Research evidence indicates that only a limited number of professional development approaches lead to measurable improvements in teachers’ professional practice and, consequently, to statistically significant gains in student learning outcomes. One of these approaches is instructional coaching—an in-service teacher professional development practice in which coaches observe classroom instruction and provide feedback to teachers (Kraft et al, 2018). Instructional coaching has been widely implemented and extensively researched in the United States and the United Kingdom, where it is often embedded within broader systems of teacher professional development and school improvement.

European education policy and research discussions show growing recognition that sustained, practice-based forms of professional development are more effective than short-term, lecture-based training initiatives (Cordingley et al., 2015; OECD, 2019).  In line with this shift, instructional coaching and coaching-based professional development practices are present on a smaller scale in some European education systems, such as Estonia and Germany, where coaching or coaching-based approaches have been implemented through programme-based or pilot initiatives (British Council, 2022; Holstein et al., 2021). 

In Latvia, teacher professional development is undergoing a gradual shift from one-off training formats towards more practice-oriented forms of professional learning. While instructional coaching as a distinct professional development approach is not systematically implemented, various initiatives have sought to introduce coaching-related forms of professional support. These developments have drawn attention to challenges related to the preparation of professionals in such support roles and the sustainability of these practices. 

This highlights a broader European challenge of how instructional coaching approaches, largely developed in Anglo-American contexts, can be meaningfully adapted and sustained within diverse European education systems. Evidence from non–Anglo-American contexts suggests that instructional coaching approaches cannot be transferred between different countries straightforwardly, as teachers’ readiness for coaching—shaped by factors such as fear of classroom observation and limited reflective capacity—may require coaches to adopt different roles and practices in response to local professional cultures (Kho et al., 2019). Despite evidence indicating that the effectiveness of instructional coaching largely depends on the professional competence of those providing the support, research remains limited regarding both the specific knowledge and skills required of instructional coaching providers and the availability of structured, theoretically grounded preparation programmes, particularly within European education systems (Gallucci et al., 2010).

The theoretical framework for this study is grounded in constructivist and transformative learning theories, which conceptualise professional learning as a process of meaning-making through sustained engagement with authentic practice and critical reflection (Cunningham et al., 2019). These perspectives are complemented by adult learning theory and situated learning approaches, which emphasise self-directed, practice-based, and socially mediated learning as central to professional development.

The theoretical framework informs the study by providing a rationale for practice-based instructional coaching preparation and by guiding the analysis of how the programme’s learning activities are designed to support participants’ professional learning.

Based on these theoretical perspectives, an initial set of design principles informed the development of an instructional coaching preparation programme, which serves as the empirical context for the present analytic study.

The aim of the present study is to examine the implementation of this programme in order to analyse how its design and enactment support the development of instructional coaching competencies, and to refine a conceptual model for instructional coach preparation towards a more theoretically coherent and contextually transferable framework.

To operationalise this aim, the study is guided by the following research questions

1. What knowledge and skills are central to the professional role of instructional coaching providers, as identified in research literature and professional practice?

2. How does the design and implementation of a theory-informed instructional coaching preparation programme support the development of these competencies and align with the instructional coaching role?

This is a qualitative study examining the implementation of a theory-informed instructional coaching preparation programme to analyse how it supports the development of instructional coaching competencies and to refine a conceptual preparation model. Overview of the study logic: Professional learning theory → instructional coaching literature → instructional coaching preparation programme → programme implementation data → analytic frameworks → programme-based analysis → refined conceptual preparation model The research is currently in progress and employs multiple data sources to enable methodological triangulation. Programme documentation is analysed to examine how the preparation programme is enacted in practice. This documentation includes programme content, learning tasks and assignments designed for participants, as well as participants’ completed tasks and written reflections produced during the programme. These materials provide insight into how theoretically informed design intentions are translated into concrete learning activities and professional learning processes. Participants’ self-assessment data are used both as an analytic data source and as a basis for purposive sampling for the semi-structured interviews. The self-assessments provide insight into participants’ perceived professional learning and inform the selection of contrasting cases for in-depth qualitative analysis. The interviews focus on participants’ experiences of different programme elements and on how these elements are connected to perceived changes in their knowledge and skills over time. Interview data are analysed using deductive qualitative content analysis, with analytically derived coaching competencies serving as initial coding categories and inductive refinement based on participants’ accounts. In subsequent stages of the programme-based analysis, the programme’s learning activities will be examined using an analytically derived framework of effective professional learning (Sims, 2021). This analysis focuses on how the programme provides opportunities for authentic practice, reflection, feedback, and professional dialogue, which are identified in the literature as key mechanisms supporting professional learning. Data from programme documentation, participant self-assessments, and interviews are integrated and systematically related to emerging elements of the conceptual preparation model. The analysis is informed by international research on instructional coaching and effective professional development, enabling a dialogue between local empirical findings and broader European and international research traditions. Through this iterative process, the study moves beyond the evaluation of a single programme towards the development of a more generalisable preparation model for instructional coaching providers.

A structured review of instructional coaching research identified a coherent framework of competencies synthesising findings on coaching roles, practices, and outcomes (e.g., Glover et al., 2023; Howley et al., 2014; Knight, 2018; Reddy et al., 2021; Thomas et al., 2021). In this study, instructional coaching competencies are understood as an integrated set of professional knowledge and skills required to enact the instructional coaching role in practice. Instructional coaching knowledge and skills can be grouped into several interrelated domains: (1) understanding the instructional coaching role within schools and education systems; (2) conceptual knowledge of effective instruction; (3) relational competencies supporting trust and professional dialogue; (4) procedural coaching competencies, including classroom observation, data use, goal-setting, and documentation; (5) instructional expertise, such as modelling teaching strategies and guiding practice; and (6) reflective practice and professional identity development. The literature analysis highlighted key characteristics associated with effective preparation of instructional coaches, including sustained engagement in authentic coaching practice, structured reflection, peer-based learning, and iterative feedback. Preliminary self-assessment data collected during the first three programme sessions of an ongoing preparation programme indicate higher perceived growth in procedural coaching competencies (e.g., data collection, analysis, goal setting, and documentation) and instructional expertise (e.g., modelling teaching strategies and guiding practice). These initial indications are used to inform the subsequent qualitative analysis of programme implementation. Further analysis will examine the programme’s learning activities using a framework of effective professional learning (Sims, 2021) to explore how different types of learning experiences support the development of instructional coaching competencies. The study is expected to result in a refined framework of instructional coaching competencies, a conceptual model for instructional coach preparation, and empirically informed insights into how contextual factors shape the enactment of coaching preparation in European education settings.

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