Coaching and Mentoring
A Critical Text
- Simon Western - Analytic-Network Coaching Ltd
Coaching is often discussed as if it is a new 'profession' without adequate attention to how it has evolved, what underpins its practice or its training methods. Situating coaching in a wider social and historical context, Coaching and Mentoring: A Critical Text reveals that contemporary 'coaching theory' is more a collection of models and approaches mostly transferred from psychotherapy theory. Coaching claims to liberate creativity but can also entrap us by individualizing social experience. Author Simon Western brings a fresh and critical perspective on coaching and mentoring, challenging its normative assumptions and narratives, and proposing an ethical and emancipatory approach that takes it beyond instrumentalism and individualism.
Key Features:
- Accounts for how coaching has emerged and what discourses and normative practices underpin and influence contemporary coaching practice
- Develops a meta-theory of coaching that acts as a baseline for future developments
- Offers frames of thinking to support and guide coaching and mentoring practitioners and educators
This is a must read for coaches, mentors and coaching educators, and students and academics studying coaching and mentoring at both advanced undergraduate and graduate level.
I found this to be stimulating and thought provoking. An excellent text for those who want to further their practice beyond DTLLS
An excellent book. A stimulating read that looks at Coaching and Mentoring at an in-depth level. This book is suitable for anyone who is completing a Coaching and Mentoring qualification or for the experience Coach.
the book will support studenst undertaking coaching and mentring modules on the DTLLs course and the BA eduaction and training courses that are run at the college.The book has lots of articles that examne mentroing from varying perspectives .It is an imformative and anlaytical read.
Whilst this may not be the text for novices within this field, it does provide a refreshing read for those already conversant with the associated themes and topics. The author does not shy away from delving into the depths of understanding surrounding coaching and mentoring. This book illustrates the complex and unique relationships that exist within coaching / mentoring and challenges contemporary ideas within a variety of contexts.
This book is excellent for anybody interested in coaching and mentoring be it as a coach or mentor or studying it at a higher level.
The chapters are structured in a very user friendly way explaining at the start the contents, which are sub headed to make location of required information easy and contain a useful conclusion, also helpful is the suggested reading, signposting the user onto further information if required.
The book also contains useful diagrams and tables, again more for the higher level study but still very useful.
There are some interesting examples, the author relates to us of his own personal experience in the teaching of coaching when he includes within a box some of the examples of coaching metaphores.
All in all a useful and informative resource for those already familiar with the principles of coaching and mentoring but who would like to deepen their understanding and knowledge.
well written and presented with informative historical context and psychological slant
Although this book offers some really useful information, and personally I like the different perspectives that are offered within the book, it is too complicated for most of our learners who are are the onset of their journey and unfamiliar with the concepts.
Too high level for beginners on our course. However, it does have an excellent reference list and is very comprehensive. The use of different fonts in different shades was a little offputting when reading.
