Improving the Experience of Skype Coaching in an Educational Setting

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Institute of Education, University of London

Improving the Experience of Skype Coaching

in an Educational Setting

Christopher Ashley Jones

[email protected]

07710827083

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in

Advanced Educational Practice.

This dissertation may be made available to the general public for borrowing,

photocopying or consultation without the prior consent of the author.

Word count 19449 words

November 2013

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1 Table of Contents

1 Table of Contents ...................................................................................... 2

2 Acknowledgements .................................................................................. 3

3 Abstract...................................................................................................... 4

4 List of Figures ........................................................................................... 5

5 List of Tables ............................................................................................. 6

6 Introduction ............................................................................................... 7

7 Literature Review .................................................................................... 17

8 Conceptual Design ................................................................................. 44

9 Phase 1..................................................................................................... 56

10 Phase 2..................................................................................................... 66

11 Bibliography ............................................................................................ 93

12 Appendix A: The Post Session Evaluation Forms ............................ 105

13 Appendix B: The Different Models of Coaching ................................ 106

14 Appendix C: The Results from the Video Analysis ........................... 107

15 Appendix D: The Pre/post Research Questionnaire ......................... 110

16 Appendix E: The Research Consent Forms ....................................... 114

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2 Acknowledgements

This thesis is dedicated to the following important people.

My Beautiful fiancée Josie Glamuzina who has kept me sane the last few months;

My students: Daniel Little, Jake Nixon, Bonnie Widger and Sean Denny for your help

and support during the last year of my research;

I would like to thank my parents Patricia Jones and David Jones for their support in

getting this thesis to completion.

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3 Abstract

This dissertation aimed to explore methods for coaching using Skype. The initial literature

search found limited evidence for using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology with

coaching. The main literature review suggested several factors to consider when

communicating using Skype (a free type of VoIP technology). As the initial search of the

literature found limited sources of evidence of coaching being used via VoIP alternative search

patterns were trialled. These alternative searches became the focus of the literature review and

so literature was explored with regard to communication and VoIP technology.

In searching the literature, I found several factors that could affect communication via VoIP and

these factors were combined to form a framework, which became the ‘Jones Skype coaching

framework’. Given the exploratory nature of this dissertation I felt that a technical action

research project, using a mixed methods approach, was the most appropriate for answering the

research question: ‘Can the experience of Skype coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?’;

this happened in two phases (action research cycles).

I setup a phase 1 research group consisting of friends and family and split them into two groups.

The face-to-face group (n=1) and the Skype coaching group (n=2) were given all of the

questionnaires and feedback forms that were later improved for phase 2. The Skype coach

group experienced the ‘Jones Skype framework’ the face to face group did not. Analysing the

results from Phase 1, I found a number of extra issues that were not located in the literature

review. A modified ‘Jones Skype coaching framework’ was created to deal with the issues from

phase 1. A new, larger sample of participants was created from three schools and they were

randomly divided into two groups: a Skype coaching group (n=4) and a face-to-face coaching

group (n=4). Both groups experienced coaching for at least 1 session and they gave a rating for

each session. The experience of coaching was analysed using a multi-levelled, mixed methods

approach to locate evidence for the experience of coaching. The three stages included video

transcript analysis, post session feedback form analysis and pre/post research questionnaires.

The research could not conclusively find differences between the two groups, at all three levels

analysed, suggesting that the experience was similar in both groups. I concluded that the

project had met its aims.

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4 List of Figures

Figure 1 the Jones Skype coaching framework ............................................................. 42

Figure 2 the AR cycle, proposed by Lewin (1948, pp.202-203). .................................... 53

Figure 3 the AR cycle, by Newby (2010, p.62). ............................................................. 54

Figure 4 the ‘Jones Skype coaching framework’ used in phase 2 ................................. 67

Figure 5 the triangulation method used for the analysis ................................................ 73

Figure 6 the steps for mixed methods data management ............................................. 74

Figure 7 the coachee post session evaluation form. ................................................... 105

Figure 8 the pre/post research questionnaire. ............................................................. 113

Figure 9 the consent form part 1. ................................................................................ 114

Figure 10 the consent form part 2. .............................................................................. 115

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5 List of Tables

Table 1 suggestions for improving quality of Skype communication ............................. 38

Table 2 The SWOT analysis of the mixed methods approach ...................................... 48

Table 3 the themes for the thematic analysis ................................................................ 75

Table 4 the questions relating to the post feedback questionnaire ................................ 77

Table 5 the questions from the pre and post research questionnaire. ........................... 78

Table 6 the F2FCG’s post session feedback form data ................................................ 83

Table 7 the SCG post session feedback form data ....................................................... 84

Table 8 the Pre and post questionnaire answers for the research sub-questions ......... 85

Table 9 the different models of coaching ..................................................................... 106

Table 10 the rapport theme ......................................................................................... 107

Table 11 the goal setting theme .................................................................................. 107

Table 12 one F2F group participant’s generation, selection and evaluation of ideas

generated .................................................................................................................... 108

Table 13 one Skype group participant’s generation, selection and evaluation of ideas

generated .................................................................................................................... 108

Table 14 the goal commitment theme ......................................................................... 109

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6 Introduction

6.1 Introduction

In this chapter, I will outline the conceptual and theoretical position that this research

resides. I will summarize my epistemological position and I will provide an overview of

my interest in research. Moreover, I will state the boundaries of the focus of my

literature review that will attempt to answer my initial research questions.

6.2 Context and Rationale

I am a science teacher, coach and head of department in a mixed comprehensive

school in North London. The school has a coaching team comprising of four internal

coaches who are all full time teachers in the school. I am coaching several

schoolteachers and leaders from several schools in my role as a teacher coach but I am

also running a department. The role of head of department is time demanding so time

to move from school to school is challenging. The nature of the coaching that I have

undertaken ranges from issues in classroom teaching (which I regard as professional

coaching) and leadership challenges (discussing a coachee’s capacity to lead and

develop leaders in their teams). The nature of the coaching in both instances was

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similar in terms of the skills that I used and the methodology employed. I wanted to find

a method to facilitate coaching without having to be face-to-face (F2F). My first thought

was to use web technology, such as Skype (a free application that allows

communication via video, and audio, anywhere in the world); my second thought was is

that technology beneficial or detrimental to the coaching process?

I discovered a case study of the use of Skype (audio only) in a pilot transatlantic

coaching project. The results of the evaluation of the program, in the words of the

researchers, were ‘most encouraging’ (Law, et al., 2010). All of the coachees who

responded to the questionnaires (84% response rate) said that they would like the pilot

to continue; they also reported that ‘the coaching program has added value to their

leadership studies and that the coaching was different from other experiences available’

(Law, et al., 2010, pp.174-175). The major criticisms cited by the participants were that

the coaching was impersonal, and the coaches reported that they found it more difficult

to notice emotional semiotics. The reason video was not used in the study was that

Skype did not support this feature at that time.

In the UK, fast broadband is now commonplace and cheaply available, so using Skype

for coaching may now be possible. In addition to the increase in broadband coverage is

a phenomenon called ‘technology leapfrogging’: this is a situation where new digital

technologies are implemented in places where the analogue versions are not in place

(Salmons, 2010). For example, people now use mobile phone technology even though

landline phones and conventional Internet services are not available e.g. in third world

countries. This means that many technologies once only available on home computers,

with fixed landlines, can now be cheaply accessed at the convenience of the user. I

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considered that, any technology-based solution might be better if mobile phones could

access that technology, Skype is available on mobile phones.

With an initial search of the literature, looking for methods of technology and coaching, I

found a text called virtual coach, virtual mentor by the seminal coaching authors

Clutterbuck, and Hussain (2010). They suggested a range of viable methods for using

technology and coaching. I also found another source, which gave similar benefits and

concerns (Pihlajamäki, 2011). One admission by Clutterbuck and Hussain (2010) was

the there was little empirical evidence, for the efficacy of these methods (referring to

Skype). I was interested to find out if there were studies with a valid, rigorous

evaluation. A brief search using Google scholar and the IOE library catalogue yielded

an interesting collection of research on virtual mentoring, coaching and evaluation.

Triple Creek (Emelo, 2008), an online mentoring provider, received very positive

outcomes from using mentoring with their clients. Additionally, the participant in the

study participants who invested at least one hour per month on mentoring reported

feedback that was even more positive. This article related to the mentoring through a

particular mentoring provider and does not cover all mentoring across organizations, so

may not be generalizable to lower quality provisions or companies with different

mentors, like my school. The other issue with this is that it relates to coaching and not

mentoring. Clutterbuck and Hussain, (2010, p.8) assert that ‘…they tend to be

represented and championed by different bodies, to use technology differently, and to

engage in almost no cross-category research’, so I decided to exclude mentoring

research for the use of Skype as my focus was on coaching. However, I was unclear

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how these two types of personal development were different, so I decided to investigate

their limits, so I could just focus on coaching.

Evidence based research on virtual coaching by Clutterbuck and Hussain (2010, p.145)

revealed that:

‘…nearly 1,300 world-wide respondents indicated that 51% of coaching

communication is not “in-person,” instead relying on technology that allows

coaching’.

Some important questions arise such as ‘is this a representative sample?’ and’ what

forms of technology are employed?’. An alternative survey showed that number of

coaching sessions being delivered at a distance appears to have increased to 59%,

worldwide, in 2012 (Sherpa, 2012). The Coaching Academy (2012, p.8), whose focus is

mainly in Britain, provide a similar statistic of ‘62% coaching at a distance’. Based on

the statistics alone, distance coaching is perceived to be a viable solution for

professional coaches to overcome some of the issues facing my project. Neither report

indicates why the coaches use these methods or whether the coaches, or coachees,

actually believe the method is more desirable than F2F coaching. They also do not give

any evidence for the efficacy of the use of technology even though there are a

significant number of participants engaging in coaching in this way. Sherpa (2012) and

the Coaching Academy (2012) found that voice over internet protocol (VoIP) was used

less than telephone coaching and that face to face was still more popular than other

methods of coaching, such as email or mobile technology. There is a lack of detailed

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information about the reasons for the use of technology in the above global surveys, so

it is not surprising to find that there is little theoretical understanding of how to

operationalize technology into a functional system of leadership coaching is effective or

how to (Clutterbuck and Hussain, 2010).

There are many methods of asynchronous (where the users interact on different

timescales and get delayed feedback) and synchronous (where they operate on the

same time scale and get instant feedback) methods of communication. A particular

type of synchronous technology called voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology

allows all participants can view each other’s body language as well as hear them, so it

allows a high level of social prescience (Lowden and Hostetter, 2012). I felt that a VoIP

based coaching experience may be a viable method of communication that that would

give an experience, which was comparable to F2F coaching, and allow a more personal

experience, at the convenience of the users but I had no idea how to facilitate this.

Thus, I felt that literature citing the use of VoIP technology (such as video conferencing

or Skype) for communication or coaching was desirable.

Given the possible benefits of locating, a method to coach via VoIP, which would

increase my availability for coaching and therefore my flexibility, I felt that VoIP

coaching is worth investigating in more detail.

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6.3 Aims of this Research

This project is centered on researching what coaching is and what effective coaches do.

In doing this I will establish what the experience of F2F coaching is. Additionally, this

project aims to discover whether the educational context of coaching is any different

from others such as private sector coaching or coaching in the NHS. Finally, this

project aims to locate ways of providing an experience of coaching when timetables and

locations are difficult to coordinate.

The project aims are therefore to locate a method for coaching that can be carried out at

the convenience of both coaching participants using synchronous technology such as

VoIP.

6.4 Significance of this Research

In locating a method of coaching at the convenience of the coaching participants, I felt

that I would personally benefit, as I could carry out coaching at more easily and

potentially improve the support that I can offer. Additionally, schools using this research

would be in a similar position to coach their staff, at times which is mutually convenient

for both participants. Professional coaches might be more competitive because they

could offer lower rates for sessions or make more profit per session. Highly effective

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coaches would be able to reach more people, and new coaches would not risk

damaging their reputations by providing ineffective coaching programs.

