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    Identity Crisis

    External coaches struggle to clarify roles and maintain focus on student learning

    By Learning Forward
    February 2011
    Vol. 32 No. 1
    In a professional learning community, adults learn through focused conversations on teaching practices and teacher learning to support student learning. Teachers in a professional learning community push each other’s thinking and learning about teaching through questioning. While there are multiple opportunities for this critical thinking to occur, it is a process that takes time, commitment, coaching, and facilitation. As external coaches working with professional learning communities, we struggled to define our roles and responsibilities. Through these challenges, we learned about our responsibility to share tools, strategies, and protocols for learning community members to focus conversations on teaching practices and student learning. Further, we uncovered the need for all members to develop shared values and vision. As a result, we have a renewed awareness of critical

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    Authors

    Julie Horwitz, Janice Bradley, and Linda Hoy

    Julie Horwitz (jhortwitz@ric.edu) is assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Rhode Island College in Providence, R.I. Janice Bradley (jbradley@nmsu.edu) is program coordinator at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M. Linda Hoy (hoyl@wnmu.edu) is assistant professor of educational leadership at Western New Mexico University in Gallup, N.M.

    References

    Carlson, M.P., Bowling, S., Moore, K., & Ortiz, A. (2007, October). The role of the facilitator in promoting meaningful discourse among professional learning communities of secondary mathematics and science teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada.

    Costa, A.L. & Garmston, R.J. (1994). Cognitive coaching: A foundation for renaissance schools. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

    Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Digby, A.D. & Gartin, B.C. (1993, September/October). Developing effective university and public school partnerships. The Clearing House, 67(1), 1-4.

    DuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

    Fullan, M. (2000, April). The three stories of educational reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(8),  581-584.

    Hord, S.M. & Sommers, W.A. (2008). Leading professional learning communities: Voices from research and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

    Merriam, S.B. (2001). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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    Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

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