Coaching Teachers at Troubled Schools Without Playing the Blame Game

In coaching—as in comedy—it’s often all about the timing.

As the recent decision to fire the entire staff at an underperforming high school in Rhode Island has sparked a fiery debate over how best to improve failing schools, IAC president Bob Tschannen-Moran is releasing a new book and training method focused on coaching teachers and improving schools through a process he calls “evocative coaching.”

“The message of evocative coaching is a really important message to have in the mix at just this moment,” said Tschannen-Moran, whose book, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time, will be released in June.

The book—and an associated coach training program that will launch formally in September—comes as the saga of Rhode Island’s Central Falls High School has highlighted the issue of failing schools. Under fire for being one of the state’s six lowest-performing schools, the Central Falls superintendent decided to fire everyone: all 77 teachers and 16 staff members.

In an editorial, the Boston Globe called the move part of a “new aggressiveness with which states and districts are pursuing their educational mission,” and describing actions like the firings at Central Falls as “breathtaking, refreshing, and at the same time a little disconcerting.”

In the middle of the debate is President Obama’s $4.35 billion investment in a program called Race to the Top, a grant program designed to encourage and reward states for taking bold steps to improve schools. The plan calls for “developing teachers and principals…by providing relevant coaching.”

Tschannen-Moran doesn’t take sides in the Rhode Island issue, or on Race to the Top. “It’s much more valuable to talk about whether or not there is a better and more effective way to do the coaching this effort is calling for.”

What’s the better way look like? It’s personal and positive. And it’s not afraid of feelings.

“There are some unique aspects to our coaching model,” said Tschannen-Moran, whose evocative coaching model embraces empathy. “When it comes to coaching teachers, there’s a huge need for empathy. These are beleaguered folks who are working really hard—probably harder than ever—who are really burning out personally and professionally on the requirements of the system.”

So instead of grading teachers by what’s not working, the coaching model goes after what’s clicking in the classroom: “a teacher-centered, no fault” approach, according to the book. That focus may suggest to some that Evocative Coaching contradicts efforts to sweep out ineffective teachers. Tschannen-Moran says it’s not. “Sometimes people do need to be fired,” he said.

But Tschannen-Moran believes a brand of coaching that’s designed around the unique needs of teachers and schools—and that gives teachers a feeling that they aren’t being blamed—is the only way to allow educators to feel trusted. “Without evocative coaching, we’re going to lose a lot of teachers because (of) that blame game.”

“The primary focus of our book is around trying to help coaches to do more professional development with teachers” by using a method the book describes as “observing vitality,” those moments when a teacher truly connects with students.

Next month, Tschannen-Moran will begin teaching the method to a group of 40 coaches—most of them already working in schools trying to coach teachers to better performance. Ahead of the pilot program, Tschannen-Moran will discuss evocative coaching in a Blog Talk Radio discussion Sunday, March 14th at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time—the time changes that very morning).