This would also would benefit anyone that wants to coach online but does not know

where to start, or is worried about damaging their relationship with a client by coaching

online.

6.5 Limits of the Research

The first important limit to discuss is the scope the project. As coaching is time

consuming only a very limited sample could be collected in terms of field research,

which limits the representativeness of the study. In addition, the context of a school

may mean that outside of education different factors may affect the procedure of Skype

coaching so this may limit my ability to generalise the results. There are many

important areas of research are related to coaching but due to the scale of this project

will not be included. One such area is the field of online learning: though coaching is a

learning process, there are significant differences in power relationships between

coach-coachee and teacher-student, which limit the learning that can be done.

Additionally, I will not be looking at research with regard to therapy even though the

power interaction is similar to coaching due to the core assumption that in therapy

people are in some way dysfunctional and in coaching the individual is whole and

functional.

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What was unclear was how educational coaching was different so I intend to focus on

education to locate any special considerations or alterations that need to be employed

when coaching teachers or school leaders.

A key assumption for this research is that Skype is the most effective synchronous form

of VoIP technology, given its simplicity and therefore will be the type of VoIP technology

mentioned throughout this dissertation. As Skype is simple to learn I have taught

pensioners and children to use it, and because of this, I will not consider age as a factor

that might affect the quality of Skype coaching but acknowledge that it may be

important.

Lowden and Hostetter, (2012) suggest that both genders interact positively when VoIP

technology but females find the experience more positive than males. Additionally, I

have coached many male and female participants (F2F) and it has not made any

noticeable difference to how many times the coachees come back for coaching or how

they feel when they rated the sessions, so I will not consider gender to be an issue that

will negatively affect the outcomes of this study.

Finally, I am often aware when delivering coaching programs, or talking to people about

coaching, that there is confusion between coaching and mentoring and so I will ensure

that is clear from the literature review where one finishes and the other begins to limit

the scope of this research.

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6.6 Outline of the Dissertation

The next section is my literature review where I will critically explore the research

questions below. After my literature review, I will propose, and justify, my paradigm for

conducting research on Skype coaching, acquired from the critical literature review. I

will next analyse the results of my investigation into Skype coaching, which will lead to

the discussion and conclusion, where I will provide a critical analysis of results, identify

salient points and important improvement points for any subsequent research.

6.7 Research Questions

Combining all of the gaps in my knowledge, I felt the main question ‘how can I coach

teachers using Skype?’ was important to increase my understanding of coaching at a

distance. To ensure that I answered this question, I needed to answer the following

questions:

What is coaching?

What is mentoring?

Where does coaching stop and mentoring begin?

What is the general structure of the coaching process?

Is an educational coaching process different?

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Can Skype be used for the coaching process?

What can be done to improve the Skype coaching process?

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7 Literature Review

7.1 Introduction

The major aim of this chapter is to investigate whether Skype coaching methods can

give a similar experience to F2F coaching methods. In the introduction, a limited

number of texts were found relating to the use of Skype: suggesting a gap in the

research. To investigate the gap the following questions will be used, which could lead

to a method for coaching using Skype:

What coaching and mentoring are and where are their limits with respect to each other?

‘Is coaching different in education?’, ‘What’s the process for coaching?’ and ‘Can Skype

(or VoIP more generally) be used in coaching and if so how can it?’.

To locate answers to these research questions Merriam (1998, p.6) succinctly states

that a literature review must first be carried out which is ‘…an interpretation and

synthesis of published research’. To conduct an effective literature review Hart (1998)

and Murray (2006) suggest similar systematic strategy for conducting a review their

methodology will form the basis for the structure of this chapter.

To locate literature that discussed these issues the following combination of terms were

used: coaching evaluation, e-coaching, Skype coaching, video conferencing, technology

and coaching, virtual coaching, online interviews, online coaching, VoIP coaching,

evaluating coaching, measuring coaching’s impact, teacher coaching, school coaching

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and educational coaching. A mix of ‘Google scholar’, ‘Web of knowledge’, the British

library catalogue and the IOE library catalogue were used to identify as many texts as

possible that matched the criteria. In trying to find an effective method for Skype

coaching, the first thing to be discussed is ‘what is coaching?’

7.2 What is Coaching?

Many professional coaches appear to have constructed their own definition of coaching,

so there is a plethora of definitions for coaching. Many authors have the view that

coaching is about:

helping learning;

unlocking a person’s potential through personal development;

empowerment, where the client sets the goals but the coach manages the

process and the perceptions of the client;

mutual trust and confidentiality (Whitmore 1996; Whitworth, 1998; Parsloe, 1999;

West-Burnham and Coates, 2005; Crane and Patrick, 2010; Clutterbuck and

Megginson, 2011).

Each definition on its own does not cover all of these components nor do they

distinguish coaching for mentoring. Simkins et al. (2006, p.323) offer an alternative

definition, which hints at the relationship of coaching to mentoring:

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‘Coaching is typically conceived as a narrower concept than mentoring, with an

emphasis on the improvement of skills and performance’.

This educational author’s suggestion that mentoring and coaching are different is

important and will be discussed later.

A comprehensive definition for coaching should set it apart from other professions, list

the core components of it and be applicable to practitioners in the field (Lyle, 2002).

Though these suggestions are from sports coaching not professional coaching, it is

important that comprehensive definition should be clear and concise. The above

definitions, though concise, do not fully explain what coaching is, they just hint at

aspects of it.

Given the limited number of empirical studies of coaching across the literature, a

broader definition that could transcend industries was therefore deemed appropriate.

Lye’s criteria have been met by the definition by Whitworth, (1998, p.x), which states:

‘Not only do we live in a changing world, but the speed of change is ever on the

increase and with it come stresses and confusion sometimes beyond our own

apparent resources. A personal coach does not remove these problems, but

goes two steps further. The coach can help us turn them into challenges and

enable us to overcome them by drawing on resources within ourselves that we

never knew we had’.

In drawing on the resources with the coachee, the coach is assuming that the coachee

is an expert of their situation not the coach themselves. This definition states the roles

of both coach and coachee within the relationship, differentiates it from other

professions such as counselling.

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To continue exploring the literature to find methods for Skype, coaching required an

investigation into where coaching stops and mentoring begins. To understand this

position, a definition of mentoring will now be provided.

7.3 What is Mentoring?

Mentoring has been around since Socratic times, and has been a significant method for

personal improvement in the last 20 years. Herman (2003) asserts that:

‘Our work, the work of mentors, is to help students, each one and one at a time,

conceive and complete an academic education that responds to these practical

and contemplative needs’ (Herman, 2003, p.2).

This definition does differentiate coaching from mentoring in that coaching can be used

for non-academic purposes; however, some definitions of mentoring suggest that

mentoring is not just focused on academic activities but general learning as well.

Hezlett and Gibson (2005, p.446) offer a definition of mentoring as being:

‘…an intense, one-on-one relationship in which an experienced, senior person

(i.e. a mentor) provides assistance to a less experienced, more junior colleague

(i.e. a protégé or mentee) in order to enhance the latter's professional and

personal development’.

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So mentoring is about a person who is in a position of power or authority developing

someone in a lower power or authority position. In mentoring, the learner owns both the

goals and the process and the feedback comes from within the mentee (Clutterbuck,

and Megginson, 2011). A key difference between this and coaching is that the coach

owns the process (Clutterbuck, and Megginson, 2011). So mentoring should be a

developmental learning process, involving two or more people, where one person is

more experienced or knowledgeable (the mentor) and where the development (of the

mentee) is facilitated through the questioning. What has been hinted at but is not

explicit is what limits of the two processes?

7.4 Where Does Coaching Stop and Mentoring Begin?

There are some key differences and similarities with coaching and mentoring which

means that different situations may dictate that their use is appropriate. Mentors should

us the mentees curiosity, respect their individual desire to learn, treat mentees as whole

and judge those projects or experiences with the expectation that the knowledge is

incomplete, and that the mentor has the knowledge to fill the gap (Herman, 2003).

Other important considerations for mentoring are that the mentoring is voluntary,

confidential, and that both mentor and mentee understand the purpose and scope of the

learning to be done (McKimm, et al., 2007).

Again, in defining mentoring there is a similarity between coaching and mentoring

principles in that there is a learning dialog between the developing person and

developed where both parties learn, in confidence (McKimm, et al., 2007). More than

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this, in many models of coaching the coach gives power to the relationship, which the

coachee uses to clarify their agenda and reach their own goals (Skiffington, and Zeus,

2003; Whitworth, 1998). However, in mentoring, the mentee owns the process and the

goal but the mentor is the authority for the development of the individual Herman

(2003).

The boundaries of mentoring and coaching seem challenging to distinguish but the core

and significant difference is whether advice is given or not. Though it is clear if advice is

given, then mentoring is being used and if facilitation of thinking through questioning,

without advice, then coaching is being used. What is not clear is how mentoring or

coaching are different in education; the next section explores this issue.

7.5 What is the General Structure of the Coaching Process?

A number of different models exist in the literature for facilitating the coaching process.

When these models were via a thematic review (see Appendix B, Table 9) it was found

that, they had similar timings, structures and comprised of these distinct stages:

1. Creating rapport;

2. Establishing a need or goal set;

3. Generation of ideas to meet the goal/ solve the problem;

4. Evaluation of ideas generated;

5. Selection of appropriate ideas based on the evaluation;

6. Commit to idea (s)

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(Thomas and Smith, 2004; Barkley, 2005; Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2005;

Landsberg, 2003, Coates, 2011)

All of the above authors had these stages in their models and these steps were

consistent each other. Some had truncated the steps (Landsburg, 2003) so that they

existed in four stages while others had elongated them (Thomas and Smith 2004) but

the content of the process was the same. Given that all of these models had the above

6 stages, these steps were considered be important components of coaching.

Additionally, models that encompass these stages should facilitate an experience of

coaching.

To create rapport requires being present and open to another person (Clutterbuck and

Megginson, 2011). Building rapport, it is argued is not about preprogramed platitudes

such as ‘how are you?’ it is about an unrehearsed response and sensory acuity to the

person in the situation as it arises (Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011; Lazarus, 2010).

It is about the self-disclosure of the coach coupled with an attempt to find some

common ground.

In terms of establishing or setting goals, there needs to be an understanding that goal

setting in not just about highlighting deficiencies. An alternative suggestion is to specify

an ideal self and use this as an aim for the coaching sessions (Boyatzis, et al., 2004).

In setting goals, there is an assumption or discussion of goals or work completed to

focus the session. The author suggests that this model for goal setting avoids negative

emotional attractors when compared to the deficiency model. In coach training

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sessions, many providers demonstrate both models and gain consensus for the use of

the positive model so this seems acceptable to use this method for goal setting.

To facilitate the generation of ideas can take several forms such as articulation or

modelling. Articulation works by allowing the coachee to choose whatever direction

interests them and involves encouraging quick idea generation, rather quality idea

generation. This can ensure that rapport is not broken as there is no judgement

(Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011). Modelling involves using objects to represent

people in the situation and provide a different perspective to look at the situation and

encourages an exploration of how a situation is at present (Clutterbuck and Megginson,

2011). There is no suggestion as to which technique is more appropriate or whether

one leads to more successful ideas generation but both give options that professional

coaches could use.

Once ideas have been generated, they need to be evaluated. When evaluating the

ideas and selecting the desired outcome four possible options face the coachee:

Change the situation

Move out of the situation

Change themselves

Do nothing and put up with the situation (Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011,

p.125)

To select the path it is useful to consider the consequences of actions. In considering

the consequences of their actions, they need to factor the impact and stability of the

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choices to narrow down the options. After this stage, the coach should try and gain

commitment.

