Who is Irene Klop?
Irene Klop, that’s me. I worked in primary and secondary schools for more than twenty years. I have always loved working with so many different pupils and always had an open eye for their individual talents and needs.
During my career as a teacher in the Netherlands I worked in different fields of education, teaching most subjects to children varying in age from 4 to 14.
When I came to London I started working as a supply teacher and this enabled me to work in more than 30 different schools. But soon I was asked to stay for longer terms. I worked several years as an Intervention Teacher in an infant school in Walthamstow, where I discovered my real strength: While working one to one I can quickly identify gaps and difficulties, find out about the skills children do possess, restore their confidence and meanwhile fill the gaps. When I moved to another part of London I decided to start working part-time at an international school and part time started my own coaching / tutoring practise. This gives me the right balance between staying tuned in the educational field and applying my own skills and experience with flexibility and adaptability.
Why do you use MatriXcoaching?
A child is more than the data on their reports. I soon discovered that with attention for the child as a whole, their confidence would grow and they became happier to be at school. Then it would take just some time to identify where things went wrong and we would be able to fill in the gaps.
MatriXcoaching goes even further. It is a very effective tool to enable children (and adults alike) to get grip on their own mind. Listening and looking to their strategies we can find the ones that work for this child and the ones that should be replaced. The focus is on the child and their strategies. The coach just helps them, guides with the right questions to their own solutions.
Apart from coaching on IQ components – like creating a tidy environment in the mind to store information and help children to learn how to learn the basic skills and additional information – MatriX coaching also focuses on the EQ, the emotional component of the mind. Emotional experiences, Fears and Psychosomatic pains might occupy the child’s mind and block further development.
What I love about MatriX coaching is the respect for the client, the child, the learner. I don’t need to know the content of their problems, for it is not me who knows the answer to all possible scenarios. It is the child or the client themselves who knows what works best for them and how they want it to be. But it requires respect and the knowledge of a well trained coach how to guide in that process. I stay out of the content. A child doesn’t need to tell me who bullied him or what frightens her. Still I can help them to help themselves.
How does it work?
By means of asking simple questions of what they see, hear, feel or think children retrieve stored information from their long term memory back in the processing memory. There the information can be reprocessed before it is restored in the long term memory. In this way misconceptions of spelling, maths or any learning can be corrected and emotional moments that still tricker negative reactions can be ‘neutralised’ so even though the memory is still there, the emotional burden can be taken away from it. Children do not need to tell me exactly what happened, as long as they can change the mental images, sounds, feelings or thoughts themselves. Careful coaching helps them to do that and can remove blockades that might have obstructed further development.
Working with children I would always like to invite parents or carers to attend the sessions – if that is what they and the child feel comfortable with. My coaching is very transparent and to the point.
On the following pages of the website you’ll see a short impression of the kind of questions I ask in different situations.
Very often this coaching would only take a few sessions, depending on what help is requested. Once the mind is freed of obstructions, teaching and tutoring will be much more effective.
What do you like best in tutoring?
I believe people perform best when they are happy and confident. That goes for children as well as for adults. In one to one tutoring it is possible to discover the strengths of a pupil and use those to overcome difficulties. Instead of focusing of what they can’t do, starting from what they can do builds confidence and believe that they can improve themselves – maybe with a little help and support. Because of my broad teaching experience from Reception to Key Stage 3, I can help identify gaps in knowledge and fill those gaps. I believe some children benefit from less (academic) pressure and more fun and positive experiences in learning. I have seen so many children achieve better after we first took away some of the stress…