Coaching Labs in Missouri

I just spent a few days with a wonderful group of new reading coaches in Missouri. They are a lovely group of committed and professional educators. In our work together, I was reminded how complex the process is for getting a coach established in this new role. At moments, I felt overjoyed and at others I felt overwhelmed, and I’ve been doing this for over 10 years! We used a Coaching Lab model for our two days together and it was incredibly supportive and valuable.

Coaching labs provide coaches with the opportunity to meet with a small group of colleagues and observe a fellow coach who acts as a lab host. The goal of the lab is to provide coaches with an observation of practice as well as time for rigorous reflection. Participating coaches walk away with new ideas and tools for their work and get a time-out in their busy professional lives to reflect on their practice. The labs require a host who is not necessarily viewed as an “expert”, but rather as a learner who is willing to bring something s/he is grappling with to a group of peers. They also require a lab facilitator who understands how to support both the host as well as the observers. Finally, labs require a small group of approximately 5-8 observers.

Last week we were able to observe a coach collaborating with her principal. We benefited from hearing the two of them work side-by-side to grapple with issues related to school culture. The other observation was of a coach as she planned with a teacher. This was her first coaching cycle and she wanted to be sure she was on the right track. The differences between the conversations reminded us of the broad scope of a coach’s work and the importance of providing support for each of these areas.

It was such a thrill to be with coaches in their own school setting as a group of supportive, caring, and dedicated professionals. Not only did the host coaches take away important new thinking, so did the coaches who observed. What a great way to support dedicated educators in a difficult job!