Coaching for Belonging: Redesigning HE Personal Development at B&FC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71957/1h2h4a36Abstract
A growing body of research highlights the importance of belonging, confidence and academic identity in supporting student engagement, persistence and success in higher education. This paper examines the redesign of the Higher Education Personal Development (PD) curriculum at Blackpool and The Fylde College, where coaching has been embedded as an approach to supporting these outcomes. Through a coaching-informed curriculum, belonging is woven throughout the student journey, creating opportunities for students and apprentices to develop self-awareness, confidence, autonomy and connection. The paper discusses the rationale for this approach and its potential contribution to student belonging, success and retention.
References
Burchard, B. (2017). High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Became That Way. Hay House Inc.
Martenstyn, J. A., & Grant, A. M. (2022). An online, comparative effectiveness trial of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) versus solution-focused coaching (SFC) questions. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 15(1), 60–84.
Sheldon, K.M. & Elliot, A.J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The Self-Concordance Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482–497.
Sheldon, K.M. & Kasser, T. (1998). Pursuing personal goals: Skills enable progress but not all progress is beneficial. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 546–557.
Strayhorn, T. L. (2019). College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A key to educational success for all students (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Emma Benyon (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
