Effective instructional coaching involves more than sharing good ideas, tips, and tricks and helping teachers to shift their practices to improve instruction and lift learning. These actions are foundational elements of instructional coaching, certainly, but the most effective instructional coaches help teachers become their own best teachers—and by extension, their own best coaches.
We might think of instructional coaching as comprising three levels: average, good, and exceptional. Average coaching transfers information and answers from the coach to the teacher. This level of support can be helpful, but it does not develop capacity or independence. Good coaching develops skills and techniques. Access to a wider array of instructional options and more effective approaches adds value and can make teaching more effective, but the coaching relationship remains largely dependent on the coach as the source of improvement. Exceptional coaching develops wisdom, insight, and professional judgment. Coaching at this level makes the coach less necessary over time as teachers become accomplished reflectors, skilled problem solvers, and designers of their own next steps and growth.
Of course, coaching relationships vary, teacher readiness and goals differ, and other factors and constraints can limit the impact of instructional coaching. Yet the possibility of coaching teachers to become their own best teachers (and coaches) is compelling, and one to which most instructional coaches aspire. The question is: What attitudes and actions can make this level of impact possible? Here are six elements of high-impact, capacity-building practice to examine:
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Protect and build teacher agency. Teacher confidence, independence, and resilience depend on teachers’ belief in themselves, their ability to have an impact, and their potential to grow and become even more effective. Offering options rather than direction, giving teachers choices, and respecting teachers’ decisions are key elements in protecting and building agency. Ownership is a crucial factor in teacher change and growth.
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Rely on evidence over opinion. Evidence can be a neutral voice in conversations about practices and possibilities. Opinions may be interesting, but evidence can offer insight and suggest options to consider and try. Helping teachers notice, collect, and use evidence empowers them to be independent, sort effective from ineffective practices, and make changes that positively impact learning.
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Focus on a few high-leverage practices. Coaches may be tempted to over-identify areas for improvement, assuming that identifying multiple items proves their potential to help. Like students who receive too much feedback, teachers can become overwhelmed and unable to commit to any significant change. On the other hand, focusing on a few high-leverage areas for change allows for deeper examination, better understanding, and stronger improvement strategies. Teachers not only see better results but are also more likely to understand and apply similar improvement processes on their own.
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Define success with learning. Focusing on how students respond to instructional strategies and experiences can sidestep arguments about personal preferences and habits. Discussing and examining evidence of student learning and how we know they learned keeps the conversation centered on what matters rather than what is comfortable. Teachers may like a particular activity, and students may appear engaged, but genuine learning is what matters most.
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Build capacity rather than dependence. Like scaffolding of student learning, coaches need to gradually remove supports that are no longer necessary and allow teachers to experience growing independence. As teachers can diagnose, design, experiment, reflect, and adjust on their own, exceptional coaches step back, provide space, and monitor rather than directly coach and guide.
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Follow up and follow through. Even though teachers may have developed a more robust skill set, gained new insight and judgment, and are better able to learn on their own, they still usually benefit from check-ins and ongoing support. Knowing the coach remains interested and supportive and is ready to step up and help when invited can reassure teachers and give them the courage to keep stretching and growing, even though they no longer need an immediate safety net.
Instructional coaches must respond to the readiness and goals of teachers they coach. However, building skills and nurturing independence needs to always be on their agenda. Coaching as an investment of the teacher’s and coach’s time pays when teachers become less dependent on the coach and begin to see themselves as their own best teachers.
