Welcome

Welcome to The Learning Coach, the reboot of a blog formerly known as Mr Haley Teaches. Motivated by the concept that learning is a journey, I decided to reboot when I returned to education as a place to honestly process and reflect, and hopefully establish some sort of community for all of us to help each other out in being the best that we can be - teachers or learners!

Why the Learning Coach?

After a tough, and at times distressing first year as a Primary School teacher, I was genuinely considering leaving education altogether. Between ridiculous workload, staffroom politics and a desire for a better work-life balance, I was burnt out and convinced that an education career was untenable. So I quit my job at the end of the first term of my second year and signed up to a few subsitute teacher agencies to make ends meet, figuring I'd find a job in an office which would restore some sense of peace and balance to my life, albeit I wasn't going to be working in an enthralling environment.

After some time as a sub, I took a leap of faith and started a new role in a further education college, working with teenagers who had special educational needs and experienced social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) issues. A lot of these students had had a really rough start in life, and unsurprisingly didn't like school and were pretty cautious of adults in general. When I decided to return to a professional Instagram page and revisit blogging, I realised that Teacher didn't really sum up my new found career any more. Instead I was part of a team of teaching assistants, lecturers, psychologists, parents/carers, social workers and therapists all working together to coach students through their learning and help give them a secure springboard to fulfil their potential. After playing around with new name ideas, I felt The Learning Coach not only summed up my own professional identity, but recognised and included the multi-agency support that so often scaffolds SEN and SEMH learners, whether they're in the Primary phase I was used to, or the Secondary and Further Education phases I now found myself in.

Why Reboot?

Being in lockdown means I've been working from home, supporting my students through Google Classroom, Hangouts and Zoom. Sometimes, it's given space to reflect on my professional identity and how I want to express this creatively. With a better work-life balance now in place, I have time to attend to my creative outlets and start developing a craft again. In addition, I'm someone who needs to set aside time to actively process and reflect on my practice as an educator, for the next steps and areas of development to really sink in. I'm not someone who can just pick it up and immediately implement without a second thought, but like many of my students, I need to focus when I reflect so that I can take those next steps.

I hope you find this blog useful and that it is beneficial to you, whether you're an education professional, parent/carer or young person.

Live. Learn. Grow.
The Learning Coach