Connection, Adaption, Communication

Dr Ray Swann and I were fortunate to be invited to present at the recent Teaching Learning Coaching (TLC) conference in New Orleans, hosted by the Instructional Coaching Group.

With 1300 delegates and keynotes from some of the best coaching minds in the world, I like to think of it as Woodstock for Instructional Coaching nerds like me.

There are far too many great ideas to put into one newsletter, so I’ll summarise my key takeaways from the conference using a frame from the three key themes of Buddhism: Everything is connected, Everything changes, Pay attention.

Everything is connected
A theme from the conference was that any intervention for school improvement needs to be connected to other parts of the school ecosystem. For example, coaching is more effective when it is combined with a playbook or coaching process.

A playbook can be supported by clear curriculum and behaviour standards. Video is more effective when you have leadership support and leaders are more effective when they have coaching skills. It highlighted the importance of seeing a school as a complex ecosystem where each part can be improved to support the other systems.

Everything changes
Schools are constantly in a state of flux. We have new students, teachers and parents every year. Further to this, we must consider changing curriculum and assessment demands, new technology, policies and social climates.

As these change, schools need to constantly adapt and improve. What was best practice five years ago, may not be now. Research findings will be challenged and updated. I found myself thinking that the interventions required vary due to the school culture and context.

Focusing on direct instruction isn’t as helpful if the students aren’t coming to school. Using retrieval practice can wait if you don’t have clear curriculum. This constant state of change makes schools both rewarding and challenging.

Pay attention
Schools need to pay attention to what matters most. This may vary from school to school but paying attention to the way people connect and communicate with each other is essential to an effective school.

This can be done through better conversation skills (Better Conversations: Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected, by Dr Jim Knight) or listening skills (You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters, by Kate Murphy). If we pay attention to how we interact we can create a school where students want to go, where teachers want to teach and where parents feel welcome and valued.

Happy coaching,
Mark