Coaching, is a teaching or training process in which an individual gets support while learning to achieve a specific personal or professional result or goal.
The individual getting coached may be referred to as the client or coachee, or they may be in an intern or apprenticeship / development of knowledge/ background/ learning relationship with the person coaching them. Coaching may also happen in an informal relationship between one individual who has greater experience and expertise than another and offers advice and guidance, as the other goes through a learning process.
The structures, models and methodologies of coaching are numerous, and may be designed to facilitate, support, encourage, sustain, learning new behavior for personal growth, or professional advancement. There are also forms of coaching that help the coachee improve a physical skill, like in a sport or performing art form. Some coaches use a style in which they ask questions and offer opportunities that will challenge the coachee to find answers from within him/herself. This "socratic method" facilitates the learner to discover answers and new ways of being based on their values, preferences and unique perspective.
e.g., ‘Why do you say that?’, ‘Could you explain further?’
Challenging students about assumptions
e.g., ‘Is this always the case?’, ‘Why do you think that this assumption holds here?’
Evidence as a basis for argument
e.g., ‘Why do you say that?’, ‘Is there reason to doubt this evidence?’
Alternative viewpoints and perspectives
e.g., ‘What is the counter argument for?’, ‘Can/did anyone see this another way?’
Implications and consequences
e.g., ‘But if...happened, what else would result?’, ‘How does...affect...?’
Question the question
e.g., ‘Why do you think that I asked that question?’, ‘Why was that question important?’, ‘Which of your questions turned out to be the most useful?’
Strolling up and down wikipedia 2012
