Today
at #ILA2016, I attended #EdCampLiteracy and had a chance to sit
around a table with instructional coaches from all around the
country. The very first topic posed for discussion was how to work
with reluctant teachers. This was the topic of my post last week, but
the ideas shared today are worth passing along.
“It's
all about power,” one experienced coach explained, when thinking
about how to open the doors of resistant teachers. Her comment
reminded me of what research tells us about motivation: Control
and choice are important motivators. Your position as a coach
may be viewed as a position of power. Teachers are often used to
being the ones in control, so threats to that control by someone they
consider to be in a position of power may be unwelcome. To soften
this tension, find ways to offer choice. Create invitations for
coaching that put control in the hands of teacher. Offer choices
about where and when you will meet and the topics you'll address.
Don't go in with a lock-step plan in place. Be ready to explore a
topic from the teacher's point of view. It can be hard to lay aside
our tried-and-true approaches and explore new ideas alongside a
teacher, but such an approach may be the inroad you need to work with
a teacher who hasn't been open to coaching.
Another
big idea that surfaced during the EdCamp conversation about working
with reluctant teachers is the idea of vulnerability.
Teachers' reluctance to work with a coach may come from feelings of
vulnerability. Being open about their practice – about their
challenges as well as their successes – may be uncomfortable and anxiety-producing! If
you sense this feeling may underlie a teacher's reluctance toward
coaching, you may be able to shift the tides by making yourself
vulnerable. If you model a lesson, for example, point out both before
and after that you know there is always room for improvement. Talk
about mistakes of judgment you make in the moment or things you would
have done differently. You don't have to be self-deprecating or
insincere – just open and honest. Posting a video of you teaching a
less-than-perfect lesson, with you coaching yourself as a voice-over,
is another way to show that you are willing to be open as well and
that perfection isn't expected.
During
our conversation around the table today we also talked about heavy
coaching vs. light coaching. While I agree with Joellen Killion
that relationships can be built through heavy coaching
that focuses on student learning and probes for specificity and depth of
thinking, some circumstances benefit from a lighter entry. The kinds
of things districts often put on the list of things they don't want
coaches to do (make copies, grade papers, etc.) may be the ticket in
the door for that difficult-to-convert teacher. The best coaching
decision I ever made was to stop and help with a bulletin board that
was hastily being put up just before a surprise visit by the
assistant superintendent. That gesture of help towards the
highly-stressed teachers in this turn-around school dramatically
changed the dynamic of our interactions.
Hopefully
all of the teachers within your circle of influence will eventually
be requesting to work with you. For those who start out dragging
their feet, however, be real. Be open, be vulnerable, give the power
to them, and relate as a colleague.
This
week, you might want to take a look at:
Pinterest
ideas for organizing the classroom:
This
video with ideas for classroom lab visits to encourage thinking
deeply about practice:
Two
podcasts about what it's like to be an instructional coach (scroll
down for the audio):
Why
reading matters (a great post to share with parents):
Argumentative
writing ideas for social studies:
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