This blogpost I write about why EduCoaching is important for me by telling a very personal story.

When I was a teenager, I was very lost. During elementary school – until the age of 14 – my grades were quite OK. I managed my studies quite well. Though my relationship with one of my teachers, the class master, was rocky, I was still considered to be one of the best students in my year. I was also one of the lead singers in the choir and played in the national youth orchestra.

When I was eight, after my grandfather, my main caretaker, died, I found myself in a whole. Members of my family had been used to my grandpa taking care of me so, suddenly, they did not know who should pick up the slack and provide for me. My mum was busy with a three-year-old. My grandma’s hands were full with a mentally challenged daughter and her newborn. My father was at work most of the time. So, I became a latchkey kid.

Luckily, I lived in a tightknit community so some of the neighbours took care of me here and there. Because children used to stay in elementary school for eight years, most of the teachers in that school knew me quite well. My home life was troubled, but in school I was still OK. I also liked studying and I liked being successful at the different things I was involved in.

Everything changed when I started secondary school. I was in constant sock. I did not understand a word of the subjects I was studying. I did not understand the kids in my class. There were 44 of us, most of whom came from different  parts of the city, some from more affluent areas, and everyone seemed to have a ‘sponsor’ in school.  It was an ‘elite class’ who were allowed to study foreign languages behind the iron-curtain because we were trained to be managers of foreign affairs.

Suddenly, I was not a good student any more. Each semester, I was failing 4 or 5 subjects because I did not understand the subject matters. I was artsy, I liked drawing, reading books, and playing music. In this school the main subjects were economics, foreign trade and languages. Teachers kept on telling me that I was a failure and I did not have anyone at home to discuss my struggles at school, either.

In that mayhem, I lost my sense of who I was, I lost in touch with the successes I had achieved, and with my ability overcome challenges. I played music for years, so I understood hard work, overcoming difficulties and succeeding over adversities. Somehow, during these four years of high-school, I simply was not able to access my abilities to achieve and do well any more. I was slowly sliding into a pit-hole of misery, self-doubt, and low self-esteem.

Looking back now, I can see that I desperately needed a coach. I wish, I had had someone to talk to, someone who had the tools to help me find myself again, someone who could see my struggles. I wish I had been able to confide in someone and told them how lost I felt in the jungle of these difficult subjects.

I needed some help not because I was not a good and capable a student, or because I was lazy, or I did not care, but because I did not know how to handle this new situation and I needed tools so I could conquer my challenges.

Later, at university, when I was studying to become a teacher, I was  constantly looking for a solution that would provide students the support  they need to overcome similar challenges. At first, I thought psychology would be the answer. Then, I looked into methodology. About ten years after university, I finally found the key. It is called coaching in educations or Educational Coaching, EduCoaching in short.

Read more about Coaching in Education, here, CLICK