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.
'In my view the Psy Expert Discourse chapter is in a class by itself. The theme here is the influence of psychology and psychotherapy on coaching. The author analyses this impact by taking different current psychotherapeutic approaches as points of departure. All are strutinized in terms of strengths and weaknesses they imply for coaches' -
Gunnela Weslander
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching
'Finally an in-depth inquiry into coaching and why it is so popular. Coaching and Mentoring contains a profound analysis of the cultural background of coaching and reveals its dominant discourses, which makes it a must-read for experienced practitioners. This "critical text" challenges popular coaching assumptions and sets out a robust theoretical outlook for future best practice' -
Erik de Haan
Director of Centre for Coaching, Ashridge, and Professor of Organisation Development and Coaching, VU University Amsterdam
'I see a lot of books on Coaching, and this is without doubt the most stimulating, original, thoughtful and and well-founded account... this is an authoritative, well researched, critical and appreciative account of coaching that has at its heart a profound concern for people, for social life and for the predicaments we face. It will be really helpful for anyone in coaching, for coaches and educators, for students of organization and work' -
Professor Jonathan Gosling
Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Exeter
A well written text but its structure is different from what I teach.
Very readable text from an author with a clear passion to build a real sense of criticality and reflectivity to both coaching theory and practice. A real addition to the body of knowledge on key coaching and mentoring processes and thinking.
Too high a level for the qualifications in mentoring and coaching that we deliver
An interesting text which challenges some mainsteam understandings of mentoring and coaching.
I have used this to develop the strand of Coaching and Mentoring on our Mathematics Specialist Teacher course.
This is a well written text. It supports the content of the coaching and mentoring units. It is focused on practice and practical issues. The text is not for beginners but would suit this course level. It develops a number of key thoughts for consideration.
good and adopted
I have used this extensively in my own writing, which will feature in my coaching sessions at the university. Therefore Western's book has been put as a strong recommendation onto our reading list; references to the book will be made throughout our course (in particular in terms of definition of coaching and mentoring).
A very useful read!
Highly recommended. Provides a subtle and comprehensive overview.
