This is the first #coachbetter episode for season seven of the podcast and Kim highlights 5 key themes that have been percolating to the surface in her work over the past academic year. All of these topics have been a big feature of the in-person work Kim has been doing, our global cohorts of The Coach, and the long term consulting work she does with schools. 

The themes are:

• Maintaining confidentiality (with transparency) in coaching relationships (and the importance of separating coaching from any aspect of evaluation, supervision and appraisal)
• The power of data as a pathway to understanding the impact of coaching
• The importance of case studies & sharing your impact within your school community; and
• Developing a coaching mindset and coachability on staff;
• Finding hope, joy and presence in our work in schools

Kim is sharing these because so many of the coaches that she works with, particularly in our global cohort of The Coach, feel like they are alone in these conversations. They wonder if they are the only one who is thinking about and trying to start conversations about these topics in their school.

If that sounds like you, you are not alone. 

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Show Notes

1: Confidentiality with Transparency

This is a HOT TOPIC right now. In almost every single one of the conversations I had last year, this was the number one thing that administrators and coaches wanted to talk about. We had three cohorts of The Coach running simultaneously last academic year, and this topic was a big conversation starter in each of them.

The cliff notes version is: Both coaches and leaders want to ensure they are supporting the professional growth of the educators in their school community. But something about the word “confidentiality” seems to spark concern that coaching conversations are a secret – coaches are worried they can’t share anything, even if it’s important; and administrators are worried that if they don’t have all the information from coaching conversations they won’t be able to support the educators they serve.

But, we can do both of these things when we think about confidentiality with transparency. Whenever there is a question about what to share, or how to invite coaching opportunities, lean in to transparency. In what ways can you directly ask your coaching partner how they would like to proceed? In what ways can the administrator directly speak to the teacher to invite them into a coaching opportunity (instead of asking the coach)?

Ultimately, coaching and evaluation are two separate things. So when we’re working with administrators, we need to be sure that coaching is separate from appraisal, evaluation and supervision. This is why coaching conversations are confidential – so that they are a safe space to be vulnerable and to take authentic risks. We had a great conversation about this in a previous episode with Sam Olson Wyman & Stefanie Cifuentes that you can dig into after this episode (listen or watch here)

A quote that I have been referencing all year is

“The reason that dual-mission teacher evaluation won’t work resides in human nature. Teachers want to improve their skills. I’ve never met one who didn’t. But teachers also want to keep their jobs. I’ve never met one who didn’t. Realistically, with few exceptions, job-keeping trumps skill-improving.”  (This is from James Popham – see article reference below).

Coaching is an invitation to growth, which means it must be voluntary – you can’t force someone to grow (check out this episode with Ji Han for more on this topic). So when questions about how to engage teachers in coaching come from admin, or when coaches want to share about coaching work with a wider audience; lean in to transparency so that your coaching partners have agency in the process.

There’s a whole QuickTips episode on how to navigate this process coming out this season, it airs in October. So if this is of interest to you, keep your eyes and ears peeled for that episode. 

And if this is a hot topic in your community right now, or an area you would like to grow over this next academic year, please join us for The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program for our 10th annual global cohort!  We dig deep into all aspects of building your coaching practice AND program. In Phase 1 you’ll learn about what makes coaching work (with a focus on confidentiality and the Coach-Principal Partnership). In Phase 2 you’ll get practice at how to keep coaching conversations confidential as you work through the practical skills of coaching conversations and documentation. In Phase 3 you’ll learn about what information to share with your school leaders in units on Measuring Your Impact and Building Momentum Around Coaching. 

You can find out about The Coach (and all of our other courses for coaches) on our website at coachbetter.tv/learn

2: Data as a Pathway to Understanding Impact

Another theme that emerged in our The Coach global cohort and our cohort of Coaches as Leaders is the idea of using data as a pathway to understand the impact of coaching.

As coaches, we know it’s essential that we advocate for coaching – with school leaders and with our potential coaching partners (We have an episode about the ways you’re an informal leader in your role, you can watch or listen here). As informal leaders, we need to consistently be sharing the impact of our work Last season we had a whole episode on how to measure your impact, watch or listen here – in that episode I shared lots of ways you can share about your impact. 

But one thing really has been standing out lately: the stories of our coaching experiences are complex and involve a lot of context. Sometimes when we are engaging in advocacy for our work, it’s too complex to digest, so how can share our impact in a way that is easy to digest, and might even create a little bit of curiosity around the work? How can we consider the ways that we might use data like a teaser or movie trailer to start a more in depth conversation about our work.

We work hard to track our time, to track the type of work we’re doing, to track the impact on teacher and student learning, and one of the ways we can make all of that information a little more easily digestible is through numbers. In one of the private cohorts of The Coach last year, and in our Coaches as Leaders cohort, we had long conversations about how we measure impact, but very few of those coaches were sharing quantitative results with their leadership teams.

