Matt Renwick recently posted a blog on MiddleWeb titled, “Observing Instruction with a Curiosity Mindset.” Matt is the author of Lead Like a C.O.A.C.H. and has previously joined me on a podcast. He identifies these keys to leading like a coach:
Create confidence through trust.
Organize around a priority.
Affirm promising practices.
Communicate feedback.
Help teachers become leaders.
In our podcast, Matt shared: “You can’t just put out some kind of a goal and offer some professional development and monitor progress and then expect outcomes. School change and improvement is not linear in that sense as we might put it on paper. I realized as a principal, I couldn’t do this job without the teacher’s input and understanding their decision making. I needed to stop observing and judging. Not that there’s not a place for that as a part of being a supervisor, but it really has become a fraction of how I spend my days now. I’m now coming in daily, just learning, just coming in with kind of getting rid of my biases as much as I can and trying not to make assumptions and just coming in and noticing what’s going on, trying to notice what’s going well, communicating that with the teachers and eventually leading into conversations around their instruction, which is where the impact happens, it’s learning together.”
“The question isn’t whether we should observe instruction. It’s whether we can observe it with curiosity rather than judgment – as learners alongside our teachers rather than as evaluators standing apart from them.”
(Matt Renwick)
Renwick points out the following from Halverson and Kelley in “Mapping Leadership: The Tasks that Matter for Improving Teaching and Learning in Schools:”
“If leaders can take the stance as a learner in the classroom, they can observe how the lesson unfolds to students. This stance requires leaders to refrain from judgment about the quality of the lesson in order to notice questions raised by teacher and student interactions.”
Renwick suggests two key focus points for leaders in observing classrooms and providing feedback.
- Refraining from judgement
- Sharing observations from the students perspective
I agree with Renwick’s term “curiosity mindset.” I have suggested to new coaches that if they allow their curiosity to emerge as they pre-conference with a teacher, it will guide their questioning and listening. My curiosity emerges when I ask the teacher to describe “What are the most important things student need to do during the learning activity that will impact the learning outcomes? (student learning production behaviors) and “What are you seeing as your important actions that will generate those student behaviors?” Those discussions provide me with insights into the teachers mindset about teaching and learning.
I can now observe students during the learning activity and the degree to which they engage in the desired behaviors. I can also consider how the teacher’s actions impacted that student engagement. As I enter a post conference I can listen with curiosity to the teacher’s observations and insights. My specific data observations about what I saw and heard from students add to the teacher’s reflection. If my curiosity engages the teacher’s curiosity– we are both positioned for learning.
When our curiosity is triggered, we think more deeply and rationally about decisions and come up with more-creative solutions. In addition, curiosity allows leaders to gain more respect from their followers and inspires employees to develop more-trusting and more-collaborative relationships with colleagues.
(Harvard Business Review)
I recently listened to a podcast that Jim Knight recorded with John Campbell and Chris Munro around their book, “Growth Talk : A Coaching Way of Thinking.” As they discussed key elements of ‘growth coaching’ as having the coachee think deeper, identify purpose, and monitor progress I reflected on how my curiosity mindset drives those discussions. They labeled key coaching skills such as questioning, listening, paraphrasing, summarizing, and noticing. As I listened to their conversation, I was reinforced that curiosity – a desired to understand and learn – provides a focus for coaching skills. I am now curious about my work with coaches who are learning coaching skills. I am wondering if exploring a curiosity mindset deeper would strengthen their learning and application of coaching skills.
By choosing curiosity, we build trust, honor teachers’ professionalism, open possibilities for student voice and agency, and create a coaching culture of collective learning.