Gaining commitment is cited as the most import step of the coaching process

(Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011). It is suggested that a ‘confidence scale’ is a useful

tool to gage the commitment to the ideas selected (Whitmore, 2002; Clutterbuck and

Megginson, 2011). Then ideas to boost the commitment to higher level are explored

(as in the ideas generation step) before gaining a final commitment (Clutterbuck and

Megginson, 2011). Alternatively, the coach could ask, what is the danger of choosing

that option, which encourages a final evaluation of blocks to success? Both techniques

provide important steps towards the acceptance of chosen actions and it signals the

completion of the coaching session, neither seems to have a theoretical advantage as

proposed by the literature so just seem like alternative tools to use at the final stage of

coaching. All of these stages use critical questioning to facilitate each stage and this is

an important aspect of the experience of coaching.

So, if all of the above steps are employed then a person is assumed to be experiencing

coaching. However, delivering these stages may require a different tact when coaching

in education. The next section discusses whether, or not, there are nuances, that have

to be taken into account, for coaching in education.

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7.6 Is the educational Coaching Process Different?

Several organisations promote quality coaching, or evaluate the impact of coaching in

schools; these organisations include the national college for school leadership (NCSL),

and the centre for the use of research and evidence in education (CUREE). In an

NCSL, publication by Creasy and Paterson (2006, p.9) proposes a definition of

coaching as:

‘Coaching does not depend on the coach having more experience than the

coachee; it can take place between peers and staff at different levels of status

and experience’.

The paper contrasts this definition with the following definition of mentoring:

‘A mentor is usually a more experienced colleague; someone very familiar with a

particular culture and role, who has influence and can use their experience to

help an individual analyse their situation in order to facilitate professional and

career development’ (Creasy and Paterson, 2006, p.9).

These definitions do not seem to distinguish educational coaching (or mentoring) from

the private sector or academic research, so are the models used for coaching different?

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An important study revealed several case studies of coaching shared certain

characteristics.

‘For example they propose coaching in schools almost always as a one-to-one

approach, although occasionally they utilise triads’ (Lofthouse, et al., 2010, p.6).

Therefore, triads and one-to-one coaching have been used along with expert coach-

mentors, and planned programs, to provide coaching that facilitates goal completion.

However, this does not show any difference with coaching in education and coaching in

industry. What about the models of coaching that is used?

It appears that Sir John Whitmore’s (2002) GROW model has widespread use in

education suggesting a lack of difference in the academic and private sector coaching

research (Lord, et al., 2008; Lindon, 2011). Therefore, the models of delivery of

coaching seem to be consistent with academic coaching research and research from

industry.

Coaching sessions in education appear to have such similar assumptions, aims and

outcomes to other sectors that any learning about coaching, in broader contexts, will be

assumed to apply well to coaching in education. This means that the key stages of

coaching discussed above, are appropriate for an educational setting and should allow

coaching to take place without any extra consideration. It is now important to address

one of the key research questions about the use of Skype and coaching.

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7.7 Can Skype be Used for the Coaching Process?

Skype has been used for coaching by several authors. One author criticises the use of

Skype suggesting that picture quality was low or that video signal was unstable, using

low speed broadband (Pihlajamäki, 2011). Now broadband speeds are significantly

higher, across organizations and home consumers, at affordable prices, so some of

these criticisms may not exist with current technology. Pihlajamäki (2011, p.22) also

comments that that ‘Virtual coaching cannot be directly compared to face-to-face

coaching’.

A key criticism of this article was that it does not mention why they are not comparable

or provide any evidence of validity; in essence, the results of this study are anecdotal

though for this reason alone should be validated by comparison with other research. An

ethnographic case study by Sedgwick and O’Donnell (2009) seems to be in direct

opposition to this:

‘…Monique found it interesting that participants referred to the videoconference

interview as “face-to-face,” which they found preferable to a voice-only telephone

interview’ (Sedgwick and O’Donnell, 2009).

One key criticism is that video conferencing was used here not Skype. As mentioned in

the introduction Skype is a type of VoIP system like video conferencing system, so

29

research citing both are considered synonymous. However, a more serious issue with

both texts are the anecdotal nature of the evidence presented.

The CIPD (2009) report warns that anecdotal evidence is essentially no evidence at all,

as they are often uncorroborated subjective opinions rather than valid data. So in

effect, these studies cannot be generalised with any certainty of reproduction of results.

However, they do suggest that video conferencing can, under the ideal circumstances,

produce results like F2F communications, or at least results that are more desirable

than audio only communications.

Searching further into the literature revealed that compared to coaching using

computer-mediated communications (CMCs):

‘… face-to-face developmental relationships should have a higher success rate in

terms of longevity and achievement of objectives, but this has not been

empirically tested’ (Clutterbuck and Hussain, 2010, p.15).

Little can be drawn from this proposition given that there is no evidence to back it up;

however, it suggests that there is a gap in the research if these seminal authors have

not found any studies for this text. Whether there are empirically based studies about

the experience of Skype in coaching, or not, there are always potential issues with using

technology (Lantz and Pargman, 2002).

It seems that there is discourse between whether Skype can be used for coaching or

not. However, due to the limited evidence for either argument the literature search was

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expanded to include a discussion of VoIP and communication, rather than just focussing

on coaching, as communication is an essential and core component of coaching. In

looking at communication using VoIP technology more information may be discovered

in relation to coaching using Skype; this exploration is detailed below.

7.8 What Can Be Done to Improve Skype Coaching?

Coaching is a focused type of communication that ends in one of the parties deciding on

a course of action facilitated by the other. The outcomes from a conversation between

two friends and coach and a coachee may differ but the importance of language,

intonation, and nonverbal cues are important in both modes to transfer knowledge with

minimal errors. In addition, as coaching requires in depth questions it is similar to the

interview process. The key difference between coaching and interviews is that the

information obtained in interviews is mainly for the interest of the researcher but in

coaching the information generated is for the interest of the coachee and the coach,

thus their power balance is different. Analysing texts that focused on communication, or

interviews, using VoIP technology meant that learning from these fields were

appropriate to the field of coaching.

A search of the literature found several issues with technology for communication. One

article suggests that: the context of the communication will dramatically affect how

inhibited or uninhibited the communication is (Postmes, et al., 2000). Therefore, the

expected norms of behaviour for F2F interactions may not be the same when engaging

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with technology. Understanding that the norms are different for technology is important

because in a coaching conversation, there needs to be candid, but not rude,

communication, so fully uninhibited conversation is necessarily useful for coaching

(Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2011). The question is what context causes uninhibited

behaviour?

The conventions and norms are not set when using online communications; however, a

group engaging in online interactions is likely to cement the way it interacts. Creating

ground rules, early on the groups life cycle, can stop negative behaviours before they

start since discourse patterns are shaped in early social interactions; so one context for

uninhibited behaviour could be a lack of clear ground rules (McCormick and McCormick,

1992).

The reasons proposed for this lack of expected norms in CMCs might be due to the

suggestion that:

‘Students who have been culturally programmed and disempowered for so long

have a great deal of trouble knowing what to do with power once it is given to

them’ (George, 1990).

Though the sample in this article applies to academic students, and not to staff in an

organization, the message may be just as important for teachers and the employed too:

several adult members of the public have been arrested for negative comments posted

on social networking sites. Perhaps the ground rules on social networking sites, and in

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organisations, need to be more explicit but another factor that could cause negative use

of technology is lack of rapport: an important component of coaching.

We tend to take cognitive 'shortcuts' when barraged by sensory information, when

pushed for time we rely on just a few cues to guide us to an answer or an assumption.

For example, when multiple flashing banners come up on a webpage and relevant

information needs to be found, the banners are ignored or deleted from the conscious

view (Wallace, 1999). ‘Perceived warmth, or coldness, persists in subsequent

interactions’ (Wallace, 1999, pp.19-20), so the early attempts to build a positive

interaction in a conversation are even more important in online environments, than F2F

interactions. This means that rapport building and expectation setting should be located

in the early steps of online interactions just like in coaching.

Social psychologists have debated for some time whether people are less inhibited, in

their expressions online or not; however, Bomberger (2004) argues that physical

separation may encourage people to act more rudely and with more hostility. This

conclusion grossly underestimates the complexity of the interactions that we use to

communicate emotions and ideas to other human beings.

In teaching, eye contact is important in captivating an audience (of students), keeping

them interested in what you are saying and also alerting them to the fact that you can

see what they are doing (both positive and negative). Lapidot-Lefler and Barak (2012)

conclude that it is the lack of eye-contact that was associated with increased levels of

self-reported flaming (negative or rude comments) incidents and threats, and with

overall negative online disinhibition (or toxic online disinhibition) behaviour scores,

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rather than just separation. They found that lack of eye contact also had a significant

effect on CMC interactions, increasing toxic online disinhibition levels. Grayson and

Monk (2003) reinforce this by suggesting that mutual gaze is a ‘synchronization signal

or ‘handshake’ with important functions in regulating conversation.

Using Skype may remove the online disinhibition because you can see the face and

eyes of the other CMC participant; however, just seeing eyes may not be enough to

remove the effect and there are possibly other factors that could also have some effect.

Lapidot-Lefler and Barak (2012) propose that that in addition to a lack of eye contact an

online sense of unidentifiability may be important. Unidentifiability is a term that is

broader than anonymity, yet it includes specific components; namely, non-disclosure of

personal data, invisibility and lack of eye contact, and possibly other significant

components yet to be investigated, is the actual reason behind negative online

interactions. Unidentifiability is a pluralism, and it is a more likely to be the cause of

flaming behaviour than the separation monism observed by Bomberger (2004) as

behaviour is multifaceted.

A possible explanation for this observation might be that identifiability is an accepted

component of F2F communication and without it many would consider it difficult to

foster trusting relationships, and this may cause damaging psychological effects

(Bekkering and Shim, 2006; Verhulsdonck, 2007). Using Skype would possibly remove

the invisibility, lack of eye contact and non-disclosure of information, core components

of unidentifiabilty, leading to more trust and rapport; without trust and rapport a coach’s

relationship may be damaged.

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Lapidot-Lefler and Barak (2012) warn that existing technologies do not support the

desirable level of eye contact: webcams and computer screens are positioned in such a

way as to render direct eye contact difficult. They acknowledge that more work is

needed to ‘elucidate the nature of eye contact’s component of the unidentifiability effect’

(Lapidot-Lefler and Barak, 2012, p.441).

Chen’s (2002) study of eye contact in videoconferencing suggests that desired eye

contact is possible with simple improvements that enhance participants’ perceptions of

eye contact. Chen (2002) found that if the visual angle between the camera and the

eyes rendered on the display were less than 5°, in a vertical and horizontal direction,

then effective perceived eye contact could be established. Subsequent to this, it has

been shown that it is possible for users of low cost desktop video conferencing to learn

to interpret gaze direction to a very high degree of accuracy (Grayson and Monk, 2003).

This is more easily done if the equipment is configured optimally: within Chen’s (2002)

5°angle and an image size of no less than 120 versus 60 pixels, which is considered to

be a medium sized image (Grayson and Monk, 2003). This suggests that even though

ideal camera settings (directly behind the user’s eyes on screen) do not exist, at

present, interpretations can be made of where someone is looking even with low quality

webcams. If we can tell where someone is looking then we can maintain eye contact

(Grayson and Monk, 2003).

However, in Lapidot-Lefler and Barak’s (2012) study the webcam was positioned ‘at eye

level’ meaning that there is a possibility that the camera was not positioned to give the

5° angle, as suggested by Chen (2002), and could have changed the online

disinhibition’s effect. Modern laptops and tablets have built in webcams, where the

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angle between camera and screen is smaller than using webcams, so using them and

maintaining at least a 120 by 60-pixel image (a close up image) may provide a better

method of establishing eye contact and ‘desired’ eye contact. This in turn could remove

the online disinhibition effect and improve rapport to the levels of F2F interactions;

importantly this remains a gap in the literature and warrants further investigation.

