,800 for tutoring four times per week.
Careful attention is given to ensuring that the student is matched with a faculty member who will provide that individual with an opportunity for growth. The matching process takes into account the student's reported need for subject support, teacher strengths, compatibility of personalities, and schedules. Once the teacher/student pairs are assigned, they meet in a central location before proceeding to their regular meeting place. Meetings between student and tutor/coach are considered academic commitments with the same importance placed on participation and preparation as there is for any other class. Tutorial is a time for academic pursuit; if a child directs the session toward non-academic issues, the tutor redirects the student or refers the student to the appropriate resource. The tutors maintain narrative records of each meeting, and, at the end of each quarter, they write comments and give an effort grade. Teachers are supported with training in a workshop at the beginning of each school year, presentations during the year, and a resource and strategy binder. The director of tutorial and director of studies are both available to consult with teachers about specific students as needed.
Because our faculty members serve as classroom teachers and tutors, we all understand the tutor's role. As tutors, we focus on helping the students develop the processes involved in learning — we know that our role does not involve doing the schoolwork for the student or even doing the work with the student; we are mindful of the fact that our job as tutor/coach is to provide support and guidance as the student does the work. Since we all understand the importance of tutoring, we who teach in the classroom engage in open and timely communication with our colleagues in order to ensure that all tutees' needs are being met. Through the work we do with students, tutors gain a broader knowledge of the work other classroom teachers are doing; they can then apply that understanding as they plan their own curriculum. The interaction between classroom teachers and tutors helps classroom teachers become more deliberate, clear, and comprehensive in assigning and evaluating student work.
In assessing his role as a tutor/academic coach, Robert Welch, assistant athletic director and math teacher, states, "I approach tutorial the same way I would if I were coaching the basketball team. I start with the basics, and then move on to specific skills. Sometimes when tutoring, I have to do drills that work on specific tasks, such as study skills. I often help them find what they are good at and then apply that to what they are learning in class. I help them set goals that they want to achieve and then figure out the steps they need to reach those goals. As in practice, the students have to work harder in tutorial so that, when they get to class, it's easy…. Sometimes you meet for extra ‘one-on-one' time so that they are ready to perform come game- (class-) time; sometimes you are hard on them; and sometimes you simply tell them what a great job they are doing and let them know that you are proud of them."
History instructor Pat Cooke presents his perspective: "Tutorial provides the comfortable atmosphere and personal attention that many students need to push themselves academically, thereby allowing them to take ownership for their learning in a classroom setting." French teacher Evan Downy adds, "Tutoring offers more occasions for feedback on my teaching techniques than does any other aspect of this job. It allows me to try new approaches with a student that I wouldn't necessarily try with a full class. Because of this, I think it makes me a better teacher." Chorus director and math teacher, Kenny Hadden adds, "Tutoring is an amazing chance to reinforce the supportive, cheerleading role of a teacher — an essential role that too often gets pushed aside in the less personal classroom setting. In tutorial, the reciprocal nature of the teaching-learning relationship comes to the forefront." Kristi Woodworth, visual arts teacher, sums up how the tutorial program benefits her: "Tutoring offers me the unique opportunity to understand, explore, and engage in curriculum outside the subject matter I teach. It connects me more to both my students and colleagues and serves as inspiration and a resource for ideas for my own learning and teaching."
The success of the program, however, is ultimately measured by the degree of academic progress the students make toward becoming self-aware and self-directed learners who are skilled and contributing community members. For each Darrow student presently in "Academic Difficulty" (defined as earning D+ or worse in two classes or more), there are 3.5 students who have earned academic Honors (GPAs of 3.33–3.66) or High Honors (GPAs of 3.67 or higher). Of the 19 students receiving tutoring four times per week throughout this academic year, only one is presently in "Academic Difficulty." Director of College Counseling Don Singleton states, "Tutorial promotes a strong awareness of the individual's learning strengths as well as areas of relative weakness. Based on reports from alumni, this meta-awareness is beneficial as the students face the various types of assignments and methods of information delivery they will encounter in college."
Students seem to value the time they spend in working one-to-one with an academic coach. Ninth grader Katey Gillispie, from Santa Barbara, California, gives a representative statement when commenting on her tutorial experience: "Although the extra support has been astronomically helpful in keeping me on track and on the high honor roll, I find tutorial to be a sort of heaven where I can have one-on-one attention from an adult who has my best interests in mind. Acting as a parent and a person to lean on, my tutor is always someone I can count on to encourage me to do my best." Tenth grader Jun Hag Lee, from Seoul, Korea, states, "This year I realized during tutorial time that I needed to improve my English skills and become a better student. My tutor and I sometimes work on homework and sometimes we work on grammar and speaking skills…. I feel I'm getting better and I can better understand what is going on in class. I'm happy sitting with my tutor because I know it really helps me feel good that I have improved my skills. Now I am comfortable with doing my homework." Selassie Sayon, from the Bronx, New York, writes, "Tutorial has been very beneficial to me throughout my three years at Darrow. I have been able to work on tasks other than schoolwork. For example, we created a résumé and worked on my application for a summer internship at a major financial company. My tutor is helping me figure out which college might be right for me and what I am looking for in a college. Tutorial is great because I get to work one-on-one with someone who is able to hear what I have to say and is there to help me."
Fourth-year senior Nick Cholakis comments on his impending matriculation to The College of the Holy Cross near his hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts: "I am excited and feel prepared. I know there will be a significant amount of work, but, if I take what I have learned in tutorial, I should be able to succeed. Although it may not seem like it, working one-on-one with a teacher has actually helped me to become more independent… and allowed me to feel comfortable asking teachers for help. I have learned the importance of organization, preparation, and time management, which are necessary skills for the upcoming years. I attribute much of my success in high school to what I have learned during tutorials."
Darrow School is certainly not alone in valuing the work that tutors/academic coaches do in mentoring students. While different terms can be applied to those who seek to help children or adults to thrive, the guiding principles remain the same: accepting individuals for who they are; fostering their intellectual curiosity; providing support, encouragement and direction; and bolstering their sense of worth as uniquely talented and significant human beings.
Mark McKelvey has spent nearly 20 years as a classroom teacher of Study Skills and has extensive tutoring experience in independent schools. He is presently a full-time tutor at Darrow School and can be reached at mckelveylearn@aol.com.
References
1. International Coaches Federation. "What is coaching?" URL: http://www.coachfederation.org/ICF/For+Coaching+Clients/What+is+a+Coach/
2. Ibid 1.
Reprinted with permission from author and the Independent School Magazine