While I learned so much at yesterday's ATMIM math conference, I was disappointed that there were not a lot of elementary school teachers there. There were plenty of administrators, coaches, and a number of high school teachers, but not as many elementary school teachers. That worried me, and left me wondering if elementary school teachers are getting the opportunity to get out there, share what they do, and learn first hand in worthy professional learning events. I wondered if the relatively new role of coaches is distancing educators from first-hand professional learning experiences that will truly elevate their craft, connection, commitment, and conversation.
What also led me to this questioning was reviewing my own story as I prepared to present at the conference. As I reviewed my story, I remembered that one reason why I stayed in teaching was because of the investment, intelligence, and inspiration I noticed and received from the great teachers who surrounded me--rather than a strict top-down hierarchy, it was a more distributive leadership model where educators were continually developing their craft, working together, and serving students well.
While I see many benefits to the coaching model from an administrator's perspective and perhaps, from a new teacher's needs, I wonder if the coaching model has, in some ways, distanced teachers more from leading their own craft. This inquiry came up during my presentation, and one coach remarked that teachers don't have time to do the investigative and development work to develop their craft, and that they need coaches to do that. I responded that if we rethink school structure, teachers may have that time and teach students too. I worry about the fact that there may be too many people in schools who are not working directly with students, and I worry that if educators are distanced from worthy, collaborative learning events like yesterday's conference, their enthusiasm, inspiration, commitment, and knowledge may dwindle and that will lessen their impact on the children they teach.
I am a fan of what I call a co-coaching model which is a model where teachers who are working with students coach each other forward. Together they work to recognize and utilize each others' strengths to build strong, student-centered programs that continually evolve to meet the fast pace changes that are occurring in our world--changes related to cognitive research, tech tools, the environment, and more. When educators are distanced from students, there tends to be a disconnect between what's out there and what we can do to impact students with positivity and strength. The students keep us in the game of teaching well--they direct our energy and inspire our efforts in ways that matter.
I believe that all schools can be dynamic centers of innovation, education, and change--we can work together with the best of our intelligence to empower our students and ourselves to great teaching and learning. I believe that this potential depends on the structures in place that work to elevate what we can do, structures that school administrators, school committees, coaches, directors, educators, teaching assistants, families, and community members need to think about as they make important decisions related to the ways we can serve students best.
