Coaching in educational leadership: interferences to school principals’ engagement

Coaching in education remains a relatively underexplored phenomenon within the Irish education system. Its prominence began to rise with the introduction of leadership coaching for senior school leaders in 2017 by the former Centre for School Leadership in Ireland (CSL) now part of Oide. Due to a consistently expanding workload, the role of the school principal has become less attractive and less tenable leading to serious issues with recruitment and retention. For this study, a qualitative approach to data collection was adopted. The research process was intended to help unearth any reluctance by senior school leaders to engage with personal and professional coaching. The benefits of coaching and any perceived barriers to participation were explored. All participants demonstrated some willingness to engage with a professional coach and exhibited clear receptivity to the notion of cultivating coaching cultures within their schools. Coached principals revealed deeper and more complex understandings than their uncoached counterparts. This research serves as a frame to better understand principals’ perceptions, and misperceptions, of leadership coaching in the education space. It will also open a gateway to further academic research in this soon to blossom academic field in Ireland.