It’s
taken me several years to realize it, but one of the important things about the
GIR model for coaching is something that is not there: correcting. Correcting
might seem like a useful strategy when you are helping someone improve their
practice, but it can often backfire, leaving the teacher you are working with
feel unvalued and even disrespected.
This
concept hit home to me this week when I was talking with a novice teacher who
had not
had a good experience with mentoring. The example she gave was with a
simple teaching practice and an extreme situation, but it will serve to
illustrate problems with using correcting as a coaching move.
The
teacher was in a first-grade classroom, using a document camera to read a
picture book. As the story began, the mentor said, “Stop!” and walked up to the
front of the room. She rearranged the teacher’s desk, pointing out that she
needed to be facing the students while using the document camera. The teacher
quickly adjusted her position, refocused students on the book, and resumed
reading.
You
may be saying to yourself, “I would never do anything like that.” This
is, admittedly, an extreme example. But correcting, even when carried out in
contexts more thoughtful and with words less harsh, is still not an effective
coaching move.
In
situations where correcting seems needed, I try to figure out a corresponding,
but more effective, coaching move from the GIR model. Often that move is a
recommendation. A recommendation is
received differently than correction or its close associate, criticizing. For illustration, let’s consider differences
between criticizing and recommending. A criticism in the above example, given
during a debrief conversation, might sound like:
“You
shouldn’t have had your back to students while you used the document camera.”
A
suggestion might sound like:
“You
might want to rearrange your computer desk so that you can see students while you’re
using the document camera.”
Correcting
and criticism are not part of the research-based GIR model. There’s a reason for that: the GIR model grew
from careful study of effective coaches, examining what they did to support
success. Correcting and criticizing don’t show up because they aren’t part of
the repertoire of effective coaches.
Just
like in football, what happens at the receiving end is critically important. If
it’s not caught, even the most beautifully thrown pass does not result in a
touchdown. This principle holds true in coaching: your understanding of expert
instruction will only help improve another teacher’s instruction if the
expertise you offer is received. Recommendations, rather than corrections, will
be more likely to be a game-changer.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
This
blog about what makes a good mentor:
Think
time and collaborative work as tools for learning:
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/independent-and-group-work?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/independent-and-group-work?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest
Busting
myths about differentiated instruction:
Lesson
resources for teaching good grammar:
A
video showing retelling in 1st-grade,
offering students choice:
That’s it for this week. Happy
coaching!
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