“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker
by Andrew Macdonald-Brown
When looking to develop a coaching culture, ask - ‘What is already in place that we can build on?’
I work with lots of (school) leaders. Many are curious about (and some are fully committed towards) building better conversations in their organisations by taking more of a coaching approach.
Peter Drucker’s famous quote highlights just how influential organisational culture can be. It makes sense then to become intentional about the kind of culture we want our schools to live out. A coaching culture is one worth working toward.
And when considering existing organisational culture, we are effectively taking a strengths-based approach by asking ‘what is already in place’ that can serve as a platform for any development.
The Instructional Coaching Institute is the most comprehensive learning opportunity on instructional coaching out there.
The Institute is an essential professional development opportunity for developing and sustaining a successful coaching program in your context. It provides a big-picture view of instructional coaching, covering the key topics presented in Jim Knight’s bestselling books and research spanning almost 30 years.
Find out more today, and lock in a place at the Shanghai or Bangkok event 👇
The Instructional Coaching Done Well Roadshow 2026
Stopping in Singapore, Auckland, Sydney, Hobart & Melbourne
Knowing that every school is different, how do you create a sustainable, impactful instructional coaching program that really works in the short and long term?
Join Jim Knight, the world’s leading expert in instructional coaching, for a special 2-day learning experience designed to help school leaders, instructional coaches, and educators answer this question.
To discover more about the Roadshow, and to get in early to secure your place at one of the stops in 2026, click the link below!
The Teaching, Leading, Coaching Conference (TLC) returns this year in Dallas Texas, marking a truly significant milestone. This year, we celebrate 30 years of Jim Knight’s pioneering research in Instructional Coaching - work that has shaped how educators collaborate, learn and grow together for decades.
TLC 2026 honours this remarkable legacy while looking ahead to the future of coaching practice and its impact in schools.
Registration is now open - for both in person and virtual attendees!
The Ripple Effect : Transforming School Cultures One Conversation at a Time
Auckland, New Zealand — 7 August 2026
The Ripple Effect explores how just one coaching conversation can shift thinking, shape behaviour, and foster a culture of trust, collaboration, and professional growth. This one-day conference highlights the power of a coaching way of being and how it influences every interaction within a school community.
Featuring Dr. Jim Knight, Chris Munro and Alison Spence – discover more by clicking below!
Hosted and delivered by our partners at The Education Group.
Building Rapport with Your Coachee: Strategies for Success
Welcome to the latest episode of the CoachED Conversations podcast series.
Building rapport with your coachee is essential for fostering trust and facilitating effective coaching conversations. In this episode, we explore a number of key strategies that can enhance your coaching practice, whether you are meeting in person or online.
Drawing on insights from their own coaching experience, our hosts Richard and Dan will provide you with actionable tips to create meaningful connections.
Growth Talk: Managing “Got a Minute?” Conversations
Conversation is at the heart of learning and leading.
This course explores a common leadership moment: the spontaneous “got a minute?” conversation. These unscheduled corridor chats or knocks on the door aren’t in your calendar and leave no time to prepare, yet they offer powerful opportunities to support thinking, progress, and learning in the moment.
Over a highly practical day participants will explore how to bring shape to impromptu other-initiated conversations; the key skills that fuel learning conversations; and how to show up in ways that best support the thinking and progress of our colleagues.
Each participant will receive their own copy of Growth Talk.
Designed for educators by educators, the Coaching Accreditation Programprovides comprehensive training for educators in the skills, conversational frameworks, and "way of being" of coaching.
Delivered ONLINE by leading experts in the field, this course provides a pathway to industry recognised coaching credentials with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).
"I found this course to be very powerful. The learning was well paced, supported by experts as well as evidence based written research and the learning activities were practical."
Are you or your team new to coaching, and curious where to start?
Experience leadership coaching with hands-on practice, feedback, and collaborative learning with the 2-day Introduction to Leadership Coachingcourse.
Gain confidence and competence in using the 3 elements of coaching - the GROWTH framework, key coaching skills, and Way of Being - to foster a culture of growth, improvement, and excellence within your educational community.
"This course has been life-changing in terms of my professional life. I wish I had done it years ago. It should be mandatory for all emerging leaders.”
The Impact Cycle 2-day course is designed to support educators in establishing instructional coaching cycles that lead to improved teaching and student learning.
The course is for anyone who works alongside teachers to help them develop their practice.
"Thank you so much for an amazing 2 days. I have learnt so much and feel much more confident as a leader and to begin engaging in the coaching process with my peers.”
Do you find yourself avoiding difficult conversations - even when you know they need to happen?
The Managing Challenging Conversations 1-day course is designed for leaders and managers who want to enhance their confidence, skills, and understanding to engage in these conversations in ways that maintain high expectations alongside constructive relationships.
"The skills and tools I’ve learned to be clear and concise in my messaging when having challenging conversations - I loved how much time we had to reflect on ourselves and our position in conversations.”
Exploring the Seven Success Factors of Instructional Coaching
How can we make instructional coaching effective?
For over 20 years, Dr Jim Knight has researched instructional coaching and collaborated with over 150,000 instructional coaches. From this work, we have distilled his findings into Seven Success Factors that are critical for instructional coaching to work.
During this 1-day course, you will explore the Seven Success Factors as a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an effective instructional coaching program that is laser-focused on every educator’s ultimate goal: the success of students.
Webinar - hosted by Claudia Owad & Christian van Nieuwerburgh
Have you considered becoming an accredited coach?
If you are passionate about learning and embedding the key elements of coaching in your context, and are looking to take the next steps towards industry recognised credentials, this session is for you.
Watch this webinar to discover more about coaching, the benefits of becoming accredited, and some practical next steps you could take to get there.
CoachED Update and GCI Insights are our regular e-publications. Sign-up to be the first to hear about the latest Coaching in Education insights, news and events.
