Certificate in Coaching Practice Programme

The Programme

The Certificate in Coaching Practice Programme is the first year of the Masters in Professional Coaching Programme and provides an excellent grounding in the practice of professional coaching. It assists anyone aspiring to coach formally and experienced coaches who wish to enhance their current approach to build a unique coaching framework and model and to benchmark themselves with a learning cohort.

The programme enables you to explore your individual skills and experience and to incorporate these in a coaching approach that is suited to your specific client group. You will also practice making your particular approach explicit so that you are able to clearly articulate to your clients why you are the right coach for them.

The Certificate in Coaching Practice Programme is delivered part-time over 12 months and is thus manageable for working professionals.

Who is it for?

• Anyone interested in coaching formally and possibly considering a career as a coach
• Experienced coaches who wish to make their current approach explicit and to benchmark it with a learning cohort

What next?

On successful completion of the programme, you can progress seamlessly to the second year of the Masters in Professional Coaching Programme or you can choose to exit with a Certificate in Coaching Practice from i-coach academy.

For those seeking a qualification, you can complete a further work-based research module and attain a Post Graduate Certificate in Work Based Learning Studies (Professional Coaching – i-coach academy) from Middlesex University, UK.

Learning Journey

Our programme assists you to critically reflect on your rich experience and knowledge, while integrating new theories and approaches. Since coaching is inherently interdisciplinary, our curriculum draws on broad areas of knowledge that inform the field of coaching. Through a process of experimentation and application, the programme is designed to help you define your unique approach to coaching. Instead of memorising the ‘right’ answers or behaviours, our Faculty act as facilitators encouraging you to discover principles for yourself and to build knowledge by working with others.

Learning to become a coach is a voyage of discovery that can be an intense, emotional and challenging experience. We don’t believe in taking shortcuts and the journey is sometimes difficult. However, by the end you will be a competent and compassionate coach.

Learning Modules

You will attend five face-to-face learning modules where you will meet with Faculty and a learning cohort to exchange information about professional practice, participate in learning activities, listen to presentations on relevant topics and establish relationships with others whose interests and work parallel your own.

Embedding the Learning

Between learning modules you will continue to practice coaching, experiment with new approaches with your learning cohort and engage in your own coaching, reflective work and supervision. Activities which support you to integrate your learning and evolve your coaching practice include the following:

CPD/Supervision Days
You will participate in four and a half continued professional development (CPD) / supervision days which are dedicated to reviewing your casework using multiple perspectives to enhance your understanding of your own professional practice and yourself.

One-to-one Coaching
Research suggests that receiving coaching acts as a role model and embeds coaching skills. Between each module, participants will receive four coaching sessions of 1.5 hours with an experienced i-coach academy coach (six hours in total). Each participant is required to receive 24 hours of coaching sessions in total. The balance needs to be sourced and paid for by the participant.

Applied Coaching
You are required to deliver a minimum of 48 hours of coaching during this programme. We encourage you to have at least two coaching clients. While the community can support you to find clients, it is useful if you have a group to draw on, preferably not family.

Assessment

1. Individual Development Plan and Reflective Essay
2. Ongoing assessment by Faculty
3. Professional Review - Practitioner Level
4. Learning Journey Document - critical reflective portfolio of your learning journey

Time Commitment

• Attend five learning modules of two to three days at a time - 12 days in total (London)
• Attend four and a half continued professional development (CPD) / supervision days (London)
• Deliver a minimum of 48 hours of applied coaching
• Receive a minimum of 24 hours of coaching (six hours provided by the programme, the balance at your own cost)
• Work independently for a minimum of four hours each week on activities such as reflective practice, reading and course work