Reflections from a Staff Wellbeing Coach
Charlie Naylor
I once heard a sports coach being interviewed before an important game. He was asked how he coached his team. “I sit them down, tell them what to do and they go out and do what I tell them,” he replied. The interviewer then went to interview the Coach of the opposing team, and he told the second coach what the first one had said, asking for his reaction and to describe how he coached his team. “Well,” said the second coach, “my approach is pretty similar. I sit the players down, tell them what to do, then they go out on the field and do what the heck they like.”
Amusing, perhaps, but also telling. One over-estimated the power of the Coach (if not the ego), while the second wryly and self-deprecatingly implied his role as Coach had little influence over the team. While coaching within a school district is contextually very different from sports team coaching, just what is the role of a Coach working in a K-12 education system? Does a Coach have influence and impact? Does he or she exercise some level of control? Or is the Coach one who listens, sifts and sorts what is said and unsaid, and feeds back ideas to those being coached? My inclination is that ideally the last of these three approaches is closest to my ideal of coaching. Yet regardless of the ideal, I also suspect that elements of the first two are also a part of my coaching and ethos. In part, this paper is both a reflection and an exploration – what I have experienced and how to engage with the rich ideas generated from working with teachers and other educators in the public school system of British Columbia, Canada.
Influences on my approach
Literature
Adult learners
The first of several influences is work done on the nature of adult learning, especially the work of Knowles (1990). Bob and Megan Tschannen-Moran (2010) captured the ideas of Knowles and others in articulating the characteristics of adult learning:
Adults are autonomous and self-directed.
Adult learning builds on a wide variety of previous experiences, knowledge, mental modes, self-direction, interests, resources and competencies.
Adults are relevancy-oriented. They must see a reason for learning something, often connected to the developmental tasks of their social roles.
Adults are solution-focused. Instead of being interested in knowledge for its own sake, adult learning seeks immediate application and problem-solving.
Adult learning needs to be facilitated rather than directed. Adults want to be treated as equals and shown respect both for what they know and for how they prefer to learn.
Adults need specific behavioural feedback that is free of evaluative or judgmental opinions.
Adults need follow-up to continue and advance their learning over time. (page 9)
While most of these statements resonate in a positive way and reflect a view of adult learning that I broadly share, I have some difficulty with the fourth statement, as I find many adults are interested in knowledge for its own sake. I guess the message for me in terms of coaching ideas and approaches is to use what you can from the recipes but you don’t have to swallow the whole cookbook.
The concept of ‘critical friend’.
A second influence in the literature is the articulation of the concept and role of ‘critical friend’. Gurr & Huerta (2013) discussed the role of the critical friend:
The role of the critical friend is a dynamic one, requiring a high level of skill. Flexibility and professional judgment. Rather than follow a checklist of scripted ‘technical assistance’, it is about developing a repertoire of strategies and skills, and learning when and how to use them, taking account of the particular context (Butler et al, 2011). Effective critical friends draw on a repertoire of actions, depending on the context, participants, and phase in the change process at any particular point in time. This is an emerging area of interest and support for schools and reflects an interest in the other areas of staff support such as coaching and mentoring. (p 3085)
Campbell et al extended Gurr & Huerta’s discussion to include critical challenges as aspects of the role:
While there is a notion of friendship in the role of teacher as critical friend, collaborator and peer scrutineer, there is also a notion of challenge and confrontation for the purposes of development. Critical friendships and other relationships will involve disclosure and feedback. Talk is one of the main ways of conducting these critical friendships, peer scrutiny sessions and collaborations. In addition, being mindful of the developing use of new technologies, e-mail, videoconferencing, websites and chatrooms, for example, will all play a large part in future exchanges and dialogues (Campbell et al., 2004, p. 107).
A Coach in my view is a ‘critical friend’, able to gauge context, dynamics and people, hear preferred directions, find and utilize strengths, being both empathic but positively critical in analysis and conversation. Empathy is needed to create a safe space, to develop relationships and trust. Yet once that trust exists, the idea of critical challenge is crucial. Such a challenge is to the statement of another person, not to the person in the sense of a ‘put-down’. It need not be abrupt or harsh but might be an invitation to say more or to ask for clarification. Or it could be something like ‘I am not sure I agree with you there. Would you be OK if we discussed that a bit more?’
