Source: Image light, Public Domain, http://tinyurl.com/p4pfjr7; Image of paper and pen, Public Domain, http://tinyurl.com/koq4jkl ; Image of thinking bubble, Public Domain, http://tinyurl.com/laefzcc; Image of teacher and students, Public Domain, http://tinyurl.com/khccnek ; Image of coaching, Creative Commons, http://tinyurl.com/nx38cam ; Image of 2 face silhouettes, Public Domain, http://tinyurl.com/mprab43
Welcome to a summary for the unit Apply Coaching Models and Techniques to Improve Professional Practice. Congratulations, you've completed all of the lessons in this unit. In this video, I will be taking you through the concepts that we've covered throughout this unit.
We started off by thinking about why there's a need for coaching, and reflection, and how it's such an important part of learning and growing professionally and personally. We talked about teachers having such a big job and their role as educators to our students being so critical, and we discussed the fact that they can't do it on their own. More and more coaches are being used in this setting to help teachers, give them support, and guide them.
One objective of this unit was to analyze the sociocultural learning theory and its relevance to peer coaching. Lev Vygotsky was such an influential figure in the development of this theory, and we talked about the three main focus areas-- how learning comes from social interaction, the concept of more knowledgeable others-- any person more knowledgeable and experienced guiding another of less expertise-- and finally, the concept of the zone of proximal development and how we want learning to take place here.
The next objective of this unit was to evaluate various coaching models and techniques. All of the models have advantages and disadvantages, and we compared and contrasted the four. When considering instructional coaching models for a school, we talked about how extremely important it is to consider many different diverse elements. We want to make sure that we're determining the model that best fits teachers and the faculty of that environment and school.
The coaching model that's chosen needs to meet every teacher's needs, the goals of the school, and must be a model that has flexibility. There's a process of determining the best fit we should follow, and we discussed that process. The third objective of this unit was to develop observation and feedback tools to utilize in peer-to-peer coaching. We discussed feedback models and the types of feedback.
We discussed the fact that there are three kinds of observation tools that are commonly used by instructional coaches and school leaders, pre-observation tools, an observation form for lesson observations, and an observation tool for our classroom walkthrough. Pre-observation forms are used to help the instructional coach focus on specific areas for improvement during the observation. Lesson observation forms are used by the coach during classroom observations, and the walkthrough observation form may take the form of a checklist with a rating scale or something similar. Walkthrough observation tools may include indicators related to things like classroom engagement, effective classroom management, and more.
The fourth objective of this unit was to implement different coaching models and learn and distinguish between the effects of various techniques using observation and feedback tools. We explored different data collection techniques by Smith and Gardner, tools that can help coaches provide feedback after observations. Running transcripts, tally sheets, grids, and dialogue recordings. We looked at best practices for coaches and teachers, and we determined the best fit for coaching and feedback models in various situations and case studies.
The final objective was to reflect on how to provide coaching. We looked at Hatton and Smith's view on reflection and Pappas' view on reflection. Guiding questions are used in Pappas' model for reflection, and they stem from Bloom's Taxonomy. Hatton and Smith believe that written reflection is very powerful, and they encourage the use of four different strategies-- descriptive writing, descriptive reflection, dialogic reflection, and critical reflection. We looked at what it means to be a reflective teacher, one who goes back and questions, did my students meet their goals and objectives? And they adjust and make improvements as needed.
They also reflect through the entire process of teaching-- lesson planning, preparing instruction, and post-instruction. The objectives in this unit are connected throughout. Once you have the ability to analyze sociocultural learning theory and evaluate coaching models and techniques, you will have the tools you need to develop observation and feedback tools. And then you will have what you need to implement different coaching models, as well as these tools.
Once you have the first four objectives understood fully, you'll have the ability to reflect on coaching, and all of these objectives will lead to better coaching and better teaching. As we are now at the end of this unit, you should be able to answer the following five questions. How can we analyze sociocultural learning theory and its relevance to peer coaching? How can we evaluate various coaching models and techniques? How can we develop observation and feedback tools to utilize in peer-to-peer coaching? How can you implement different coaching models, learn, and distinguish between the effects of various techniques using the observation and feedback tools? And finally, how can we reflect on coaching?
Again, I want to thank you for joining me in this unit, Applying Coaching Models and Techniques to Improve Professional Practice. I hope you've enjoyed these lessons and the concepts that we've discussed, and I truly hope that you're able to apply what we've learned here to your own teaching and coaching.
Overview
(00:00- 00:40) Introduction/Objectives
(00:41- 01:11) Objective 1
(01:12- 01:52) Objective 2
(01:53- 02:41) Objective 3
(02:42- 03:12) Objective 4
(03:13- 03:56) Objective 5
(03:57- 04:27) Connections Between Objectives
(04:28- 05:15) Reflection