Once we started talking about creating something that is quick to see and understand, not only did it help coaches have a better understanding of how they were spending their time and the impact their work was having, but it created great opportunities for conversations with school leaders who became curious about what those numbers mean. This season on the podcast, you’ll hear a case study conversation with Andrew Ranson where he talks about the ways that this change in practice led to a big shift in conversations with his school leaders. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for that one later this year!

And if this is something you’re curious about bringing to your practice this year, especially as an experienced coach who is working to really develop transparency about the impact of coaching, I hope you’ll join us for our third global cohort of Coaches as Leaders in the Spring. In that course we build on the learning from The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program and really dive deeper into the systems and structures that make coaching sustainable over time. One of those areas is really understanding how to collaborate with school leaders so that coaching is more than just the coach – it becomes part of the fabric of the school. 

You can find out about Coaches as Leaders (and all of our other courses for coaches) on our website at coachbetter.tv/learn 

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Show Notes continued…

3: Case Studies

Of course, data isn’t the only way we can share our impact. It is really important to bring coaching to life – especially to help our colleagues see the value in taking time for coaching.

In The Coach Global Cohort this year one of the participants said: “the way that I would be most likely to engage in working with a coach is if I could see case studies from my school setting and how coaching directly impacted student learning”. When I heard that on one of our global cohort calls, it really stuck with me. We have so much research about the value of coaching, and we work so hard to create different opportunities for teachers to see ways they can work with a coach, but sometimes it can be challenging to share actual stories from within the school community. Not everyone wants to be celebrated, not everyone wants their story to be shared. So how can we shift that mindset to one where learning and growth is exciting and something to be proud of?

On a recent AAICIS Community Coaching Call, we talked about sharing the impact of our work, and many of those coaches shared a variety of ways that they highlight the great work of their coaching partners, and one of the themes was inviting the coaching partner to talk about their work – rather than the coach talking about it. If you’ve been around a loooong time, you know that I wrote about concept a long time ago, when I called it SpeedGeeking (back when I was a tech coach). The more ways we can find to not only celebrate the amazing work of our coaching partners, but invite them to share their stories the better.

In that spirit, this season on the podcast you’re going to hear so many case studies! These are stories of coaches and the development of their coaching practice and their coaching program – so you can see what coaching looks like in schools around the world. We have so many amazing educators featured this season, graduates from all of our courses for coaches, especially our academic-year-long program, The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program. If you’ve been curious about that program and what to see who joins, what they learn and accomplish in one year, keep your eyes peeled for those case study episodes! Our first one, in just a few weeks is with Nikki Hume and her coaching partner Amber Shortridge – this is such a powerful story of the true impact coaching can make when educators have authentic goals that a more formal / traditional professional growth plan really doesn’t support. 

Along with Nikki and Amber, you’ll hear the story of:

• Andrea Goodrich, grade 4 classroom teacher working towards becoming a coach
• Angela Mee Lee, early years performing arts specialist also working towards becoming a coach
• Jenn Overstreet, current instructional coach, moving on to a Head of School position
• Ana Cristina Lopez, high school spanish teacher, working towards becoming an instructional coach
• Andrew Ranson, current instructional coach, refining his practice
• Brandon Evers, first year instructional coach, building his skills
• Sarah Tudge, experienced instructional coach, current curriculum coordinator, advocating for coaching in her school setting
• Tina Peiji, experienced instructional coaching working on building a coaching culture

All of these case studies are a wonderful window into the amazing work that these coaches are doing in their setting – and the ways that they are growing into their role.

If you’re curious about any of our courses for coaches, and how they can impact your professional growth, make sure to listen to at least one of these episodes! We have quite a few more from previous seasons if you want to get started today – watch or listen here!

And if you’re ready to get started in one of our global cohorts (just like all of these amazing educators), you can find all of our courses for coaches at coachbetter.tv/learn 

4: A Coaching Mindset

We know that we can’t really build a coaching culture without developing a coaching mindset across the school – with teachers and leaders! When I work with coaches, particularly in The Coach and Coaches as Leaders, we’re talking about how to build a coaching culture (alongside the development of your coaching skills and expertise) because if we don’t have teachers ready to engage in coaching, coaching can struggle to get off the ground – even if the school has hired coaches.

To do this, we have to think about the environment we’re creating for our learners – in this case the educators. We need to create spaces that are inclusive and invitational, and we need to ensure that our school community is a safe space to grow and take risks. Leadership has a huge role in shaping this environment, but we can also work towards building it when we deprivatize coaching. When all educators learn about the skills and practice of coaching, and when we can all embrace a coaching mindset.

