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Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 Using Coaching to Improve Delivery of Counseling Instruction Dianne Acuna Thompson Rae Lynn Richmond ABSTRACT skills in the classroom. Educators, including counselors, Coaching is an emerging form of profes- work in isolation every day.They interact sional learning.The article focuses on with hundreds of people each day, but how coaching may be used to improve rarely observe or collaborate with peers the quality of delivery of counseling (Robbins, 1991).In order for educators to instruction in the classroom. improve their teaching skills, and more importantly, improve student learning, there must be communication between peers.Also, peer coaching can reduce USING COACHING TO IMPROVE the isolation many educators feel. DELIVERY OF COUNSELING Barkley (2005) stated, "By definition, INSTRUCTION excellence in teaching is a form of communication and group activity”(p.v). The National Staff Development Council In addition to reducing isolation, peer (NSDC) has set forth new standards for coaching is being utilized for professional effective professional learning.One of the learning in many school systems main tenets of the standards is that because it capitalizes on schools’ professional learning, which refers to the greatest resources – human resources. improvement of instructional strategies and building of collegiality, should be on- What is Coaching? going and job embedded.NSDC’s goal is What exactly is coaching, and how or that soon there will exist a culture where why does it work? Peer coaching is every educator engages in high quality defined by Robbins (1991) as "an avenue professional learning every day (National to develop a collaborative workplace Staff Development Council website, n.d.). where staff members interact freely to The concept of coaching lends itself well address curriculum and instruction, to this goal in addition to being an observe and teach each other, develop effective tool for improving instructional and analyze materials, plan and solve Dianne Acuna Thompsonis Director, Student Academic Support and Advisement for the Gwinnett County Public Schools, and Rae Lynn Richmond is Math Instructional Coach at Chattahoochee Elementary School in Duluth. [email protected] 54 Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 problems together”(p.III).For coaching someone cannot fare well alone, to be effective, however, the coaching that outside help is needed to experience must exhibit quality.Glasser succeed or come up to speed. defined quality as "almost always Assisting someone implies that includes caring for each other, is always the person is quite capable but useful, has always involved hard work… needs assistance to pull together and it always feels good”(as quoted in a skill, knowledge, or behavior. Barkley, 2005, p.10). Effective coaching Coaching acknowledges one’s is an on-going dialogue between profes- capabilities.It empowers one to sionals, and coaching adds quality to bring strengths to fruition….It school performance and environment. It says, "You have strengths;let’s is not evaluative in nature;rather it discover them and fine-tune them, provides the coachee the opportunity for get them out into the classroom”. collaboration, observation, feedback and (p.25) the chance to practice newly acquired skills.Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (1989) Counselors and Coaching describe the peer coaching process as There are several reasons for counselors one where peers observe one another in to become involved with peer coaching. the classroom, gather objective data First, counselors need to act as about student performance or teacher members of the instructional teams in behavior, and then provide feedback in a their schools.When counselors are follow-up conference.The coaching delivering guidance lessons they need to process, involving a pre-conference, evaluate the quality and effectiveness of observation, post-conference feedback, their delivery.Through the process of and reflection, can be a growth coaching they can gain insight and experience for both the coachee and the feedback regarding their instruction.If coach.Because coaching is a continuous counselors find that their instructional process, it brings about changes in methods are not working, there must be behavior.Sparks and Loucks-Horsley a change in teaching strategies if there is cited Shalway’s research which showed to be an improvement in student that it takes 10 to 15 coaching sessions learning.This means not only taking a before educators can transfer what they superficial look at instructional methods have learned to their classroom practice. such as organizational skill or curriculum This also reflects the need for coaching content, but also analyzing the methods to be an on-going process if the goal is to being used in classroom instruction. improve delivery of instruction. Bernhardt (2000) stated, "Too often, It is important to differentiate the schools in this country conduct their role of the coach from that of a mentor. education programs with little formal Barkley (2005) provides clarification of analysis of how well those programs the roles when he says work.Teachers and administrators rely To me, the difference between instead on ‘gut feelings’about what’s mentor and coach can be equated working and what isn’t”(p.33).She to the semantic difference contends that all educators should between the words "help”and replace hunches with hypotheses, "assist.”Helping implies that identify the real cause of the problems, 55 Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 assess the real needs, and address The impact of coaching often them.Peer coaching promotes an goes beyond improving content analysis of what is being done in the instruction.The conditions, classroom and focuses on the instruction behaviors, and practices required and not the instructor.By improving by an effective coaching program instruction, peer coaching may impact can affect the culture of a school student achievement, and, when used to or system, thus embedding evaluate guidance programming, can instructional change within also be part of the accountability broader efforts to improve component of the ASCA National Model school-based culture and (Bowers & Hatchett, 2002). conditions.