Coaching Programs
Programs Designed for Where You Are — Thinking Connections
Programs Designed for Where You Are
Each program begins with the Thinking Assessment Tool and Profile — because meaningful growth starts with understanding how you think, not just what you do.
The Foundation of Every Program
The Thinking Assessment Tool
Every program at Thinking Connections begins with the Thinking Assessment Tool. Before any coaching, any professional learning, or any program work begins, participants complete an assessment that produces a personalised Thinking Profile — a clear, evidence-based picture of how they currently think in their role.
The Tool is calibrated to the participant's specific role and career stage. That means the questions, the analysis, and the Profile Report are different for an Early Career Teacher, a Middle Leader, and an Executive Leader — because the thinking demands of each role are genuinely different.
Grounded in the Cognitive Domains Integration Model
The Thinking Assessment Tool is built directly on the Cognitive Domains Integration Model (CDIM™) — the framework developed by Anthony Haskell over nearly thirty-five years of research, coaching, and practice in Australian schools. Rather than measuring generic competencies, the Tool assesses how an educator thinks across the five domains that the CDIM™ identifies as the core drivers of professional growth and impact.
Each domain reflects a distinct dimension of thinking. Together, they produce a Thinking Profile that shows not just where a participant currently sits, but why — and what targeted development will move them forward.
Domain 1
Awareness
The foundational domain — the ability to consciously notice what is occurring internally and externally while thinking, acting, and interacting.
Domain 2
Intentionality
The capacity to direct thinking toward a purpose — determining whether thinking is purposeful or reactive, and acting as the steering mechanism of cognition.
Domain 3
Cognitive Flexibility
The capacity to adapt thinking — examining alternative perspectives, challenging assumptions, and modifying understanding when confronted with new information.
Domain 4
Decision Quality
The domain of judgement — focusing on the quality of the reasoning process that leads to a decision, not simply whether the outcome proves successful.
Domain 5
Reflective Capacity
The engine of cognitive growth — focusing not on reviewing actions, but on understanding the thinking processes that produced those actions.
ECT Thinking Assessment Tool
Designed for teachers in their first three years of practice. The assessment surfaces the mental models and assumptions shaping how an ECT approaches their classroom. The Thinking Profile Report provides a clear picture of the participant's cognitive strengths, blind spots, and developmental priorities — expressed in language that builds capability rather than judgement.
What's Included
- Personalised Thinking Profile Report calibrated for ECTs
- Identifies cognitive strengths and areas for development
- Informs individual coaching and school support planning
Middle Leaders Thinking Assessment Tool
Calibrated for both emerging and established middle leaders. The assessment examines how a leader thinks about people, decisions, and direction — surfacing the patterns that are driving their effectiveness and those that may be limiting it.
What's Included
- Personalised Thinking Profile Report with a leadership lens
- Suitable for emerging and established middle leaders
- Informs coaching, team development, and school improvement planning
Executive Leadership Thinking Assessment Tool
Designed for principals and senior leaders. The assessment provides a deep examination of executive thinking — how a leader frames complexity, makes high-stakes decisions, and shapes the culture and direction of their school.
What's Included
- Personalised Executive Thinking Profile Report
- Includes a 30-minute debrief conversation
- Informs executive coaching and strategic leadership development
For Schools & Teams
Thinking Heat Maps & Insights Reports
When multiple participants complete the Thinking Assessment Tool, their results can be aggregated into a Heat Map and Insights Report — surfacing collective strengths, risks, and blind spots across a cohort or leadership team. These reports are designed to inform targeted school improvement planning and professional learning design.
Learning to Thrive
Building the metacognitive foundations that turn capable graduates into confident, reflective practitioners.
The first years of teaching are among the most formative — and the most vulnerable. Early Career Teachers arrive with content knowledge and enthusiasm, but often without the metacognitive tools to examine and improve their own practice when things get hard.
Learning to Thrive is designed specifically for ECTs. It begins with the Thinking Assessment Tool and Profile, giving each participant a clear, evidence-based picture of how they currently think about their teaching. From there, the program builds the habits of mind that allow them not just to survive the early years, but to genuinely thrive in them.
The program is structured around the realities of classroom life — practical, reflective, and grounded in the day-to-day challenges ECTs actually face.
Designed for: Early Career Teachers in their first three years of practice.
Program Pathways
Foundation Course
1 Year3 Modules
A focused one-year program covering the core metacognitive foundations every ECT needs. Three modules delivered across the year, building progressively on each other.
Full ECT Journey
3 Years9 Modules
The complete three-year program, structured around the three key learning stages of an ECT career: Foundation, Consolidation, and Transition. Each stage deepens and extends the thinking developed in the last.
Delivery: Small group sessions. In-school or remote.
Program Outcomes
A completed Thinking Assessment Tool and personalised Thinking Profile
Clarity about the mental models and assumptions shaping their practice
Practical metacognitive strategies for self-monitoring and self-correction
Greater confidence in navigating the complexity of classroom teaching
A foundation for sustained professional growth beyond the early career phase
Leading from the Middle
Equipping emerging and first-year leaders with the thinking tools to lead with clarity, credibility, and purpose.
The move into middle leadership is one of the most significant transitions in a teacher's career. It demands a fundamentally different kind of thinking — not just about curriculum and classroom, but about people, culture, and strategic direction.
Leading from the Middle is designed for educators stepping into their first leadership role, or those in the early stages of middle leadership. It begins with the Thinking Assessment Tool and Profile, surfacing the thinking patterns that will either support or limit their effectiveness as leaders.
