Peer Coaching as Catalyst: A Scalable Toolkit for Faculty Development in Health Professions Education

Date: Saturday, 26 September 2026 | Time: 1110 - 1240 | Venue: L1-S3, Academia (SGH Campus)

Track Type: Workshop

Speaker(s):

Overview:

Peer coaching is increasingly recognised as an effective strategy for faculty development in health professions education. Through structured, non-evaluative dialogue, educators can examine assumptions, clarify goals, and improve their teaching approaches while strengthening learning cultures. Evidence suggests peer coaching supports educator reflection, collaboration, and growth in clinical teaching environments.

This interactive workshop introduces ALIGN, a practical peer coaching toolkit designed for use across health professions education contexts. ALIGN organises coaching presence, purposeful questioning, and guided reflection into a simple framework that educators can readily adopt in everyday conversations with colleagues.

Participants will first explore key concepts including coaching mindset, reflective practice, and the role of peer learning in supporting educational excellence. Facilitators will then demonstrate a short peer coaching conversation using the ALIGN framework.

The core of the session is experiential practice. Participants will work in pairs to practise peer coaching using authentic faculty development challenges. Roles will rotate so participants experience both coaching and being coached. Facilitators will provide real-time guidance to support effective coaching behaviours such as active listening, generative questioning, and reflective dialogue.

The workshop will conclude with reflection and discussion on how peer coaching can be incorporated into participants’ local contexts. As peer coaching becomes visible it can gradually contribute to broader uptake within institutions.

The session will be valuable for educators seeking practical approaches to support professional development, strengthen reflective dialogue within teams, and build collaborative learning cultures that contribute to educational excellence.

Learning Outcome(s):

By the end of the symposium, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the principles of peer coaching and its role in supporting reflective practice and educational excellence in health professions education.
2. Apply the ALIGN framework to conduct a structured peer coaching conversation that supports faculty development and professional growth.
3. Reflect on their experience of coaching and being coached to gain insight into their own educational practice and development as educators.
4. Identify strategies to implement peer coaching as a scalable faculty development approach within their teams, departments, or institutions.

Target Audience:

This workshop is designed for health professions educators across disciplines and career stages who are interested in faculty development, reflective practice, and collegial learning. Participants may include clinical educators, programme directors, faculty developers, and educational leaders.

No prior coaching experience is required.