Workstyle attributes and their relations to instructional coaching behaviours

Instructional coaches are increasingly used to deliver job-embedded professional development for educators despite limited evidence-based models and assessment-driven resources to guide implementation. While researchers in vocational psychology have validated measures for job selection that can guide training; development and validation of coaching assessments for measuring evidence-based coaching behaviours have only recently begun. Given the availability of these measures, it is now possible to examine the extent to which teacher workstyles commonly known to administrators are related to effective coaching behaviours. To this end, we examined the relations between 16 workstyle attributes as measured by the Workstyle Personality Inventory (WPI) and six-effective coaching behaviours as measured by the Instructional Coaching Rating Scales (ICRS) based on a sample of 27 full-time coaches across 14 high poverty charter schools. Results showed that higher levels of achievement/effort, initiative, cooperation, and self-control were correlated with higher levels of implementation of effective coaching behaviours. Teachers with a strong ability to encourage others to work together while remaining emotionally composed in difficult situations may thus represent ideal candidates for coaching positions that train them in the systematic implementation of research-based coaching behaviours. Correlational findings are limited to self-report of respondents. Future research directions are discussed.