Being a Teacher-Coach in Ontario High Schools: Challenges and Recommendations

Abstract

In Ontario, coaching positions in high schools must be assumed by teachers who voluntarily take on the role of teacher-coach. There are tens of thousands of teacher-coaches in the province but little is known concerning their needs and preferred forms of support. The current study’s purpose consisted of examining the perspectives of Ontario high school teacher-coaches on the challenges they face and the initiatives they recommend to alleviate those challenges. Twenty-two participants (19 men, 3 women, Mage = 37.5 years, age range: 25-56 years) from across the province took part in semi-structured interviews. The teacher-coaches discussed how they faced several challenges, most notably concurrently managing their teaching and coaching responsibilities and meeting their family obligations. To alleviate the challenges, most teacher-coaches preferred being relieved of certain teaching duties and being offered more preparation time rather than being compensated financially. Suggestions are provided to help teachers maintain their involvement in coaching.