Coaching School Leaders: Experiences of Administrators and Coaches

• In Event: Coaching for Administrator Preparation and Leadership Development: Learnings, Benefits, and Challenges

Abstract

Objectives and Perspective. This paper reports the results of a five-year study examining the experiences of leadership coaches and beginning administrators who are participating in a university-based coaching program in the western United States. The program studied provides three-years of structured post-certification support to participants. It also provides professional development for leadership coaches. The purpose of this study is to explore the development of coaching relationships. Three questions guide this inquiry: 1) How do new administrators describe and perceive their coaching support? 2) How, if at all, do coaching relationships evolve over time? 3) What explains the evolution of a coaching relationship?
Methods and Data Sources. This investigation employed a comparative case study design and drew upon multiple qualitative research strategies including semi-structured interviews, observations, and document collection. Data collection involved two researchers and occurred over a five-year period between August, 2006-June, 2011. The researchers collected data using extensive on-site observation of program activities, repeated interviews with program participants, and ongoing collection of program documents. Findings suggest that a multi-year coaching program is a valuable source of support for new principals and that the depth and level of support provided improves over time. The study indicates that the perceived value of coaching support is relational, and coaching support changes as new administrators and coaches build rapport. Further, the findings reveal that the focus of this leadership coaching on instructional leadership is beneficial to new administrators. Implications for administrator preparation programs and coaching support for beginning administrators are discussed.
Results. Administrators supported by the program generally found the leadership coaching support valuable because it was non-evaluative and independent of their supervisors. Interviews conducted with administrators indicate that they view the coaching support as a unique form of professional learning providing an opportunity for reflection within the context of their daily practice. Administrators reported that they felt the coach was helpful and that the quality of the match between the leadership coach and the principal was a strength of the coaching relationship. Coaches who worked with an administrator for three consecutive years offered the strongest testimony for the quality of the program’s matching. Coaches acknowledged that coaching was a process that often required extensive relationship building and we find that the new administrators often learn how to utilize coaching support over time.
Significance. The findings challenge the traditional role of administrator preparation and suggest that university-based induction through coaching support may serve as a natural and valuable extension of administrator preparation. Our findings suggest that coaching is a complex activity that depends as much on the willingness of the administrator to change his or her practice as it does the effort from the coach to identify and focus the administrator on challenges. The data suggests that the coaching relationship and the particular issues focused on in coaching may ebb and flow as the new administrator acquires confidence and identifies new areas of growth. We find coaches to be instrumental in this process as they often raise issues for the administrator’s consideration.

Authors

• Michael Silver, Seattle University

• Chad Lochmiller, Washington State University