Who is Watching Who?

The key point of this model of observation conferencing is that it follows a collaborative approach where the decision-making is co-constructed.The teacher is choosing their goal, the focus of the observation, the means of recording evidence and co-constructs the feedback in the post-observation conference.

Instructional Coaching- teachers identify an area of need that they would like to improve on, related to their practice. This is about making teaching visible and offering a shared platform to facilitate discussions.

Teachers are learners, too, so it’s all about engaging teachers in that learning process.

The outcomes of the Instructional Coaching process are shared rather than reported.

Teachers reflect on what they’ve seen, what they’ve been through, the coaching process, themselves.

Peer Observation - the process whereby a teacher arranges to come in and spend some time in the classroom of another teacher looking at the strategies that are used within the class. There are already strengths within the school, and this process helps to utilise those strengths.

Pre lesson there is a quick chat about what's going to happen in the lesson, what the objective is going to be, and how the lesson is going to flow.

Implementing peer observations are challenging for all parties. Teachers may feel hesitant about having somebody else in their classroom, and there has to be a culture of sharing within the school.

Peer observation encourages teachers to reflect more on their practice.

Videos of Practice - a tool that is not human resource-intensive.

Decide what is wanted to be achieved in the observation, and then video the lesson, the mentor provides some feedback.

The teachers self-reflects on their video, and then come together and talk about how their lesson went and where they can improve with the mentor. Together decide on ""what would you like to work on next?" or "what could you do to make your lessons better"? Decide on a goal or action, and repeat as a cyclical process.

The teacher can see their strengths and also so reflect upon weaknesses in the classroom. Videos mean the teachers can pick
up things that they usually wouldn't have picked up in a self-reflection. So by taking videos
of teachers and observing good practice, the lessons are rewindable and accessible to other teachers.

This is a good set of tools to have in my kete as each school has a different culture and these observation tools give me options. As our kaupapa focus on visibility and connection and growth from within this has been a great section of learning.

I may ask some of my teachers to observe me formally and use one of the observation tools to support this.

What Do You Want? - Effective Questioning

The most powerful coaching question Bryan Franklin, Evercoach can ask his clients is the absolute simplest one it's a it's a question which I call the most dangerous question on

earth and it's simply what do you want.

How much challenge is too much, this needs to be a discussion at the start of each session as to establish the boundaries and expectations of the session.

The visionary questions tie in with Hazel's magical questions of time shift and imagine the results.

These questions could support the Why section of the 4 Mat System leading to more motivation and meaning.

I wonder if powerful questions aid with reflection and support the What if section of the 4 Mat system?

Goal - Long term goal the desired outcome - Short term goals are the steps to get there.

Reality - understand the situation to simulate coachee self evaluation and identify obstacles.

Options - what are the potential options. Prompt the coachee to evaluate the options.

Will - what exactly will the coachee do to reach the goal and when?

Make sure they are SMART Goals

Specific

Measureable

Attainable

Realistic

Timeframe

Make sure the goals are achievable? How will you know when you are there?

Make sure there is a good understanding of the current reality, have they starting towards the goal already? Will it conflict with other team goals?

What is and is not possible, what are the obstacles? This is where the coach support is important to help support the coachee to come up with solutions for the hurdles and obstacles.

The coach needs to ask good questions that are open as possible and active listening is very important. Silence is very good thinking time and gives the coachee the time to come up with their own solutions.

Here is a really good example of the GROW Model

Questions for the GROW Technique

Magical Questions

The way they are thinking can become more positive, increasing motivation and boosting self-confidence.

The two types of 'magical questions' that I frequently use are:

Imagine the results, look to the future imagine you are already there. Stops coachees, getting stuck in all the issues and problems that can hamper and dampen the spirits.

Timeshift, helps coachee look into the future and imagine what it would be like for them. Gets them to reflect on their action plan and more motivated to jump back into their 'to do' list and action plan.

