Coaching in Complexity

Teaching and coaching are complex acts. That’s because our work is with humans, and each is unique. Some professionals work with computers or other equipment, which tend to respond in consistent and predictable ways. Humans, however, are inconsistent and unpredictable. We are spontaneous, whimsical, and variable. That makes teaching and coaching both joyful and challenging!

Adam Grant said, “The complexity of reality can seem like an inconvenient truth."* In teaching, the reality of teaching complexity may be masked by scripted curricula that expect uniformity. But the real work of teaching is seeing students one-by-one. That’s hard to do when they come 30 at a time, but possible, if teachers are open to the complexity.

The Complexity of Teaching
 

Teaching can be an enormously rewarding activity and an enormously challenging one. It can also be an activity that calls upon all of our mental faculties, an enormous intellectual experience. A high-school teacher may find their content mentally engaging; a kindergarten teacher may not be challenged by the simple mathematical knowledge his students are acquiring, but the pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge necessary for optimal learning are immense.

Teaching is a complex, contextualized activity requiring multi-factor decision-making. Planning an effective lesson requires understanding; adjusting that plan appropriately as the lesson unfolds requires insight and flexibility. Because Instruction and learning are complicated, it isn’t possible to have a pre-packaged description of how to respond in every situation. The nuances of moment-by-moment instructional decision-making offer opportunities to enact a vision for effective instruction.

Teaching is complex and messy because teachers and students are unique. There will never be a perfect lesson plan or a perfectly-taught lesson. Teaching is improvable, but not perfectible because classrooms are complex contexts. Improvement in the complicated work of student learning occurs only when teachers are empowered to discover and discern. Privileging examination of teachers’ own practice as a way to improve instruction values teachers and teaching and the work they do every day.

The Complexity of Coaching

Because classrooms and schools are complex, coaches can’t provide lessons that can be lifted and used “as is” in the classroom. They can’t provide one-size-fits-all solutions to gnarly problems. Instead, coaches provide guidance for developing best practices and for maintaining a stance of flexibility and responsiveness. Instructional coaching improves the complex and contextual work of teaching through sustained engagement that uses and grows insider expertise. Coaching provides a space for teachers to unpack experiences and think about both the observable and the inner work of teaching.

Coaching includes considerations about teaching, learning, relationships, and the change process. Successful coaches adjust based on the complexity and difficulty of the task, as well as teachers’ experience. The Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) model, pictured below, provides a vision for differentiating coaching work. The GIR model is conceptually simple. In practice, however, each of the five coaching approaches is complex and nuanced.

When coaches model (the most supportive GIR coaching move), teachers observe real students in the complex chemistry of a classroom. They are freed from the ongoing, intensive brainwork of teaching and can give their energy to watching and listening. They can notice the nuances of student and teacher actions and interactions, allowing them the freedom to consider both teacher and student responses in a way that would have been difficult had they been the one teaching the lesson. Coaches and teachers dissect these intricacies together through conversations before and after the observation.

Whether it is the coach or the teacher who has taught a lesson, a post-observation conversation can be anchored in observations that are objective and specific, revealing nuances of practice that enhance teachers’ learning.

To promote learning, coaches model decision-making, elicit teachers’ thinking, encourage inquiry, guide teachers to focus on evidence of student learning, and support reflection. By bringing focus to complex, open-ended pedagogical issues, coaches position teachers to inquire and learn.

Because of the complexity of the learning process, teachers may benefit when coaches make specific recommendations about how instruction should change over time to support students’ development. Our precise questions can invite precise responses and express our genuine curiosity about the complexity of teaching.

Coaches also offer guidance through affirmation and praise. Practices that teachers know are working become polar stars to help them navigate the demands of their classrooms.

Growth, Not Perfection
 
As coaches and teachers unpack the complexities of instruction, Insight and power are gained by working together. We can adjust and apply what we learn about teaching and coaching in varied and unique situations. In complex, real-world circumstances, answers do not come neatly packaged; knowledge and skills are insufficient. When confronted with new challenges and contexts, insight guides effective response. This includes how we respond as coaches to our own complex work.

Recognizing complexity, we know there is no quick fix that is true for every classroom or coaching quandary. No one will every know all there is to know about either. No one will do it perfectly. But there’s some free-ness I knowing that you’ll never know it all, that you’ll never do it perfectly. We just jump in and give it our best go. And then we reflect and learn something from the experience, and maybe we’ll do it a little better the next time around – or maybe not. Because teaching and coaching are complex. No two days, no two students, no two teachers are ever the same. Hopefully, that variability will keep us coming back for more!  

*In Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
How poetry can build emotional intelligence (April is National Poetry Month!):

 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-poetry-supports-sel-elementary-school/


Having a tight focus (one or two school-wide initiatives) supports growth:
 
https://www.gettingsmart.com/2024/01/09/go-fast-to-go-slow-change-through-focus/


Teaching English vocabulary in context:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/learning-vocabulary-in-context-with-english-language-learners/


Vocabulary in science instruction:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seUEzVl0nYg


The importance of student reflection on writing:
 
http://www.middleweb.com/33170/why-student-reflection-should-never-be-skipped/

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! TODAY you can still use the code: MAR2024 for 20% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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