The work of Andy Hargreaves
Andy Hargreaves has spent much of his career figuring out issues of educational change, leadership and school and system improvement. He somehow straddles intellectual analysis with a common-sense perspective and engaging styles of writing and verbal communication. His empathy with and respect for teachers and the teaching profession has been constant for decades. Yet he has not shied away from offering critical challenges that can both engage and challenge those working in schools and with other roles in education systems. His focus on developing collaborative cultures is an influence that speaks to me of being strategic and deliberate, offering a way not only to understand systems but to change them, as exemplified in his 2012 book, Professional Capital, co-authored with Michael Fullan:
A lot of the work of building collaborative cultures is informal. It’s about developing trust and relationships, and it takes time. But if this is all left to spontaneity and chance, a lot of collaborative effort will dissipate and provide no benefit to anyone. Second, the strong collaboration of joint work can benefit from deliberate arrangements of meetings, teams, structures and protocols, but if these are hurried, imposed or forced, or if they are used in the absence of commitments to building better relationships, then they too will be ineffective. (p 127)
Hargeaves was not worried about applying a bit of pressure to shift systems thinking. This was exemplified in his consideration of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Folks need a push, occasionally, and he wasn’t averse to offering one, while at other times musing on the differences between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ in ‘Professional Capital’:
If someone doesn’t push PLCs, there is a worry that individually autonomous teachers may not get around to purposeful interaction. This push might not come from administrators if capacity in a school or a group of schools has been weak and teachers have little prior experience with professional collaboration. It might equally be teacher leaders who may have to push their administrators to give them time to collaborate on learning agendas about which they are more knowledgeable than their principals. (p129).
In many ways, I would consider Andy Hargreaves a Coach who has been working alongside practitioners yet is in some part separate, able to empathize yet be detached enough to see the big picture. Likely he is more a ‘Systems Coach’ than one working in an individual/small group context but I have learned a lot from him. His contribution to understanding how systems can move speaks to any coach engaging in work that is intended to have some impact on shifting systems.
The literature on facilitation
For me, Coaching involves considerable facilitation. A Coach is not a Director in charge of others but is facilitating the work and journeys of others towards some preferred directions or definable ends that they have articulated. Knowledge of facilitation is therefore crucial to the work of a Coach. There are vast resources that can define, demonstrate and reflect on the role of facilitator, yet I think there are a few foundational aspects that are worth mentioning:
The facilitator manages time and process, not content. Content is the prerogative of the group being facilitated. The facilitator assists them by offering ideas and processes that can support their preferred directions.
Protocols can be of use but need to be used appropriately. A protocol is simply a defined process with roles and time allocated and enforced. One protocol I have used extensively is a triad where each has a set time to share their thinking on a topic without interruption. This protocol helps to articulate thinking, improves active listening and encourages exploration of ideas within a supportive but critical framework.
Processes other than protocols can be used effectively. One such process might be a ‘silent write’, allowing some time for quiet reflection on a given question rather than launching into an immediate discussion.
The facilitator is at the service of the group and constantly checks whether the processes and approaches being offered serve the needs of the group. Some processes, with the best of intentions, do not always work as intended. Groups often see and understand this, and some individuals in groups are also good facilitators, and they might offer better approaches. Thus, facilitation, or Coaching, can be distributed within some groups if an when appropriate.
In terms of resources, there are many, but a few I have used extensively include:
Sam Kaner’s (2014) ‘Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making’, with its one-page often graphic guides sharing effective processes.
Lipton & Wellman’s (2003) ‘Mentoring Matters: A Practical Guide to Learning-Focused relationships’, with many useful discussions on roles and processes.
Dana & Yendol-Hoppey’s (2009) ‘The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research’, which includes a useful section on ‘Finding Your Wondering’ but also has a lot of practical tips for facilitators.
Ingrid Bens (2005) ‘Advanced Facilitation Strategies: Tools and Techniques to Master Difficult Situations’, with some help for times in groups when things are not going well.
Dana, Thomas and Boynton’s ‘Inquiry: A Districtwide Approach to Staff and Student Learning’, which, as its title suggests, is useful in supporting district Inquiry initiatives.
I should stress that I have found some aspects of these works useful and I have occasionally disagreed with some aspects of them. But each has much which can be used or adapted to support group processes and all have contributed significantly to my learning.
The chart that sums it all up
The chart below by Sharpe & Nishimura in their 2017 book ‘When mentoring meets coaching: shifting the stance in education’ sums it all up (p 63).
Sharpe and Nishimura’s articulation and discussion of the above graphic is good enough reason to buy and read their excellent book. The graphic shows twelve qualities that they consider critical aspects of the mentor-coaching relationship. I sure wish I could say I had them all neatly stored and ready for use, and demonstrated them all the time. Regrettably, it isn’t the case. But what the chart does is provide me with an ideal to strive for, and offers opportunities after every coaching meeting to consider which ones I used adequately and where I could improve.