Remember to ask questions because you are curious, rather than because you feel that the question is useful, it keeps the conversation real and open.

Conceptual Models for Mentors - Learning 1 - Learning from Experience

This is another good starting point to start looking at how I am connecting with the colleagues I am supporting. 

The ones I have not made such a connection with is it because I have not identified how they learn?

Looking at the four areas above, I think I am comfortable with identifying reflectors and theorists; however, possibly I need to develop my ability to identify and support the Activist and Pragmatist. Are these teachers that seemed to stand off and not be involved as much? How do I identify these traits? In my role as the facilitator, the number of teachers I work with creates a challenge however as with a classroom knowing your learning is crucial, and this could add another string to my bow for those teachers that are not getting the support they require from my role.

My role within the teachers class for one year is the perfect opportunity to utilise the 4 Mat System and support the implementation of a digital classroom. Looking at the model, I need to ensure I allow ten minutes with each teacher to help them make meaning, discuss and motivate them. The understanding of the type of learner, e.g. Activist etc. will help me to support them to make meaning and increase motivation.

In the why I need to break the lesson of the day down into why we are doing it beforehand with the teacher, they will observe and reflect on the experience thinking about the Cybersmart concepts and information and the way it is being taught and use these to develop new ideas and principles. I have not done this well to date as this can be seen in the classes that I worked with last year that are not continuing with the Cybersmart Curriculum.

The skills that I have developed and continue to grow with this Coaching and Mentoring course will hopefully support teachers with the development of new ideas and principles. I am thinking that the adaptation, self-discovery and evaluation occur over the week and begin the discussion when I am back in class the following week.

Reflection - In one of my reflective sessions I have realised I have very little connection with the mentor, I have not listened for their linguistic style and as a result have not been able to connect back as quickly. I have noticed that the conversations can be very autobiographical, and I am reflecting is this due to the personal style or my lack of contribution to the discussion. As a mentee is it appropriate to connect with the mentor's linguistic style and then use that for example "I hear what you are saying" to bring the conversation back to focus on the mentees?

Using my Ears Twice as Much as my Mouth

On reflecting on my own listening skills and completing this Interactive Listening Self-assessment Tool, it is fair to say I have a few things to work on in the area of listening.

At the moment I would classify myself as a poor listener, as you can see from the list below I have highlighted some actions I am guilty of during conversations.

The poor listener will often;

• Look away 
• Interrupt
• Finishes other's sentences
• Offer solutions without asking
• Look bored or fidget
• Looks at their watch
• Ask too many questions
• Do most of the talking
• Give their opinion without asking

A focus for me will be to turn off my inner dialogue, so I am focussed on the speaker. By not having this dialogue running should also reduce the desire for me to interrupt or finish sentences, This will occur as I will not be biasing the conversation with my own thoughts.  I think increasing the use of questioning will stop me offering solutions or opinions. These questions need to be effective and not too numerous, and this will evolve as I work my way through this module especially looking at Joan Dalton's work again. I already have some critical questions from my previous blog post to use in upcoming work.

There are three different layers of listening:

• surface listening

• directed listening

• listening for learning. 

The key skills of listening for learning are:
Switching off your own inner dialogue
Sending out the right signals through non-verbal signals
Summarising
Suspending your own judgment
Showing empathy

A key for me to work towards listening for learning is working on summarising and paraphrasing, this is a focus from the last blog post as well.

How to Listen: Autobiographical Listening

Autobiographical Listening is where you ask a question to start a conversation that is in an area where you want to share something of your own. I am guilty of this at times and think I do it to build relationships with others by sharing my personal experiences to create connections with them. This enables me to then build trust and supports my work with them professionally.


Listening to the video and reflecting on its content I can see how this really shuts quiet people down and possibly creates a barrier to forming relationships and engagement in the work I do with teachers.

The suggestion form the video was to attempt to enter the other person's space and explore with their experiences with them. 

