When reading for this module, I could easily identify with the different coaching situations mentioned. Coaching can be mandated by districts or administration or it can be requested by the teacher or an accepted part of the school culture. Coaching relationships arise from many different situations and for different reasons, but as Marzano and Simms (2013, p. 211) point out, “in teacher-initiated coaching, the teacher is self-motivated and invested in the change”. I myself, have found this to be true as well, in my training, I was able to offer the training to the entire faculty and allow them to sign up if they were interested. Our first grade teachers had already expressed interest in Google Docs because of standards based report cards. The majority of the faculty signed up for the training, at least one member from each grade level and several grade levels had 100% participation. The fact that everyone who was in the training chose to be there made a huge difference in the participation and motivation during the training. I have included in my follow up survey additional topics the faculty may find relevant so that we may begin to offer this type of training on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. I also found that the fact the training was something the teachers chose to attend, the motivation level was high, even if the skill was low for some of the teachers. From Marzano and Simms (2013) “the motivation level of a teacher is one of the most important elements in determining the success of a coaching relationship”. I found this to be true in that even though I had a wide variety of skillsets in my training, all of the teachers wanted to learn and be able to use what I was showing them, so their motivation was high and they were all successful in being able to complete the activities that I had them to do. I believe overall, coaching can be successful in any situation whether it’s required or requested but I believe the optimal setting is when a teacher, like a player (in sports) wants to be coached almost always achieves a better outcome.
Works Cited:
Instructional Coaching. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/instructional-coaching
Marzano, R., & Simms, J. (2013). Coaching classroom instruction. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.
Thought Partners. (2014, October 6). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://thoughtpartners.blogspot.com/
It definitely makes a huge difference when you are coaching a self-motivated teacher! I also am very lucky that my coaching partnerships are with two colleagues who requested one-on-one technology assistance. I agree that as Marzano and Simms (2013) point out, the teacher initiated coaching system leads to more reflection, practice and growth from the teacher-coachee (p.211).
ReplyDeleteI agree that coaching works much better in the teacher-initiated version. Unfortunately, those teachers who want to learn more are not necessarily the teachers who need coaching most! How to we encourage and engage teachers who are forced to participate or who do not sign up in teacher-initiated cases? I agree that there is a huge difference in participation based on who initiates the coaching. Possibly by making sure that trust is, first and foremost, important and sought after, others will engage in coaching (Marzano & Simms, 2013).
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