From my perspective, to demonstrate each quality requires multiple skills, and such skills ideally come together in ways that are difficult to define yet clear to see and understand when they are present. Our tacit knowledge allows us to know when we were or were not authentic, trusting or connected, and our capacity for skill development allows us to create and develop the subcomponents of those multiple skills which reflect the qualities we need to coach or mentor effectively. So effective coaching to me is when multiple skills are being orchestrated and utilized in a fast-moving space or conversation so that these qualities emerge and create an exchange and environment which moves the understanding and action forward.
Thus, coaching is a subtle and complex combination of skills and qualities where we never reach perfection but are always working towards it, seriously ambitious to perfect our skills but human enough to laugh at ourselves when we lose the plot and then figure out how to do it better.
Previous and current roles and experience
I worked in the Research Division of the BC Teachers’ Federation for 25 years, most of which saw considerable turmoil within the BC K-12 public school system. As an advocacy researcher, my writings supported the directions of the union. Within this provincial system context, the work was influenced by the political context. Nevertheless, it involved collaborative projects with school districts and universities, reflection on practice, reading of a wide literature on educational issues, contacts with teachers across the province and with educators in other provinces and other countries. In BC I learned much about collaboration with teachers in School District 20, Kootenay-Columbia. I observed an expert facilitator in Prince George who taught me about when to allow silence within a group in order to stimulate dialogue. I heard the stories of Vancouver teachers who went to listen to Musqueam Elders to understand how they might better relate to and support the needs of Indigenous students in their classes. These kinds of multiple learning experiences played a significant part in what I felt one needs to learn to be a Coach, a mentor, a critical friend. Several of my university collaborative research projects necessitated a range of approaches that developed skills later used in coaching, including active listening, and engaging with classroom researchers as a critical friend.
I used some processes and approaches that worked well, and some that I may not have managed too well. All of those experiences, successful and otherwise, provide learning and experience over time, providing a base from which to create a platform that allows the range of past experience to filter into current moments.
The influences of those being ‘coached’
A Coach is nothing without a team. The concept that a team does as the Coach directs is for me a dated and somewhat useless concept. The district teams working on wellbeing are the folks who get things done within those districts. My role is to listen, to gauge possibilities, to better understand contexts and cultures, and to assist those teams in how they want to move forward. But I also learn and am influenced by the team as we progress together towards the preferred directions. Because, as the Coach, I am outside the district, I have some distance from and am not influenced by the hierarchy, current relationships or history of the district. However, I do not ‘know’ the district as an internal team knows it, so the balance of inside knowledge and outside detachment is, in my view, at least a useful if not crucial combination. It enables me to learn and be influenced by the internal team while also providing opportunities for me to question, extend and on occasions challenge the internal thinking.
In every meeting I have had with internal teams, I have attempted to listen carefully to what they say, and by such listening, I am influenced. I believe listening is a key component not only of the Coaching role but also in terms of being influenced. As a Coach, I can learn more about district context and culture. I can appreciate the skills teachers, administrators and educational assistants have developed over their years of service, and understand that they know much about approaches and processes that will engage educators and support staff. Putting an internal team of experienced and knowledgeable ‘insiders’ together with a Coach as a critical friend – should that combination ‘click’ – is potentially powerful. But only if we all learn from each other, and can be influenced by others during our discussions.
Key learnings from 2 years’ coaching with the wellbeing initiative
Do some homework before working with a district team, and be ready to ask questions on arrival.
What can be discovered? How many schools, students, teachers and other staff does a district have? Is it an urban or a rural district? Does it have a significant Indigenous population? Does it have a diverse and multicultural population? Do its student numbers reflect growth or are they static/declining? Has it historically had a consultative, collaborative approach to doing business? Or has there been any history of conflict?
Once the general context is a little better understood, it may be possible to attempt to gauge some sense of its culture. Would people with an informed but external view of the district currently consider it consultative, collaborative or conflicted? Do they consider the district as a learning organization? What’s happened there that reflects something of a positive or problematic culture?
Research into context is straightforward. But, in my view, it also pays to check if what you’ve researched is still current, or if something is missed or minimally emphasized. For example, some rapid growth districts in BC have major logistical problems in terms of staffing and facilities which may be taking considerable time to manage, leaving less time to focus on other issues.
Consideration of culture is not straightforward. Any prior indicators of culture might be useful, but only as possible background information. I have found it useful to find out what one can about context and culture before working with a team, but the more interesting gauge of culture is when you are working with a team in a district, and ask the following question to multiple staff:
“How would you describe the culture of this district?”
