Sustainable Growth Through Embedded Coaching
Sustainable Growth Through Embedded Coaching
By Dale Getto, CASDA Educational Facilitator
Embedded Files
The challenges facing school leaders have become more numerous and complex during the pandemic. Effective collaboration through structures that share decision making and build leadership capacity of faculty and staff remain essential to the development of policies, practices and protocols to navigate change and serve all students. Embedded coaching allows CASDA consultants to work with and coach school leaders within the context of a project, initiative or change process in a manner that works toward a specific goal while building both individual and team capacity in any crucial collaborative context.
Historically, when we think about coaching or mentoring school leaders it is in a one-to-one setting whereby the leader identifies goals and we, the consultant, attempt to create meaning and prompt action(s) through regular conversations and scholarly text. While this model checks the mentoring box, it can overlook cultural and environmental context. Often we struggle to ask the right questions as a way to prompt growth and allay anxieties, but I know I often leave a session wondering if I could have done or said more to support this leader.
At my last post, I was already a seasoned leader, but new to the principalship of a large urban high school - a school larger than most surrounding districts. I chose to partner with CASDA as a way to expand my skills and the leadership capacity of my seven-member administrative team. CASDA consultants were able to help me focus on the development of a functional team through examining research and best practices, then applying it during “team-coaching” sessions. This collective growth we undertook together empowered us to successfully meet the academic and school culture challenges before us on an ongoing basis. We developed a deep partnership by knowing each other’s leadership styles and practice. Ultimately, we were able to hold ourselves accountable in ways that produced consistent growth for our students, faculty and school community.
This is the primary reason I sought a position as a CASDA educational facilitator - to help leaders grow and then apply their leadership skills to meet a priority need in their school or department. I like to think of it as “sharing the love,” learning how to distribute leadership and get results.
CASDA’s embedded coaching service recognizes that any positive and sustainable change must be built through consensus and teamwork. CASDA consultants will help school teams and their leaders collaborate effectively to address the challenges of reimagining schooling by sharing perspectives gained over their experience navigating change in the past, along with research that is directly responsive to your school’s specific needs. Contact us to work with your school leaders, attendance teams, building leadership teams, student support teams or any other group guiding an initiative or project.
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