In “Building Teachers’ Capacity for Success: A Collaborative Approach for Coaches and School Leaders,” authors Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral describe four developmental stages through which teachers progress as they strengthen their skill in self-reflection. Understanding these stages helps coaches and school leaders match their support to teachers’ current mindsets and readiness for growth. How do we coach differently at each stage? What kinds of questions, feedback, and collaborative structures make the greatest difference?
Stage 1: Unaware
At this stage the teacher tends to focus on routines and procedures, rather than deep instructional design or student thinking. They may have little awareness of the full range of student learning needs or the potential of alternative instructional strategies. Here a teacher has low self-reflection, limited differentiation, and problem-definition is likely superficial. They may be more reactive than reflective: “I taught it; they did the work; why didn’t they learn?” rather than “What evidence do I have of what they did learn?”
Coaching moves for this stage may begin with building awareness using observation and dialogue to surface how the teacher’s instructional choices link (or don’t link) to student outcomes. Questions like these can begin building reflection: “When you planned this lesson, what did you envision students doing? (What learning production behaviors did you want to see and hear? What would be evidence deeper thinking?”
Coaches may model or co-teach if the teacher lacks a mental model of the instructional design. Coaching should be non-evaluative, focusing on small wins and building relational trust.
Stage 2: Conscious
At this stage the teacher is aware of more instructional strategies or student-learning designs but does not yet apply them consistently or deeply. They may experiment with differentiation or student-engagement strategies but fall back into familiar routines under pressure. They may explain quickly why things didn’t work rather than reflect deeper: “I tried it, but the students weren’t ready,” or “I don’t have time.” Collaboration with colleagues might happen inconsistently, and more likely around surface routines rather than reflective refinement. Coaching questions like “What did you notice when you tried that new prompt? What did students say or do differently? What surprised you?” can increase reflection.
To increase ownership, the coach can invite the teacher to articulate their next step rather than the coach prescribing it. As a coach, encourage persistence because progress may be slow and inconsistent. It’s valuable to recognize the role of “trial and adjust.” Connecting the teacher to a colleague who is working in the same area and encouraging short cycles of observation → debrief → refine can support persistence and reflection. Encourage teachers to plan for collecting evidence of changes in teacher and student actions.
Stage 3: Action
Here the teacher accepts responsibility for all students’ success and consciously links instruction to desired outcomes and assessments. They regularly use assessment data to monitor student progress, adjust, and seek feedback. Collaboration becomes more intentional: they might co-plan with colleagues, lead small groups, and engage in a peer’s challenge. At this stage teachers are becoming consistent in improved practice and continually refining.
The coach’s role should now shift more toward partnering with a teacher-led design rather than the coach as driver. Coaching conversations around student-work and assessments are key. What student data do you have available? What patterns do you see? What adjustments might be considered? The teacher identifies a focus, implements a hypothesis, gathers evidence, analyzes results, and revises while the coach’s questions encourage reflection.
At this stage, coaches can focus on deepening a teacher’s professional learning mindset. Explore how the new practices transfer to different content, grade levels, and student groups? Consider asking the teacher to share findings with colleagues, lead a demonstration, or mentor someone in the earlier stages. (I have often found that teachers who are in the early stages of internalizing new skills are the best at mentoring those just beginning. Their empathy is great as they have just recently been in the shoes of the mentee.)
Stage 4: Refinement
These teachers reflect before, during, and after instruction. They are no longer just doing instructional strategies but rather adapting them, innovating, and using student learning as the driver. They often push themselves and colleagues: “How can we deepen thinking? How can we build student agency? What might we learn from our students to improve our program? How can we create a learning culture?”
The coach can now serve as a critical friend asking probing questions. “What’s your underlying belief about how students learn this content? What would you like to provide if time and resources weren’t limited? Is there anything you might want stop doing altogether?” The coach’s work might shift from “how to teach better” to “how to transform a school’s professional culture.”
The coach might facilitate peer networks encouraging teachers to engage in action research. Teachers at this stage are key players in moving a school from “good to great.” Its why I have always promoted the concept that the highest performing staff in a school should be receiving a maximum amount of coaching. Too often these teachers are unsupported in their continuous growth and contributions.
Teachers may be at varied stages in different instructional domains. For example, they might be at “Action” in feedback practices but still “Conscious” in differentiated grouping.) Coaches might want to assess the developmental progress for each focus area of the school’s improvement plan. By applying a developmental continuum of teacher capacity to your coaching, you can shift from “applying everything everywhere” to “meeting teachers where they are and designing the next step that moves them forward.” In my own work I have found that when teachers move from Unaware → Conscious → Action → Refinement, the transformation is not just in new techniques but also in the teacher’s identity as a professional learner, collaborator and leader. That progress strengthens a school’s culture to increase student success.