(p.2) Second, while it is not the job of the school counselor to be in charge of the FORMS OF COACHING mentoring or peer coaching program, counselors can be a significant part of Demonstration Lessons these programs.It is an opportunity for One form of coaching is the counselors to share expertise and model demonstration of lessons.Demonstrating quality instructional practices and lessons can be extremely effective; classroom management.Additionally, it however it also has some pitfalls.Feger, may foster strong relationships with Woleck and Hickman (2004) stated that students and teachers which may assist demonstrating lessons can only be in impacting student achievement. impactful if all participants are engaged Third, the basis of the coaching in the process.The coachees cannot relationship is trust.There needs to be simply sit in the back of the room;they trust between those engaging in the must be directed to observe specific coaching collaboration, and the trust of instructional strategies or classroom the principal and other members of management techniques.In this way they administration must be gained so that are involved in what is happening.The adequate time and resources will be observations then become the basis for allocated to the coaching process.The the follow-up conference. building of trust and relationships is a The elementary counselors in Hall strength area for many counselors.By County used demonstration coaching participating in the coaching process, when the sexual abuse prevention counselors can have an impact on the program was implemented. The training culture of the school by building was done through seminar presentation, collegiality with teachers and showing which gave an overview of the lesson they are a part of the instructional team. and the research behind the As indicated by Bowman and McCormick development, and was followed by (2000) teachers who participated in a demonstration lessons in a local school. peer coaching study made more The demonstration of the lessons favorable comments about professional developed the counselor’s confidence in growth than teachers who did not effectively delivering this sensitive participate.Neufeld and Roper (as cited material.In retrospect, the demonstration in the Annenberg Institute for School lesson was critical to the learning and Reform, 2003) reported that: delivery of the material because some 56 Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 schools had only one counselor, Black et al.shared that one teacher eliminating the possibility of consulting changed her mind about being observed with a peer about the lessons.The when she realized peer coaching allowed training experience could have been the participants “to see not only further enhanced by observing other themselves, but their students, in fresh counselors within the system and getting ways…[and] because of their familiarity feedback on the delivery of these critical with both the students and the lessons. curriculum, their observations led to a deeper understanding of how they could Co-teaching Lessons improve their own practices”(p.61-62).It Co-teaching is another way to improve appears the real value in this experience instructional practice.In this situation comes from the participants’on-going the coach and teacher meet prior to the ability to reflect and collaborate about the lesson to plan together how to focus on skill(s) they chose to have observed. the student learning goals, what Because it’s job-embedded and the questions and materials best support expertise is on site, it is a cost and time these goals, and on which aspect of the efficient way to improve instruction and lesson the coachee would most like student learning.Harwell-Kee (1999) feedback.The coach provides as little or believes that the most effective coaching as much support during the lesson as may occur at the end of the day while the requested or needed;this may entail day’s events are still fresh in the modeling some questioning techniques participant’s minds.Harwell-Kee also during a class discussion or asking the reports that participants often find that coachee to shadow the coach as they reflecting at the day’s end is both listen in on small-group discussions and energizing and mentally stimulating. offer suggestions for further exploration Additionally, Harwell-Kee believes that to some children.After co-teaching, the the coaching process can and should pair discusses the lesson (Feger, et al., take advantage of coaching opportunities 2004). that occur throughout the day, such as engaging in meaningful discussion Peer coaching between classes or even during lunch. Another form of coaching which has Peer coaching can be used with become increasingly popular is peer counselors as well as with teachers. coaching.Black, Molseed and Sayler (2003) describe peer coaching as DISCUSSION involving “two or more teachers observing in each other’s classrooms to Counselors sometimes wonder whether it hone their instructional skills…collabo- is best to be involved in a coaching rating to enhance an area of instruction relationship with another counselor that the observed teacher wishes to because they understand what study”(p.65). Black et al.stated that counselors do.One counselor reported some veteran teachers expressed fear that her coaching experience outside the about having someone observe them. counseling department had been more The fear likely arises from the fact that rewarding and more effective than teaching is a very isolated profession. coaching within the counseling 57 Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 department and it was an opportunity for SUMMARY public relations.She also felt that it gave her a better understanding of life inside The essential component for a the traditional classroom.The counselor successful coaching program is that it be believes her experience was enhanced non-judgmental, non-evaluative and built because she chose to work with a math on a foundation of trust and mutual teacher.Having never liked nor been respect.To be done correctly, it requires particularly good at math, observing this participants to engage in well-organized subject enabled her to focus on the skills and clearly outlined professional learning that the teacher wanted observed without to develop the skills to objectively gather getting caught up in the story or activity, data and provide feedback to the which might have been the case in a coachee.Coaching has increased in language arts class, for example.When popularity as participants have seen the contemplating participating in a coaching power and impact of the experience on program, one needs to consider what their personal and professional growth would best meet one’s own learning and, more importantly, on student needs.It is also important, if supported achievement. by your local or district administration, not to be restricted to participating in coaching within your building.If, for example, one counselor wants to observe another counselor conducting specific programs, such as bullying, sexual abuse prevention or similar programs, and there is only counselor in each school, then observing a counselor at another school might be the best way to improve instructional delivery of that topic.Consider, however, participating in a variety of coaching relationships to gain a broader perspective about teaching styles. 58 Georgia School Counserlors Association Journal, Volume 13, 2006 REFERENCES Bowman, C., & McCormick, S.(2000). Comparison of peer coaching Annenberg Institute for School Reform. versus traditional supervision (2003).Instructional coaching. effects.The Journal of Retrieved March 2, 2006, from Educational Research, 93(4), Brown University, Annenberg 256-261. Institute for School Reform Web Feger, S., Woleck, K, & Hickman, P. Site:http://www.annen (2004).How to develop a coaching berginstitute.org/images/ eye.Retrieved April 3, 2006 from InstructionalCoaching.pdf http://www.nsdc.org/ Barkley, S.(2005).Quality teaching in a library/publications/jsd/ culture of coaching.Lanham, MD: feger252.cfm. Scarecrow Education. Harwell-Kee, K.(1999).Coaching. Bernhardt, V.(2000, Winter). National Staff Development Intersections.Journal of Staff Council, JSD Summer 1999, Development, Winter, 33-36. 28-29. Black, R., Molseed, T., & Sayler, B. 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