Chp. 4- Instructional Coaching--"Who is the Coach?"

          Without a doubt, the most important factor in the effectiveness of a coaching program is "Who is the coach?"  Poorly skilled and under-prepared coaches will struggle to make any kind of meaningful impact on teachers.  A talented and well equipped coach can make an impact in almost all circumstances they face.  Knight has identified six attributes of successful coaches through his years of research, observations, and professional readings. In the article, Instructional Coaching, the authors also named four of the six same attributes that Knight discovered.  The six attributes are:

Knowledge of Teaching Practices:  The coach is ultimately the link for real change. They need to be  able to share the vital behaviors of a practice by explaining, clarifying, adapting, modeling, and providing partnership feedback to the teacher.  Coaches must continuously deepen their knowledge base through the use of reading materials, by joining online professional learning networks, and long-term personal experiences using practices with students. 

Emotional Intelligence:  A coach does need to understand what they are talking about, but it won't mean very much if others will not collaborate with them.  Surveys and interviews by Knight discovered that most want a coach to be someone that others like to be around.  They need an infectious personality and have strong communication skills.  Coaches need to always remain positive and optimistic when working with others. 

Growth Mindset:  A mindset is how we view our learning.  Some of us have "closed" mindsets which means we believe that only a certain amount of intelligence, personality, etc... is obtainable. A great coach will enter the relationship with a view of "unknown" potential for the teacher.  A coach with a "growth" mindset inspires others to also adopt the growth mindset for not only themselves but hopefully for the students too!

Humility and Ambition:  A coach that is too aggressive or too passive runs the risk of being unsuccessful.  The goal is to have a good mixture of both humility and ambition.  These coaches need to learn how to channel their ego and ambition toward the team goal and not personal goals. 

Trustworthiness:  Trust is a word that always is expressed by teachers when it comes to coaches.  A simple way to think about it is through a fraction model described by Galford in Knight's book.  The foundation to building trust is having a larger numerator which equals a larger number when solved.  Having more credibility, reliability, and intimacy leads to more trusting relationships. 
                                            
                                                    Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy
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                                                                       Self-Focus

Informed and Adaptive Thinking:  A coach needs to have the ability to align themselves emotionally with a teacher and then be able to adapt in any situation.  In order to do this well, one must be well informed on effective instructional coaching.