WRAMTA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2012
MAKING
CONTINUING
EDUCATION COUNT:
SARAH PIERCY, M.M., MT-BC
EARLY LEARNING MENTOR COACH
Turning
Theory
into
Practice
“No man is wise
enough by
himself”
- Plautus
AGENDA
Today we will be exploring the practice of Coaching,
as an approach to Professional Development
Par ticipants will gain knowledge and understanding
of the following:
1. CBMT and AMTA Professional Development criteria
2. Professional Development Systems
3. Adult Learning Theor y
4. Change Theor y
5. The Coaching Approach and Process
6. How to take your Professional Development to the next
level
CBMT
CBMT Code of Professional Practice
“Maintenance of Board cer tification will require
adherence to the CBMT’s Code of Professional Practice”
“The CBMT does not guarantee the job perfor mance of
any individual”
Who does?
CBMT
CBMT Scope of Practice
IV. Professional Development & Responsibilities
A. Professional Development – 9 items
B. Professional Responsibilities – 17 items
How?
AMTA
AMTA Code of Ethics
1.3 The MT will par ticipate in continuing education
activities to maintain and improve his/her knowledge and
skills
2.1 The MT will str ive for the highest standards in his/her
work, offer ing the highest quality
3.9 The MT will use ever y available resource to ser ve the
client best
6.1 The MT will str ive to increase the level of knowledge,
skills and research within the profession
How?
AMTA
AMTA Standards of Practice
“…r ules for measur ing the quality of ser vices”
I. Refer ral & Acceptance
II. Assessment
III. Treatment Planning
IV. Implementation
V. Documentation
VI. Ter mination of Ser vices
VII. Continuing Education
VIII. Super vision
Who measures?
AMTA
AMTA Professional Competencies
22. Professional Role/Ethics
22.3 Demonstrate dependability: follow through with all
tasks regarding education and professional training
22.8 Demonstrate critical self-awareness of strengths and
weaknesses
22.15 Demonstrate basic knowledge of music therapy
ser vice reimbursement and financing sources
How?
AMTA
AMTA Education & Training Advisor y Board
2 Levels of Professional Practice – measured by
Professional growth, Personal growth, Musical
development & Clinical exper ience
1. Professional Level
2. Advanced Level
It’s up to you to measure, track & submit….but,
how?
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
“Skills and knowledge attained for both personal
development and career advancement”
“Encompasses all types of facilitated lear ning
oppor tunities”
Current Approaches: consultation, coaching,
communities of practice, technical assistance,
lesson study, mentoring & reflective super vision
What system do Music Therapists
use?
COACHING
 “Coaching is a process that enables lear ning and
development to occur and thus perfor mance to
improve. To be successful, a coach requires a
knowledge and understanding of process, as well as,
the var iety of styles, skills and techniques that are
appropr iate to the context in which coaching takes
place”
 “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to
maximize their own perfor mance. It is helping them
lear n rather than teaching them”
 “Coaching has emerged from a synthesis of many
fields including training, adult lear ning, consulting,
change management, the human potential movement,
psychology and systems science”
COACHING
 A Coach will challenge your cur rent attitudes and work
practices, help you set realistic goals, share in the
lear ning process, motivate, encourage and teach selfassessment and reflective practices
Coaching is:
Strengths-based
Individualized
Confidential
Relationship-based
Non-evaluative
Supportive
Regular & On-going
COACHING
 Types of Coaching
Executive, Skills, Life, Performance & Business
 Mentoring vs. Counseling vs. Coaching
Share many techniques and strategies
Mentor – offers advice, teaches and supports
Counselor – deals more with in-depth personal issues
Coach – facilitates the learning process
Video: “How Coaching Works”
ACTIVITY BREAK!
Gather together in your group and wr ite a shor t poem in
6/8 meter. Use Music Therapy or attending Regional
Conference as your topic. Use the first letter of each
individuals name as the star ting letter for each line of
your poem. Wr ite down your poem and hold onto it until
the next activity.
For example: Sarah, Tony, Mar ia, Victor ia
Shar ing our talents and
Talking with fr iends,
Meeting new people a
Valuable end!
ADULT LEARNING THEORY
Andragogy – the ar t and science of helping adults lear n
5 Assumptions of Adult Lear ners
1. Have an independent self-concept and can direct their
own lear ning
2. Have accumulated a reser voir of life experiences that
are rich resources for lear ning
3. Have lear ning needs closely related to changing social
roles
4. Are problem-centered and interested in immediate
application of knowledge
5. Are motivated to lear n by inter nal rather than exter nal
factors
What does this mean for Professional
Development?
ADULT LEARNING THEORY
Pr inciples of Adult Lear ning based on the 5 Assumptions
1. Must include the adult lear ner in the process
2. Must include previous experience and provide opportunities
for new experience
3. Must be centered around the adult lear ners interests
4. Must be relevant to the immediate situation of the adult
lear ner
5. Must begin with the problem and not the solution
Variables
Life experience
Work experience
Positive/Negative previous experience with lear ning
Perfor mance abilities
Time between interactions
Aging factors
CHANGE THEORY
Theor ies of Change
1. Lewin’s 3 Step Change Theor y
2. Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theor y
3. Prochaska & Diclementes Change Theor y
4. Social Cognitive Theor y
5. The Theor y of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior
Research has not proven any r ight or wrong way of
understanding or approaching the process of change in
adults but there are some commonalities these theor ies
share that have been shown to make a difference in the
success of adult lear ners….
