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The Value of Coaching

Collaborative relationships spur professional growth

By Grace Y. Kang
Categories: Coaching
October 2016
Vol. 37 No. 5
Claire Gibbons and Noelle Taylor are friends. They meet regularly, share common interests, work on projects together, and hold similar goals. Not only are they friends, they are also colleagues who teach together: Gibbons is a literacy coach, and Taylor is a 3rd-grade teacher. Usually they collaborate on literacy once a week, often meeting in Gibbons’ office, but, at times, these collaborative sessions take place in the school hallways or even on a Saturday over lunch at a local restaurant. Teachers don’t simply want resources given to them. They often seek out relationships from more knowledgeable or experienced colleagues to ask advice, model lessons, or start an inquiry group. Establishing relationships within collaboration is essential for learning and knowledge development (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Methods

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Authors

Grace Y. Kang

Grace Y. Kang (gykang@ilstu.edu) is an assistant professor in literacy at Illinois State University, Bloomington-Normal.

The following is original research that practitioners may find useful in exploring coach-teacher relationships.

Valued tenets in open collaboration

Relationship capital: The quality of interpersonal connections and relationships is integral to the collaboration.

Reciprocal/co-planned: All participants create goals and content of sessions.

Constructed/organic: Authentic meaning making occurs when participants create appropriate lessons, sessions, and units for the situation.

Job-embedded/sustained: On-the-job learning opportunities are contextualized and apply throughout the school day.

References

Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3-15.

Hawley, D.W. & Valli, L. (1999). The essentials of effective professional development. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 127-150). San Franciso, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (2002). Student achievement through staff development (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Parise, L.M. & Spillane J.P. (2010). Teacher learning and instructional change: How formal and on-the-job learning opportunities predict change in elementary school teachers’ practice. The Elementary School Journal, 110(3), 323-346.

Putnam, R.T. & Borko, H. (2000). What do new views of knowledge and thinking have to say about research on teacher learning? Educational Researcher, 29(1), 4-15.

Vanderburg, M. & Stephens, D. (2010). The impact of literacy coaches: What teachers value and how teachers change. Elementary School Journal, 111(1), 141-163.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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