Coaching Practiced

Section 3 Reflective Practice and Professional Development Introduction

David Tee & Jonathan Passmore

Reflective practice is widely accepted as a critical component in the development of most practitioners, from master chefs to master coaches (Passmore, 2014). Yet, surprisingly, reflective practice is not widely covered in the coaching literature; only a relatively few papers have engaged with the why, what and how of reflective practice, and, as such, many coach education programmes focus on the skills or competencies and count the hours of practice, while ignoring the importance of reflection as a tool for learning. Taking time to reflect provides a means for the coach to examine themselves, their presence and the quality of their coaching practice. Once learnt, the reflective process can become an integral part of the coach’s practice, enabling the coach to engage in a journey of continuous professional development based on insights, evidence and feedback from clients, supervisors and their own judgements; all to be subsequently tested and retested in the furnace of practice with the next client.

In other domains, reflection has been more highly regarded and has attracted the interest of theorists. Donald Schon (1991, p. 145) distinguishes between two kinds of reflection: ‘reflection in action’ and ‘reflection on action’. Reflection in action takes place during the ‘doing’ stage. This means the coach is required to be both fully present with their client, and fully aware ...