Additionally, to the internal relationship between the coach and coachee there are

important external factors that can potentially disrupt communication such as

technology failure.

When F2F interactions were compared with a low quality, wide-area, ISDN, video

conferencing system interactive aspects of the conversations, which required precise

timing (giving feedback, switching speakers and asking clarifying questions), were much

reduced in the ISDN system (O' Conaill, Whittaker and Wilbur, 1993). Participants in

the project were unable to time their conversational contributions accurately, with the

result that backchannels or interruptions arrived too late or at inappropriate points in the

conversation. This study was carried out when high-speed broadband was not widely

available, so these effects may not exist with high-speed interactions, or at least might

be less problematic.

A more recent investigation by Lantz (2002, p.6), using higher speed internet,

investigated video conferencing and meetings, found that random delay or interruptions

affected the participants by making them feel like ‘they were: losing control; lacking

feedback; losing attention; getting tired; inefficient’. Though these issues indicate that

interruptions are potentially negative to the interaction, it was not evident from this study

whether the time when delay was introduced was important.

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Powers et al. (2011) investigated conversations involving high speed broadband and

introduced delay, manually, at different points in the conversations. They discovered

that the effect of delay on frustration was different depending on the length of time the

conversation proceeded before experiencing delay. When delay was introduced in the

first period of the conversation, the frustration was higher when compared to the no

delay condition. Notably, a higher level of frustration was experienced by the people

who had a non-delay conditions for the first period and delay conditions in the second

period, than the delay conditions in the first period alone. Therefore, the effects of

feedback delay can cause more issues if they occur randomly, or when they occurs

after CMC partners have established an initial acquaintance, under ideal conditions

(Powers et al., 2011). This study focuses on unacquainted individuals, so knowledge

about the delay conditions would be relevant for professional coaches as it is likely that

they would be unacquainted with new clients.

A follow up study found that partners who had met, and had a chance to build rapport,

before engaging with CMC were less prone to the delay mentioned in the above study

as they had a greater ability to anticipate each other’s emotions (Parkinson and Lea,

2011). The level of frustration can be reduced if a coachee is prepped for the

eventuality of delay or frustration; any effective methods of video communication should

include a plan for delay or disconnection (Labardee, et al., 2010).

The effects of delay can be reduced by using a high-speed internet connection, by

ceasing downloads, and uploads, which free up bandwidth for the CMC. If the delay

condition is too severe, or a disconnection occurs, then a strategy such as informing the

coachee that the coach will try to fix the issue and connect again in a few minutes

37

should be employed (Labardee, et al., 2010; Cockburn 2010). If the communication is

disrupted later in the conversation, and frustrations start to slow the coaching process, a

decision may have to be made as to whether to abandon the call and try again later. It

is important to note that Labardee, et al. (2010) and Cockburn (2010) are online coach

practitioners, not academic researchers, and thus they may not have conducted

feedback in the most rigorous way to generate valid data. However, their suggestions

provide what seem like logical recommendations that are not confuted by any research

papers seen in the construction of this dissertation.

Some other suggestions to ensure that issues with Skype are minimised are

summarised in Table 1.

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Table 1 suggestions for improving quality of Skype communication

Salmons (2010) suggestions 1, 2 and 4 match with the research from the literature but

are very unspecific as to what to do to ensure an improvement to Skype provisions.

Salmons other suggestions along with Cockburn (2010) and Clutterbuck and Hussain

(2010) seem to provide a framework for setting ground rules; however, these

statements do not have any evidence as to which stage is important or the effects if any

of the stages are not adhered to; this remains a gap in the research.

VoIP communication can be improved by the use of setup, high quality technology and

ground rules but this review located no evidence that these work in a coaching context.

Could these improvements make the experience of Skype coaching similar to that of

39

F2F coaching? Additionally, are there any other factors that might also affect the

process that have not yet been cited in the literature? These questions are discussed in

the next chapter of this this dissertation.

7.9 Conclusions from the Literature

Coaching and mentoring are about development of an individual or group but their

philosophical standpoints are very different. Mentoring is about development through a

molding of a person in the mentor’s image, coaching, on the other hand, is about

allowing that person to be created in whatever image they want. The power dynamics

of coaching and mentoring lead to potentially very different outcomes. In the adult-adult

relationship of coaching the adult is empowered to follow their own path to improvement

but mentoring is more like an adult-child relationship, which can lead to resistance to

change, or dishonesty, by the mentee leading to a less effective process. In essence,

to avoid turning coaching into mentoring requires not giving advice as part of the

process and allowing the coachee to choose their own direction for their development.

The process of coaching, in general, is about generating rapport, facilitating goals and

ideas generation, along with evaluation of those ideas along with a selection and

commitment to a most desirable option, which coaching models like STRIDE or GROW

facilitate. Within each of these stages, critical reflective questioning is used to facilitate

the process.

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In terms of education, coaching and mentoring principles appear to be indistinguishable

from non-education coaching and mentoring research methodologies and so an

educational setting should not change or be a factor that affects the quality of the

coaching. Whether coaching can be experienced, using VoIP systems such as Skype

was not answered in the review and this remains a gap in the research that this project

aims to fill in. VoIP has been used in with relative success in several communication

studies (Salmons 2010; Cockburn 2010; Labardee et al., 2010; Clutterbuck and

Hussain, 2010) and given that a core component of coaching is communication,

coaching may be able to take place successfully via VoIP if several factors are taken in

to account.

One such positive factor that should be considered is the ability to generate and

maintain a level of eye contact, which helps to build rapport. Being able to see a

partner reduces the likely hood of rude behaviour and reintroduces social norms, which

means that behaviour is, as you would expect of a F2F interaction.

In addition to this, setting ground rules can ensure that these social norms are used to

enhance the coaching process, like informing the coachee that they should wait for a

short time for the connection to be restarted by the coach, if the connection drops. This

helps build trust because the coach is aware of how to deliver the process effectively.

One author suggests how to use technology to overcome issues but cite no generalised

repeatable results from these procedures (Lantz, 2010). Another text proposes the

conclusion from an empirical study, that using ground rules to shift expectations of the

technology can limit frustration if the technology fails (Powers et al., 2011) and this

could work in coaching because the coach and coachee have prepared mentally for it.

41

Even if the coach communicates via VoIP technology, using the above suggestions, it is

also important to set it up well to grant the coach the greatest ability to provide

communication that is similar to the experience of F2F communication (and therefore

coaching). Having the camera positioned to keep the angle at less than 5° between the

virtual image and the screen is important to give the impression of true eye contact and

allow coaching to take place with less distraction (Chen, 2002).

Though all of these factors show that it is possible to communication via VoIP, and

achieve a similar experience to a F2F meeting, there are no empirical studies using

these methods, which relate to coaching. Combining these factors would therefore

make a framework for Skype with coaching that could lead to an experience similar to a

F2F one. Therefore, this research will contribute to this field by applying all of these

factors to form the basis of the conceptual framework shown in Figure 1 below.

7.10 The Conceptual Framework

The literature review suggested several things that would improve the quality of Skype

communications and therefore coaching via Skype. Based on the details of

communication methods using VoIP evaluated by the literature review, I adapted the

factors shown in the conceptual framework into one method for coaching online: the

‘Jones Skype coaching framework’.

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The following conceptual framework, shown in Figure 1, contains the components

required to reduce the issues with using VoIP communication and allow Skype coaching

to happen, as synthesised from the literature review. This framework contains the

major factors that can affect Skype communication but in its construction, it is accepted

that other factors may arise from the project exploring its use.

Figure 1 the Jones Skype coaching framework

The framework shows that in order to coach using Skype, with an experience close to

the experience of F2F coaching, all of the relevant concepts should be taken in to

account. This assumes that all of the relevant literature that could contribute to this

framework has been located. It seems plausible that using the conceptual framework to

setup the expectations and equipment, based on recommendations from the literature,

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would lead to the experience of coaching on a Skype system. So, in order to explore

whether there are other factors that may affect the Skype coaching and whether the

experience of Skype coaching can be similar to F2F coaching, a key research question

would need to be answered and this is detailed below.

7.11 Research Questions

The literature explores a range of concepts about how to deliver VoIP and reduce its

issues; however, in locating the key factors from the literature that can affect

communication using Skype a key question should be answered, namely:

‘Can the experience of Skype coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?’

In order to answer this question, more evidence is needed from field study; the next

chapter contains details of this research paradigm that will be used for this process.

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8 Conceptual Design

8.1 Introduction

The research problem, as outlined from the literature review, was that a method was

needed to Skype coach teachers in different schools or teachers out of hours, at their

convenience. In searching the literature, a range of procedures and practices for

carrying out conversations (such as coaching) via a video conferencing system was

found. The main issue from this was that there were no empirical studies, located by

the review, which demonstrated that the strategies worked in Skype coaching. One

important question arose from the literature review:

Can the experience of Skype coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?

In the literature review, core components of coaching were discovered that outline the

experience of coaching. These components were turned into research sub-questions,

which would give a framework for identifying the experience of coaching. The sub

questions based on the information outlined in the literature review were:

Sub question 1: Is rapport generated in both VoIP and F2F sessions?

Sub question 2: Will goals be set in both groups?

Sub question 3: Will the both groups generate ideas/solutions?

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Sub question 4: Will ideas be evaluated in the F2F group and the SCG?

Sub question 5: Will the participants be able to select ideas based on their

evaluation in both groups?

Sub question 6: Will both groups commit to ideas

Sub research question 7: Do the critical questions asked of both groups help

them to reflect?

To investigate these questions, this chapter is divided into several sections; the first of

which outlines the range of paradigms that were considered for this research project.

The next section looks at mixed methods before action research is explored in the final

section.

8.2 Research Paradigm to Use?

There was a time when a choice needed to be made between the two paradigms of

qualitative and quantitative research (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Denscombe,

2010). The issue with having to make a choice of this nature was that both paradigms

carry significant weaknesses: for example phenomenology (qualitative research) lacks

scientific rigour, which some view as a weakness. Another weakness is that the sample

size is usually a small sample size, which limits representativeness. Though positivistic

research methods can be highly representative of the population being studied they

have their own unique weaknesses. For example, a positivistic research has to

constrain variables, which may misrepresent the participant’s views and therefore

46

generate ethical issues. These limitations along with many others encouraged

researchers to consider alternative approaches whose core philosophy states that

qualitative and quantitative methods are compatible and they called this position

pragmatism (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Gorman and Clayton, 2005).

This combination of methods allows the weakness of one method to compensate the

strengths of the other (Denscombe, 2010). This paradigm shift was later referred to as

mixed methodology (or multi-method) research, which is research that contains

components of qualitative and quantitative methods (Brewer and Hunter 1989; Patton

1990). Mixed methods normally have two components: qualitative (QUAL) and

quantitative (QUAN). The mixed methods approach has three characteristic features

that set it apart from other strategies for social research; these can be summarized as

follows:

1. Use of qualitative and quantitative approaches within a single research project;

2. Explicit focus on the link between approaches (triangulation);

3. Emphasis on practical approaches to research problems (pragmatism)

(Denscombe, 2010).

Mixed methodology’s epistemology draws from both subjective and objective points of

view; in doing this there is an acceptance that the ‘knower’ and the ‘known’ are

considered to be both dualism and singularity (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). In order

to deal with the opposing views of reality, I decided to consider them on a continuum

(Denscombe, 2010). This viewpoint was desirable, as I felt that the quality of data

generated by this method could provide a great deal of evidence towards the research

47

questions. In terms of ontology, the main assumption is that mixed methods cannot

show causal relationships definitively due to the philosophical standpoint of pragmatists:

‘the universal truth cannot be known, just a best picture of the evidence available’

(Denscombe, 2010, p.22). The aim of this research would shift slightly in accepting this

standpoint and would mean that any explanation created using the data may be a ‘good’

interpretation of events but not the only interpretation of events. I considered that using

mixed methods, as a research methodology would need more careful consideration of

the positives and negatives of such an approach.

