Today
I had the chance to share the GIR model with a group made up mostly of
instructional coaches. Afterward, the one teacher in the crowd came forward
with her story. “I came from a school where coaching was a really negative
thing,” she said. “But now I’m at a school where coaching is positive.” She
continued, “I feel like I could buy into it more if I understood more about coaching.”
Her comment got me thinking: How transparent are we about our coaching? How
transparent should we be?
Honesty
is the best policy, of course. That old adage holds true. I thought about how I’ve
often shared my GIR conferencing form (see below) with the teachers I’m working
with. I thought about how we have sometimes co-planned our work using Sweeney’s
Results-Based Coaching Tool. Teachers have responded positively to being
in-the-know about our goals and the process for our work together. But I couldn’t
help but think of other times when I’ve been less transparent.
I
thought about my work facilitating professional learning for teachers in Haiti.
One of my colleagues had the idea of having teachers chart a list of challenges
they were facing related to student learning, and then having them brainstorm
solutions. She tried it and complained that it didn’t work well. The problems
they wrote down weren’t vexing enough and the group conversation was
unengaging. I asked her whether they knew they were going to be the ones
solving the problems. “Yes,” she said. “I want them to recognize that they can solve
their own problems. I suggested that we try it differently with the next group
of teachers. “Don’t tell them in advance that they will be the ones coming up
with the solutions,” I suggested. When we asked these teachers to list their
challenges, each group charted serious concerns. “Now,” I said, “come up with
two or three possible solutions for each problem.” Their eyes widened. “You
want us
to come up with these solutions?” they asked. “Yes! You are the ones best
suited to solve these problems. You know your kids, you know your contexts, and
you know your resources.” It was challenging work, but they put their minds to
it. Almost every group came up with solutions they felt were viable. Later, a
teacher told me about the shift that happened for him during that exercise,
when he felt empowered to solve the difficult problems before him. Not letting
on at the beginning that they were going to be the ones solving the problems
led to serious questions and serious solutions.
Another
time, I was working with a group of teachers in a very high-pressure context.
Their test scores were low and they were getting new mandates and requirements
every time they turned around. As I began to work with them, I felt the Lesson Study structure
might be a useful approach. But coming in with a template and telling these teachers the
step-by-step process we were going to take to improve student achievement would
not have gone over well. Instead, I listened, listened, listened, and then,
when the time seemed right, tested the waters to see how they felt about step
one of the process. Later, it seemed like step two would work, so I asked them
about it. We proceeded this way through the Lesson Study process, and our work felt
like it was growing organically from the needs we were seeing. Although we
ended up following the Lesson Study procedures pretty nearly as outlined in the
book, taking a more casual approach to introducing these ideas worked better in
this context.
Thinking
about the teacher in my session today, I wonder how much transparency she would
want, and how she would respond to it. How
transparent should we be about our coaching? Take a moment to think about the coaching
climate in your school. Would more transparency make coaching more effective?
With whom? When? Why? Answers to these questions will vary with the work you
are taking up. As is the case with
almost everything in education, “It depends.” As is the case with almost
everything in education, context matters. It matters a great deal.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
An interesting
perspective: Aren’t we all ELLs?
Creating digital citizens:
“Making” poetry before writing it:
Are
parent teacher conferences coming up? A video for students (and teachers!)
about what to say in a conference:
Seeing the world through a child’s
eyes. This website has videos, simulations, and information that help you get
the picture of what it’s like for children who struggle (personalizable by age
and area of need):
That’s it for this week. Happy
Coaching!
No comments:
Post a Comment