In recent years, the school guidance coaching sector has been developing at a rapid pace. Various consultancies of school counsellors or coaches are flourishing in the big cities and on the net.
Faced with an unstable, even insecure job market and the multitude of training courses and schools to which students are subjected today, families feel deprived and are increasingly choosing to call on school guidance experts (coaches, counsellors, etc.).
But how to find one's way among all these professionals whose approaches, methods, tools and skills vary considerably? What criteria should be used to find the rare pearl?
School coach: a qualified and experienced professional
Make sure you take the time to choose your child's school coach carefully. You need to focus your research on organizations that have only experienced and qualified guidance coaches or even real certification. A good coach should not be isolated and should have the means to train regularly (as methods change quickly), to reflect on his or her practice, and even to be supervised by experienced colleagues.
Word of mouth is probably the best way to find the ideal coach. Ask the question around you and collect opinions on the net. Choose an organization with solid references and opinions published on the internet. In any case, the professional or company to which you will entrust your child for school coaching must be neutral towards schools.
The role of a good school coach
The school coach will provide the student with a personalized accompaniment. His mission will be to give the child back his self-confidence, to teach him how to organize himself, to become autonomous and gain in efficiency, and eventually to manage his stress. He will awaken the student's motivation and give him back the pleasure of learning without which nothing would be too much possible. A good school coach should allow the child to re-appropriate his schooling and to become a real actor of his school career.
School coach: qualities of relationship with the pupil in the first place
It is essential to give priority to the relationship and the trust that will be built between your child and his coach because it is an essential prerequisite for him to want to progress and evolve rapidly.
The contact between the coach and the student must remain fluid and pleasant. The coached student must feel confident with his school coach whose temperament must be perfectly adapted to his own profile (a very gentle, very calm student will probably be less at ease with a very talkative, very dynamic, even hyperactive coach).
A school coach must also know how to transmit the desire to learn to children. You should quickly feel whether the coach succeeds in identifying your child's strengths and weaknesses, his interests, his concerns if any. Furthermore, if your child has particular disorders, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia or dysphasia, it is better to choose a professional who is really trained in these specific areas.
From the first interview with the school coach, you will be able to recognize if the contact between your child and his coach is good and thus know if it is the right one for him. If the student seems open, confident, and speaks freely, then it is probably the right one.
If your child seems to have difficulty revealing himself, seems doubtful, and does not seem to adhere, then you should not hesitate to call on another coach.
And finally, before taking any steps, it is essential to know if your child is really motivated, if he shows the will to get involved in school coaching. Because the primary objective is to make him an actor of his school and professional career, to motivate him to take control of his future and to make his own choices. He will certainly be accompanied in this reflection but in no case should the coach decide for him.
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