Coaching in STEM: How Novice Coaches Develop Partnerships with Science Teachers

• In Event: 60.051 - Professional Development in STEM

Abstract

This multiple case study explores the coaching relationships between instructional coaches who have a background in mathematics and the science teachers they coached throughout two years of an NSF funded STEM professional development initiative in order to develop theory about coaching in STEM contexts. Analysis of data sources including audio recordings of monthly 30-minute coaching conversations, written coaching logs, semi-structured interviews with coaches and teachers, and other project documents were analyzed using constant-comparative methods for grounded theory as a means to develop information-rich cases of cross-disciplinary coaching. Findings reveal that novice coaches developed new ways of interacting with teachers and new professional identities in order to build successful partnerships with the science teachers they coached. Also, participation within the broader disciplinary communities of math and science, including the beliefs, values and identities particular to those disciplinary communities, makes cross-disciplinary coaching uniquely complex. From these findings, a theory of how coaches can begin to develop a process of coaching reasoning and action is discussed, along with implications for professional development in STEM contexts.

Authors

• Lisa L Ortmann, Western Illinois University

• Gillian Roehrig, University of Minnesota