CHANGE THEORY
Things to regard when working with Adult
Lear ners
1. Routine thoughts & behavior
2. Desire to change
3. Action to change
4. Social/Emotional/Environmental/Personal influences
5. Dr iving & restraining forces
6. Self-Efficacy – having the confidence in the ability to
take action and persist in the action
THE COACHING APPROACH
Ever y coach has their own style but ultimately
bases practice on their knowledge of adult lear ning,
the process of change and the process of coaching
There are many approaches to coaching –
for mal/infor mal; directive/non-directive;
business/personal; skill based/perfor mance based
Coaches choose and modify their approach
depending on the coaching context, as well as, the
individual person being coached
THE COACHING APPROACH
Brain-Based Coaching – David Rock
1. Neurons detect changes in the environment and send out
signals to aler t us to anything that is unusual”
2. Basal Ganglia - neural connections that control routine
behavior; connections fire rapidly; lots of space (inside
brain, thalamus)
3. Prefrontal Cor tex - neural connections that control the
lear ning of new skills/behaviors; connections fire slowly;
not much space (front of brain)
4. Actions repeated enough to become lear ned are pushed
down to the basal ganglia, freeing up space for lear ning
new things in the prefrontal cor tex
THE COACHING APPROACH
What we also know about the Prefrontal Cor tex
Responsible for behavior regulation
Processes abstract thinking
Processes thought analysis
Processes r ight and wrong
Predicts probably outcomes to actions and events
Mediates conflicting thoughts
Gover ns social control (emotions/urges)
Takes in data
Decides on actions
Exper iences in the first five years of life directly impact
the growth and development of these functions and cannot
be reversed, only treated through cognitive, behavioral or
dr ug therapies….and Music Therapy! 
THE COACHING APPROACH
Take a moment to process all that
you’ve learned so far, as you
watch…write down your
thoughts/feelings/questions as
you process (journaling)
Video: “Instructional Coaching”
ACTIVITY BREAK!
Trade your poem with another group
As a group compose a piece of music to go
with your new poem (body/voice percussion,
melody, movement…anything goes!)
Clearly write down directions for how you’d
like your poem to be perfor med. Others will
have to read and perform this, so be sure to
make it clear and legible!
THE COACHING PROCESS
The first and most impor tant step:
Relationship Building
After a relationship has been established,
coaching includes a combination of the
following:
 Discussion of past experiences and personal beliefs
 Review of current knowledge base
 Obser vation and self-assessment of skills
 Identify skills to refine and set realistic goals – needs to
include a form of goal setting that fits the individual
 Repeated “in-action” practice of new skill – can include
modeling, co-learning and shadowing
 Reflection and self-assessment
 Journaling
COACHING & MUSIC THERAPY
How can Music Therapists use
coaching as an approach to
Professional Development?
1. Adopt Coaching for Music Therapists as an
organizational practice
2. Adopt coaching strategies to facilitate
personal professional development
COACHING & MUSIC THERAPY
Let’s practice, Turning Theor y into
Practice!
Write down a skill that….
1. You are not familiar with
2. You are wanting to refine
3. You have been given feedback on and need
to improve for a performance evaluation
COACHING & MUSIC THERAPY
Write down your strengths
Find correlation
Write down what you need to be
successful - resources
Make a plan to practice
Make a plan to reflect and assess
COACHING & MUSIC THERAPY
Anyone willing to share?
CLOSING ACTIVITY!
Trade your composition with another
group
As a group, learn how to perfor m the
composition, divide parts and practice
performing
Take turns perfor ming for us all!
CLOSING ACTIVITY REFLECTION
Group discussion
Process
Strengths/Weaknesses
Feelings
Team Work/Communication
“Lots of people want to
ride with you in the
limo, but what you
want is someone who
will take the bus with
you when the limo
breaks down”
-Oprah Winfrey
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
Sarah Piercy, M.M., MT-BC
Early Lear ning Mentor Coach
Salt Lake CAP Head Star t/Early Head Star t
850-322-0618 cell
801-323-3900 ext. 236 office
piercysarah@hotmail.com personal
spiercy@slcap.org work
REFERENCES
1. Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., Smith, K., Adult Lear ning:
Emerging Perspectives on Lear ning, Teaching and
Technology, 2003.
2. Knowles, Malcolm., The Theor y of Andragogy, 1984
3. Kr itsonis, Alicia., Comparison of Change Theories, 2003
4. Rock, David., A Brain-Based Approach to Coaching, 2006
www.freedictionar y.com
www.cbmt.org
www.musictherapy.org
www.youtube.com
1. How Coaching Works, by Wellcoaches
2. Instructional Coachinmg: Staff Development for Improved
Teacher and Student Learning, by School Improvement
Network