For example, when someone responds to the question of “how are you?” with "I am busy, rushed off my feet.", instead of saying "me too" and start telling them all about it, try asking a question, “What's keeping you busy?” and enter their world.


Asking an appropriate question opens up the possibility for discussion, and then listening creates the opportunity for dialogue and builds better relationships.

The importance of Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbals communicate 90% of understanding of the message
Facial Expression
Eye contact
Physical appearance
Spatial Behaviour
Paralinguistics - Pitch and tone
Kinesics - posture and gestures

Reflecting on non-verbal communication, I think I read these well in other people, however possibly due to my poor listening skills I get mixed messages from the verbal message and the non-verbal cues not always matching up. Focussing on my listening should really support my practice. I will also take more note of non-verbal cues of others and try subtly reflecting these gestures.

Building Trust - Relationships Take Time

Relationships are so critical and take time. Reflecting back on term 1, this has been something that I have not done well with all the teachers I work with. I have been swamped in the first half of the term prioritising potentially the wrong things. Now towards the end of term one, this has meant I am not really where I want to be with my teachers.

Coaching and Mentoring is a focus for my inquiry, and I know that developing this is really going to improve my facilitation.

Building Trust in Mentoring Relationships from Mentor Modules on Vimeo.

In the first video, the mentor did not listen to the mentee at all and used the negative language of but, I have always been told as soon as you use "but" in a sentence, everything said beforehand is BS.

Suggestions for teaching practice that worked for the mentor may not necessarily work for the mentee. There was no real time or effort to get to know her mentee and work out what would work for her. The mentor did not read the body language of the mentee during the hui and she did not recognise she was uncomfortable. The mentor was friendly; however, she did not give choice or options or ask what the teacher wanted. The mentor was quite positive yet never built relationships at any stage.

The mentor modelled lessons but gave no choice, so the mentee was not engaged and was doing planning not focussed. The mentor got involved in the teaching and said how much she enjoyed taking the lesson, therefore, making the mentor feel even more like she was not doing a good job. The mentor offered help that she thought she needed and did not listen to her mentee or ask what advice she felt was needed.

In the end, the mentor understood the mentees position when she forcibly stated it, and then the mentor asked to start over and  "you tell me".

I think I do this in class at times as I feel a bit time poor especially in classes where I need to leave quickly to get to another room or school. In some hubs, the number of students makes building relationships and trust or even discuss planning or direction during the session almost impossible.

How do I overcome this? Discuss with leaders and teachers to reduce the number of students I work within a session. In term two I will aim to meet with all the teachers in the first 2-3 weeks to reflect on term 1 and also to continue to build the relationships. This week I will email all teachers and set up hui either before or after school.

Getting to Know You from Mentor Modules on Vimeo.

In the second video, the mentor takes a much different strategy by taking a back seat with her own sharing about herself and really focussing on listening and asking questions to gather more information such as "how so?", "what did you learn specifically?". The mentor also used paraphrasing, which enabled her to ensure she had the right understanding of what was being said and had not assumed based on her bias.

The mentor told a wee bit about herself but not in depth, and was more concerned about getting the mentee to talk about himself. She was using active listening and came across as really genuine in her desire to know about her mentee. She asked guided questions starting with a non-threatening one, "What are your strengths?". She asked about any concerns, however, did not jump into solutions and instead wanted to know if the mentee had any ideas to address his concerns? The mentor responded with a statement of  I understand and an invitation of "how can I help you?".

The mentor only offered suggestions when asked and even let the mentee decide how often do they meet and then negotiated to an acceptable outcome for both parties.

The mentor only talked about her own experience right at the end as a way of reassuring the mentee she understood where he was coming from. She had empathy for him as she had experienced a similar situation.

In my hui with teachers, I will look at utilising the same model and questions the mentor used in her hui.

First I am going to talk to the teachers about how I am doing a coaching and mentoring course and I am still learning how to be an active listener and how to use the coaching and mentoring model.

