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Once Upon A Time, There Was A Coach

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Written by Joseph Kanke

Being an educational coach can be a lonely endeavor. For many, this is the lone title of a building or even district. Often supervisors are supportive, but unsure of the ins-and-outs of the job to offer detailed feedback or concrete praise. Sometimes this can lead to the conundrum of over-thinking and questioning the value of your work. Coaches know what the research says about coaching, and it can be helpful to hold onto that as your north star when you can’t see the forest for the trees, but affirmation is nice too.

One perk of my position as a state coordinator is that I get to connect with coaches and teams supported by coaches from across the state. In doing so, I hear countless stories of success and praise for the work of coaches. Below you will find just one example of a coach who has partnered with a leadership team to move her district towards equitable outcomes for all students. The idea of this article came to be when the team reached out inquiring about any potential award or recognition they could nominate their coach for. Not knowing of any, I asked the team to respond to a series of questions which are pieced together below.

April Schofield is a coach for the Antigo Unified School District. In addition to being an instructional coach for 4K through 1st grade teachers, April is the internal coach for the Research to Practice Inclusive Communities Coach (RPIC) for the Unified School District of Antigo. She is dedicated to coaching for equity and works with the District Leadership Team and School Leadership teams to facilitate systems change across the district. Here is what the team she supports had to share about her.

“When a coach (on a teaching contract) can effectively lead her supervisor and all other administrators through a very intense systems change, one recognizes she is not only the right person for the job... she is indeed pivotal to our future success.”

When asked how April manages her own professional development while also facilitating the team’s learning, the team acknowledged that she is steadfast in both accords. “April has gone above and beyond when it comes to her own professional learning and self-improvement. This is not just a "job" to her, equity and the growth of Antigo's educational system through this lens is her passion.” She carries her growth-mindset with her in the facilitation of learning for the team as well, “consistently investigating how to make our professional learning more engaging while keeping our goals in focus!”

According to her team members, strong systems have been crucial to the development of the team and their support of district initiatives. One key piece of this work has been developing, monitoring and adjusting a communication plan. According to one colleague, under April’s coaching, the team put into place, “a system of asking for feedback and opportunities to review the feedback and make adjustments is in place. We have frequent review of our bi-directional communication efforts we are looking to implement and how we are addressing those in the current work.” April also models effective communication during leadership team meetings by asking questions, digging for details and depth and listening for the benefit of the speaker. She is also not afraid to challenge thinking, using techniques that help others to self-reflect and develop their own communication skills.

April’s dedication to equitable outcomes for all students is unmistakable. Within the scope of the Research to Practice Inclusive Communities grant she has had the opportunity to facilitate learning for staff, but she also weaves in her coaching skills extending, deepening and challenging the thinking of participants. “The passion April has for our learning around equity is palpable. Others feed off her intensity and commitment. I have watched her (virtually) lead learning for our entire staff and knock the facilitation out of the ballpark. She believes in and is committed to the work, and that has proven to be contagious.” The team noted that this work is challenging but that their coach is steadfast in pushing forward and committing to their goals. She has noted that we are always on the lookout for quick fixes, but the system educators work within is not a nascent one and it will take time to deconstruct. Team members noted she is quick and firm, yet gentle, in reminding them, “it is going to take time to peel back the layers, treating people with respect and honesty, while also challenging the status quo. This is long haul work and she reminds me of that every day.”

Despite the many successes the Antigo team has celebrated in the past two years with April and the coaching helm, it hasn’t always been easy. “ Last spring was tough on all of us. We were in quarantine and we had some members of the team who were not engaged and wanted to back off of this work. April was in the struggle with us and while we had to adapt to our unprecedented circumstances, she never allowed us to forget our goals through this work, which would have been easy to do. She kept us together even through all of the other pressing things that we had to deal with as a system---I believe that we are stronger for it.”

As a coach, the forest may feel like a lonely place if you feel like it you are traversing it alone, but there are a plethora of stories like this one across the state. If you are a coach, be sure you set aside time to reflect on your work, the successes and celebrations are there to be lifted up. If you work with a coach, take a moment to think how they have pushed your practice; and take another moment to let them know.

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