Addressing Teacher “Resistance”: Practical Strategies (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of 2 on creating buy-in for the coaching partnership. I recommend starting back at Part 1 first.
After examining your own mindset as a coach, there are a number of practical strategies that support teacher buy-in, especially for teachers who are perceived as resistant. None of these strategies is a quick fix for a challenging partnership, but they do help over time, especially when done together.
5 Strategies for Supporting “Resistant” Teachers
Relationship first - Take some time to get to know your teacher on a human level first. Try to understand what makes them tick, why they are a teacher, what makes them laugh or what they enjoy, and what they are looking for in the coaching partnership. I recommend doing this through a Welcome Meeting before the partnership begins and during the first few minutes of every coaching meeting. Avoid making every coaching meeting just a time to chat or the teacher will feel like their time is being wasted. Additionally, spend time in their classroom and try to have multiple friendly touch points per week.
Quick win - Early in the partnership, support the teacher with a specific strategy that will help them see immediate results with their students. For example, if a teacher talks for the majority of the class period and their student engagement is low, coaching the teacher to use active student response strategies such as using whiteboards, quick writes, or Plikers could support quickly increasing student engagement and learning. Seeing success in the classroom because of your advice is one of the best ways to again teachers’ trust.
Celebrate the positive - Make sure every coaching meeting includes a celebration of the teacher’s “glow” area, what they are doing well to support engaging and equitable student learning in their classroom. And don’t just tell them what they did, show them the data. Naming exactly what they did well with quotes and quantities helps teachers really own their own strengths, and start to drop their guard if they are feeling defensive.
Practice, practice, practice - One of the best ways to build teacher’s skill and capacity is to practice new strategies during the coaching meeting. By role playing multiple scenarios, creating an assignment together or planning a part of a lesson, teachers walk away not only knowing about something new, but actually how to do it independently. Because teachers have increased success with the strategies in the classroom after practicing it, they have an increased buy-in to the learning and growth that happens through coaching.
Follow through on your commitments - This may seem obvious, but coaches juggle a lot and it's easy to let some things slip through the cracks. If you promise a resource, a follow-up meeting, or support to a teacher who is struggling, make sure to follow through on these commitments in a timely manner.
Together with unpacking what might be behind a teacher’s perceived resistance, these strategies can support coaches in engaging teachers who might otherwise prefer to opt out of the coaching process.
As a coach, it is an incredibly rewarding experience to conclude a successful partnership with a teacher who initially was not bought-in.