I will try paraphrasing and use the guiding questions, keeping it simple.  In Manaiakalani Outreach we use a reflection of What's working, What's not working and What do I need help with? I will discuss this as part of the hui.

Questions to start with

• Tell me about your experience teaching with devices
• Use these guiding questions: "how so?", "what did you learn specifically?"
• What are your strengths? What is working well with Outreach support?
• What are your concerns? Do you have any ideas to address your concerns? What are the solutions? What do you need and what can I do to help?
• What's not working with Outreach?
• How can I help you?

Mentoring and Coaching - Building foundations - Reflection

In your context, what difference could effective mentoring have on teacher retention?

Looking at the teachers I work with, the 1:1 support offered each week has the potential to decrease the leaving rate as the teachers are supported in class each week. This support helps ensure the teachers in their first year of a 1:1 digital level have support in their learning and creation of structures and systems to prepare them for effective use and the ability to maximise the affordances of digital technology.

Part of my role is also to transition these teachers into their second year when my support ends to ensure they still feel connected or supported at an appropriate level.

In your context, what difference could effective mentoring/ coaching have for priority learners?

The impact on priority learners is large with engagement in their learning increasing due to the access of technology and the authenticity through Learn Create Share and Blogging.  For me, it is to move into being a high effect facilitator to get a more significant shift of teachers in the year I am with them. It is also to ensure that ownership remains always with the principals, SLT and teachers and not with me which limits buy-in and shift. There is a fine line between supporting to stop overloading and having it being done to them.

What difference could effective mentoring / coaching have in your context for building teacher agency and leadership capacity?

The teacher's capabilities in a digital world increase, giving them the skills and knowledge to apply their pedagogical knowledge to students using the affordances of technology to increase student achievement, well being and engagement. In the second year, opportunities could arise to take a leadership role in the school around Manaiakalani Outreach and Learn Create Share. The new confidence and leadership opportunities also can lead to more agency as they then become the drivers of Learn Create Share.

What does a coach/mentor ‘look’ like and what do they do? Is it the same across cultures?

The coach/mentor needs to be highly adaptive and able to change to meet the needs of the mentees. If they cannot then they need to recognise this and suggest alternatives. They need to be able to build relationships and make connections quickly with the mentee to enable relational trust which ties in nicely with Five Dysfunctions of Team learning I have done in the past.

My definition of Mentor and Coach (developing)

Mentor = Guide - Greater use of questioning and learning talk to get the mentee to set a goal and then work towards it? Educative mentoring represents a shift away from advice and guidance / pastoral care to the facilitation of “evidence-informed reflective learning conversations.”

Coach = Support - Goal is preset, and then the coach is there to support the mentee to get there?

Learning conversations are crucial for both.

Listening to Manu and Anaru's Podcast and thinking in my own context it does seem there are synergies between cultures with knowing your learner being at the centre. Maori may prefer a group mentoring model to a 1:1 model.

Where do you think your current mentoring / coaching relationship sits in relation to these definitions and the ‘Situational coach-mentoring continuum visual diagram’? How do the definitions/continuum approach shape your expectations of this relationship?

My role possibly has me sitting in the middle of performance and potential on the continuum as it is context driven around Cybersmart and Learn Create Share, is a medium-term and focuses on roles and competencies. Somehow I need to be able to move this into the Personal Space for leadership as they are long term and have a more complex and evolving landscape to the teachers. There needs to be a partnership where the leaders to take more ownership in the strategic direction of the school in relation to Outreach and the cluster and requires me to facilitate this rather than do it to them.

While you read through these principles consider why they might be significant for you in a mentoring / coaching relationship and how they might influence the way you work with your current mentee/coachee.

Adult problem solving

• Watching and feeling
• Watching and thinking
• Doing and feeling
• Doing and thinking

What other practical applications of these adult learning principles can you see?

What’s on top for the mentee? Need to know this first before we can move forward and ensure the discussion is actually supporting the mentee and relevant to them.

