Roles of Teaching, Coaching and Mentoring

The report evaluates the roles of teachers, coaches and mentors towards enhancing the learning outcomes of the students. It focuses on the various strategies implemented by the coach and the support functions that were required. The study has extensively focused on the various strategies implemented by the coach and the support functions that were required. The implications point towards implementing systematic approaches towards generating better teaching and learning outcomes.

Running head: ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Executive Summary
The report is aimed towards the effective understanding of the roles of teachers, coaches and
mentors towards enhancing the learning outcomes of the students. The case that has been
considered for the study is the coaching that a student went through in the last year of his
graduation in order to graduate with distinction marks. The various aspects concerning
learning and guidance provision have been essentially considered for the report. The study
has extensively focused on the various strategies implemented by the coach and the support
functions that were required. The study has further evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of
the coach through reflective analysis of the same. The implications point towards
implementing systematic approaches towards generating better teaching and learning
outcomes.

2ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Identifying differences between teaching, coaching and mentoring......................................3
Review of personal role.........................................................................................................5
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................6
Five strategies for better guidance.........................................................................................6
Five agency factors affecting guidance..................................................................................8
Task 3.........................................................................................................................................9
Reflections on personal guidance roles..................................................................................9
Five point Action plan recommendations............................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

3ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Introduction
The report deals with the roles and responsibilities that differentiate between teaching,
coaching and mentoring. Guidance is an important factor in human life and much required for
the personal and professional development of the individual. It is much important that
individuals that are poised to take on essential roles in the society, businesses or
organizations go through proper guidance from an effective trainer; mentor or teacher in
order to successfully realize the goals associated with his/her future development. However,
at the same time it is also of much importance that the teacher, mentor or coach is essentially
aware of the roles associated with the designations. The study has evaluated the essential
roles through the consideration of a case that had tested personal guiding techniques against
effectively coaching a student.
Task 1
Identifying differences between teaching, coaching and mentoring
The essential aspects concerned with the roles of teachers, coaches and mentors are
very much related to each other. They concern making students able to identify their learning
needs, provision of effective support as and when required, providing efficient guidance,
encouraging students to overcome challenges, helping students to feely express issues that an
affect their performance and making the student self sufficient towards achieving goals by the
end of the learning process (Avis, Fisher and Thompson 2014). All these aspects are much
intrinsic elements in all three of the guidance roles that are being discussed. However, there
are some essential differences in the approaches that are utilized by teachers, coaches and
mentors that can separate them. The differences are subtle at times and at other times they

4ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
can change the perspective and performance of students considering whether they are being
taught, coached or mentored (Young 2015).
A coach is concerned about significantly improving the performance levels of the
individual. Coaching is much more result oriented in outlook. In this case the coach is always
concerned about how the student can provide his optimal performance concerning the
assessment areas (Griffith and Burns 2012). Coaching demands the establishment of specific
target outcomes for the student, understanding the areas where improvement is required and
working in accordance with strict guidance frameworks.
A mentor is like a supportive and guidance providing friend for a student. In this case
the support functions of the mentor are much distinctively focused (Evans 1990). Providing
essential support to the individual as an effective guide is much required. The emphasis is on
optimal individual development. Hence, the objectives are not clearly set for the mentee
(Wallace 2011). The role is to pro actively guide the student towards determining own goals
in the right direction. Mentoring does not follow any specific structure.
Teaching is a long standing responsibility as it can continue for much longer periods
of time. Teaching depends on the introduction of effective programs for learning. A teacher’s
responsibility is to build efficient relationships with the students concerning the learning area
and the idealized course outcomes (Rogers 2007). Teaching essentially depends on the
assessment of students and can be done for both individuals and groups. Outcomes of
assessments are important for teachers as they are the principle ways in which both the
teaching and learning functions can be evaluated.
A role was assigned for coaching a college student in the final graduation year in
order to make him graduate with distinction from the college. The role assigned required the
setting of significant goals and objectives in order to help the student understand the factors

5ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
that could lead him to a distinguished assessment result (Hattie 2012). The role further
required motivating the students emotionally, mentally and physically to achieve great
learning outcomes in the apparently very tough and demanding course. The role is to
effectively enhance the learning implications of the student (Wallace 2011).
Review of personal role
It has to be understood that the role is that of a coach and not a teacher. Therefore,
firstly the role is for a much shorter length of time. It should be considered that the course
duration of the student is limited and only a seemingly short period of time was available for
the coach to effectively help the student get a distinction in the subject he is pursuing (Moon
2013). Thus, it is much important that significant short term goals are created than long term
learning objectives. The coach was to enhance the capabilities of the student. Hence, it will
be important to develop intrinsic learning ability within the student. This will help him to
identify better with the required areas of learning that he has to master to get a distinction
(Keeley-Browne 2013). The teacher also has to develop a strong compact strategy to develop
the technical areas that need to be considered for giving assessments. As an example- time
management is extremely important when giving crucial exams. Thus, an important role of
the coach here will be to enhance the technical ability of the student. Hence, time
management exercises could be implemented, like- mock examinations, specific question
based time management and assessment objective analysis based writing techniques (Crawley
2010).
The role is effective as a relatively substantial but short duration of time is given to
effectively enhance the study objectives of a student in order make him pass with distinction
(Tight 2012). Thus, an effective advantage is that the student is well aware and equipped to
pass his assessment and making him pass is not a big objective of the coach. The base of the

6ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
study is already available with the student. The coach only needs to enhance them further for
achieving better results. The most important requirement is empowering the student to
perform better in his course (Race 2005). The effectiveness of the coaching session will
depend greatly on the ability of the student to identify his needs with regards to the objective
of earning a distinction in marks. Since the coach is not a teacher, the effectiveness of the
guidance session will depend on how much self-sufficient he is able to make the student
(Griffith and Burns 2012). The assessments at regular intervals can help to provide an
effective framework for the student to realize his potential. The later assessments will be
focused more towards generating high levels of self-awareness about the capabilities of the
student (Hillier 2005). The student needs to develop skills that will help him to understand
the deeper implications of the subject. The coach will provide the student with feedbacks that
will be specially directed towards helping him understand the meanings of the study materials
by himself (Lemov 2010). The techniques for better understanding and presentations will be
effectively emphasized by the coach.
Task 2
Five strategies for better guidance
In order to effectively help the student achieve his goals it became essential that
effective strategies are formed (Lemov 2010). The coach needed to implement the following
strategies for effective achievement of goals for the student.
Effective communication- communication is much important towards establishing mutual
trust. In a short span of time the student has to depend on the coach for achieving his essential
goals. Communication had to be made clear and direct. The coach developed a cooperative
relationship with the student. Making clear that the coach will give his optimal efforts and

7ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
would like the student to give his optimal effort in return is important (Tummons and Powell
2011).
SMART goals- Specific, meaningful, attainable, realistic and time-bound roles need to be
created. The strategy will be specific as in the case of the most important learning areas. It
was to be meaningful as it only targeted the crucial learning outcomes and intrinsic learning
(Moon 2013). Attainable goals were set in order to focus on specific areas that can increase
grades. Realistic goals were made as there was no need to thoroughly go through stud
materials that are irrelevant (Roffey-Barentsen and Malthouse 2009). Time was an important
factor and there was not much time that was left so time-bound strategies were a must.
Individual skill enhancement- The coaching focused extensively on making the student
realize his own potential. Without the realization of individual potential, the student is not
able to improve himself. He needs to understand his strengths and weaknesses and evaluate
the opportunities that are present before him (Petty 2004). The coaching was to make the
student self sufficient towards giving effective performances. The student needed to realize
his potential for performing up to the standards of achieving distinction.
Development area oriented feedbacks- Feedbacks are necessary in order to both guide the
individual towards progressive paths and identification of weaker areas. Feedback was
focused towards the identified development areas. For example- at some instances the student
developed external knowledge about the subject rather than understanding the deeper
implications. Thus, feedback focused on informing him that deeper more effective concept
needed to be formed with regards to a specific learning area (Gould 2012). Student was made
to realize that feedbacks will make his knowledge gathering stronger.
Simulated environments- The student was given an idea of the assessment environment so
that not kind of last moment nervousness affects him. Mock assessments were regularly

8ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
taken. The student was increasingly made aware of the various aspects of the final assessment
including the environment at the examination hall and the exact amount of time that are
provided to students to complete their term papers. The student realized the vital technical
concepts of the examination environment.
Five agency factors affecting guidance
Various agencies needed to be consulted in order to effectively support the student
towards the achievement of his crucial goals. Five important agencies were consulted for
developing a multi-agency support system.
Internet facility- The student was more e-learning oriented than he was focused towards his
study materials. Thus, the internet facility was utilized to help him understand many study
concepts in a clearer way. The availability of internet was also good and it could be easily
referred to as an alternate source (Tight 2012). Some of the study concepts were more easily
understood through reliable sources in the internet.
Maths guide- The student had some issues with numeracy that was required in the pursued
course. A maths guide was required in order to enhance the mathematical abilities of the
student. As the teacher thought that the knowledge he had was not sufficient enough to
support the student with regards to his maths requirements, a maths expert was consulted.
The maths teacher worked towards enhancing the numerical ability of the student. The maths
expert was able to provide effective support to the student concerning the maths lessons. The
student gained significant numeracy after the referral.
In house resources- As explained earlier the study outcomes required the coach to create
mock assessment environments. Thus, a hall room available at the student’s house was

9ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
effectively utilized as a mock hall room when the student was being familiarize with the ideal
examination environments. The student required to be committed towards the achievements
of his goals. Thus, it became important for him to essentially understand the required
environment of the exam. This was done in order to remove any psychological fears that
might develop within the student.
Special counselling- The student needed to achieve better grades and graduate with
distinction marks. Hence, it became important that a counsellor was consulted in order to
make the student psychologically empowered enough to take on the challenge of performing
well in his assessment. The counsellor was consulted more as the student in the initial phases
of the coaching became very disheartened concerning the actual possibilities that he might
get a distinction. Thus, the counselling session was focused towards boosting the morale of
the student.
Interns and professionals- It became important at a time in the duration of the course that
professionals needed to be consulted. This was due to the fact that there were practical
exercises towards the end of the course that required insights from professionals and interns
(Race 2005). Interns were utilized in order to provide crucial professional knowledge to the
student about how internships can be done in order to enhance the professional capabilities of
the students (Duckworth et al. 2010). Moreover, a large part of the assessment was dependent
on gathering professional knowledge. Hence, the student needed to consult professionals in
order to gain the same and utilize it effectively in the assessment. The particular agency was
very helpful.

10ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Task 3
Reflections on personal guidance roles
As a coach I wanted to make the student optimally capable of performing well in his
graduation year. He had a fairly good result in his previous years so it was quite important
that he graduated the course with distinction marks. I focused more on improving his intrinsic
skills rather than on providing fixed learning guidelines. I was not a teacher as I did not cover
all the aspects of his learning from the beginning. However, I focused towards becoming an
effective coach by fixing a routine that would help the student to realize his potential and
subsequently effectively boost his performance. I occasionally throughout the course sought
feedbacks from established teachers and other professionals working in the academic field. I
wanted to make sure that the techniques I was utilizing were enough for providing better
outcomes for the student.
One of my essential strengths was perseverance. This was important for helping me to
work together with the student towards getting better results. I had a degree from a
recognized and reputable university in the subject that the student was pursuing as a
graduation course in college. I also had a teachers training certificate from a recognized
teacher’s training institute. I consider my special aspect to be communication. I used this to
establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the student.
My weakness was primarily that I was not able to help the student concerning the
entire duration of the course. There were areas that were out of my expertise, like the
mathematical aspects of the course. Despite having significant knowledge of the course, I had
a weakness concerning mathematical portions of the course and it was also one of my weaker
points when I graduated from university with the same course. Another significant area of
improvement was responsiveness to the student. I was unable to respond in time to the

11ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
students queries many times. This sometimes created a gap in developing mutual
understanding between me and the student.
The opportunities in front of me were to address my own weaknesses through the
coaching process along with guiding the student. Moreover, there was the greater opportunity
to develop strong one-to-one relationship with the student that would help me in my future
endeavours. The student oriented aspects provided opportunities for helping me to grow and
develop my own professional standards. The usage of multi-agencies helped me to develop
skills that can help me to handle the situations myself in my future endeavours. I can be a
better focused and equipped mentor after making the student overcome the challenge of
graduating with distinction. The opportunities that I got as a coach can help me to take on
bigger responsibilities in the future and even explore the growth opportunities concerning all
three disciplines of being a teacher, coach and mentor. Through effective guidance
endeavours I can become a truly experienced professional in the field. I can help many people
achieve significant goals of their lives and develop my own potentials in the process.
Five point Action plan recommendations
Developing effective communication- communication is a much required aspect when
developing one-to-one relationships with people. A teacher, mentor or guide cannot be
successful if he/she does not have effective levels of communication. It is important to
improve personal communication skills as well as supportive communicational outlooks
(Brookfield 2017). Communication can help a teacher to provide correct feedbacks and
correct guidance at significant points in the duration of the training.
Peer mentoring- This is an essential action plan as other experienced coaches, teachers or
mentors can guide the individual towards being better at the job (Gould 2012). It is important

12ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
that the coach follows the ideal professional standards that are maintained by the more
experienced senior teachers and mentors. Thus, peer mentoring is and essential plan.
Training- It is important that the mentor learns to be effective at the job roles that he would
have to undertake as teacher, mentor or coach. Effective training can help the individual to
understand the job roles correctly. Moreover, cross training sessions can be used in order to
enhance capabilities with regards to all three of the guidance disciplines of teacher, coach and
mentor.
Disciplined approach- Discipline is much required aspect for teacher. This is more because
teachers or mentors have to be better disciplined than the students. They can cultivate
discipline among the students only if they lead by example. Discipline is a much required
factor when it comes to the growth or development of a person at his career.
Increasing knowledge- As a teacher or mentor it becomes much important that knowledge
levels are at par with the exact teaching requirements (Stubbs 2012). It is important on the
basis of knowledge, the teacher or coach is always on a higher plane than the student.
Positive attitudes towards gathering knowledge should be developed by the teacher.
Conclusion
It can be said that teaching, coaching or mentoring are very important towards the
development of the futures of students, interns or any other person going through an initial
learning phase. The case analysed through the study helped to point out the various crucial
aspects concerning the student-teacher relationships and the various factors that affect the
same. It was essentially found that during a coaching phase both the student and the teacher
go through a developmental phase that increases their experience to certain extents.

13ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
References
Avis, J., Fisher, R. and Thompson, R., 2014. Teaching in Lifelong Learning: A guide to
theory and practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Brookfield, S.D., 2017. Becoming a critically reflective teacher. John Wiley & Sons.
Crawley, J., 2010. In at the deep end: a survival guide for teachers in Post-Compulsory
Education. Routledge.
Duckworth, V., Wood, J., Bostock, J. and Dickinson, J., 2010. Successful teaching practice in
the lifelong learning sector. Learning Matters.
Evans, D.W., 1990. People, communication and organisations. Pitman.
Gould, J., 2012. Learning theory and classroom practice in the lifelong learning sector.
Learning Matters.
Griffith, A. and Burns, M., 2012. Outstanding teaching: Engaging learners. Crown House
Publishing.
Griffith, A. and Burns, M., 2012. Outstanding teaching: Engaging learners. Crown House
Publishing.
Hattie, J., 2012. Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge.
Hillier, Y., 2005. Reflective teaching in further and adult education. A&C Black.
Keeley-Browne, L., 2013. Training to teach in the learning and skills sector: From threshold
award to QTLS. Routledge.

14ROLES OF TEACHING, COACHING AND MENTORING
Lemov, D., 2010. Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to
college (K-12). John Wiley & Sons.
Moon, J.A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Petty, G., 2004. Teaching today: A practical guide. Nelson Thornes.
Race, P., 2005. Making learning happen. A Guide for Post-compulsory Education.
Roffey-Barentsen, J. and Malthouse, R., 2009. Reflective practice in the lifelong learning
sector. SAGE.
Rogers, J., 2007. Adults learning. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Stubbs, M., 2012. Language, Schools and Classrooms (RLE Edu L Sociology of Education).
Routledge.
Tight, M., 2012. Key concepts in adult education and training. Routledge.
Tummons, J. and Powell, S., 2011. Inclusive Practice in the Lifelong Learning Sector. SAGE.
Wallace, S., 2011. Teaching, tutoring and training in the lifelong learning sector. Learning
Matters.
Young, M., 2015. Curriculum theory and the question of knowledge: a response to the six
papers. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(6), pp.820-837.