This
week, I was talking with a group of teachers about the constraining practices they
are being asked to use – scripted, whole-class phonics instruction that doesn’t
account for the individual differences of their first graders – some of whom
read abundantly and others who cannot yet name all of the letters. I heard myself whispering the words, “Close
your door and teach.” While this seemed,
in some ways, to be an appropriate response to the situation, I realized at
once how hypocritical I was being. Isn’t
coaching, after all, about opening our doors?
There
is so much value in going public with our practice. When we open our doors, we see teaching as a
professional interaction, not a solitary exercise. Sharing our practice can have an immediate, productive
impact on pedagogy. As we open our doors
and teach, and then reflect with others, we learn through the complexity and
messiness of our real context. As we
talk with another, we think about what has occurred in ways that haven’t
happened until we put it into words. We
see the work differently.
Coaching
stimulates professional conversations about teaching and learning. It gives us
the opportunity for feedback and analysis.
Coaching treats teachers as professionals and empowers them to work on
their craft. At its best, coaching empowers
teachers and boosts the professionalism of teaching.
Classrooms
are data-rich spaces, and coaches help teachers evaluate practice in the midst
of these spaces. Coaches support teachers
to take risks, and coaching reinforces the notion that we are all working
toward the same goals of improved student learning.
Having
given this some thought, what will I say when I next meet with this team of knowledgeable,
but manacled, teachers? I want to
support them to teach flexibly to meet the incredibly varied needs of their
students. I want to help them collect
data about these differences, and show that some students just don’t need the
script, and others aren’t ready for it.
I want to give them the professional voice to open their doors and teach
proudly, teach confidently, teach in the ways their rich experience (and
knowledge of research in the field) prescribes, not in the ways prescribed by
an off-the-shelf manual.
I
hope most coaches are in a position to advocate for best practices. I hope most administrators listen to not only
those in the hierarchy but those in the classrooms. I hope we can all do what is in the best interest
of children.
This week, you
might want to take a look at:
During
coaching, seek first to understand:
Dealing
with students’ uncomfortable writing topics:
How
to cultivate student-generated questions:
Involving
students in feedback (this works for older students, too!):
Every
teacher needs a mentor:
That’s it for
this week. Happy Coaching!
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