Coaching Capacity: Are You Building It?
Let me ask you a question: Are you building coaching capacity in your district?
The research from all the leading educational centers in our country confirms that “sit & get” one-size-fits-all professional development will not improve teacher effectiveness. Borrowing from other fields like sports, performing arts, and wellness, we’ve learned that coaching can make a big difference.
Coaches can empower practitioners to self-reflect, to set clear goals, to establish an accountability framework, and to actually try new approaches. An effective coach sees the potential in each person and fosters confidence in making changes. A powerful coach supports individuals to target one area for improvement and make meaningful progress.
We’d like to help you avoid 3 mistakes we’ve seen districts make when they use Inclusion Coaches.
Mistake #1: Commitment. Becoming a coach is a significant commitment. Sometimes a Principal or District Leader thinks somebody would make a great coach and informs them that they’ve been selected. The newly appointed coach is honored at first for being selected, but then they discover what it means -- the new responsibilities, the new duties, the new learning. If they’ve been “voluntold” about the role without being invited to make that commitment, their push-back comes after we’ve launched.
Mistake #2: Coaching time. Often, (with our current teacher shortage) the local coach has multiple responsibilities and competing priorities. We’ve seen districts select an Autism Specialist or Elementary Special Education Specialist or a school Special Education Coordinator (who runs IEP meetings) or a Math Coach. Any of these could become an effective Inclusion Coach if they have the commitment to learn AND they have protected time to practice coaching.
In sports, a coach can only become proficient if they have time on the field -- giving feedback to the players and getting coaching on their approach from a more experienced coach. The same is true for Inclusion Coaches! They need time in PLC meetings and time to visit classrooms; they need time to meet privately with teachers or teams for coaching sessions.
Mistake #3: Preparation. Let’s face it, being a great teacher is not the same thing as being a coach for other adults. Where do coaches learn the skill sets for effective coaching? Sometimes districts offer a book study or send them to a workshop on coaching. But we know that coaching is like everything else, you’ll become more effective with a coach supporting your growth. Most districts don’t have certified coaches who could provide coaching to the newly appointed coaches.
To support local Inclusion Coaches, we offer our Joyful Inclusion Coaching packages to accompany our Joyful Inclusion courses for teachers. Local school and district coaches access our online modules and participate in Coaching Cadre activities under the empowering eye of our Joyful Inclusion Coach team member. When coaches complete each year of our sequence and have demonstrated evidence of coaching competency, they can earn their Joyful Inclusion Coach Certificates, Levels 1, 2 & 3 along with continuing education hours.
What are you doing to build coaching capacity?
Schedule a Possibility Call with Amy if you’d like to discuss possibilities of working together.
