From Coaching to Leadership

Through the National Leadership Program (NLP), we recruit and support exceptional university graduates and professionals, empowering them to teach in underserved communities while cultivating the skills, mindset, and experience needed to become transformational leaders in education. The program combines the impact of classroom experience with leadership development, preparing participants to apply innovative approaches to teaching, promote educational equity, and lead system change nationwide.

Throughout the two-year NLP journey with Teach For Armenia, Teacher Leaders work closely with the Leadership Development Managers (LDMs) - their direct supervisors in the program. LDMs aim to strengthen the participants’ leadership skills, support them in improving the quality of their teaching, and contribute to their professional and personal growth.

At Teach For Armenia, a coaching approach is applied in the work with Teacher Leaders. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as a thought-provoking and creative partnership with the coaches that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential: an essential skill in today’s complex and rapidly changing world. The coaching helps individuals better understand themselves and address their challenges through self-awareness and reflection.

To apply this method most effectively, both the coach and the Teacher Leader are encouraged to first build healthy, trusting, and collaborative interpersonal relationships.

Individual Coaching Conversations

LDMs primarily apply coaching approaches during individual conversations with Teacher Leaders. According to the 2025 survey results, LDMs spend an average of five hours per week on individual meetings with different Teacher Leaders. Each Teacher Leader participates in more than one individual meeting per month. These meetings fall into two main categories: discussions focused on ongoing tasks, and dedicated coaching conversations.

Each Teacher Leader participates in one to three coaching conversations per semester, depending on their needs, goals, and readiness for a coaching discussion. The planning and structure of these conversations also vary based on whether the Teacher Leader is in their first or second year of the program.

With first-year participants, LDMs tend to hold more meetings focused on ongoing tasks and day-to-day challenges. With second-year Teacher Leaders, coaching approaches are used more frequently, as they are typically more prepared for deeper reflection and long-term leadership development.

The coaching conversations are initiated both by the LDM and by the Teacher Leader, who may request a meeting to discuss a particular challenge in depth. The topics most frequently raised by Teacher Leaders include relationships (with colleagues or students), improving instructional practice, and managing emotional burnout.

The coaching-based conversations are consistently used by LDMs, as feedback from Teacher Leaders shows that this approach is highly effective in supporting their leadership and professional development. According to the results of a May 2025 survey, all 22 responding Teacher Leaders indicated that:

• when a challenge arises, they work together with their LDM to find a solution,
• they trust their LDM enough to share their emotions and concerns,
• they highly value the effectiveness of their conversations with their LDM.

_\*These survey results reflect one LDM’s group, though the responses are largely consistent across other groups as well._

The use of coaching approaches with Teacher Leaders also encourages them to apply similar practices in their classrooms when working with students. Coaching helps Teacher Leaders set clear expectations, foster a collaborative learning environment, and place greater emphasis on self-awareness and well-being. They employ a variety of instructional strategies and create environments that support students’ leadership development.

Coaching conversations grounded in classroom observations guide Teacher Leaders to set student-centered goals, reflect on their practice, and continuously improve the learning environment.

At Teach for Armenia, leadership development managers working with Teacher Leaders regularly undergo professional trainings using materials from Bright Morning Consulting, which specializes in coaching in education, and also participate in Teach For All courses and coaching sessions.

Effectiveness of Support through Data: What are Teacher Leaders Telling us?

At Teach For Armenia, the data-driven working culture is prioritized. The organization believes that the support provided to teachers should be grounded not only in experience and collaboration, but also in the careful analysis of data and evidence.

At the end of each academic year, the organization conducts an anonymous survey among Teacher Leaders participating in the two-year program. The purpose of the survey is to gather their feedback on NLP, understand how effective the provided professional support has been, and identify areas for continuous improvement. The survey results allow the organization to assess its impact based not on assumptions, but on real data.

The survey also looks at the quality of working relationships. For three years in a row, 98% of Teacher Leaders mentioned that they have trusting and collaborative relationships with their supervisors, and that the support they receive is focused on their long-term growth and leadership development. These consistently high results show that the program has created a culture of trust and collaboration, where feedback is seen as an opportunity to grow.

The support for developing leadership skills is equally important. In 2024, 98% of Teacher Leaders agreed that the support they received helped them grow as leaders, and in 2025 this number was 97%. This shows that the support goes beyond subject knowledge or teaching methods; it is also focused on helping teachers grow as community and educational leaders.

LDMs at Teach For Armenia continue to apply coaching approaches in their conversations with Teacher Leaders, making a clear distinction between coaching conversations and regular check-in meetings.

Հղումներ՝ | References

• **Coaching conversation: everything you need to start today**
• **Bright Morning**
• **Teach for All Learning Portal**