I am looking back to identify some of the writers, presenters, and ideas that have shaped my work. I realize that today, we have many educators who recently or currently are starting their coaching careers and may not have the information about some of the early work that led us to where we are today. […]

Looking back on my 35 years of working in the field of coaching, I am pulling some of the authors, beliefs, experiences, and insights that I believe form a foundation for those building their coaching practices. In this first episode, I’ve focused on Joellen Killion’s explanation of the importance of “coaching heavy.” She reminds us […]

I spent the last week with administrators, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders from Bismarck Schools in North Dakota. I’ve been working with these educators during the last two years as they focus on their mission and vision. Mission: All students will have the academic, social, and personal skills to be career, college, and community ready. […]

Learning Companion is the phrase my Turkish colleague, Kayhan Karli, uses to describe peer coaching. Kayhan is the Director General of ÖĞRETMEN AKADEMİSİ VAKFI, a foundation that has now provided training to over 70,000 Turkish teachers who historically had received very limited professional development. Kayhan shared that he uses the metaphor of ” Life is […]

While at the recent Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA) conference in Dubai, I attended a workshop session concerning change agency leadership presented by Pat Bassett, the president of the National Association of Independent Schools. At one point the participants were discussing the conversations that leaders have or avoid, and Dr Brent […]

I have often discussed with school administrators, staff developers, and instructional coaches the need to explore teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning in order to bring about a change in instructional practices. In earlier blogs I have connected to JoEllen Killion’s writing about HEAVY coaching where she stresses the importance of causing teachers to examine […]