Coaching as a professional learning strategy is a systemic, long-term, evolving process that challenges many of our present power structures and beliefs. When the vision unfolds, it will be common to see coaches, principals, teachers and district level staff working side by side in classrooms across the district; hear student achievement central in professional dialogue and witness robust learning at every level. Conversations informed by cutting edge research, outside expertise, data, and a relentless focus on improving instruction will flourish. Coaches--initially experienced consultants from outside the district--give way to coaches who are predominantly teachers who had been coached, became teacher leaders, and are groomed to take on the role of coach. Coaches play a pivotal role in helping teachers develop a repertoire of instructional strategies and more flexible content knowledge. Coaches also assist principals in their developing understanding of what to look for in effective mathematics lessons. In many schools the relationships between and among teachers, coaches and principals are collegial, productive, and enjoyable. Coaches attend school board meetings and influence policy by informing policymakers of what field-tested practices really do make a difference.
In this manner, coaches are poised to lead the way in creating life-affirming professional learning communities on a wide scale that upgrade the teaching profession to one that is supremely qualified to valiantly and intelligently prepare the next generation for the rapidly changing, demanding, diverse and complex, global society of the 21st century.
