Participant Guide-Special Needs Educators as Coaches_Final

The guide focuses on the role of Special Needs Educators (SNE) as coaches, providing support to mainstream teachers in instruction skills for learners with disabilities. Coaching is defined as a focused professional dialogue designed to help teachers develop specific professional skills to enhance their teaching practice. Through coaching, teachers receive continuous support to acquire and master new knowledge and skills, ultimately improving instruction and student achievement. Coaching builds confidence, creates a non-judgmental culture, and motivates teachers to transform their practice. The National Reading Program (NRP) model emphasizes the importance of coaching in improving learning outcomes among learners with disabilities. Primary Education Advisors (PEAs), Section Heads (SH), and key teachers are required to build relevant coaching skills, including building professional relationships, facilitating conversations, encouraging reflective practice, and providing feedback. PEAs provide support to Section Heads in coaching, while Section Heads and key teachers provide direct coaching support to teachers in the infant and junior sections of the primary school. The coaching process involves sharing teaching skills to improve classroom instructions. Coaches are trained in the use of the Teacher Observation Instrument (TOI) to observe teachers' implementation of the NRP. Information recorded on the TOI combined with the coaches' skills, knowledge, and experience informs and supports the coach's delivery to the teacher. Section Heads have specific roles and responsibilities as coaches, including coaching teachers in their own schools, creating a community of support, and using the TOI to observe teachers' practice. Primary Education Advisors visit schools in their districts at least twice annually, reinforcing that the purpose of their observation is to offer support and not to evaluate or criticize. The guide also emphasizes the importance of building professional relationships based on trust and accountability, facilitating conversations that prompt inquiry, active listening skills, encouraging reflective practice, and providing feedback in a respectful and non-threatening way. The roles of stakeholders in coaching, including PEAs, SH, and key teachers, are also highlighted. The Participant Guide includes activities and exercises designed to help SNE teachers develop their coaching skills, including defining coaching, introducing the concept of coaching, and experiencing the role of coaching. The guide also includes a pre-observation tool and an observation tool to help coaches assess teachers' practice and provide feedback. Overall, the Special Needs Educators as Coaches Participant Guide provides a comprehensive framework for SNE teachers to develop their coaching skills and support mainstream teachers in instruction skills for learners with disabilities. The guide emphasizes the importance of building professional relationships, facilitating conversations, encouraging reflective practice, and providing feedback in a respectful and non-threatening way. The guide is designed to be used in conjunction with the Reading for All Malawi Activity, a program aimed at improving literacy skills among learners with disabilities. The program focuses on the role of SNE teachers as coaches, providing support to mainstream teachers in instruction skills for learners with disabilities. The guide provides a comprehensive framework for SNE teachers to develop their coaching skills and support mainstream teachers in instruction skills for learners with disabilities.