There is a level of consistency with the perceived benefits and costs of mixed methods

research. To prioritise this information, and avoid methodological errors, I conducted a

SWOT analysis. The results, of which are shown in table 2 (Tashakkori and Teddlie,

1998; Hart, 1998; Denscombe, 2010), allowed and action plan to be carried out.

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Table 2 The SWOT analysis of the mixed methods approach

Mixed methods have a great deal of use in preparing arguments for court cases or

making judgements on schools. The SWOT analysis shows that there are great

benefits but also a large number of issues and risks that need to be addressed to

ensure confidence in the research findings, the action plan to deal with these

weaknesses are detailed below.

8.3 Limitations of Mixed Methods

Mixed methods research is more desirable than generating large data sets and lack of

deep understanding for the positivist approach and the potential for bias using

phenomenological methods alone.

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The positives for using mixed methods outweighed the negatives; however, the threats

and weaknesses needed to be addressed to validate the data collected. The major

issue was about time taken to learn new techniques. I did not feel that this was a valid

reason to ignore the use of mixed methods. In making this choice, I had to ensure that I

engaged with the other weaknesses of the mixed methods paradigm. To eliminate the

issue with pragmatism, I had to be clear of the assumptions in terms of epistemology

and ontology of mixed methods, which I considered acceptable because mixed methods

offers a problem driven solution to the research problem (Denscombe, 2010).

This research project was not intending to discover emergent themes or research

designs, so the criticism, in this regard, I did not consider (Denscombe, 2010). I

planned to overcome another weakness of mixed methods, non-corroboration, by

planning to use one method to confirm the results of the other, but I needed to decide

how to triangulate the results. To reduce the issues surrounding triangulation I

considered the design of mixed method needed to be used. Possible strategies were:

Equivalent status (both QUAL and QUAN carry equal weighting);

Dominant less-dominant (Either the QUAL or QUAN takes dominance and the

other is just confirmatory);

Designs with multilevel use of approaches (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998).

To consider which mixed methods design was most appropriate I had to review studies

related to coaching. Campbell et al. (1963), strongly assert that the research design

with the highest methodological rigor is a pre-post, control group design. This design

matches closest with positivist paradigm, a philosophy rejected on its own for my

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research due to the choice of pragmatism. I felt that a good research method would

match up with a mixed methods design, mentioned above, and De Meuse, et al. (2009)

propose a coaching research method, which closely matches a multilevel design. They

critically reviewed the coaching literature, using a rigorous meta-analysis, to locate the

texts that contained the most effective methods of evaluating coaching. The method

they propose for evaluating coaching well is to use:

(a) ‘Reactions to coaching;

(b) Coaching experience;

(c) Coaching impact at the organizational level’ (De Meuse, et al. 2009, p.120).

It is not clear from the above authors who should be suggesting reactions to the

coaching process; however, Rogers (2009) and Kearns (2005) propose that the

coachee should provide the reactions to coaching. These authors propose an extra

step, which is the measurement of the return on investment; as there is no financial,

cost to the organisation in the study; I deemed this step inappropriate and it was

ignored. De Meuse et al. (2009) admit that their method of assessing the quality of

coaching may not be appropriate in different settings, or fields, due to the individual

difficulties of doing such a task but should be employed where possible to ensure

efficacy.

The final issue was the small sample size of the study, which consequently limited the

generalizability of the results. I decided that I would try to find a research method that

could improve the technique of using Skype before using a larger study in a subsequent

project.

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8.4 Action Research as an Alternative

Action research (AR) and mixed methods are very similar methods of research in that

they can use both qualitative and quantitative data but AR allows several iterations

which aim to improve practice (Wiśniewska, 2011). A researcher preferring a more

qualitative research design might prefer an action research methodology and project

with a small sample size. As a scientist, I still prefer the use of quantitative research

methods but acknowledge that the small sample size requires corroboration with other

research data to increase the validity of that data. Would using a mixed methods

design be more appropriate for this study? Wiśniewska, (2011, p.70) proposes that:

‘In mixed methods large populations are usually studied, while smaller

populations are set apart for qualitative investigation. In action research smaller

populations are investigated and they remain the same for both the quantitative

and qualitative part of the research’.

Therefore, I felt that I could use AR or a mixed methods research method for a small-

scale project using both qualitative and quantitative data. However, I needed to

consider that:

52

‘…if action research claims to be based on mixed methods, it

should abide by the rigours of this method’ (Wiśniewska, 2011, p.70).

This suggests that using an action research project based on a mixed methods

approach requires the same level of rigour as in a mixed methods project so it would not

be easier to choose either method. Wiśniewska, (2011) asserts that the process of

action research is similar in terms of methodology to mixed methods research so

choosing action research based on mixed method design could increase the validity of

each AR cycle due to corroboration of data. Additionally, Denscombe (2010) highlights

that action research is appropriate for practitioners who are part of the research, this is

important as the research findings feedback into the practice of the practitioner. Finally,

as I had already started to use an action research methodology in using the SWOT

analysis, I decided that AR was an appropriate methodology for this research but how

would this work as a process?

Kurt Lewin was first credited with using the process of AR, in 1948. He summarised the

key steps of the AR process to the diagram similar to the one shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2 the AR cycle, proposed by Lewin (1948, pp.202-203).

Lewin’s (1948) AR cycle shows that this process is a continuum, which means it can

continue to evolve and change forever. It could without explanation be interpreted that

the evaluation step is unconnected to the initial idea just the action itself and some

further plan. If the evaluation is unconnected to the initial idea then a whole cycle could

develop solving other problems but leaving the original one in place. A more focused

AR cycle can be seen in Figure 3.

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Figure 3 the AR cycle, by Newby (2010, p.62).

This version is more explicit, than Lewin’s (1948) cycle, and shows the researcher

returning to the initial issue, and by the nature of the flow of arrows implies the cycle

continues infinitely. The original problem is revisited and the second cycle (or phase) of

change begins. I think that I could use this cycle to plan a phase 1 (a trail with friends

and family) then improve upon it for phase 2 (a main cycle with a carefully selected set

of participants). What type of action research matches the research aims?

The duration of this project is short lived and participatory and emancipatory research

suits longer lived projects or social change respectively (Masters, 1995). Additionally, I

wanted events to be explained in terms of cause and effect, rather than through

‘transactions between one's mental work and external context’ used in participatory

research or events being ‘understood in terms of social and economic hindrances’ using

emancipatory research (Masters, 1995, p.7). Practical AR is more appropriate for the

development practitioner’s practice outside a technical or managerial process and

55

emancipating research attempts to change of interpretation of the task, both of which

are beyond the scope and aims of this project (Zuber-Skerritt, 1996). On the other

hand, Masters, (1995, p.4) surmises that a technical AR project:

‘…promotes more efficient and effective practice. It is product directed but

promotes personal participation by practitioners in the process of improvement’.

Using a technical action research methodology would be therefore be appropriate to

use to meet the project’s aims as they relate to the improvement of an educational-

managerial process which is different from using practical AR or emancipating AR.

When using AR, a researcher is a ‘stranger’ to the organisation, they may notice things

that an ‘insider’ may consider irrelevant but may be important to the process

(Denscombe, 2010, p.132). By choosing AR with mixed methods and triangulation,

using different sources I felt the ‘stranger’ issue would be negated. Masters (1995)

asserts that a project using a technical action research methodology will have several

key characteristics: the project is started by a person with greater experience than the

rest of the group; additionally, technical action research improves practice and makes it

more efficient. I have more experience of coaching than the group that I am working

with and I want to make my practice better so, I decided to use a technical action

research project, using mixed methods. However, to do this I decided engage with the

stages of the research outline by Newby (2010) but also ensuring that I focused on

improvements in practice in each phase. The details of the phase 1 are described in

the next chapter.

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9 Phase 1

9.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the first phase’s plan, actions, observations and review will be outlined.

The extent to which the main research question: ‘Can the experience of Skype coaching

be similar to that of F2F coaching?’ has been answered, will be discussed in the ‘review

and reflection’ section. The final component of this chapter is identification of issues for

phase 2.

9.2 Planning

In a previous MA module, I discovered a form that could be used to measure the

reactions to coaching proposed by Coates (2012) (see appendix A, Figure 7). Though

the author does not propose any evidence that the frameworks well, or any of the

origins of its conception, it matches closely the core statements of another author

Rogers (2009) in her coaching evaluation framework. Sharing experience is the only

reflective measure that differentiates the Coates’ (2012) framework and the Roger’s

(2009) framework. This difference is important because I believe a coach can use the

sharing of their ideas (not advice) to offer different perspectives to situations, which may

help challenge damaging views.

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Despite the lack of published empirical evidence of its standardisation, I had used the

Coates (2012) framework in all of my coaching sessions since I discovered it and I even

trialled it with several coachees prior to this research study. I found it very helpful to

reflect on the different aspects of the coaching session and it was useful to get

participant feedback too, so this method was proposed for the reactions to coaching

analysis. Using a premade questionnaire meant that I have a measure that I was

confident gave reliable data that was specific to the research questions for this study.

The other benefits of using questionnaires are that they are low in cost and time, when

compared to interviews. It is easy to obtain a lot of information from many people very

quickly without the bias that can be introduced in interviews because of the interviewer-

interviewee power dynamic (Gillham, 2008, Denscombe, 2010). In addition to this,

respondents can complete the questionnaire at their own leisure but this can lead to a

lower level of respondents (unless a captive audience is used, then a significantly

higher response rate will be achieved). Even though I considered using questionnaires

as a useful way to research, I needed to address the potential criticisms of

questionnaires.

The major criticisms of using surveys is that that the quantitative data generated from

them may only lead to the discovery of trends or patterns and limited reasons for the

patterns, so an incomplete answer to the research questions can be generated. A

follow up study would need to be carried out to complete the narrative of the data.

Another issue is that, questionnaires can be very poorly designed and be unclear to the

reader what is actually being asked, they may also be unintentionally ambiguous

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(Gillham, 2008; Denscombe, 2010). To overcome these issues, I synthesised several

related solutions.

As mentioned above, questionnaires have their place as one method; they are of most

value when used in tandem with other methods (Gillham, 2008; Salmons, 2010). Using

questionnaires with thematic analysis in videos of coaching sessions answers the

potential criticisms of questionnaires: that they lack the richness of detail to explain

trends or anomalies.

Gillham (2008) argues that open questions can lead to a richer data set but their

number needs to be limited to justify the time costs in analysing the data. As the aim

was to have a direct point of comparison, between the start point of the research and

the end-point, and the fact that there would be a rich data set derived from the video

analysis, I made the decision to use closed questions for the long-term impact of

coaching assessment questionnaires. Additionally, I put personal detail type questions,

such as gender, at the end of the questionnaire to reduce apathy, improving the

questionnaire development (Gillham, 2008).

The Coates (2012) questionnaire was designed to help coaches to reflect on their

coaching and to facilitate improvement. The aim was to make the Skype and F2F

provisions similar using the Jones model so again the questionnaire was appropriate for

both situations. Thus, I decided to use it for the post session evaluations to provide

evidence for each of the sub research questions and therefore answer the main

research question.

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I created a draft questionnaire for the study using the above framework called the pre

and post study questionnaire, to assess the long-term impact of the coaching program.

I used the statements in the Coates (2012) framework as a basis for answering the sub-

research questions and assess whether there was a long-term opinion change of

coaching F2F and using Skype. As this coaching project was focused on leadership

coaching (coaching where the focus is leadership), I included questions relating to

leadership and coaching. My intention to include these questions was to reduce the

bias towards the research main question (Denscombe, 2010). To facilitate the first

action research cycle (phase 1) I intended to use the questionnaires with the phase 1’s

research groups to remove misunderstandings and to improve the accuracy.