In our model of Learn Create Share the opportunities for Watching and feeling, Watching and thinking, Doing and feeling, Doing and thinking are amplified as the mentees go through the process of learning. By accessing some new knowledge/information and then either creating or watching someone else produce a learning object is really going to support their education. The sharing of the new knowledge also gives opportunities for Watching and feeling, Watching and thinking, Doing and feeling, Doing and thinking as they interact with the blog post and potentially comment.

I guess in a 1:1 session there is going to need to be times when I am modelling in order to give the mentee an opportunity for Watching and feeling or  Watching and thinking or giving the mentee opportunities to do the Doing and feeling, Doing and thinking and being able to talk through this if they so desire.

Staff meeting implications - Adult Education

• let learners know why something is important to learn,
• show learners how to direct themselves through information,
• relate the topic to the learner's experiences,
• help ensure that people are at the stage where they are ready and motivated to learn, and
• help learners overcome inhibitions, behaviours and preconceived beliefs about learning.

This is an excellent framework to use when planning staff meetings and would complement the use of a site rather than a slideshow. I would need to know my learners well to relate the topic back to their experiences.

• Following a formal process
• Getting to know your coachee/ mentee
• Setting aside a time for the session
• Protecting the time from other responsibilities or keeping the different roles clearly separated
• Taking the meeting off-site

When thinking about your current mentoring/coaching relationship, which approach do you think you presently take in your mentoring relationship? Why? What outcomes are you trying to achieve? When might you need to use a variety of approaches with the same mentee/coachee?

At the stage when working with teachers, the approach I take is Directive  - Control to Directive - Informational. This is due to teachers not feeling empowered to direct the learning and move into the collaborative space where I would much prefer to work. This is possibly due to many reasons

• Lack of planning time with the teacher - need to book in time with each teacher at the end of the term to plan the following term
• Lack of buy-in that they can drive the learning - make time to discuss this and use active listening. I may move to problem-solving before hearing all the message?
• A structured context of cyber smart making them feel like they have no choice - I have tried giving options in the past to choose from still found little buy-in.
• Poor communication of expectations and opportunities for engagement of my support - School leadership taking some role in here as well as my part especially at the start of the year.
• Busy teachers overloaded - working Cybersmart into what they are already doing.

Coaching and Mentoring to Develop Practice

Sometimes being a reflective practitioner really sucks, all these ideas formulating and getting chewed to bits inside my head. I have been thinking about my inquiry for 2018 and have been lucky enough to be mentored by Sarah Whiting as a Whānau lead. Going in for my first session in 2018 my head was definitely full of ideas and reflections that Sarah skillfully drew out into a concrete substance. This allowed me to then group the themes together which had led to the formulation of my inquiry and my new learning for 2018.

Busy - this is part of a new cluster and will slow down as we move into Year 2.
Relationships - This has been very good in some classes however I have possibly not invested enough time in some classes to build these. The lack of a day at the start of 2018 to set expectations etc for the year has contributed to this. I need to reflect on “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” and remember relational trust is the first part to build.

• Expectations of Learners - Sometimes the expectations on learners completing work is not very high. This has been noticed in other cluster schools as well and even measures have been put in place to support learners with learning how to finish task. How can I support teachers in setting expectations for their students?
• Accountability - Who are the teachers I work with accountable to? Do the teachers understand the expectations of the programme and their leader's expectations?
• Value Added - What is the value-add to the teachers from my work, I see the value with the students. How could I measure the value-add with staff?
• Frustration - The risk of the above themes developing into frustration on my part and then this impacting on the relationships with staff and schools.

My inquiry is going to focus on the use of coaching and mentoring to facilitate better practice. I am interested to learn the skills and knowledge of coaching and mentoring and then see if this can be utilised in the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme implementation. I am intrigued to know how I could use coaching and mentoring in the programme.

Next step is to do some new learning around coaching and mentoring as part of a CORE Education Tātai Aho Rau Empower Course on Coaching and Mentoring.