If a classroom teacher, a school administrator, a union president and the Superintendent all give the same general answer, it’s a fair bet the culture is as stated. It’s also a fair bet that you won’t get 5 identical responses, and you’ll hear either a range of views or dichotomous perspectives.
Doing some homework before arrival, and asking questions on arrival, provides a better understanding of context and culture and what might impact a team’s efforts to initiate action to address wellbeing.
Listening beats talking. Take the time to listen and reflect back what has been said.
Listening gives me time to gauge who I am working with and to better understand their perspectives. Hearing the perspectives of teachers, educational assistants, district staff, school administrators, union presidents and Professional Development Chairs, bus drivers and janitors helps frame what is commonly understood, what might be positive, negative or troubling issues, how professional relationships are functioning, and where people see possibilities and roadblocks.
People working in school districts are busy. They want to be heard but they don’t want to talk without the talk going somewhere. When I listen I take a lot of notes, but hopefully in such a way that others in the conversation see that I am both actively listening and participating in the conversation. My memories and notes from multiple sources offer what in qualitative research terms is a form of triangulation – seeing where 3 perspectives are the same, or where they differ. Active listening and productive utilization of what has been heard allows for reflection from the Coach back to people in the district. In one district I developed a graphic to show the various areas of advice from multiple perspectives. This respected and made public what was said and shared by staff to the team addressing staff wellbeing. A team can use such data to move forward – perhaps as in one district to avoid ‘top-down’ approaches, or to avoid creating more work for staff already struggling with workload issues.
Thus listening is an essential foundation leading to a better understanding of perspectives and dynamics which makes the chances of successful action more likely. It’s become a fundamental component at all stages, yet it also requires using what has been heard to enable a team to create action steps that others can approve, support, and in which they can participate.
The Coach may get to be as good as the team.
Sounds weird, I know, but the key argument here is that, in an ideal partnership, the Coach learns a lot from the team, rather than being considered an external ‘expert’. Sure, a Coach has some expertise, but he or she is always learning, adapting and likely screwing up just like everyone else. Teams of any kind involve various levels of knowledge, skill, positive and negative energies. Some or all of the team may or may not initially (or ever!) respect a Coach, and any Coach has to earn respect. One way to do that is to realize when to build on the expertise of others when to offer encouragement when to question in ways that help the team move cohesively forward and bond in the process. We get better as a team by supporting each other, building on the ideas of individuals so that all contribute and feel part of the decisions and actions. If I ever feel like blaming a team, I know I have failed to help build cohesion and play a role in deciding collective understanding and action.
There are a lot of metaphors used to describe a coaching role, like an orchestra conductor. I’m not a big fan of such metaphors as they often, as with an actual conductor, put the Coach on some kind of pedestal, separate, somehow superior to the folks playing the violins. I see it more as team members (Coach included) with different skills and knowledge combining those skills and knowledge to move forward with the help of an external critical friend in the coaching role who can offer something slightly different to what can be generated solely by an internal team. No hierarchy, all on an equal level, and the team pushing and extending the Coach, as s/he similarly extending the thinking of the team. The desired end is a social, cohesive, informed, questioning and challenging team who enjoy each other’s input and where all members make a useful contribution to the work without anyone climbing on and claiming the pedestal.
Do the leg work.
When I read some of the academic research on Coaching, mentoring and facilitation, I am often surprised how little is mentioned of the mundane tasks that need to be done. Higher-order skills are essential in a Coaching role, but unless a Coach takes some work off the team’s collective back, the team will not function effectively. Does it work for the team if a Coach sets a meeting agenda? (and asks for input). Could some photocopying be done? Is it useful to have the Coach take and distribute notes from a meeting? Can some articles be shared? Would it be useful if the Coach sent some e-mails with reports or responses to requests for information or research?
These tasks take time, and they are a long way from the roles described in many books and research which elevate Coaches and mentors to a near-Guru status where mundane tasks are avoided. But taking some load off the team pays back big-time in terms of efficiency and team relationships. The Coach does not commandeer these tasks but figures out with the team what is most useful for him or her to do. Sometimes the Coach may have to say that s/he may need help, but the key is to make sure you, as Coach, do at least your share of those tasks that take time, and can be done by anyone, but show that you are fine to muck in there and do them too.
Consider the ‘circle of connections’ and avoid making or keeping it too small.
