INTRODUCTION
Developing management effectiveness and its nexus between teaching and coaching explore the strengths of teaching and coaching on executive education in company-specific or customized programs and open programs for specific levels of management. Teaching is defined as traditional classroom-based instruction (Goldstein, 1980). Coaching on the other hand refers to facilitated discussions, individually or in groups with business executives, that is holistically focused on transformative learning, a shift in thinking, feeling, and action (Kitchenham, 2008). Primarily, its concern is to capture and create a complementary and individualized learning experience intended to be of value to teachers, coaches, those who design executive education programs, and companies that make use of them. Such is a by-product of rapid increase in the demand for coaching by companies contracting for executive development programs. In so doing, it underscores on how to deliver management education to business schools and executive education. Mainly it aims to capacitate students the competencies required to become business leaders who practice their skills in the business world and contribute to their organizations (Abraham & Karns, 2009; Benjamin & O'Reilly, 2011; Starkey & Tempest, 2008). As such can only be made possible once business schools adapt to global challenges.
Management development aims to achieve three desired outcomes: Knowing, Doing, and Being. Apparently, the study showed that teaching in executive education is better suited to Knowing and less suited to the other two. Coaching however is better suited to being a catalyst for Doing and equally to developing managers’ identity (Being) through promoting reflection and self-awareness. Teaching opens up the minds of managers to a multitude of new ideas and sources of information and expertise while coaching allows the individual participants to focus and then discuss, with coaches, the ideas, and actions that they think could be worthwhile for their jobs. Thus, to develop management effectiveness, the teaching material must be tailored to the target group, and engagement is encouraged through interactive teaching and small group work. Coaching in contrast must be a one-on-one partnership that focuses on the individual and his or her work circumstances. The outcome of the study illustrates differences between “pure teaching” and “pure coaching” and highlights how they are complementary and that combining both leads to a greater impact on an individual or the target group. Further, it posits that the design of the overall learning experience should include both teaching and coaching. Teachers and coaches or teachers and students should collaborate to ensure that the best of both worlds is included in the overall management development program. In this way, the appropriate bridges are built in the classroom to the real world, through coaching.
REFLECTION
Suffice it is to say that relevant ideas about the significance of developing management effectiveness in connection with teaching and coaching are provided by the study. Management effectiveness is a crucial tool in strengthening and empowering individuals in the field of teaching and coaching. A school manager could not create a coachable teacher and eventually a coach if he is not well-versed in dealing with his subordinates. Without people skills, such a leader will create disarray rather than produce teachers who are actually capable of teaching and coaching. From my observations in the field, this is where a lot of teachers nowadays need to develop their skills, the capacity to exercise effective management within and outside the classroom setting. In a whole learning experience, teaching and coaching should cover the full cycle. Teaching is strongest in abstract conceptualization, while coaching is strongest in reflective observation. Both need to ensure that the students then go on to experiment actively with their new insights and design opportunities for them to receive feedback on the outcome. Classroom instructions for most if not some teachers are just merely teaching with no coaching or real application of concepts to the participants’ realistic societal conditions or awareness. To some extent, the concepts remained abstract to the students. I am deeply convinced that coaching is a transformative learning experience that enables students to critically reflect on how the new knowledge gained can be used to improve their performance academically and personally. Through coaching, the teacher helps students make the knowledge from teaching their own and facilitates the possibility of the new knowledge being applied in real-life scenarios or situations. According to (Itah, 2013), classroom teaching helps create dots and coaching helps the participant join the dots. Such is a clear analogy that as a teacher, it is our task to provide inputs, whereas as a coach it is our task to let students apply their previous or existing knowledge into new and greater contexts with tangible outputs.
The aforecited also applies to the professional learning development of teachers. It provided insights on how to develop an effective and authentic faculty development through collaboration. Decent and effective management radiates as to how teachers engage themselves in school endeavors such as the creation of projects and programs that are beneficial to students and the community. This can only be made possible if the professional learning community spearheaded by the school managers are engaged in realistic teaching and coaching of ideas and concepts. The latter is manifested through realistic projects and endeavors by teachers from which everyone will be benefitted. One typical positive dimension of realistic coaching is that each teacher/coach in the professional learning community has insights that could enrich the practice of the other. It also applies to the school managers themselves since teachers/ coaches could help school managers in considering ways to expand their ideas and grow their influence among teachers. And the bottom line, through teaching and coaching, an efficient and functional faculty that is result-oriented and has a shared culture of productivity and involvement can be created. In realizing this, school managers need to revisit, retool, and redesign their management style to elevate the practice of teaching and coaching be it on the classroom level: teacher and students or school-wide context: teachers and school managers/school administrators. The insights and implications of this study when adapted by future school leaders could doubtlessly serve as a guide in improving the level of school-based management practice of schools. It can also be a yardstick for the level of performance of the school head and teachers.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE ARTICLE TO EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT PROFESSION
The notion of effective management and its relation to teaching and coaching is an interesting topic concerning educational management. The paper provided abundant information that is relevant to education specifically in terms of supervision and professional learning development of teachers. I place strong confidence in the belief that the fate of an organization revolves around the effectiveness of the management of school managers/leaders and the willingness of the personnel to be taught and coached. Once the school manager has established his/her effective management style, which by the way needs to be upgraded from time to time, everything will be smooth sailing, if not, adjustments can easily be made. Effective management is always focused entirely on the development of teachers' competencies. Yet it must be realized by school managers that professional development, in its entirety is innate by nature. In such a pursuit, school leaders need to establish constant motivation among teachers at all times. This motivation when manifested by the school leaders could somehow serve as an inner push that will enable teachers to pursue such a development. It may sound hypocritical but as a teacher, it is my unflinching conviction that in whatever endeavor we engaged in, it is a must that we have the motivation to always make a difference, no matter how small it is.
In guiding teachers to develop their teaching and coaching prowess through effective management, school managers need to go back to the basics. They must find a way to rekindle the fire among teachers to teach. Simple it may seem, but teachers need to revisit themselves and ask, "Why do we teach?". There must be a deeper realization of why they are where they are. Then reflect if indeed they are doing their mandate following the mission and vision of the Department of Education. Have they imparted their desired core values? When teachers undergo this inner, deeper reflection, that will be the rallying point to pursue the necessary steps in uplifting their competencies through teaching and coaching utilizing the professional learning community sessions/learning action cell sessions as the medium. Such can be utilized to tackle methods in achieving competencies of teachers such as creating an effective learning environment, planning, and designing appropriate learning experiences for students employed by teaching and coaching mechanisms. Still, there are other facets of competencies that need to be reexamined from which our teachers are fully aware of like having the knowledge about students and their development, understanding, and appreciating their diversity. Yet at the end of the day, all these competencies desired by professional learning development programs can only be developed and realized when teachers are fully motivated to make a difference. This is not just a one-way street. It must be a collaborative and heartfelt effort by everyone's concern. For teachers to develop effective management, be it at the classroom level or school-wide, they have to imbibe the essential elements of teaching and coaching. It is only through this that we can develop effective management of teachers and students, nothing else.