The nature of peer coaching

Peer coaching is a procedure in which two teachers collaborate to help one or both teachers improve some aspect of their teaching. Robbins (1991, p. 1) defines peer coaching as follows:

In peer coaching, a teacher and a colleague plan a series of opportunities to explore the teacher's teaching collaboratively. One adopts the role of coach or “critical friend” (someone in whom one has trust and confidence and who can offer constructive feedback in a positive and supportive manner) as some aspect of teaching or of classroom life is explored. During and after the process, the coach provides feedback and suggestions to the other teacher. The type of feedback the coach provides will depend on the goals that have been established. We prefer feedback to be nonjudgmental and nonevaluative in most cases. The coach offers observations and suggestions, but the other teacher makes his or her own decisions about what, if anything, to change as a result of the peer-coaching relationship. In other words, each teacher still has the main responsibility for his or her professional development and does not hand over control to a colleague. There may, however, be situations in which more direct input and evaluative feedback is required, such as when a novice teacher has been receiving very poor teaching evaluations or is experiencing difficulty with a teaching assignment and asks to work with a more experienced teacher to help address the problem.