Time is a precious resource, especially now as teachers are adapting to pressures of the new normal as a consequence of Covid-19. Teachers are overwhelmed by difficult teaching environments (remote or hybrid); reinventing curriculum to suit online learning; loss of teaching time; making meaningful connections with students remotely; learning and using new technology to suit remote or hybrid learning; plus balancing school life and home life.
Where do teachers find time in their day to participate in instructional coaching?
That is the question I wrestled with as I approached my teaching partner, Kaley, to suggest the revamp of a tired turn of the century lesson plan. The dilemma: The lesson needed a kick into the 21st century. I felt I could be helpful. I needed to practice coaching skills for the DEL course I’m taking at SPU. Effective coaching takes time. I presumed that Kaley, like me, had precious little spare time. I wanted to honor her time as well as our working relationship and friendship. What to do, what to do?
Create a Coaching Plan
Having a coaching plan saves time. It forces the coach and learning-partner to focus on the learning goals. A coaching plan ensures that all aspects of the coaching experience are strategic and purposeful. Having a coaching plan also means that the coaching sessions are supportive and predictable. The process of co-creating and sticking to a coaching plan helps develop a trusting relationship and demonstrates the coaches respect for their learning partner.
According to ISTE-Coaching Standard 3: Collaborator, coaches establish productive relationships with educators in order to improve instructional practice and learning outcomes. Specifically, standard 3a asserts that coaches establish trusting and respectful coaching relationships that encourage educators to explore new instructional strategies.
The leg-work before the coaching plan
Establishing Trust
Establish and develop trust-filled relationship, listen deeply as your learning partner explores and uncovers her own issues or needs, ask probing questions to encourage learning partner to reflect on specific goals and objectives, and humbly acknowledge that I am not the expert, but rather a support and resource with expertise. Just a side note here: It relieves a lot of the pressure of coaching to realize that, as a coach, I can’t be the expert on every subject or particular circumstance. I think it’s also reassuring for the teacher who is being coached to understand that the relationship is one of equals, both looking to learn, both with the best interests of the students at heart. I appreciate how Les Foltos explains this idea:
The real irony here is that expertise is essential for Peer Coaches who want to avoid taking on the role of expert. As we will see in subsequent chapters, coaches who know how to use communication, lesson-design, and technology integration skills do not take responsibility for learning away from a peer the way an expert would. Instead of telling their peers what to do and how to do it, they use these their expertise and skills to help their peers develop their capacity to improve teaching and learning.(Foltos, 2013)
Establishing a Collaborative Partnership
Another resource I find helpful is Jim Knight’s Partnership Principles found in his book, The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching.
Equality
Instructional coaching is a collaborative enterprise. Collaborating teachers see each other as equal partners and value each others ideas. Instructional coaches listen to their learning partner with the intention of understanding their need, learning from their experience and only then responding with choices for learning.
Choice
Within a collaborative partnership every conversation about teaching and learning is subject to the learning partner’s choice. I appreciate this idea because it speaks to me of humility. The instructional coach does not tell or demand or persuade, but rather, as Knight explains, “meet[s] teachers where they are in their practice and offer[s] choices for learning.” (Knight, 2012)
Voice
Another partnership principle that demonstrates humility is valuing the opinion of the learning partner and encouraging the learning partner to find and use their voice. It is at this point that teachers can best learn from each other. Instructional coaches encourage learning partners to self-advocate, to demonstrate their own expertise, and to use their voice to help other teachers.
Dialogue
Knight suggests that instructional coaches “listen more than they tell.” The coaching conversations are centered on content. The conversation is an opportunity for the collaborating parties to learn. Instructional coaches do not manipulate or persuade.
Reflection
Instructional coaches engage in conversations that take into account the back and forth discussion required to truly understand a concept or idea before making a decision about whether or not it fits the learning situation. According to Knight, “instructional coaches recognize that reflective thinkers, by definition, must be free to adopt or reject ideas.” (Knight, 2012)
Praxis
Learning partners must have opportunities to try out new concepts and strategies in their classrooms. Instructional coaches release their learning partners to figure out how best to incorporate and use new ideas.
Reciprocity
In a professional collaborative partnership, both partners have an opportunity to learn. While the learning partner is exploring and practicing new teaching strategies or incorporating new technology tools into the learning environment, instructional coaches are expanding their own repertoire of strategies and technology tools as well as honing their own coaching skills.
Creating the Coaching Plan
Establishing trust and a collaborative partnership is easy for me. Kaley and I are friends, however I do not want to take our working relationship for granted. In order to honor her time and effort I need to be organized (not my strong point.) Devising a coaching plan will help focus my attention on the task at hand, keep me ‘in my lane’, and ensure that we are expedient in our use of time. (Quick side note: If you get a chance, read Joy De Fors’ post, Establishing Trust: Transitioning From Teacher to Coach. It’s a good reminder that maintaining and valuing relationship is essential for effective coaching.)
While searching for practical online tools which could help keep my coaching organized and efficient, I found The Connecticut Center for School Change. This website also contains tons of information about coaching and in particular, their Resources section includes Tools for Coaching such as A Basic Scaffold for Coaching Tool.
A-Basic-Scaffold-for-Coaching-Tool
Elena Aguilar has been an inspiration for me, especially her book The Art of Coaching : Effective Strategies for School Transformation. Aguilar outlines Ten Steps to Developing a Work Plan which I have summarized in the infographic below:
Elena Aguilar has made many of her coaching tools freely available on her website, Bright Morning. Templates for each step of the coaching plan are available to download. I’ll name a few just to whet your appetite: Coaching Agreement, Questions for a new Client, Data Gathering Tool, Reflective Prompts for a Coach, Coaching Session Planning, Coaching Log, and a Work Plan Template among many more.
Well, now I feel well-armed and ready for a successful coaching experience. I have spent a lot of time pre-planning for my coaching session, so I know that Kaley and I will be able to maximize out time together as we launch into our coaching and learning adventure.
References
Aguilar, Elena. The Art of Coaching : Effective Strategies for School Transformation, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.spu.edu/lib/spu/detail.action?docID=1129778.
Aguilar, E. (2014, May). Effective Coaching by Design. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may14/vol71/num08/Effective-Coaching-by-Design.aspx
Aguilar, E. (2020, April 27). Coaching Tools. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://brightmorningteam.com/coaching-tools/
Connecticut Center for School Change. (2020, July 14). Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://ctschoolchange.org/resources/tools/
DeFors, J. (2017, June 17). Establishing Trust: Transitioning From Teacher to Coach. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://blog.teachboost.com/establishing-trust-transitioning-from-teacher-to-coach
ISTE Standards for Coaches. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-coaches
Knight, J. (n.d.). The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do to Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching. Retrieved November 26, 2020, from https://resources.corwin.com/impactcycle/student-resources/instructional-coaches%E2%80%99-toolkit