Who do you connect with as a Coach when you work in a district? If there is a team of, say, four people who meet with the Coach and no connections are made with senior management, union leaders and other staff, I would argue that the circle of connections is too small. Extending and supporting wellbeing of necessity involves many, hopefully, all people in a school district. It will not happen by district mandate, though a district (and a union) can be directly (e.g. funding, policies) and indirectly (e.g. support in communications) supportive. If a wide range of staff are to be involved, it makes sense to extend the circle of connections so that a team does not appear to be a clique but a group listening, responding and initiating action that can garner the support and approval of all staff.
Holding conversations in a staff room, meeting with a union leader or executive, visiting school principals, engaging in dialogue with janitors, involving the superintendent and senior management, inviting others to a lunchtime or evening information session, presenting on a professional development day – these are all ways to extend the circle of connections. They also show that the Coach is part of a team that aims to be seen and to hear what staff have to say. The Coach nor the team are not controllers of action but catalysts for it, and for a catalytic effect, there must be others to move action forward, individually, collaboratively and systemically. Such actions are helped when the circles of connections are wide and inclusive.
You don’t win ‘em all – but learn from the losses.
To assume that any action to support wellbeing in a school district will move smoothly from a plan into action and that all will be engaged is an illusion. Cliché though it may be, there are often some steps forward and some back. One thing I realized in one district was that we had not communicated effectively with the majority of the district’s staff. Many staff did not know of the work being done, and our circle of connectedness needed to extend much wider than we had thought. This was not an insurmountable problem but an opportunity to rethink our approach. Because we dropped one ball doesn’t mean it fell in the river and has disappeared forever. So what to do? What have we reported but has not been seen? Do we need some kind of logo to identify where initiatives originate and how they might connect with staff? Might more infographics be useful? How, if at all, are we using social media? Might a Wellness Committee role include communications?
As well as learning from the loss, it rarely hurts to say you didn’t get it right, both within the team and in the district as a whole. If we didn’t get it right that time, reach out to staff for their ideas, and incorporate what you can. Some staff may not want any communication, as they are tired of emails, directives and other information, so consider how to make communication less pervasive yet still accessible for those who want it?
While it is vital to listen and to assimilate perspectives, the truth is you can’t win all the time. You also can’t win some people any time, and occasionally one meets the brick wall that will not shift for anything, so don’t take it too personally. When it happens, learn from the loss. Regroup, reflect, work with the willing and move on.
Reflect, reflect, reflect
Time with a team can be filled with great conversations, multiple meetings and discussions, visits and experiences that mean the Coach is stimulated by the experiences and connections. Yet a crucial component for me is quiet reflection either on my way home or after I return from a district. How did that meeting go? Were there some concerns expressed or implied? What did I commit to that I need to do? If I take another look at my notes, might I see something different from what I thought at the time? What really excited people and showed us likely actions or directions to consider?
Such quiet reflection is a time to be alone with the senses open, accessing memories, moments, words, indications. The time for reflection gives me an opportunity to stand back, to think over what was said and what happened. It also acts as a stage to carefully consider what has occurred before moving into future action.
While I always reflect alone, it’s been highly beneficial to me to have my own reflective community of another Coach and a project manager with whom I can hear their experiences and get some input to my reflections and ideas. It’s a place to try out ideas, to share successes and address issues. As a result, my suggestion is to combine individual reflection with an approach that includes a reflective and sharing community.
Final Words
This report is an attempt to reflect on and share some of my experiences as a Coach with three school districts that are addressing staff wellbeing in various ways. I am and have been influenced by a range of literature, by my work as a teacher union researcher, and by very many teachers and other educators in BC’s public schools. What I have written is in no way intended as a guide for Coaches, but simply some perhaps random thoughts that may or may not prove useful to others.
There are many skilled and able facilitators, coaches and mentors in this province, yet there is little sharing of ideas and approaches that I am aware of outside of a few organizations’ internal systems. Perhaps we should share more, and create a community of critical friends who might serve to support those who advance ideas and approaches to new directions including wellbeing in BC’s education system.
References
Campbell, A., McNamara, O., & Gilroy, P. (2004). Practitioner research and professional development in education. London, ENG: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Gurr, D., Huerta, M. (2013). The role of the critical friend in leadership and school improvement. Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences. 106, 3084-3090.
Hargreaves, A., Fullan, M. (2012) Professional Capital, page 127.)
Knowles, M.S. (1990). The adult Learner: A Neglected Species (4th edition). Houston. Gulf.
Swaffield, S. (2004). Critical friends, supporting leadership, improving learning, improving schools.
Tschannen-Moran, B. & M (2010). Evovative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time. San Francisco. Jossey Bass.