Login (DCU Staff Only)
Login (DCU Staff Only)

DORAS | DCU Research Repository

Explore open access research and scholarly works from DCU

Advanced Search

The power of coaching in the professional learning and development of school leaders: an ecological framework and critical insights from a systematic review

Collins, Ciarán, Murphy, Regina orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-1575-4249 and Brown, Martin orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-5436-354X (2025) The power of coaching in the professional learning and development of school leaders: an ecological framework and critical insights from a systematic review. Frontiers in Education . ISSN 2504-284X

Abstract
School leadership has been shown to have a profound influence on students’ experiences and outcomes. Following the success of leadership coaching in industry, coaching has started to feature as a mechanism in the professional learning and development of school leaders. However, to date, evidence of how the various elements of coaching are embedded in the professional learning and development of school leaders is limited. To fill the lacuna of research in this area, this study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review of coaching as a form of the professional learning and development of school leaders, based on papers published in peer-reviewed journals between July 2014 and July 2024. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used, and the work was framed within Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. An overview of the concept of coaching and its development in the context of the professional learning and development of school leaders was provided. The methodology used in the study was then described, before the research evidence on coaching in the professional learning and development of school leaders was reported and discussed across five thematic findings, illuminating the factors that may advance the success of coaching as well as those that may impede it. Gaps in the literature were identified that may inform further research on this important topic.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Coaching, school leadership, educational leadership, principals, professional development, training, performance
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Teaching
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education
Publisher:Frontiers Research Foundation
Official URL:https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/art...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:31511
Deposited On:09 Sep 2025 10:14 by Gordon Kennedy . Last Modified 09 Sep 2025 10:14
Documents

Full text available as:

[thumbnail of feduc-2-1601455.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
2MB
Metrics

Altmetric Badge

Dimensions Badge

Downloads

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record