Coaching Cut #41 More than one problem!

Coaching Cuts: Bite-sized tips for better coaching

This pitfall shows up at the beginning of the stage of coaching we call ‘Study the problem’. It’s the part of the conversation that coaches often find hardest. How do we help a teacher to see a problem in their teaching and remain motivated to solve it?

One sure-fire way to overwhelm them is to present them with more than one problem…

Pitfall: More than one problem

It’s an easy pitfall to fall into.

As coaches we feel a responsibility to bring value to the conversation. As a result, we may think that presenting our coachee with a whole host of problems is the best way to show that we are qualified to support them. And, we may think this will support them to change lots of important things about their practice. Perhaps only see this teacher once every 2-3 weeks for a conversation and so, it may seem wise to tell them about everything we saw.

It might be well meaning, but presenting our coachee with multiple things to improve leaves them, at worst, entirely overwhelmed, and at best, unsure of what to focus on first. Plus, it leaves us with less time to dig into and develop our coachee’s mental model of a key situation.

As a result, sharing more than one problem often leads to less behaviour change, not more.

For example, imagine a coachee being told that they had four students at the back of the room who were off task… and that their explanation was not precise enough… and then that they really should have checked student understanding before setting them off to independent work… What are they to work on first?

In the best-case scenario, the coach might then direct them to work on one thing to begin with. However, even then, the teacher is still likely to be distracted by the list of things to come.

It is the coach’s job to support their coachee to focus on one granular next step. This means resisting the temptation to spotlight more than one potential problem.

The pitfall in action…

In the clip below, coach Sarah lists multiple problems she thinks she saw in teacher Adam’s lesson.

Notice how she tries to sneak in additional so-called “quick wins” as well. Teacher Adam becomes gradually more overwhelmed and de-motivated with every additional problem.

So what do we do instead?

We stick to just one problem. Or, more accurately, just one situation where a problem appeared to manifest.

We zoom in on one situation, ask about our coachee’s goal, spotlight specifically what happened, and dig into what the cause might have been.

The key point is this: keep the focus on just one situation and push your coachee to think carefully about it rather than struggle to follow a laundry list of potential problems.

Let’s see it done better…

Thank you for reading! And if you love coaching cuts, you’ll love our new book, written with the phenomenal Dr Haili Hughes, which is now available to preorder!

Coaching for Adaptive Expertise is your handbook filled with concrete coaching techniques, example conversations and a strong theoretical underpinning so you (as a coach) can improve and you (as a leader of professional development) can train other coaches!