Another key piece of evidence that I considered for the observation phase, involved

drawing evidence from was the coaching notes. I always take notes in coaching

sessions, to record goals, and other key data, and to support the learning and progress

of the coachee but I wanted to ensure that this was not detrimental to the coaching

process. When deciding the time to write up the coaching notes, I considered several

possible outcomes. Writing them up afterwards can lead to incomplete notes, or

missing information that has been set aside for a later session but the coachee gets the

coach’s full attention (Rogers, 2009). Writing notes within the session means that: the

coach may be viewed as taking the coachee seriously, the notes do not have to be

written up later, and it is a reliable way of remembering what the client has said

(Rogers, 2009). However, taking notes in session can break eye contact and the

coachee may wonder what is being written (Rogers, 2009). This is consistent with the

varied advice being given on the coaching courses that I have attended but there is no

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evidence to suggest, which method is better. I decided to take notes within the session

and tell coachees that they would receive a copy of the notes so that they could see no

judgments were being written, because I have done this in all of my coaching sessions

to date. In addition, I did not consider the break in eye contact due to note taking to be

problematic because equal time was spent note taking for the two groups. The notes

were a good piece of evidence for the completion of goals analysis, generation of ideas,

evaluation of ideas and commitment. I chose to use video transcript analysis as a

solution regarding key research sub-questions.

Videos can add richness to data that questionnaires cannot, as they can provide

multiple modes of data such as sound and picture content. Videoing the sessions also

meant that an external observer was not necessary to facilitate observation and to take

notes on the sessions. Hopkins (2008) suggests the following reasons for using video

recordings of interviews with participants and it is these reasons that made them

applicable for this research project:

Videos of interviews can capture as much information as is visible/ audible;

Videos of interviews give a high feedback rate compared to questionnaires

(based on previous experience);

It is easier to clarify misunderstood questions, which increases validity of

results.

In choosing to use videos to record the coaching sessions, I needed to overcome some

of the issues that have been cited with this method to increase the validity of the data

collected (Denscombe, 2010). One issue is that video can cause people to feel

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uncomfortable and so may want to ‘opt out’ of the research. I dealt with this issue by

ensuring that people signed a consent form, which stated that they would be videoed

(see ethics section). Additionally, though video does offer the rich source of

information, transcribing the content may be difficult if unknown slang terms are used or

audio breaks down (Denscombe, 2010). To overcome this obstacle I ensured that I

clarified any unknown terms when they occurred in the sessions. Another issue that

has been associated with videos of interviews is that they are time consuming to

analyse (Denscombe, 2010).

Creating video transcripts from their analysis is a common practice; however, Poland

(1995 and; MacLean et al. (2004) and found that there were significant potential for

errors in verbatim transcription where the meaning can change because the wrong word

in added to the transcript, so I considered alternative methods of analysing video

content. Similarly, Fasick (2001) asserts that although audiotapes provide an accurate

record of the conversation, the difficulties inherent in verbatim transcription and coding

reduce the value of such data collection.

In addition to errors, video transcripts usually contain a significant amount of dross,

which is material that does not relate directly to the topic in hand or is repetitious, or

peripheral. ‘Dross’ adds to the time taken to transcribe and analyse but also adds other

issues too. Bucholtz (2000) considers this ‘dross’ removal as part of a continuum of

methods of data transcription. At the extremes are naturalised and denaturalised

transcripts. Bucholtz (2000, p.1461) highlighted that the more a transcript retains the

features of spoken language (denaturalised text); ‘the less transparent it becomes for

readers unaccustomed to encountering oral features in written texts’. This relates to my

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experience of coding video transcripts as part of previous masters modules, so

transcripts are more transparent unless there is some form of pre-coding of the text.

More than this, when Lapadat (2000) analysed the literature, she found that research

paradigms related to differing approaches to transcription to epistemological

assumptions. According to her, positivist views are reflected in approaches to

transcription, which assume that transcription is the verbatim reproduction of the audio

content. Another assumption of a positivistic approach is that that ‘talk’ can be

objectively presented (Green et al., 1997). On the other hand, interpretivist

perspectives view transcripts as ‘theoretical constructions’ (Lapadat, 2000) and

transcription to be a representational and interpretive process (Green et al., 1997;

Mischler, 1991); in this way researchers choose what to transcribe and how to do it.

Lapadat (2000), proposes that approaches in between are the “muddle in the middle”,

which encompasses a range of approaches where transcription is either ignored entirely

to the rigorous, standardized practices of conversation analysis (CA)

Given that I chose an action research project with mixed methods paradigm for this

research project, a ‘muddle in the middle’ approach was chosen to reduce the time

taken to analyse the videos without losing important data related to the research

questions, this is explained more in the observation section (Lapadat, 2000, p.207).

Another issue with using videos for data collection is that some may be resistant to the

videoing component of the interview process. I felt that this issue was not applicable to

this project due to the key difference between the coaching and interviews, that the

power balance is more in favour of the participant in coaching than in interviews;

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consequently, resistance to the process was not considered an issue, especially once I

had generated rapport.

Even though there were challenges that I faced in using video analysis, I considered the

gains to outweigh the challenges in answering the research questions. Therefore, video

was an important tool for this research. To record the coaching sessions, for the two

research groups, two separate suites of recording software were used. Evaer (a Skype

recorder) was used for the SCG and webcam max (a webcam recorder) for the F2FCG.

Having outlined the plan for the use of the methodology for the next stage of this

chapter discusses the action step of phase 1.

9.3 Action

I set up a phase 1’s research group using friends and family to test the draft ‘Jones

Skype coaching framework’. The phase 1 group was split into two smaller research

groups F2F group (n=1) and a SCG (n=2) and all of the draft questionnaires and

feedback forms, were trailed with these groups. I used a ‘cheat sheet’, with an outline

of the draft ‘Jones Skype coaching framework’ (shown in Figure 1), to ensure familiarity

with the steps for phase 1, in line with best practice with research (Salmons, 2010). The

GROW model for coaching was chosen, as the literature review revealed that the

GROW model is one of the most popular models for coaching (Sherpa, 2012). In

addition to this, Lindon (2011) shows that many schools use the GROW model so

coachees were more likely to have experienced it before, thus familiarity would help

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build rapport in both groups. The coaching sessions were recorded to check the quality

of the communications, and locate any extra factors that might affect the quality of the

conversation, which is in line with best practice in online interviews (Mason, 2002;

Clutterbuck and Hussain, 2010) and allowed the reflection and analysis along with

action and planning for phase 2.

9.4 Observation

I observed that the F2F sessions were uninterrupted and had high ratings in terms of

the feedback from the coaching sessions. The questions on the post session evaluation

(feedback) forms were easily understood and the ratings were high either moderately

effective (3 ) or extremely effective (4) for the F2F group. The ratings were lower in the

SCG and were rated mostly as moderately effective (3) with some partially effective (2)

ratings. However, the pre/post research questionnaire was difficult for some of the

phase 1 group to understand, so I removed two questions and changed the grammar in

three questions to ensure that clarity was achieved (the final questionnaire can be seen

in (appendix D, Figure 8). The SCG illuminated a number of issues namely: The light

levels were too high in the sessions until we worked out that the main light source

should be behind the camera. Additionally, the picture quality was poor in some

sessions until I realised that other downloads were being used (such as anti-virus,

updates etc.).

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9.5 Review and Reflect

I felt that downloads should be suspended prior to the session start and that, lighting

should be changed to illuminate the participants from the front not behind. Though

broadband speed was considered in the conceptual framework, specific things that

impede downloads were not. The variation of light levels were quite disruptive and the

positioning of the coach and coachee were changed so that the main light source was in

front of the coaching participants, thus light levels was another factor that the

conceptual framework did not identify. Due to the potential bias of the convenience of

the sample, it was unlikely that I had sufficient evidence to answer the main research

question (or the sub questions) but I have learned more about the process of Skype

coaching from phase 1.

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10 Phase 2

10.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the issues identified in phase 1 will be addressed and a second

expanded AR cycle will be described. At the end of the reflection and review, section

an analysis of the extent that the main research question: ‘Can the experience of Skype

coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?’ has been answered. The final component

of this chapter is the recommendations for further work.

10.2 Issues and Planning

This section outlines the proposed actions and the proposed analysis designed in light

of the issues found in the phase 1. The issues were that the light levels were

inappropriate and that downloads interfered with the Skype calls.

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10.2.1 Proposed Actions

I altered the ‘Jones Skype coaching framework’ to reduce the issues with downloads

and light levels shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 the ‘Jones Skype coaching framework’ used in phase 2

In phase 1, I had compared the F2FCG and the SCG to allow a comparison between

the two groups and answer the research question. However, the participants were

biased due to their relationship with me so I changed the sampling to avoid a

convenience sample and improve the validity of the assessment of the coaching.

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A symposium on robotics was being held periodically at my school. I asked the

coordinator if I could present my research proposal to the staff there. I also telephoned

local schools to see if any member of staff wanted to receive some free coaching, as

part of a research project. In addition to this, I invited the staff in my school, during a

whole school meeting, to participate in the project where they would be developed in

their teaching or leadership capacity using coaching. I made the effort to engage with

other schools, as I did not want the research information to come from a convenience or

an opportunistic sample (Healey, 2009). This meant that I could reduce bias in the

results because there were less participant’s with a prior relationship with me.

Participants from three schools requested to be part of the study. Schools A and B

were secondary schools (with about 1200 pupils) and school C was a primary school

(with about 200 pupils). In the initial conversations it was noted that School A and C

had developed coaching programs in place but school B had had no experience of

coaching, before the project.

Due to the nature of the coaching, coaching is not needed by everyone, all of the time.

My sample size was limited to a small sample; as a result, I decided to use non-

probability sampling rather than convenience sampling, which was intended to reduce

bias (Denscombe, 2010). I selected members of staff earlier in their teaching careers

(less than 10 years), using purposive sampling, as I assumed that they might be in need

of more support than established members of staff in a school (Denscombe, 2010).

Thirteen potential participants, who were interested in coaching or who were already

being coached from schools A-C, were invited to participate in the study. I showed

potential participants a PowerPoint presentation introducing the ‘Jones Skype coaching

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framework’ process (see phase 1, Figure 4) and I told them that only one person would

be coached at a time. Next, I gave the participants an outline of the program (see

appendix E, Figure 9 and Figure 10) along with some expectations for the sessions, for

the coachees to read. They were told that the coaching being offered was personal

coaching (focussing on issues from leadership to teaching) and the participants were

offered a minimum of two coaching sessions over a one-month period.

I outlined the process of informed consent, got participants to sign consent forms (see

appendix E, Figure 9 and Figure 10), and then securely stored to signed forms. When

informed consent was obtained, I set up a schedule for the coaching that I agreed with

the coachees via email. I placed their coaching times onto my, password secured,

outlook calendar. Other coachees who did not want to be part of the study were still

given an opportunity to receive coaching without having to submit data, or be filmed, as

per the ethics section.

The participants who agreed the terms of the study, which included being filmed, were

accepted onto this project and were then assigned a number for the duration of the

study, as outlined in the ethics section. After this, the participants were randomly

divided into two groups: the Skype coaching group (SCG) n=4 and the F2F coaching

group (F2FCG) n=4. Denscombe (2010) advises that researchers are vulnerable to

criticism with small sample sizes; I accepted that because I was using AR that I would

have an improved technique for coaching by the end of phase 2, which could be used in

an expanded study in phase 3 with more generalisability.

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Based on the information in the BERA ethics handbook, the following guidelines were

set up and adhered to for the duration of phase 2. To guarantee the participants were

not pressured into the investigation and are aware of ethical issues all participants had

to read the two parts to the consent form (see appendix E, Figure 9 and Figure 10) and

sign it.

Salmons (2010, p.56) asserts that:

‘…The question then is not whether the researcher has power—but how this

power is used’.

