Relational Dynamics in Literacy Coaching

• In Event: Research on Coaching Approaches and Teacher Education

Abstract

Literacy coaching has become a prevalent mode of PD and a significant expenditure in many school districts—fulfilling components of high-quality PD, as it is job-embedded, ongoing, focused on student learning, and providing opportunities for practice and feedback on instruction. The field, however, abounds with reports of teacher resistance to coaching, and literacy coaching research has thus far offered scant advice for building teacher trust and engagement. My argument is that current characteristics of high-quality PD undertheorize the affective components and relational dynamics of this work. Through discourse analysis of a literacy coaching cycle, this paper explores how relational dynamics between teacher and coach may be consequential in opening up or constraining the teacher to learning opportunities.

Author

• Carla Finkelstein, Towson University