The process of coaching – even when it’s coaching light, can help everyone in our community engage in deeper, more meaningful conversations. It can help us create space for thinking and find ways to slow down the increasingly hectic pace of the school year.

Last season on the podcast, I shared a QuickTips episode called the 5 Domains of a Coaching Mindset – this can help you unpack concrete coaching skills that any educator can apply in their work today (with teachers, students and their families). Watch or listen to that episode here.

This season we have several episodes about building a coaching culture through inclusive practices, including one coming up soon with Margaret Park, then another one later in the semester with Reem Labib Tyson, and one with Donna Spangler towards the end of this calendar year. Next semester, we’ll have a case study episode with several members of the Shanghai American School Coaching Team and Assistant Direct of Ed Programs, Scott Williams, and an interview with Fran Prolman. Plus a QuickTips episode with Diana Beabout about what NOT to do when building a coaching culture. All of these explore the ideas of building a coaching culture – and embracing a coaching mindset.

If you want to grow your coaching arms (as my client, Kelly Esposito says – check out her case study episode from last season) you might want to start exploring ways that your colleagues and leaders can embrace a coaching mindset – and of course, we have a global cohort for that too!

Find all of our courses for coaches (and educators) at coachbetter.tv/learn (By the way, Cultivating a Coaching Mindset is a perfect course to do as a team and we offer private cohorts for teams of 9 or more – so you could have your own private cohort of this course for just YOUR teacher on your timeline, whenever you want!). If that sounds interesting, send me a message and we’ll get started!

5: Finding Hope, Joy, and Presence in our work

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that I believe coaching can build a sense of community and belong in our school communities. Because coaching creates a space where all educators feel valued, heard, respected and seen.

In our increasingly stressful, challenging and fast paced environments, we need to feel like we belong – and we need to find ways to feel joy and hope in our work. 

Later this month on the podcast, I speak with Elin Kelsey and Ivy Yan about how we can bring a focus on hope into our school contexts and later this semester, I speak to Reem Labib Tyson about finding joy and novelty in everyday activities – and how we can lead this work as coaches or formal leaders. And a little bit later, I speak to Donna Spangler about the positive impact coaches can have on school culture. Last season, I spoke to Joel Birch about bringing play into our work as coaches; and to Leigh Miller about how coaching can bring joy back into the teaching profession.

I really appreciate the way these episodes thread together to tell the story of how coaches, with the deeply relational work that they do, can have such a positive and profound impact on school culture and environment. When we get lost in the business of our days, I hope we can find ways to re-focus on hope, joy, and presence in the wonderful work that we do for our colleagues and our students.

One of the ways that I find joy is speaking to YOU! So if anything in this episode has resonated with you, sparked an idea or a wondering, please reach out! You can find me on social media at EduroLearning, on LinkedIn as Kim Cofino, or you can reply to any of my email newsletters and let’s start a conversation. 

There are so many exciting ways coaches can have a positive impact in their school communities – and so many ways we can use our coaching skills in many different areas of our lives – let’s look for that joy and hope together!

REFERENCES:

Popham, James W. (March 2013). On Serving Two Masters. Principal Leadership (p. 21).

Ready to Learn More about Instructional Coaching?

If any of these topics sound interesting to you, and you’re ready to take the next step in your coaching journey, let’s work together to make it happen!

There are three key ways we can work together: in a course, in a private mentoring package, or through work directly with your school.

If you’re interested in a course, our global cohorts will help you take the next step in your coaching practice: 

• as an educator or leader ready to learn about a coaching mindset in Cultivating a Coaching mindset, or 
• a brand new or aspiring coach in Getting Started as an Instructional Coach, or 
• a current coach or educator ready to build a thriving coaching program in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program, or as 
• a coach who’s ready to lead in Coaches as Leaders.

Find all the details about all of our courses for coaches at coachbetter.tv/learn and select the course that’s just right for your current experience level.

All of our courses are high-touch, personal support throughout the whole process – with real time global cohort calls and Office Hours to actually have a conversation about your learning!

Global cohorts open once a year – so set your calendar now so you’re ready when the next cohort opens!

Find all the details for each course at coachbetter.tv/learn 

Get started with a free workshop

If you’re not sure which course is right for you, watch one of our free workshops for instructional coaches, designed for your experience level so you can take the next step in your learning right now – and uncover which course is right for you!

To learn more about these options, we have four FREE workshops to share with you today.

Find them at: coachbetter.tv/learn 

Wherever you are in your coaching journey we can support you!

If you’d rather have more personal support, we can do that in a private mentoring package or by working directly with your school. If you’re on my email list, hit reply to any of my emails and let’s start a conversation to see how we can work together to create a thriving coaching culture in your school setting!

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