Learning at the Heart

100 Posts in 100 Days

 

I shared the concept of seminal learning experiences in Post 5 of 100 Posts in 100 Days and then published a mini-series about my experience with the Thinking Strategies Institute at PEBC.  Today, I embark on another mini-series about a second seminal learning experience:  Cognitive Coaching^SM.

The final step in completing my undergraduate degree and earning my teaching certificate was a quarter-long teaching internship.  Most days, I woke before my alarm, full of excitement and energy for the hours ahead.  They were intense, as I imagine most internships to be.  I think I was more eager than the students to enter the classroom each day.  There was much to do and learn:  getting to know the students & their families, getting to know my teaching colleagues,  learning the school’s adopted curriculum & planning lessons, realizing all of the “other duties as assigned” teachers are responsible for.    

By design, I gradually started taking on more and more responsibility for the classroom I was assigned to work with.  With each new step, came a renewed sense of nervousness about being able to do it myself.  All along the way, I felt supported by the teacher who was my mentor and guide.  Before a lesson, for example, she had a way of asking me about my intentions and plans, helping me to articulate and visualize how they might play out.  She guided me to hone in on specific techniques and skills and to set small, manageable goals for myself.  When I was “stuck” in my planning, she always seemed to be able to describe back to me what I was thinking and pose just the right question to help me become “unstuck.”  When we would debrief a lesson, she always asked me first for my impressions and helped me to see what I did well. 

It didn’t matter if we were planning, problem solving, or reflecting, I always felt empowered.  I wasn’t always confident, or even fully competent, but I did feel trusted and in control of my decisions.  Even when things didn’t go as well as I had hoped, I was motivated to keep trying because I believed I had the support of my teacher.  I believed that she believed in me.

And that is the power of coaching.  An exchange characterized by support, trust, and empowerment.  A conversation that illuminates and reinforces successes, strategizes and plans for addressing challenges, and ends with a strong sense of possibilities.  

I was surprised to learn from my college classmates that this level of support and conversation was not universal.  From them, I heard stories of being told what and how to conduct a lesson, feeling corrected, and the subject of regular critique.  I listened to their self-doubts and lack of confidence.  I knew my mentor teacher was part of a cadre of teachers being trained in Cognitive Coaching^SM.  I didn’t recognize that I was her perennial “coachee” and just how lucky I was to be the beneficiary of her learning and practice.  As a result of her coaching, I grew in all aspects of my teaching practice and in my teaching confidence.  To this day, I know what it felt like to be truly coached.  That model and that feeling still influence my professional interactions, 26 (yikes!) years later.