Instructional Coach: Kenya

Instill Education is on a mission to transform teaching, learning, and leadership in every classroom on the African continent. We believe that our teachers and school leaders are the greatest levers for change in the education system.  We recently became an accredited higher education institution in South Africa and launched a game-changing mobile app (Upskill@Instill) that offers self-paced, bite-sized modules to help teachers in the professional development journey. More than 50,000 teachers in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria have already enrolled in our professional development modules and joined a pan-African community of peers and experts who provide support and feedback along the way.

We are looking to hire an Instructional Coach to work collaboratively with teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders; they can help to create a learning environment where all students can succeed.

What makes you a great candidate?

You are ambitious, hungry to learn, and have a deep passion for education. You want to work in a fast-paced business environment and grow with a young organisation that seeks to change the face of education across the African continent. You want to learn how a start-up works by getting your hands dirty and getting involved in every aspect of the business. You are excited by the challenge of immersing yourself in new contexts and tackling complex problems. You are not afraid of failure and are driven to improve through robust, data-driven decision-making and feedback. When evaluating your candidacy, we will look for the following:

• Demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
• Ambition to take ownership of challenges and  grow with the business
• Exceptional critical thinker with strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrated passion for educational development, and closing educational equity gaps, and are strongly aligned with our vision, mission, and values

What does the role entail?

As an Instructional Coach, you will be reporting to the Lead Instructional Coach and you will be working within Instill Education’s Academic Team responsible for the professional development of cohorts of school management teams in affordable private schools taking part in Instill programming in Kenya.  The coach’s role includes making contributions to the design of programme sessions, providing in-programme coaching and professional development, and supporting and assessing programme participants’ performance and related outputs.

More specifically, you will:

• Manage a caseload of school management team cohorts to support them in creating a culture of data-driven decision-making, school culture, and lower primary literacy and numeracy development within participating schools that leverage ongoing teacher professional development
• Coordinate and communicate with other instructional coaches to reflect on cohort successes, challenges, and how to respond as a programme
• Connect with participants to maintain regular, frequent communication via phone, text/Whatsapp, and/or email
• Serve as the first responder and primary contact for participant questions regarding technique implementation and integration into current school systems, filtering questions and problems up to the Lead Instructional Coach as necessary
• Observe, grade and provide quality feedback to programme participants on coursework and assessments (e.g. video submissions of leaders implementing key practices)
• Synthesise performance data, track cohort progress on implementation metrics and identify gaps in participant understanding and/or implementation
• Collaborate on session design, providing a first audience for feedback and iteration of session content
• Help to develop the culture of the cohorts as one of community, support, resilience, and a commitment to improving teaching and learning
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned

Selection Criteria:

• A teaching qualification i.e. BEd
• At least 5 years (classroom) teaching experience with an additional 3 years (minimum) in a leadership role as a head teacher, deputy head teacher, head of department, or equivalent role
• Prior experience as a curriculum support specialist is strongly preferred
• Strong command of CBC changes and dedicated CBC training is required
• Experience supporting and coaching teachers in high-needs communities
• Familiarity with instructional leadership practices, such as teacher observation and coaching, leading data analysis with teachers, leading school culture, and/or leading continuous professional development sessions for teachers
• You can co-facilitate teacher-training sessions and coach leadership teams
• You are highly adaptable, with strong critical thinking, planning, and execution skills
• You are an outstanding written and oral communicator
• Commitment to excellence in the provision of service to students

Anticipated start: 1 February 2024

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Do our values resonate with yours?

We believe in owning our mission to transform education across Africa. We aim to dream big, work collaboratively, have the courage to learn from failure, and embrace ingenuity. We create practical, inclusive solutions for the communities we serve. If you share our commitment to this challenge, join us in making a profound impact on our education systems.