What can educators do?

One of the functions of academic coaching is to help students not fall through the cracks – to connect with students in ways, and at times, that other roles may not be set up for. The degree to which a student feels seen and cared about by faculty, administration, and staff informs how engaged that student feels, which affects the student’s motivation to perform and persist. Coaching increases this student-personnel connection and as such drives increased retention. Coaching provides an opportunity for the student to define unique needs and receive targeted support in a one-on-one interaction format that supports engagement.

Coaching is highly versatile. When an institution employs staff identified as academic coaches, their primary role is to have one-on-one coaching conversations with students. However, any faculty or staff member can employ coaching tools within interactions with students or peers. Instructors, mentors, advisors, counsellors, and tutors who understand the value of open-ended questions and other coaching techniques can deploy them strategically within conversations, using them when appropriate to inspire thought in a student, build student accountability, investigate motivation, challenge a student to grow, and more.

Coaching is useable and useful in all disciplines. Because it is student-driven and focused on self-awareness and self-improvement, the coach does not need discipline-specific knowledge to support a student working in that discipline. However, if the coach happens to be well-versed in a particular discipline that is relevant to the coaching conversation, they may certainly use their expertise to guide the questioning.