Using coaching as a social justice tool

The purpose of this research is to explore the way professional coaches are taught to use advocacy in their work with and for their clients. The research posits that the use of critical questions in the coaching conversation is both ethical and necessary work for coaches to support their clients' development.;The poststructural paradigm and accompanying methods are used to open up spaces within the core competencies and ethics of two credentialing organizations, sample training materials, and supplemental reading. Queer and critical whiteness theories question and push the traditional boundaries of the client/coach relationship, creating possibilities that make advocacy a necessary and meaningful aspect of coaching.;Chapter six of this research holds a layered approach to viewing the development of the coach as a social justice advocate. This chapter also contains a social justice training module for coach continuing education. Finally, I have developed a social justice coaching conversation model that embraces critical questions from hermeneutics and critical discourse analysis. This conversation model encourages coaches to think more critically and use critical questions to create awareness around bias within their clients and themselves.