The program then works through the Clarity First Framework and Thinking Moves cognitive triggers — practical tools that help leaders apply their Profile insights directly to the real challenges of their role.
Program Structure
Duration
1 Year
Modules
3 Modules
Delivery
Each module is delivered as a whole-day structure.
Recommended Add-On: Thinking Labs
A Thinking Lab is recommended at the conclusion of Modules 1 and 2 to consolidate and apply the thinking developed in each module. A final Thinking Lab at the end of Module 3 brings the year's learning together — sharpening decisions, surfacing insights, and setting direction for the year ahead.
Thinking Lab after Module 1 — consolidate foundations
Thinking Lab after Module 2 — deepen and apply
Thinking Lab after Module 3 — integrate and set direction
Designed for: Emerging leaders and those in their first year of a middle leadership role.
Program Outcomes
A completed Thinking Assessment Tool and personalised Thinking Profile for leaders
Deep understanding of how their thinking shapes their leadership decisions and relationships
Practical application of the Clarity First Framework to real leadership challenges
Thinking Moves cognitive triggers to support in-the-moment metacognitive awareness
Confidence and clarity in navigating the demands of middle leadership
Renewing the Middle
Refreshing the thinking of experienced middle leaders who are ready to lead at a higher level.
Middle leaders who have been in their roles for four or more years often reach a point where the initial energy and growth begin to plateau. The role becomes familiar — and familiarity, without reflection, can quietly calcify into habit.
Renewing the Middle is designed for experienced middle leaders who are ready to examine their thinking with fresh eyes. It begins with the Thinking Assessment Tool and Profile — not as a starting point, but as a recalibration. What has changed? What has stayed the same? What thinking is still serving them, and what has become a limitation?
The program is challenging, honest, and energising. It is for leaders who are not content to simply maintain — who want to lead with renewed purpose and greater impact.
Program Structure
Duration
Half Year
Modules
2 Modules
Delivery
Each module is delivered as a whole-day seminar.
Recommended Add-On: Thinking Labs
A Thinking Lab is recommended after each module as a dedicated space to practise and embed the thinking work undertaken in that seminar — turning insight into habit.
Thinking Lab after Module 1 — practise and embed the foundations
Thinking Lab after Module 2 — consolidate and carry forward
Designed for: Middle leaders who have been in their current role for four or more years.
Program Outcomes
A refreshed Thinking Assessment Tool and updated Thinking Profile
Honest examination of thinking patterns that may have become entrenched
Renewed clarity about purpose, direction, and leadership identity
Practical strategies for leading with greater intentionality and impact
A reinvigorated approach to the middle leadership role
High-Impact, Small-Group Leadership Thinking Experiences
Thinking Labs are part of the Thinking Connections ecosystem — built for leaders who want to think more clearly, decide more effectively, and work more strategically under pressure.
Each Lab is a facilitated half-day (3 hours) or full-day (5.5 hours) deep-thinking session using the Thinking Moves routines to surface assumptions, sharpen reasoning, and improve decision quality. With no more than 8 participants per cohort, every Lab is intimate by design — creating the depth, safety, and personalised cognitive coaching that larger groups simply cannot offer.
The Core Idea
"Thinking Labs are practice fields for leadership thinking."
Participants bring real challenges, test options, and build shared mental models — in a structured environment designed to make the invisible visible. The Lab is not a workshop. It is a thinking experience.
How the Labs Work
A Structured Process for Deep Thinking
- 01
Pre-Lab Reflection
Participants complete a short pre-lab reflection to surface the challenge or decision they are bringing to the session.
- 02
Facilitated Deep-Thinking Session
A half-day (3 hours) or full-day (5.5 hours) facilitated session using Thinking Moves routines to examine assumptions, test reasoning, and sharpen thinking.
- 03
Structured Routines
Cognitive triggers and structured protocols guide the group through the thinking process — keeping it rigorous, not just reflective.
- 04
Post-Lab Insights
Each participant leaves with a clear set of insights and next steps — thinking made visible, decisions made sharper.
Who the Labs Are For
Leaders at Every Level
Middle Leaders
Heads of department, year level coordinators, and curriculum leaders navigating complex team and curriculum challenges.
Emerging Leaders
Educators stepping into leadership who want to build strong thinking habits from the outset.
Executive Teams
Principals and deputy principals working through strategic decisions and whole-school direction.
Cross-Functional Groups
Mixed leadership teams who need to build shared mental models and improve collective decision-making.
Cohort size: Maximum 8 participants per Lab — intimate by design.
What Leaders Gain
The Benefits of a Thinking Lab
Clearer thinking under pressure and complexity
Stronger reasoning and more rigorous decision-making
Improved team alignment and shared mental models
Better decisions — made with greater confidence and less second-guessing
Increased confidence in navigating ambiguity and uncertainty
A shared language for thinking across the leadership team
Practical cognitive tools that transfer directly to daily leadership
Session Length
Half day or full day
Half day sessions run 3 hours. Full day sessions run 5.5 hours.
Cohort Size
Maximum 8 participants
Intimate by design — depth, safety, and personalised coaching.
Delivery
In-school or remote
Labs can be integrated into existing leadership programs or run as standalone experiences.
Book a Thinking Lab for Your School or Team
Thinking Labs can be booked as standalone experiences or integrated into your existing leadership program. Schools, systems, and organisations are welcome to enquire.
Not Sure Which Program Is Right for You?
Every engagement begins with a conversation. Get in touch and I'll help you identify the program that best fits where you are right now.