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Collegial Coaching Reflections

Collegial Coaching: Making Things Better Not Easier

Kaley White

LTDE 5330

Houston Baptist University

Education has long been a field marked by growth. From the students that are taught. to

the teachers that deliver content, to the administration that shoulder the weight of hard decisions,

all members of the education system are fueled by a common purpose: to see growth and to help

ensure success. In today’s culture, technology has become a requirement to ensure progress.

Technological integration has become mandatory to the overall growth and success of today’s

students. No longer are teachers preparing students for a paper-based workforce but one that is

deeply rooted in technologic skills and advancement. However, are all teachers fully equipped

and comfortable for this responsibility? For many teachers the answer is, no. They have been

teaching for years and today’s technology can be seen as new, unreliable and sometimes

unnecessary. To content-specific and veteran teachers alike, integrating technology can become

an overwhelming, frustrating and unclear process within their teaching. It is something they

understand is required yet seems daunting to start. This is where the need for Educational

Coaching begins. When used effectively, Educational Coaching can be used to strengthen and

developed teachers’ own sense of confidence within technological use in the classroom so that

they can in turn better equip and teach their students. Educational Coaching can be an effective

tool to empower teachers to try new techniques, plan cross-curricular units, and engage their

students in a new way. Educational Coaching gives teachers an advocate and a safe place to

become students once again.

Collegial Coaching can be defined as many different things and serve many different

purposes. Teachers, administration and students alike would all provide a different explanation

for the role and responsibly of a collegial coach. However, Elena Aguilar defines coaching as “a

process that can move a person from where he is to where he wants to be. A coach needs to

‘enroll a teacher’…. A teacher has to want it…. Once the teacher has been enrolled, the coaches
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should help her determine goals for her practice…” (2011). Coaching is more than providing a

workshop or being a teacher’s cheerleader; rather, it is helping a teacher set a goal, learn new

skills to help achieve the goal, provide feedback, help adjust, and support them in their process

of achieving their goal. Sonia Wang describes coaching as the “space for teachers to transfer

their learning from the workshop [professional development] to their own classroom with the

support of their coach” (2017). From my experience coaching this semester, the colleagues that I

worked with knew of the tool they wanted to integrate but needed the support to implement jt

effectively within their own classroom. Within coaching there is a shift from knowing about a

tool to effectively implementing and using it for the benefit of their classroom community.

Additionally, Collegial Coaching is personable, intentional and sometimes time

consuming. The purpose of coaching is not to make a teacher’s job easier but to make them

better. Gill, Kostiw, and Stone hold the view that “coaching addresses key principles of effective

professional learning by being evidence-informed and sensitive to the context of the teacher’s

work” (2010). Coaching is not a one-size-fits-all model. Rather it is individualized and custom

made to the individual needs of the teacher and their professional goals. Within the realm of

educational technology integration, to better further students’ usage, you must first understand

and assess the competency and confidence of the teacher. Isha DeCoito and Tasha Richardson

understood that “technology cannot be effective in the classroom without teachers who are

knowledgeable about both the technology itself and its implementation to meet educational

goals. While technology use in the classroom is increasing, improving learning through its

application should remain the goal” (2018). Collegial Coaching within the realm of technology is

not just about getting teachers to use more technology within the classroom. Rather it is about

formulating a plan, providing the training, and helping teachers implement technology in a
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methodical way that provides students with a richer understanding of the course content.

Through a multiple case study, “researchers argue that technology PD [professional

development] may have considerable influence on teachers’ technology integration practices

which can be directly related to improving student learning outcomes” (Evans, 2019). When

Collegial Coaching is in place, teachers have the support and space they need to not only learn a

new technological skill but also implement it in a way that benefits their students and their

learning goals. Collegial Coaching does not make a teacher’s job easier, but it is a process in

which a teacher is able to get better at meeting the needs of their students and improving their

own technological skillsets.

Throughout my coaching experience this semester, I have learned that coaching is not

about lightening the load of my colleagues, rather it is about being intentional in helping them

grow their own skillsets for the sake of their teaching and student’s academic growth. As a

teacher at an inner-city private school that serves students in Pre-Kindergarten to 8th grade, we

have a vast variety of technological needs. I was able to work with two teachers to enhance their

technological knowledge to better their in-class instruction and planning.

