At FCI Educate, we are passionate about educator development. We believe that all members of a school community – students, teachers, and leaders – should feel they are on an intentional growth trajectory and have smart coaches and loud cheerleaders behind them every step of the way.
Often, school leaders are the ones whose development is deprioritized under the assumption that there simply isn’t time given other pressing needs, or that there is nothing left for school leaders to learn. But research indicates that couldn’t be further from the truth. School leaders significantly impact student achievement, accounting for 25% of the factors that drive student success, while teachers contribute an additional 33% (Marzano et al., 2005). Without question, building strong leaders who can develop great teachers is crucial to creating successful schools.
That is why we’ve envisioned the next series in our blog to focus on developing school leaders as instructional coaches. Here, we’ll dive into instructional leadership practices by considering two frameworks that great leaders use to develop their teachers: observation-feedback and student work analysis. Our theory of change? Increase leader impact by developing them in these frameworks so they can increase teacher impact in the classroom.
Before diving into these frameworks, leaders need to zoom out, asking themselves foundational questions about coaching at their schools. These questions might sound like:
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- What do I want instructional leadership to mean at my school?
- What enabling structures do I need to create to ensure that type of instructional leadership takes root and thrives?
- How can I ensure that trust and rapport between coach and coachee remain at the forefront of development at my school?
That and more will be in this month’s blog ahead. We look forward to seeing you back here in a few weeks for our next installment, when we’ll dive into observation and feedback!
The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Even within this definition, there can be many types of coaches. The first consideration for a school leader in developing an instructional coaching model is to consider which elements of the different coaching types are right for their school community:
Mentor
A mentor is an experienced individual who offers guidance, advice, and support to a less experienced person (mentee) in their personal or professional development.
Within Coaching: Mentoring often involves a long-term relationship focused on broader personal and career development, while coaching is typically more structured and goal-specific. Powerful coaching relationships can turn into mentoring relationships.
Consultant/Advisor
A consultant provides expert advice and solutions to organizations or individuals in a specific area of expertise.
Within Coaching: Consultants offer expert knowledge and solutions through direct answers and strategies, while coaching can also focus more on helping clients discover their own solutions and build skills. Typically, the balance is dependent on coachee experience and skill.
Therapist/Counselor
Therapists or counselors help individuals address and resolve psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues through various therapeutic techniques.
Within Coaching: Coaching and therapy/counseling both support personal growth. However, therapy typically deals with healing from past issues and managing mental health, whereas coaching is more future-focused, aiming to improve performance and achieve goals. A coach must be attuned to and responsive to the coachee’s emotions while remaining clear that they are not the person’s therapist.
Manager
A manager oversees and directs a team or organization to achieve specific objectives, often involving planning, organizing, and coordinating resources.
Within Coaching: In addition to developing skills, a manager has authority and responsibility for outcomes. Often, this means leading one’s annual review cycle, which can impact employment structures like placement and pay.
Being mindful of the different roles and how you navigate them in the coaching space will help you build the conditions for trust and vulnerability, resulting in maximized learning.
Enabling Structures
Being intentional about expectations and use of time will increase a coach’s effectiveness. Here are some of the enabling structures that keep coaching time sacred, efficient, and effective:
- One-on-One Meetings: Coaching requires a processing space. To effectively coach, it is important to establish a scheduled time that will remain consistent and frequent. Having a meeting space of 30-60 minutes at a regular cadence is ideal. Recommended frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly.
- Observations: Seeing a mentee’s work in action is pivotal. It makes one-on-one conversations richer in content and based on reality instead of theory. We recommend observations happen soon after a one-on-one meeting to ensure that action steps are actualized and to identify subsequent focus areas.
- Progress Tracking Tool: Identify a platform or system to track the progress of goals and coaching initiatives. A lot happens in schools daily; a tracking tool will help everyone stay accountable to next steps. Recommended progress monitoring tools for educators: Teach Boost, School Mint Grow, KickUp, or a simple Google sheet.
- Norms: Clear working expectations between the instructional coach and the educator help ensure effective communication and optimal learning. There should be universal expectations for how coaches deliver feedback, how staff receives it, and how practice is executed – along with any prework for both coach and coachee to complete before meetings.
Focusing energy in these areas upfront will create alignment that drives teacher development and, ultimately, student growth.
Building Trust & Rapport
The Iceberg Theory of Leadership proposes that individuals show up every day in their lives and as educators based on life experiences. Coaches should invest time in understanding their coachee’s life background, educational experience, career experience, goals for the current year, and aspirations for the future. Getting information on these categories early will help develop a learning space that centers the coachee’s specific aspirations and motivations, which, research tells us, can have a profound effect on learning.
Have A Framework
Once you are clear on the role of coaches, and have either enacted or have a plan to enact your enabling structures, it is time to get into the coaching itself. Congratulations! This is where the fun lies, as helping to build your team is both challenging and hugely rewarding. In our next installments, we’ll dive into coaching frameworks that will help you bring clarity, consistency, and impact to your coaching and your school. We can’t wait to see you back!
If you’re interested in learning more, these are books you can explore to enhance your instructional coaching:
Once you are clear on the role of coaches, and have either enacted or have a plan to enact your enabling structures, it is time to get into the coaching itself. Congratulations! This is where the fun lies, as helping to build your team is both challenging and hugely rewarding. In our next installments, we’ll dive into coaching frameworks that will help you bring clarity, consistency, and impact to your coaching and your school. We can’t wait to see you back!
If you’re interested in learning more, these are books you can explore to enhance your instructional coaching:
Overview: This framework emphasizes the development of teachers’ cognitive processes, helping them become more reflective and self-directed in their practice.
Overview: Elena Aguilar’s framework is holistic, addressing not only instructional strategies but also the emotional and psychological aspects of coaching.
Overview: While originally developed for business coaching, the GROW model is widely applicable to instructional coaching. It provides a simple, structured way to guide conversations and goal-setting.
Overview: Another framework by Elena Aguilar, this one specifically focuses on coaching for equity in education, addressing systemic inequities, and promoting inclusive practices.