Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare

Chapter 6: Coaching Models 151

Child Welfare Skills- Based Coaching

Model

The child welfare skills-based coaching model should be used when
the learning goal is the attainment of a specific pre-identified skill. In
this situation the coach is typically an expert in the skill being
learned. Druckman & Bjork (1991, p. 61) suggest that “[skills
coaching] consists of observing students and offering hints,
feedback, reminders, new tasks or redirecting a student’s attention
to a salient feature — all with the goal of making the student’s
performance approximate the expert’s performance as closely as
possible.”

Examples of skills-based coaching goals

 Basic interviewing skills

 Forensic interviewing

 Group supervision

 Family meeting facilitation

 Testifying in court hearings

 Case plan development

 Court report writing

The child welfare s kills-b ased coaching model is a seven-step
process based on a series of observations and demonstrations
(adapted from Rush & Sheldon, 2007 and Gallacher, 1997; see Table