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The purpose of this paper is to examine where and how coaching and mentoring disciplines overlap or differ in approach. Coaching and mentoring have emerged as important interventions as the role of helping relationships have gained prominence in human resource development. However, there appear to be contexts where one or other is preeminent, without consistent explanation of their suitability. Such inconsistency arguably creates confusion and doubt about these interventions and their efficacy notably amongst those who commission such interventions and their potential beneficiaries. This study focuses on this inconsistency of coaching or mentoring by exploring practitioners’ approaches within six disciplines: executive coaches, coaching psychologists, sports coaches, mentors of leaders, mentors of newly qualified teachers and mentors of young people, with the aim of assisting those seeking support with development.

This exploratory study was undertaken using a qualitative methodology, where in-depth interviews were completed with experienced practitioners to elucidate their approaches and practice.

The findings show that approaches may be discipline-specific, where practitioners specialise in a particular type of coaching or mentoring requiring distinctive knowledge and/or skills. However, the sharing of good practice across disciplines and the value of understanding the common dimensions which emerged is also evident, providing clients and those who commission coaching and mentoring with reassurances regarding the nature of these helping relationships.

As the research focused only on the practitioners’ experiences of their work in these disciplines, it is vital that the mentees’ and coachees’ experiences are captured in future research. There is also value in further exploration of the model developed.

By deploying the model concerned with the future development of these interventions suggests practitioners can expand their capacity and scope by adopting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches.

By directly exploring the shared and distinctive approaches of coaching and mentoring practitioners in six contexts, this study provides opportunities to understand where practitioners can benefit from imparting best practice across these interventions and highlighting specific aspects for their context.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an antidote to the supposed divide between directive and non‐directive coaching.

The article is based on work done in a variety of organizations as well as published sources. The paper quotes published work as well as personal experience.

There is an alternative to the directive/non‐directive debate. Coaches need to be clear about the person they are working with and the problems they face before offering or pointing to solutions to these problems.

The article has real practical implications for leaders/managers, coaches and learning and development professionals. The model discussed within it provides a secure basis on which coaches can offer a real service to clients.

The article will be of value to managers and learning specialists/coaches as it raises important issues about the need to take a realistic view about coaching practice.

This article reports three years' research into the pilot phase of the Social Science Research Council's Open Door Scheme, a scheme designed to facilitate social science research utilisation. Firstly, some general issues of social science utilisation are examined, followed by the background to the creation of the Council's Open Door Scheme to help meet these difficulties. Then, findings from research into the pilot phase of the scheme from 1977 to 1980 are discussed, including its future operation and potential for influencing managerial activity in its widest sense.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether aspects of co-coaching could support primary science teacher education in a university–school initial teacher education (ITE) partnership program in England.

A mixed methodological approach was taken, comprising of student teachers responding to a coaching questionnaire blended with a qualitative exploration of audio-recorded student teacher co-coaching conversations. Informal student teacher discussion groups were used as a means to discern their attitudes and beliefs pertaining to co-coaching within taught university sessions.

Analysis and subsequent integration of data showed that many aspects of co-coaching supported student teacher pedagogical knowledge acquisition and professional development. Additionally, questionnaire responses and small-group discussions revealed that student teachers developed positive attitudes to this mode of learning.

This study evaluates the innovative use of co-coaching techniques during primary teacher science education, and the outcomes have clear implications for the design of ITE programs in England and potentially further afield.

The escalating prevalence of non-communicable diseases has underscored the crucial role of Front-of-Pack-Labelling (FoPL) in shaping consumer decisions. However, the research in this field is still in its developing stage, leading to a fragmented and limited body of work. Given the critical importance of FoPL, it is imperative to conduct a comprehensive literature review of existing research to outline the academic aspect of FoPL research. This research paper aims to combine the available research to generate a systematic compilation of literature, thereby contributing to the advancement of knowledge in this vital area.

To achieve the objectives, a systematic literature review technique was followed. The database used for the extraction of documents was Scopus. Sixty-three articles were critically examined to extract the relevant information.

Based on the analysis types of a study conducted, data collection source, types of FoPL studied, key themes, theoretical model, antecedents, dependent/independent variables and outcome were identified. It also explained the underlying phenomenon of FoPL’s impact on the various outcomes. An integrative theoretical model was also proposed based on the underlying mechanism, antecedents, moderator, mediator and outcome. Towards the end of the paper, research gaps were also identified for future paths in unexplored areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt in the field of FoPL to comprehensively include all the dependent and independent variables involved and propose a framework along with future research prospects. The findings will guide researchers and policymakers.