Our fourth-grade math teacher has been teaching for over fifteen years. He is well

experience in his curricular area but continues to grow in his comfort level in implementing

technology within our new math program, Math in Focus. This teacher has faced the challenge of

implementing a new math curriculum and implementing new technology throughout this

academic year. At the beginning of the coaching process, he focused on implemented technology

to review content materials as his overall goal. We chose to work together to develop a way to

gamify his math review lessons to increase students’ engagement and provide additional

reinforcement to the content before the end of unit assessment. My time with the fourth-grade
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Collegial Coaching Reflections

math teacher was spent planning different technological tools we could use, determining what

unit of study would be most effective to implement this new strategy, and modeling. The most

effective strategy within this coaching process was modeling the use of technology for him and

then observing his implementation. The use of modeling increased his confidence in using new

technology, provided a way for him to see how it was effective and gain insight into the usability

of the tool before having to do it himself. After implementing “Kahoot!” to reinforce students

understanding of angles and line segments, the fourth-grade math teacher saw overall benefits to

gamifying his math curriculum and saw how the questions used and the tools implemented

provided a review for previously taught information, but also provided foundational knowledge

for their next unit of study. Overall, it was an effective coaching process as the teacher now feels

confident to use a new tool within his classroom, and the average student was able to answer the

test questions with 80% accuracy.

The second teacher I coached was the fourth-grade social studies teacher whose goal was

to long-term plan for the following school year before she was on maternity leave. The issue she

was facing was how to create long-term plans without knowing all the details of the coming year.

As a solution, we chose to make the beginning year unit of study, American Symbols, a project-

based unit. We worked to transform the unit in which students will spend several weeks

researching American symbols, creating a digital presentation for it, and then creating their own

symbol as well. Students will work with the school Librarian, STEAM teacher as well as the

Technology Coordinator to implement and utilize new technologies within this project.

Throughout this process, we were able to transform a typically teacher-led unit into a hands-on,

student-led digital project that allows students the opportunity to explore and integrate a variety

of tools to deepen their understanding of American Symbols. Students then can apply their
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knowledge in creating their own symbol that is meaningful for them. Throughout this coaching

process, I was able to help support and guide the Social Studies teacher into evaluating and re-

structuring a yearly unit and revive it so that her students are valuable stakeholders within their

own education.

In both coaching scenarios, it took a lot of time, communication, planning and

collaborating to find solutions to each of their goals. Each of my colleagues took the time and

care to invest in their goals and were able to see the progress made at the end of the seven weeks.

Overall, both of my colleagues had a positive experience and were thankful for the opportunity

to think critically and enhance things they already do in their classrooms. It was a process of

questioning, seeking solutions, trying new methodologies, evaluating the effects, and reflecting

upon the process. At the end of the process results showed an increase in student comprehension

and the creation of a student-centered project.

Overall, Collegial Coaching is a process of bettering the skills and methodologies of

teachers. It is not a process to make teacher’s jobs easier, but rather to make them more effective

and influential. Collegial Coaching is more than a professional development that simply presents

a new skill, platform or idea. Rather, it is a safe place, and coaches become think-partners to help

teachers develop and hone their craft as they try new things, reflect upon their learning and

explore areas of opportunity. Collegial Coaching is not a one-size-fits-all model, but an

intentional and purposeful relationship created for personal and student growth. For coaching to

be effective, it is important for educators to remember that it is a process that require time and

patience. For effective change to take place, coaches and coachees alike must be willing to

dedicate the time necessary to explore and engage in new thinking, learning and practices.
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Through my experience and through a variety of research, Collegial Coaching is an

effective practice to implement within school, but requires the time, buy-in and clear expectation

that it is a gradual learning process that is dependent upon teachers’ professional growth.

Collegial Coaching empowers individual teachers to make lasting and systemic change within

their own classroom environments.

References

Aguilar, E. (2021, February 19). Coaching teachers: What you need to know (opinion).
Education Week. Retrieved May 8, 2022, from
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-coaching-teachers-what-you-need-to-
know/2011/02.

DeCoito, I. & Richardson, T. (2018). Teachers and Technology: Present Practice and Future
Directions. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 18(2), 362-378.
Waynesville, NC USA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher
Education. Retrieved May 8, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/180395/.

Evans, J. (2019). Digital learning: peril or promise for our K-12 students. Project Tomorrow.
https://tomorrow.org/Speakup/downlaods/2018_19-Speak-Up-National-Congressional-
Briefing-Paper.pdf.

Gill, J., Kostiw, N. & Stone, S (2010). Coaching teachers in effective instruction: a Victorian
perspective. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 18(2), 49-53.
https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.182990

Wang, S. (2017). "Teacher Centered Coaching": An Instructional Coaching Model. Mid-Western