What if the statements we label as resistance are actually invitations to get curious? As a school leader or instructional coach, have you ever heard a statement like this: “But we have always done it that way”? In a SmartBrief blog, Julie Winkle Giulioni describes that as a phrase leaders cringe at hearing. I have […]

Becca Silver invited me to preview and write the forward to her new book, The Resistance Solution: Why Educators Resist Change and What They Need Instead. I thought I’d share that forward to introduce her work to you. Becca reinforced and extended my thinking about hearing and responding to resistance in coaching and school change. […]

School leaders often express concern when teachers resist implementing a newly adopted curriculum with fidelity. The assumption is understandable: If we selected the program carefully, why wouldn’t teachers follow it? A recent Phi Delta Kappan article, “Educator Resistance to Curricular Control,” suggests we may be asking the wrong question. Instead of asking why teachers resist […]

“Resistance isn’t refusal. It’s a signal of unmet needs.”  Becca Silver, the founder of The Whole Educator and the designer of the Resistance Remedy, shares how to diagnosis common unmet needs. Coaches questioning and listening emerges as key to change and commitment. Visit The Whole Educator website and get in touch with Becca here. Subscribe […]

When a teacher is planning a learning activity, what’s the movie that’s running in their mind? Are they mostly seeing what they are doing as a teacher or what their learners are doing? When teachers, like athletic and performing arts coaches, focus on the student learning actions they modify instructional moves as soon as recognizing […]