The Coaching Trap: Building a Culture of Feedback

I recently read David Didau's excellent article, The Coaching Trap: Why Better Teaching Depends on Better Schools. One particular line stood out:

"Good schools multiply coaching; bad schools absorb it."

It's a powerful reminder that coaching is not a magic wand. It cannot compensate for weak systems, inconsistent expectations or poor leadership. As David argues, if behaviour, curriculum, assessment and leadership are not working effectively, coaching ends up trying to fix problems that belong to the wider organisation. I agree.

But I also believe there is another challenge that many schools face: capacity.

The CPD Question We Don't Always Ask

Schools spend thousands of pounds every year on conferences, training courses and external professional development opportunities.

There is certainly value in these experiences. Teachers benefit from hearing new ideas, networking with colleagues and stepping away from the daily pressures of school life. If we're honest, many staff enjoy the opportunity to have professional conversations, eat lunch without interruption and spend a day in jeans rather than school attire.

There is nothing wrong with that. The question is whether these experiences lead to sustained improvements in teaching.

As headteachers, we have all seen the pattern. A member of staff attends an excellent course. They return enthusiastic and full of ideas. They share a PowerPoint at a staff meeting. Colleagues nod politely. A few strategies are tried for a week or two.

Then reality intervenes. The demands of everyday school life take over and the impact fades. This is not because teachers do not care. It is because changing practice is difficult.

Research consistently suggests that information alone rarely changes behaviour. Professional development is most effective when teachers have opportunities to practise, receive feedback, reflect and refine their approach over time.

That is why coaching remains such a powerful model.

The Challenge: Who Does the Coaching?

The difficulty is that coaching requires expertise.

Not every excellent teacher is automatically an excellent coach. Not every middle leader has the knowledge, skill or confidence to break down practice, provide precise feedback and support deliberate improvement.

And even when schools do have capable coaches, they often lack the capacity.

Middle leaders are carrying increasingly heavy workloads. Senior leaders are managing attendance, safeguarding, budgets and accountability pressures. Finding the time to provide high-quality coaching at scale can feel almost impossible.

This is where some schools become stuck. They know coaching works. They want to build a coaching culture. But they simply do not have enough expert capacity to do it consistently.

The answer is not to abandon coaching. It is to recognise that coaching is important enough to invest in properly.

The Most Important Thing I Said as a New Headteacher

On my first day as Headteacher at Holy Rosary Primary School, I spoke to the staff about my vision for the school and where I hoped we could go together. I think everyone expected the new headteacher to talk about that.

But I also said something that was perhaps even more important.

I told them:

"I will be giving you feedback. I will be popping into classrooms a lot. But please know that if I see something that needs addressing, I will tell you.

I won't gossip about you to the SLT. I won't complain behind closed doors. I won't silently become frustrated. We are all on a journey and we can all improve, and the only way we improve is if we are honest with one another."

Then I added:

"And that goes both ways. If I'm doing something inefficiently, if I've made a decision that negatively affects you, or if I've said something that has offended you, please tell me. I want to be the best headteacher I can be, and I will only get better with your help.

I will give you feedback and you will give me feedback."

Looking back, that conversation did more than introduce my leadership style.

It helped establish a culture.

A culture where feedback was normal rather than threatening.

A culture where professional conversations happened openly rather than through corridor gossip.

A culture where improvement was something we pursued together.

Coaching Is Really About Culture

Too often, schools think about coaching as a programme: A set of meetings. A model. A process.

In reality, coaching is most effective when it sits within a wider culture of openness, trust and continuous improvement.

That is why David Didau's article is so important. Better teaching does not simply depend on better coaching. It depends on better schools. But better schools also depend on leaders who create the conditions where feedback is welcomed, expertise is valued and improvement is everyone's responsibility.

The schools that achieve this are not necessarily the schools with the biggest CPD budgets.

They are the schools where feedback is normal “feedback is a gift”, practice is discussed openly and professional development is seen not as an event but as an ongoing process. Because ultimately, the goal is not to send teachers on more courses. The goal is to help teachers get better.

And that happens most reliably when schools build cultures where feedback, coaching and deliberate practice become part of everyday professional life.