When I take my three-year-old grandson
home from a visit, his part of the conversation goes something like this: Why are the windshield wipers on? Why is it
raining? Why are we turning this way?
Why are you driving slow? Why are you driving
fast? You get the picture. Clearly, he has learned the power of the word
why.
Although most of us have lost the
incessant curiosity of a three-year-old, as coaches it might be helpful for us
to use the word why more often. When
questions are at the core of our
thinking, we can engage the intellectual curiosity of the teachers we are
working with.
That’s what Andi did when working with
a group of high-school English teachers.
With the ACT test coming up for their juniors, test prep was on their
minds. They had identified grammar
and punctuation rules as an area of need based on previous assessment data and
evidence from student work. A conversation
grew around Andi’s questions: “What is the overall goal you want to achieve
regarding punctuation?” and “Why is it important for them to understand
punctuation or at least how to use it?”
Liz responded that, “They need to know
how to be clear,” and Cherie followed up with, “Well, they need to know how to
write when they go to college.” Andi’s
questions helped teachers extend their focus from a narrow goal of doing well
on the upcoming test to one with broader application.
As they planned a lesson with this
purpose in mind, Andi again asked questions.
When they discussed how students’ Native American cultural heritage
meant that speaking out in class might press against cultural norms, Andi
asked, “By
what other means might they show they understand what you are teaching them
besides answering aloud?” Through
discussion, they ended up planning an effective, interactive lesson where
students worked collaboratively in small groups, moving from station to station
to create sentences with varied structure and punctuation from strips with
words and phrases. Andi’s questions
supported design of a lesson that was culturally appropriate, authentically
purposeful, and highly engaging for students.
Andi’s
questions challenged teachers to find a better way than the worksheets they had
previously used for grammar instruction. Teachers were engaged and intrigued. They had energy for the task because they
were curious. Andi’s
questions encouraged them not only to think, but to rethink what they had done
previously when teaching grammar. Her
questions generated collective learning.
Teachers will give their full effort
when coaches ask questions and challenge them to find answers, rather than when
we tell them what to do. Asking question
shifts the thinking to teachers, creating energy and intelligence. Teachers are interested and immersed in the
work.
As you take up the role of questioner,
be careful not to generate both the questions and the answers. A poor questioner asks only questions he
already knows the answers to. His
questions feel like a test of other people’s knowledge. A good questioner opens a genuine inquiry. Coaches don’t have to spread their
intelligence across both asking questions and finding all the answers. Recognizing that we don’t have to have all
the answers frees us to ask the really hard, thought-provoking questions – the
kind that will lead a teacher or team through rich inquiry.
Asking good questions creates a vacuum
that needs to be filled: there is space between what we know and what we need
to know, what we can currently do and what we need to be able to do. Closing that space requires effort and
action. The positive tension that is
created raises the motivation for figuring it out.
When you ask a question, you may
already have an opinion about the topic.
But bite your tongue and be ready to listen more than you speak. The one who does the talking does the
learning (true in the classroom and in coaching!). When we tell less and ask more, teachers’
contributions may surpass even what they thought they had to give. Being challenged, and rising to that
challenge, is a rewarding experience.
When coaches focus the good minds of
teachers in important inquiry, together we can figure out how to meet students’
needs. Probably the most important role
we can play as coaches is focusing on the right issues and asking the right
questions.
This
week, you might want to take a look at:
3 Ways to More “Aha” Moments in
Coaching:
A
great conversation about dealing with distraction:
A
list of suggestions for establishing positive relationships with parents:
A
podcast on norms that can lead to teacher burnout:
This video about singing in science
(ideas applicable for any subject!):
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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