The balance of power asserted by Salmons (2010) is in favour of the researcher for

initiating the process and inviting the participants into the process. However, I have

tailored many aspects of this research methodology to reduce the bias that can arise

from such a power imbalance, so that my power as the researcher are not abused or

used to the detriment of the participants. Examples included the fact that participants

were told that they could leave the research project at any time, that they did not have

to be filmed to receive the coaching and they were told that their data would be

destroyed upon their exit of the study. As mentioned in the participant selection section,

I tried to select as many participants from other schools to reduce bias; I also selected

participants from outside of my line management structure, from my school, for a similar

reason.

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To obtain candid and accurate data from each participant, I told each person that when

they gave feedback on the coaching it would not help if they were not accurate about

the quality of the coaching, whether it is high or low. The coaching guidelines for ethical

use of technology in coaching asserts that coaches should not attempt to maintain

simultaneous counselling and coaching relationships with client even when properly

qualified as a coach and licensed in another profession such as counselling (Labardee

et al., 2010). To ensure that this was clear, I set explicit expectations at the start of the

recruitment process to clarify the service being offered. No participants demonstrated

obvious, signs of mental illness at any part of the project so I did not need to refer them

to an appropriate mental health organization.

I wrote coaching notes in language that mirrored the coachee to avoid causing offence

and appropriate language was recorded. Coaching techniques were carefully planned

(see the method below) to enable as effective an outcome as possible for the coachee

(Thomas and Smith, 2004; Barkley, 2005; Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2005;

Landsberg, 2003, Coates, 2010). When giving out the pre and post study

questionnaires to the coachees, I made them aware that they did not have to complete

the form if they do not wish to be part of the study.

To maintain anonymity for the participants, in coaching sessions, feedback forms and

questionnaires, their names were coded on their documentation and the schools were

also given a letter to increase anonymity e.g. school A, B and C etc.

Finally, to secure sensitive files both research machines I secured them using antivirus

software and firewalls. I ensured that password protection was also given to sensitive

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files containing coaching data and feedback, meaning coachees could feel secure in

being candid with their feedback and coaching sessions (Labardee et al., 2010).

10.2.2 Proposed Observations

To observe if the phase 2 planning had made any difference to the actions in phase 2, I

proposed to observe at three different levels, just like in phase 1. These were then

compared to a F2F provision that did not experience any change, to see if the ‘Jones

Skype coaching framework’ that was modified from phase 1 had made a difference and

provided extra evidence for the changes observed in the action phase.

I used three components of the triangulation method for the analysis that are shown in

Figure 5 (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). The QUAL data from the video analysis and

notes were then used to identify statements or phrases that validated that a particular

component of coaching was present in both groups. Then the QUAN data from the

feedback forms was used to see if there was a difference between the qualities of

experience of coaching. Finally and the pre and post study questionnaire was used to

identify if there was any similarity between the groups in terms of long-term opinions of

coaching and therefore identify issues for phase 3.

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Figure 5 the triangulation method used for the analysis

10.2.2.1 a) Reactions to Coaching: the Notes and Video Analysis

The first component of the triangulation analysis was the video transcription and notes.

This data was an indicator as to the experience of the key components of coaching;

these were corroborated with the video analysis.

As this research project draws from interpretivist (video interview and notes) and

positivist research paradigms (quantitative questionnaires), an effective transcription

method would relate to both to answer the research questions in a pragmatic manner

(Lapadat, 2000).

Using notes taken within the coaching session or immediately afterwards has been

reported as being superior to the exclusive use of audio recordings that are

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subsequently verbatim transcribed (Fasick, 2001; Wengraf, 2001). This is a simplified

version of Halcomb and Davidson’s (2005) suggested a methodology for transcription

that uses field notes:

Figure 6 the steps for mixed methods data management

This methodology is appropriate for use with a mixed methods approach and I felt that

this would lead to a beneficial transcription of the data. The only issue that I felt was

important was the second content analysis, by another researcher. They suggested

that this cross verified the data; however, as the data was going to be cross verified in

the triangulation stage (See triangulation below), I felt that this was an acceptable

change to the methodology.

I decided to record the sessions and take notes then reflect on the notes, post session

before sending them to the participants. Then I added quotes from the video transcripts

before carrying out a thematic review. According to Denscombe (2010) and Braun and

Clarke (2006), a thematic review needs an effective methodology to produce themes

that would answer the sub-research questions. There are six steps to generating

themes for thematic analysis, namely: (1) data familiarization, (2) generation of initial

codes, (3) searching for themes, (4) reviewing themes, (5) defining and naming themes,

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and (6) report production I analysed the efficacy of coaching by first transcribing the

audio transcript of the video. The research questions were used to generate the

categories. These initial codes that were generated by looking at the transcription:

coachee reported goal setting (G), evaluation of ideas (E), commitment to goals (Cg),

generation of ideas (I), rapport (R) Critical questioning (Cr) Selection of ideas (Se)

miscommunication (M), starting the conversation (s) close of the conversation (C). As

suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006), I then refined the initial codes after reviewing all

of the transcripts from the participants from both groups. The final themes were related

to the research questions and they are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 the themes for the thematic analysis

The thematic analysis was a key procedure for locating similarities, or differences, in

components of the coaching process. I decided that if stages of the coaching were

missing it would be apparent because of a lack of a relevant theme. Conversely, I

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concluded that if similar themes were present then the experience of coaching was

similar in terms of the components of coaching.

As part of the triangulation process, I used a post session feedback (or evaluation) form

to judge whether the experience of coaching was positive or negative; the proposed

analysis is shown below.

10.2.2.2 a) Coaching Experience: the Post Session Evaluation Form

The second part of the triangulation analysis was the post-session evaluation form. For

the evaluation of phase 1, I found that I needed to provide a clear explanation of how to

fill in the form when the coachee first used it. The proposed analysis involved looking at

questions that related to the research sub-questions. Each question on the

questionnaire contained data with regard to rapport, communication, evaluation,

selection of an action plan and goal completion, as per the sub-research questions

shown in Table 4.

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Table 4 the questions relating to the post feedback questionnaire

I collated the results from both research groups and then averaged the scores from Q1-

13. This averaged scoring allowed me to compare them with regard to the sub-

research questions, in terms of the quality of the experience of coaching received. The

feedback form allowed me to corroborate the results of the thematic analysis from an

alternative perspective and determine the experience of coaching in groups. Without

this analysis backing up the thematic review, the data and conclusions drawn from it

would be weaker (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998).

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The final aspect of the analysis was to discuss how to analyse how the experience of

the coaching affected the long-term views of the coachees.

10.2.2.3 c) Pre/Post-study Questionnaire: Impact at a School Level

This is the third part of the triangulation is the analysis of the pre, and post, study

questionnaires. The questionnaire was designed to contain many questions that were

important for comparing the long-term changes in attitude to F2F coaching and Skype

coaching. The questions that I used for the analysis can be seen below:

Table 5 the questions from the pre and post research questionnaire.

I collated intended to collate the questionnaire’s answers from each research group and

used Excel to analyse the averages for these key questions, to see if the experience

was different in both groups. The data from this level of evaluation was used to indicate

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a long-term change in attitude towards the type of coaching provision offered. I then

compared the results from the two groups and cross-verified them with the other two

sources of data.

Even though the final sample size of the two groups was too small to make strong

statistical assertions, I intended to use the triangulation of the data sets to allow

corroboration of data, which in turn would make stronger evidence to answer the main

research question and would allow a demonstration of balanced action research, using

a mixed methods approach.

10.3 Action

For phase 2, the I used two laptops as research machines as they had high quality (not

high definition) webcams build into the devices; in the phase 1 it was discovered that

the IPAD 3 would not work with Skype school A’s network, so it was changed. I

secured both of the research machines with antivirus software, firewalls and password

protection for sensitive files. Following this, both research groups were given Skype

login details and Skype account details. Having trialled the equipment, the main issues

were slow/dropped connections and light levels. As Skype is broadband width

demanding, all downloads were switched off prior to the sessions starting (as per the

Jones Skype coaching framework seen in phase 1, Figure 4). When I set-up the

laptops, at the start of the Skype sessions and I moved them, so that the light was

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shining on the face of the participant not the camera, this allowed more effective eye

contact and facial feature recognition.

The Jones Skype coaching framework was used prior to a coaching session using the

GROW model for the SCG and the GROW model was used on its own for the F2F

group. The Both groups experienced coaching with the GROW model to reduce

variation of results that might occur using different models.

For the SCG, there was a contingency option of using a mobile phone to cancel or

reschedule the session as required, which was used if re-connection was not possible,

though no sessions actually needed this (Labardee et al., 2010). I told the coachees

that they could stop the session at any time if the voice connection quality dipped. For

both groups, when the coachee had made a commitment to the task, I closed the

session agreeing with the coachee a future time for a follow up coaching session. Then

I asked the coachee to fill out the post-session evaluation form. Following this, I added

the agreed times to the shared coaching calendar to schedule all sessions, ensuring

that the only data visible to other participants were the participant codes. The last thing

that the coachees were told was to email the coach if they had any questions, updates

or should they think of something important. I secured the electronic data of the

individuals in a password-protected folder on the research machine 1. For participants

that used paper, I scanned, coded and then secured the feedback forms in a locked

filing cabinet.

I gave the coachees access to at least two coaching sessions over the duration of the

study, though I continued with most after the study had concluded. Once all coaching

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sessions were completed, I gave all project participants a post research questionnaire

and the next phase of the project was initiated, which involved looking at the observing

the data and reviewing it. The next section details how I carried this out.

10.4 Observations

This section details the observations seen in phase 2 of the project and this is broken

down into and described in the following order: transcripts of video recordings of the

coaching sessions, coachee post coaching feedback forms pre and post project

questionnaires. The analyses of these data will then be related to the sub-research

questions:

1. Is rapport generated in both VoIP and F2F sessions?

2. Will goals be set in both groups?

3. Will the both groups generate ideas/solutions?

4. Will ideas be evaluated in the F2F group and the SCG?

5. Will the participants be able to select ideas based on their evaluation in both

groups?

6. Will both groups commit to ideas

7. Do the critical questions asked of both groups help them to reflect?

These sub-questions will help answer the main research question: can the experience

of Skype coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?

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10.4.1 Interview Video and Notes Analysis

The theme rapport (R) was present in all sessions. The statements below show some

of the text used to generate that theme in both groups this theme was chosen not only

because of the jokes made but also because of the honesty revealed within the

sessions (see appendix C, Table 10 for examples)

In both groups, all participants’ transcripts contained a ‘generated goal’ (G) theme

except for participant 4 (p4) in the F2F group. This was because the issue that p4

wanted to talk about was personal issues and we felt that coaching was not appropriate

and we decided not to continue the coaching relationship. Some examples of the

theme goal setting can be seen in appendix C, Table 11.

Both groups the theme ‘generated ideas’ (I) to solve their respective issues and

evaluation of those ideas (Ei), which lead to a selection of ideas (Se) was present in all

participant except participant 4 as mentioned above he did not fully engage with the

coaching process. Appendix C, Table 12 and Table 13 shows two participant’s ideas

about how they generated, selected and evaluated their focus for coaching through

prioritisation. In these respects, both groups were experiencing coaching. The final and

arguably most important question to answer was ‘what was the commitment to goals?’

(Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2005).

As with the other sub questions there was a similarity in that the theme commitment to

goals (Cg) and critical questioning (Cq) was present therefore there was evidence that

the sub-question relating to commitment to goals. A sample of text that exemplifies the

generation of this theme can be seen in appendix C, Table 14

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From the analysis of the video sessions, I could see that all participants (except for p4)

had a similar experience in terms of the components of coaching. Though the

participant’s perception of that experience of coaching was imperative to determining

whether the experience of coaching was similar the long lasting impression of coaching

was important to determine whether long term views had changed and this is discussed

in the next section.

