Coaching in the Field of Child Welfare - Framework and Foundation
Background | Approaches | Models | In Organization | Framework and Foundation
The Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare Practice is built upon a conceptual framework of implenetation science features and key coaching foundational theories. These theories include:
The framework provides a structure for the ingegration of these key features upon which a comprehensive, embedded professional development can be successfully implemented.
Definition: Appreciative inquiry (AI) is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to heighten positive potential. It mobilizes inquiry through crafting an ‘unconditional positive question’ often involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people” (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999, p. 12).
Appreciative inquiry is often noted as the theoretical underpinning of strength-based theory, practices, and research. Founders David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva define AI as a paradigm based on the premise that “organizations change in the direction in which they inquire.” The driving principle is that an organization [or individual] that investigates problems keeps finding problems whereas an organization [or individual] that investigates what there is to appreciate in itself will discover what success is (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987).
Assumptions of appreciative inquiry include the following (adapted from Hammond, 1998):
- In every society, organization, or group something works.
- What we focus on becomes our reality.
- Reality is created in the moment, and there are multiple realities.
- The act of asking questions of an organization or group influences the group in some way.
- People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known).
- If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.
- It is important to value differences.
- The language we use creates our reality.
Dreams are not necessarily born or nurtured by our successes, and failure even in its most dramatic form does not necessarily knock a person out. It is how that experience is reflected upon, talked about, defined, and the reality we co-create that ultimately makes it positive or negative.
~ Hammond, 1998, p. 6
The appreciative inquiry paradigm moves from theory to practice by using the “Four Ds”: discover, dream, design, and destiny (see Figure 3.2). Emphasis is placed on how questions are asked—the words chosen when asking questions will impact the answers provided, reaffirming the quality of our language and how we talk about our work, our relationships, and ourselves with others. Central to appreciative inquiry is the Affirmative Topic. This is what begins appreciative inquiry. During this time, the topic of the inquiry is decided, for example, “to develop authentic partnerships with families” as opposed “to increase use of motivational interviewing.”
Definition: “Cultural humility is an acknowledgement of one’s own barriers to true intercultural understanding. It is the difference between intellectually knowing another culture and being able to truly relate to it” (Unite for Sight, 2011).
Cultural humility is an alternative approach to that of cultural competency. It “requires humility as individuals continually engage in self-reflection and self-critique as lifelong learners and reflective practitioners” (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998, p. 118). Through cultural humility individuals engage in a process of mutual understanding and awareness of self in relationship to others. When coaches embrace cultural humility it precludes them from operating under the assumption that they are “culturally competent,” and they learn about those with whom they interact.
Humility is not to be confused with meekness, but the “ability to acknowledge gaps in one’s knowledge, and openness to new ideas, contradictory information, and advice.”
~ Tangney, 2000, p. 73
By working from a perspective of cultural humility each individual, especially the coach, will (a) declare his or her own lifelong commitment to learning, (b) recognize when potential power imbalances are present, and (c) be flexible and humble enough to “let go of the false sense of security that their training and experiences have afforded them” (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998, p. 119). Engaging in a process of self-awareness and self-reflection will ideally awaken the coach to the power imbalance of coaches and learners, which may influence their response to the coaching they provide.
Coaches, learners, supervisors, and agency leadership are encouraged to be flexible and humble enough to know that the process of coaching will be dynamic and potentially complicated. They must acknowledge what they do not know and search for and access resources to help.
Principles of cultural humility (adapted from Ortega and Faller, 1997)
- Embrace the complexity of diversity: In day-to-day existence each individual occupies multiple positions with related identities and statuses. These identities operate together, or intersect, to distinguish each of us as individuals.
- Be open to individual differences and the social experiences resulting from these differences: Intersecting group memberships affect people’s expectations, quality of life, capacities as individuals and parents, and life choices.
- Reserve judgment: Place value on the learner’s cultural expressions of concern and perspective.
- “Know thyself” and how coaches’ biases interfere with the ability to listen objectively and work with learners: Coaches must engage simultaneously in a process of realistic, ongoing self-appraisal of biases and stereotypes.
- Critically challenge one’s “openness” to learn from others: Coaches should assess how their own attitudes and behaviors create a barrier to learning from others.
- Build organizational support that demonstrates cultural humility: Implementing cultural humility includes an assessment of the organizational environment, policies, procedures, knowledge, and skills connected to learner practices. Effort must be made to identify ways in which a cultural humility perspective is embraced and promoted. Likewise, effort must be made to uncover barriers and obstacles within the organization that inhibit cultural humility.
By engaging in a process of realistic, ongoing self-appraisal of biases and stereotypes, coaches are encouraged to assess the ways in which their own attitudes and behaviors prevent them from learning from others.
~ Tervalon & Murray Garcia, 1998
Cultural humility promotes the following efforts:
- Continuous engagement in self-reflection and self-critique as lifelong learners and reflective coaches.
- Checking power imbalances that exist in the coach-learner relationship.
- Mutual respect, partnership, and advocacy with communities on behalf of the clients served and in which clients are embedded.
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
~ Anais Nin
Adult Learning Principles (andragogy)
Definition: Andragogy is based on the Greek word aner (with the stem andr-), meaning “man” and is “the art and science of helping adults learn” (Knowles, 1980, p.37).
Adult learning research has made it clear how adults learn new information and integrate learning into practice. The formal coaching process provides an avenue for an enhanced adult-learning experience. Elaine Cox (2006) asserts that “andragogy [adult learning] has reached its zenith with the advent of coaching as a learning approach” (p. 195).
Coaches must ensure adult learning elements are addressed throughout the coaching process. By doing so, the coach creates the opportunity to “pull the learning from the experience and plan how to do things differently in the wake of the new understandings” (Cox, 2006, p. 201).
Adult learners (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998, pp. 64-68):
- Have a need to know: Adult learners must be helped to recognize the value or benefit of the learning to be undertaken before it begins.
- Have an identified self-concept and thrive when learning is self-directed: Adult learners have a need to direct their learning. Learning itself cannot be mandated by a supervisor.
- Have prior experience: By the very nature of reaching adulthood, adult learners have a great number of life experiences that will impact their learning.
- Have a readiness to learn: Adults will learn, but it should be self-driven. They become ready to learn when they recognize the need in order to deal with real-life situations.
- Have an orientation to learning: Adult learners are life- or task-centered rather than subject-centered. Their learning is focused on gaining the knowledge or skill necessary for real-life situations.
- Are internally motivated: Coaches must tap into internal motivation to [promote] learn[ing]. Adults will simply not have a meaningful learning experience if they do not internally find a motivation to learn.