Before joining The Friday Institute, my experience with coaching was limited – or so I thought. As a classroom teacher, I rarely saw myself as a coach to anyone. It was all I could do to keep up with my own thoughts and ideas for designing amazing learning experiences for my kids. When I moved into the school library, my position afforded me the opportunity to work more closely with classroom teachers, pushing me into a role that made me feel more like an instructional coach. While my colleagues earnestly sought my help and eagerly collaborated with me, I was missing the point of being a coach. I viewed coaching as solving people’s problems – leading them to an answer.
Then I was selected to be a part of the second cohort of the NC Digital Leaders Coaching Network. When I began my journey with NCDLCN, I had no idea that a year later I’d be working at FI, facilitating the very experiences I was participating in. NCDLCN helped me to gain a deeper understanding for coaching – not just what a coach is, but the actual act of coaching someone. I left the cohort in June realizing that coaching is participatory, not just for the teacher, but for the coach as well. More than solving problems, a coach helps someone find new understandings about him or herself, and in the case of education, transform teaching and learning as a result of this.
“The art of coaching is doing, thinking, and being: doing a set of actions, holding a set of beliefs, and being in a way that results in those actions leading to change. These are the three things that can make coaching transformational.” (Aguilar, 2013, Location No. 848).
In her book, The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation, Aguilar stresses that coaching leads to transformation. My idea of coaching has redefined itself – my new reality (and the experiences it has afforded me) has led to deeper understanding. Coaching is not evaluative. It is not fixing someone or simply solving a problem. This is very one sided and not often participatory. Coaching is about building relationships, which are vital. And while listening is important and oftentimes necessary, true coaching focuses on teaching and learning, considering what’s best for kids and transforming pedagogy in order to lead to transformation.
A few weeks ago, I read a post by Seth Godin about shared reality and goals. He asserts that in order to get buy in (which is important with any coaching experience), you must be able to sell what you’re actually selling. In order to do this, all parties must agree on the goals, the reality and the measurement. After reading this super short post, I immediately thought about my experiences with coaching, especially those that I’ve recently had through my work at FI.
The Goals
In November, I “met” three teachers who I will be coaching this school year. I spent time contacting them to begin to build a relationship that I hoped would make the coaching process more beneficial. Through a Google Hangout video call, I introduced myself to each of them and explained what the coaching process is in relation to their district vision and mission. And then, I asked each of them about their goals – the things they felt passionately about for their kids and their classroom. Once they were done sharing their goals, I asked them what opportunities they currently have that would further facilitate that transformation? I was amazed by their reflections. Our conversation could have easily focused on outputs – simply what they will do, but through a few simple questions, we moved to outcomes – the difference that they want to make.
The Reality
In coaching, it is so important that their is shared understanding of the reality. Facts are in the evidence, so it’s vital to be able to have a clear understanding of what’s really going on. In building relationships with these three teachers, I simply asked about their reality – prior to stepping foot in their classrooms. I need context, I need to understand what they’re up against everyday and the struggles that they face. And all of this needs to happen before I can start helping them toward their ultimate goal – transforming teaching and learning in their classrooms. In my case, I get very limited time with each of these teachers, so shared reality becomes that much more important.
The Measurement
When working with these teachers, my goal has been to have them define success and for us to work together to get there. After discussing their goals, I asked each of them to define what they think success would look like in relation to that goal. Coaching should be non evaluative, which means it’s important that they participate fully in the idea of measuring success. These conversations will evolve over time as I am able to offer more actionable feedback.
Without a doubt, I am still learning and growing as a coach. But one thing remains, there’s nothing quite like being a tiny part of someone’s journey of transforming teaching in learning for her students.
Aguilar, E. (2013). The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation [Kindle Version]. Retreived from Amazon.com.
Godin, S. (2016, December 28). Shared Reality, Shared Goals [blog post]. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/12/shared-reality-shared-goals.html