Coaching and the Teacher Shortage

Current teacher shortages suggest educators need supports that are not being provided. The question of how best to retain and improve the effectiveness of inservice teachers is an urgent question.  
 
To provide “supports” for teacher effectiveness, school systems worldwide spend billions of dollars every year on teacher professional development, with a preponderance of less-effective, short-term workshops provided by experts external to the system. However, these one-and-done offerings of externally-imposed professional development do not have enough specificity and power to effect lasting change. More often than not, such training provokes additional stress, adding one more thing to teachers’ exhaustive to-do list.
 
In contrast, instructional coaching and mentoring use insider knowledge and sustained engagement to improve the complex and contextual work of teaching. Changes in instructional practice, and their associated effects on student learning, occur through professional development that is focused at the classroom level. Coaches offer practical support that increases teachers’ motivation and longevity in the profession. They also offer a listening ear and moral support in a professional that can be emotionally challenging.
 
Coaching and mentoring are more effective when differentiated according to individual teachers’ needs. Like their students, teachers benefit when support is personalized. However, most models for coaching are static in nature, tending not to consider how teachers’ needs and capacities change over time. Some research has indicated coaches and mentors do not change their practices over time to adjust to changing needs, and that’s a problem! Professional learning experiences for teachers must pay more attention to teachers’ individual contexts, experiences, and needs.  
 
In my work with teachers, I’ve found that five coaching moves (modeling, recommending, questioning, affirming, and praising) offer the flexibility I need to provide differentiated support. These five coaching moves are striated in the degree of support provided, so coaches can choose approaches tailored to a teachers’ current needs. An experienced teacher may need high levels of support when implementing a new teaching innovation (modeling and recommending), but benefit from reflective questions when using familiar teaching practices. Affirming and praising increase teacher efficacy, giving teachers a needed pat on the back.
 
A coach with explicit understanding of the varied support provided by the five coaching moves will take a differentiated approach to coaching. These moves are illustrated in the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model for Mentoring and Coaching. The GIR model is conceptually simple, supporting coaches’ decision making. In practice, however, each of the five coaching approaches is complex and nuanced.
 
As instructional coaches become more adept at using these five coaching moves, the teachers they work with will benefit. Coaches and mentors support seasoned teachers, offering momentum. Coaches and mentors also support novice teachers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll stay in the profession. Differentiated support provided by mentors and coaches might be one piece of the puzzle for addressing urgent teacher shortages.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Gratitude routines in the classroom:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/routines-for-building-gratitude/
 
 
Elementary school strategies that work in high school:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-elementary-school-strategies-work-high-school
 
 
Read aloud volunteers in middle school:
 
https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/letting-go-of-the-reins-ten-ways-to-host-a-read-aloud-volunteer-in-the-middle-school-classroom-by-brindi-anderson/
 
 
Teaching students to self-monitor their behavior:
 
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/teaching-children-to-check-their-own-behavior/
 
 
Five ways to start a lesson:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/09/14/5-ways-to-start-your-lessons/?utm_source=newsletter20170930/
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During November, you can use the code: NOV2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. 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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