Online Peer-Coaching Training For Creative Women
FREE three week online course for creative women who are (or are considering) working for themselves, freelancing, or starting a business.
Working for yourself can be lonely, and can lead to feelings of isolation. This online training will teach you the tools and techniques to set achievable goals, reflect on possible solutions, understand how you work best, and support other creative women facing the same issues.
What will you receive?
Three weeks of coaching to help you set and reach your goals.
Discover your personal values, and how you can use them to focus your actions.
Learn how to coach your friends, family, and community.
Learn tips and techniques to be present, and to challenge difficult beliefs that may be holding you back.
Membership of a creative peer-coaching community.
Build relationships with the amazing women in your learning group.
How does it work?
The training uses evidence based Contextual Behavioural Coaching (CBC), and Design Thinking techniques, to help you learn how to coach others and reframe your thoughts and emotions. You’ll learn how the techniques work by practicing them individually, and then you’ll use them in your peer-coaching learning group to practice coaching each other.
Peer-coaching is a mutually beneficial process, and you’ll learn in three different ways:
By being coached
By coaching someone else
By listening and reflecting on others’ answers
When is it?
The training runs for 3 weeks, between Monday 2nd March and Sunday 22nd March. You’ll need to spend about 8 hours over the 3 weeks (for the training, group practice sessions, and individual homework tasks).
Why is it free?
This is a trial for a new social enterprise, supported by the Institute of Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, University of London. Each week, attendees will be asked to complete a short online form to collect feedback on the training. The questions will monitor changes in self-confidence, empathy, reflective skills, self-efficacy, and resilience. All data will be stored securely in line with Goldsmiths ethics policy, and the weekly peer-coaching practice sessions will not be monitored.
Why only women?
Women are more likely to seek and receive support from other women, and may avoid seeking support from situations when men are present (Taylor et al., 2000). This means women derive a greater benefit from practicing peer-coaching in a female-only space. As women in business face common, but often gender specific issues, this training provides a safe space for them to interact with a supportive community. Anyone who self-identifies as a woman is welcome to join.
What do you mean by ‘creative’?
This programme is for anyone who makes things. It might be dresses, posters, cakes, logos, dance productions, strategies, photographs, websites, illustrations, jewellery, patterns, stories, etc. If you combine materials/ideas, and make them into more than the sum of their parts, then this is for you.
Or if you’d like to do something like that, but aren’t quite doing it yet, you are still welcome to join the programme.
Who is leading the training?
My name’s Beki Gowing and I’m an educator and business coach. I’m currently studying for a PG Cert in Coaching, and a Masters in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, at Goldsmiths University of London. I’ve worked with hundreds of creative women facilitating business training workshops, as a start-up business coach, and as a creative entrepreneur at Print and Press London. I’ve previously run peer-coaching training programmes with Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art, and teach enterprise education as co-founder of Make, Do and Begin.
I want more details, what happens during the training?
We’ll use free video conferencing software* to meet online for an hour each week (6pm on Wednesday 4th, 11th and 18th March 2020)** to learn new techniques, and discuss how you are getting on.
After the first session you’ll be introduced to your learning group, and be sent everything you need to arrange an online 1 hour peer-coaching session at a time that suits the three of you. After training sessions 1 and 2, there will be individual reflective work, which will take about an hour to complete.
Week 1 (2nd March - 8th March): 1 hour training via video conference/phone call/recording, 1 hour peer-coaching session via video conference/phone call, 1 hour individual assignment (approximately 3 hours total)
Week 2 (9th March - 15th March): 1 hour training via video conference/phone call/recording, 1 hour peer-coaching session via video conference/phone call, 1 hour individual assignment (approximately 3 hours total)
Week 3 (16th March - 22nd March): 1 hour training via video conference/phone call/recording, 1 hour peer-coaching session via video conference/phone call (approximately 2 hours total)
*The video conference software works on computers, tablets and phones, and runs through your browser (meaning that you just click a link, and you don’t need to install anything). It works best in Chrome, but is supported by all major browsers. If you don’t have a strong internet connection, you can join the audio as a UK landline phone call.
**If you can’t make an online training session, a recording will be sent to you. It’s best if you can attend the live training so you can join in and ask questions. But if you can’t make it, don’t let it stop you applying - as long as you’ll be able to give time to watch the training, book in about x3 1 hour video conference/phone peer coaching sessions, and complete about 2 hours individual work over the 3 weeks.
How much personal information do I have to share?
That’s completely up to you. Everyone who participates will be asked to keep any conversations they are part of confidential. You will work with the same learning group each week, and hopefully build a close, trusting relationship, where you feel comfortable speaking honestly. But if you prefer to speak generally or hold certain details back, you will still benefit from the training. None of your learning group coaching sessions will be monitored or recorded.
How do I sign up?
Places are limited, so register your interest before 10am Saturday 29th February 2020, using this link: https://beki178350.typeform.com/to/Pacq1H
I’ll let you know on Sunday 30th February if you’ve been given a place.
Not sure if it’s for you, or still have some questions? Email Beki on beki@bekigowing.com and I’ll try to help.