10.4.2 Post Session Feedback Forms

The post-session feedback forms were analysed using the average function in Excel

and the results are shown below in Table 6 and Table 7 for the F2FCG and the SCG

respectively.

Table 6 the F2FCG’s post session feedback form data

All aspects of the coaching were rated as ‘extremely effective’ (4) on average except

one. The only area rated lower was the ‘Taking account of how much you need or are

able to change’ statement, which was rated lower as ‘moderately effective’ (3) though

respondents due to the ratings of the F2FCG’s results.

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Table 7 the SCG post session feedback form data

Similarly, to the F2F group all aspects of the coaching were rated as ‘extremely

effective’ (4) on average. The only area rated lower was the ‘Sharing the coaches own

experiences and feelings’ statement which was rated lower as ‘moderately effective’ (3)

on average. Due to the small sample size, it is inappropriate to comment as to whether

the samples are truly statistically different in this respect but the area of sharing

experiences was still rated positively, so the experience of coaching was not adversely

affected.

There were two differences in the feedback form statements but due to the small scale

of the research meant that a statement about statistical significance was not possible so

differences in the two groups could have been due to chance. The data shows that the

coaching was rated positively in both groups, so both groups did not just experience

coaching but that they had a positive experience of it too. All of the sub-research

questions had evidence to show that a positive experience of coaching took place in

both groups. The final part of the triangulation was to analyse the pre/post research

questionnaires in either group to see if any participants changed their long-term

attitudes towards coaching.

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10.4.3 Pre and Post Research Questionnaire

The analysis of the long-term changes involved analysing the pre and post research

data. Some of the participants did not submit a questionnaire in time to be analysed,

hence there are some results omitted.

This level of the multi-layered approach was used as a measure of the quality of the

coaching experience. Not all of the questions asked related to the research questions

but they were used as an indicator of long-term changes in the impressions of the

coaching.

Analysing the questionnaire data, using the average function on Excel, the scores were

converted into numbers from nought to four and averages were taken for both groups

before and after the research, the scores are shown in Table 8.

Table 8 the Pre and post questionnaire answers for the research sub-questions

The Skype group maintained the ratings with regard to the experience of F2F coaching

questions Q8 and Q25. This suggests that the coaching that they received via Skype

did not affect their view of F2F when analysing these questions. The rating of Q19

changed from ‘all of the time’ (4) in the pre research data to ‘most of the time’ (3) in the

post research data, this could be due to P5 not submitting a pre-research questionnaire

86

and therefore his data did not lower the average at the start. The key area that the

Skype group did change was their opinion of goals, the rating went from ‘some of the

time’ (2) to ‘most of the time’ (3). This correlates with goal completion competition of

goals within the Skype coaching sessions and reflects a shift in the perception of Skype

in the group.

One Skype participant, p6 did lower his impression of Skype long term in three

respects: Q15, 16 and 21. This could be due to his impression of the lack of a point of

using Skype when we were in adjacent rooms. His ratings of sessions were positive in

the post session recordings and he had said informally that he could not wait to go and

do the things that we had discussed in the session. He may have had a particularly

positive experience of F2F coaching or may have felt uncomfortable in one of the

sessions and this marred his experience.

Q8, Q19 and Q25 were the key indicators for the long-term impact of the F2F coaching.

The F2F group rating rose with regard to Q8 though the group reduced the rating of

coaching on average with regard to Q25. Though Q25 was still rating positively this

rating change could be due to the loss of participants from the start of the research to

the end of the research. P12 lowered her rating of Q25 to ‘most of the time’ rather than

‘all of the time’ for rapport generation. p12 had delivered coaching but had not had a

set of coaching sessions before the research so may have been more reflective about

how rapport is generated within a session her rating before the research suggested that

F2F coaching required effective rapport all of the time.

87

P1 was the only participant to have not received coaching before the project started and

before I had introduced it to her, she had not heard of it. She rated the Skype coaching

higher than the F2F coaching in the post research questionnaire and higher than the

Skype coaching at the start of the project. This shows that the experience that she

received was positive enough to change her long-term attitude towards Skype coaching.

It would be interesting to see if other groups of un-coached participants made a similar

change on long-term opinions in a subsequent study, as this was not seen in the entire

SCG.

The F2FCG had higher ratings for questions: Q8 and Q19 than the SCG, which related

to the experience of F2F coaching and could have resulted from the positive experience

of coaching experienced F2F in the research project. However, Q25 (relating to rapport

generation of F2F sessions) had a higher in the SCG. The method of note taking within

the session may have affected this viewpoint long term for the two participants that

completed the post research questionnaire as it involved breaking eye contact though

the F2FCG still feel that effective rapport was generated ‘most of the time’, which is still

positive. By contrast, the SCG showed higher ratings on Q10 and Q21 both of which

relate to Skype coaching which suggests that the coaching received by the SCG

improved their rating of it compared to the F2FCG, over the course of the study. Q26

had the same rating in both groups at the end of the coaching; however, only the F2F

group rated this lower at the start. This is possibly because people in the F2F group

talked to people in the SCG and this may have account for the F2F group’s

improvement in the rating of Skype coaching even though they have not experienced it.

88

With the post research data, I compared the pairs of sub-questions, relevant to each

research group, to each of the two groups (F2F questions with the F2FCG and the SCG

etc.) and could not find a conclusive difference between the two groups. This was

because the groups did not rate all of the research sub-questions differently, so the

experience in the two groups could be similar.

Given the small sample size, it is inappropriate to say whether these groups are

significantly different but in general, both of the groups improved some of their ratings

with regard to their mode of coaching. However, the changes are not consistent with all

of the research sub-questions, so again a conclusive difference cannot be stated at this

level. The final section of this chapter explores the conclusions that can be drawn and

the limits of this research.

10.5 Review and Reflection

Initially, I set out to find out if there was a method of coaching at a distance. In the

literature review, I found a number of suggestions from the literature about

communication via VoIP communications (like Skype) but there was no evidence base

for the combination of suggestions found. The research project that ensued attempted

to answer the main research question:

‘Can the experience of Skype coaching be similar to that of F2F coaching?’

In the observations section of phase 2, I found that there was no apparent difference

experience of coaching in both research groups, so it appears that for the research

89

participants that I worked with the concise answer is, yes. However, Newby (2010)

suggests that it is the extent that the research question/ issue has met that is important

in AR, so I will discuss the strengths of this research, which lead to this conclusion, and

additionally, I will discuss the limits of the research and suggest the implications and

directions for further action research phases.

10.5.1 Conclusions

The assessment of coaching through video analysis showed that both groups had a

direct experience of coaching. Simply having an experience of the key components of

coaching does not suggest how the coachees perceived this experience. The next

layer of research showed that the post session feedback was almost universally at the

‘extremely effective’ level for both groups showing that both group’s experience of

coaching was positive. Looking at these two levels, I surmise that both groups had

experienced coaching and it was a positive experience for the majority of the

participants that remained in the project until the end, therefore this met my original

aims, which was to find a method of coaching that could be used at the convenience of

both participants.

Phase 1 located several other technical issues namely: inappropriate light levels and

having downloads limiting the broadband capacity, both were resolved for phase 2. In

phase 2, two of the participants commented on the sound levels being too high in their

sessions, thus sound and light levels may be other factors that the ‘Jones Skype

framework’ needs to take into account to give conditions that are similar to F2F

90

sessions. Another technical issue may have arisen in phase 2, which was highlighted

by the average assessment of rapport in both groups being lower than was rated at the

start of the research. Both of the groups given a mean average assessment of the

rapport of their research group at the ‘most of the time’ level (3) at the end of the project

so there is a possible negative impact of note taking within the session. The phase 1

Jones Skype coaching framework considered the effects of looking at notes but not

taking notes within the session. Future studies might consider reducing the time taken

to write notes to reduce this potential effect.

I found no conclusive difference between the two groups at the experience of coaching

level. In the post session questionnaires there was some variation in the ratings but the

small sample size meant that the significance of the difference could not be determined

corroborating with the qualitative component. In terms of the long-term impact of the

two provisions there was evidence that the experience of Skype coaching can be similar

to F2F coaching again this corroborated with the other two sets of data and suggested

that the two coaching experiences were similar.

These conclusions are important for researchers reviewing models for using Skype to

communicate or coach. This might also be of interest to professional coaches who use

Skype as part of their practice or indeed companies who are enforcing ‘no fly’ policies

for all staff meaning other methods of coaching are required.

However, throughout this dissertation, there were a number of constraints that were

applied to the research, which are important to discuss before extrapolation, or further

work, can be considered and these are discussed in the next section.

91

10.5.2 Limits of this Research and Further Work

The action research process has led to a completion of the aims of the study; however,

the limited sample size, and the nature of action research, means that a larger study

may be to ensure greater generalisability (Wiśniewska, 2011). Additionally to this, I

could not determine whether any differences in the two research groups were significant

due to the small sample but again the limited differences between the groups is an

indication that a further study is warranted.

Researcher bias is always possible, where the researcher is part of the process and has

an interest in finding ‘an answer’ (Salmons, 2010). The process that I carried out has

been sequentially explained to highlight the places that I have attempted to reduce the

effects of my bias, an example of which was the sampling from three schools to avoid a

convenience sample. Collecting data from the place that I worked could have added

potential bias to the data especially as the groups may have communicated to each

other and have positively, or negatively, affected their long-term opinions of the

coaching. As this was an action research project, I was effectively performance

managing the participants in the study and they could have biased the rating that they

gave in their feedback. I tried to mediate bias in this project by reminding the

participants that only honest ratings were helpful, regardless as to whether they were

positive or negative.

The qualitative limit to the research related to the addition of extra information (such as

quotes) to the notes from video analysis rather than transcribing verbatim. In doing this,

92

I accepted that, I would lose the ‘close’ relationship with the data and the opportunity to

carry out a very detailed analysis (Halcomb and Davidson, 2006). A consequence of

this is that, I may have missed more technical issues in the observation phase;

however, due to the continuous improve nature of action research any minor issues

missed likely be found in the subsequent research phases.

The quantitative limit to the research related to an incomplete sample of surveys for the

pre/post feedback questionnaire. In any questionnaire based data collection exercise,

collection rate is not always 100% meaning that a representative sample may not be

achieved (Denscombe, 2010). In addition to this, in doing a technical, action research

project, I accepted that my samples may be limited and that this project would be a

small-scale precursor to a larger phase 3 project, with a greater level of

representativeness.

Due to the small number of participants in this study, its generalizability may be limited,

so a phase 3 study may need to be expanded to a statistically significant sample size to

confirm the reliability of the methods.

93

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12 Appendix A: The Post Session Evaluation Forms

Figure 7 the coachee post session evaluation form.

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13 Appendix B: The Different Models of Coaching

Table 9 the different models of coaching

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14 Appendix C: The Results from the Video Analysis

Table 10 the rapport theme

Table 11 the goal setting theme

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Table 12 one F2F group participant’s generation, selection and evaluation of ideas generated

Table 13 one Skype group participant’s generation, selection and evaluation of ideas generated

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Table 14 the goal commitment theme

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15 Appendix D: The Pre/post Research Questionnaire

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Figure 8 the pre/post research questionnaire.

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16 Appendix E: The Research Consent Forms

Figure 9 the consent form part 1.

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CONSENT FORM Part 2

Please initial box

I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet for the above study and have had the opportunity to ask questions.

I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time, without giving reason.

I agree to take part in the above study.

Please tick box

Yes No

I agree to the interview / coaching session being audio recorded

I agree to the interview / coaching session being video recorded

I agree to the use of anonymised quotes in publications

Name of Participant Date Signature Name of Researcher Date Signature

Note for Principal Investigator / Supervisory team: Include the following statements, if appropriate, or delete from the consent form:

I agree that my data gathered in this study may be stored (after it has been anonymised) in a specialist data centre and may be used for future research.

Figure 10 the consent form part 2.