Building Relationships

Why is it important to build relationships?

As a coach, you will be asked to work with teachers for various reasons. Undoubtedly, some of your best coaching experiences are likely to occur with teachers who are interested in collaborating and continued growth. But sometimes, coaching becomes a consequence for teachers that is imposed on them by others. They may be new to a position or their evaluators feel coaching would be beneficial. Regardless of the motivation, your teachers have for coaching, meaningful learning stems first from a connection to the heart of the learner, paraphrasing George Couros from The Innovator’s Mindset. Spend time to develop relationships and build trust with all the teachers with whom you work. Sometimes this may mean small wins or successes that can build trust and pave the way for deeper personal growth. By building a foundation for a true collaborative partnership where teachers feel cared for, supported, and nurtured, you can increase the motivation for all teachers to reach their professional learning goals.

Building Relationships with Teachers

Go where people are. In the schools you serve, find places where teachers congregate to connect with those you have not yet met. As one new coach noted, “I discovered that teachers at my school don’t eat lunch in the teacher’s workroom, so I had to go find them if I wanted to talk to them.” Keep a journal chronicling those new connections, reflecting on when, and how those initial encounters have led to deeper coaching relationships.

Adopt a strategy for building relationships. Choose a strategy from the resources to integrate into your practice. Implement the strategy, noting the ways in which you iterate its use. As you reflect on how your relationship impacts your ability to foster change, use the Success Analysis protocol to share reflections with coaching teammates with similar goals.

Building Relationships with Site Leaders

Coaches and site leaders have many parallel roles in a school, not the least of which is supporting the growth and development of teachers. Your coaching efforts will benefit from working with your site leaders to clarify your complementary roles. As an integral part of professional learning within the building, you should take steps to ensure that you are included in decisions related to professional learning, which may include participating on school strategic planning committees that determine focus areas and allocate resources for professional learning opportunities each year. Some site leaders may not understand coaching cycles and the impact they can have on teacher practice, and ultimately, student learning outcomes. As a coach, you will likely be in classrooms more often than site leaders and are in a unique position to capture and share a range of data to support decision-making at your site. Of course, site leaders may also benefit from coaching to reach their own professional learning goals. Become an integral part of your school’s leadership team to help keep everyone in the building moving in the same direction toward success for students.

Establishing Shared Expectations for Coaching Relationships

As noted, many people enter into relationships with a coach through choice, but that’s not always the case. Regardless of how you are asked to engage in a coaching relationship, both you and the colleagues you are coaching should have some clear expectations and simple ground rules of what a coaching relationship is, and especially what it isn’t. Some types of coaching may require the use of formal agreements or contracts.

Guiding Reflective Questions

How do I engage teachers to agree to a coaching relationship? What if teachers don’t want to be coached? How do I work with reluctant teachers?
How are coaching relationships unique from my other professional relationships? How do I clarify the distinctions between a coach and an evaluator?
How do I build and support the work of site leaders through my role as a coach? How will I add value to the work of my school and district?
What do I do if site leaders aren’t supportive of coaching? How do I protect my time for coaching duties?
How does a coaching relationship with a site leader differ from relationships with teachers? What are the similarities?
What are the best ways for coaches and others to work together? How do we get started?
What should others expect from participating in a coaching relationship with me? How do I establish mutual accountability for both parties in a coaching relationship?

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