How Coaches’ Beliefs Influence Their Instructional Leadership

• In Event: Instructional Supervision and Leadership: Strategies, Development, and Practices

Abstract

Instructional coaches can be important change agents, working with teachers to improve instruction. The exact nature of coach enactment, however, is not well documented because most of the data come from surveys and provide only general information. This study presents a detailed examination of what coaches do and the beliefs that underlie their work. We examined the daily practices of six coaches over seven weeks using participant-coded activity logs. A combination of interviews, training sessions, and retreats were used to gain insights into the coaches’ beliefs about coaching. Findings indicate that coaches’ beliefs about the change process and beliefs about teacher autonomy negatively influenced their enactment of the roles, limiting their propensity to work directly with teachers on instructional improvement.

Authors

• Melinda M. Mangin, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

• Kai Lonnie Dunsmore, The Ball Foundation