Synopses & Reviews
The Art of Coaching offers all the tools necessary for professionals who coach educators. It demystifies the process of coaching with easy-to-apply, immediately actionable ideas. Elena Aguilar offers a model for transformational coaching designed for new and veteran coaches, teacher leaders, mentors, principals, and other administrators.
This comprehensive research and practice-based guide covers how to create a coaching vision, build trust, listen well, ask powerful questions, and develop a work plan. It also addresses coaching conversations and describes dozens of coaching activities to develop an educator's practice. The Art of Coaching highlights common challenges followed by creative solutions. It's filled with numerous practical tools: rubrics, cheat sheets, and coaching sentence stems. The concluding section on professional development is geared for coaches and those who supervise them. The website, www.elenaaguilar.com, provides a wealth of additional tools and tips.
Praise for The Art of Coaching
"This book challenges coaches to be fully intentional—with equal doses of care and rigor."
—Lynda Tredway, Independent Leadership Coach, Washington D.C. and former coordinator, Principal Leadership Institute, U.C. Berkeley
"Elena Aguilar knows how to foster the bravery and humility teachers must have to transform their practices. Her methods will help coaches become the trusted, supportive forces we need in our teaching lives."
—Ariel Sacks, teacher leader and education writer, Brooklyn, New York
"To produce drastic gains in the academic achievement levels of our students we need the strongest, most prepared teachers. The Art of Coaching provides concrete, actionable steps to move teachers along the continuum of excellence to meet this challenge head on."
—Heather Lechner, turnaround school leader, New Orleans, Louisiana
"In this book, Aguilar masterfully covers the theory of coaching and offers much wise and practical advice brought to life through engaging stories from her experience."
—Elizabeth R. Simons, PhD, school coach, Berkeley, California
Synopsis
Hands-on resources for new and seasoned school coachesThis practical resource offers the foundational skills and tools needed by new coaching educators, as well as presenting an overview of the knowledge and theory base behind the practice. Established coaches will find numerous ways to deepen and refine their coaching practice. Principals and others who incorporate coaching strategies into their work will also find a wealth of resources.
Aguilar offers a model for transformational coaching which could be implemented as professional development in schools or districts anywhere. Although she addresses the needs of adult learners, her model maintains a student-centered focus, with a specific lens on addressing equity issues in schools.
- Offers a practical resource for school coaches, principals, district leaders, and other administrators
- Presents a transformational coaching model which addresses systems change
- Pays explicit attention to surfacing and interrupting inequities in schools
The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation offers a compendium of school coaching ideas, the book's explicit, user-friendly structure enhances the ability to access the information.
About the Author
Elena Aguilar is an instructional and leadership coach in the Oakland Unified School District. Elena writes about education for Edutopia and for Education Week's Teacher Magazine, and is also a member of the Teacher Leaders Network.
Table of Contents
Introduction xi
PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF COACHING 1
Chapter 1: How Can Coaching Transform Schools? 3
Chapter 2: What Is Coaching? 17
Chapter 3: Which Beliefs Help a Coach Be More Effective? 33
Chapter 4: What Must a Coach Know? 45
PART TWO: ESTABLISHING COACHING WITH A CLIENT 73
Chapter 5: Beginning a Coaching Relationship: How Do I Develop
Chapter 6: The Exploration Stage: What Do I Need to Know at the Outset? 97
Chapter 7: Developing a Work Plan: How Do I Determine What to Do? 119
PART THREE: THE COACHING DANCE 145
Chapter 8: Listening and Questioning 147
Chapter 9: Facilitative Coaching Conversations 163
Chapter 10: Facilitative Coaching Activities 175
Chapter 11: Directive Coaching Conversations 195
Chapter 12: Directive Coaching Activities 211
Chapter 13: Technical Tips and Habits of Mind 231
Chapter 14: Reflection and Assessment: What’s Next? 247
PART FOUR: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR COACHES 265
Chapter 15: What Is Professional Development for Coaches? 267
CONCLUSION 287
APPENDIX A: THE COACH’S OPTICAL REFRACTOR (THE COACHING LENSES) 291
APPENDIX B: COACHING SENTENCE STEMS 297
APPENDIX C: TRANSFORMATIONAL COACHING RUBRIC 301
APPENDIX D: CHEAT SHEETS AND LISTS 307
APPENDIX E: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 311
APPENDIX F: GLOSSARY 317
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 321
REFERENCES 325
INDEX 329