Coaching Teachers in Bilingual and Dual-Language Classrooms. Alexandra Guilamo
post-observation conference.
Essential Mindset Shift That Frames the Foundation
A mindset shift is essential for those who seek to be effective in coaching dual-language and bilingual teachers. This shift includes seven elements: (1) establish trust and confidence; (2) avoid hidden agendas; (3) lead by learning; (4) become an insider, not an outsider; (5) know the right things; (6) ensure confidentiality; and (7) know when to use spotlights and supports. These elements help coaches get in the right frame of mind to lay the foundation for the observation and feedback cycle.
The Pre-Observation Conference
The pre-observation conference allows coaches to closely analyze how the teacher has designed learning to meet the many goals unique to their classroom. The guiding questions provided for coaches offer a set of considerations that must be included in this pre-observation conference for any feedback offered at this stage of the process to be effective.
The Observation
In stage 3 of the observation and feedback cycle, coaches observe instructional delivery using six tasks of notice (see chapter 6, page 77). These tasks of notice are supported by four essential questions (see chapter 6, page 72) that help coaches know how to prioritize their observational notes and identify the area of feedback most likely to accelerate the learning curve for teachers and, by extension, students’ learning outcomes. We call these areas of feedback high leverage because they can accelerate the growth process for everyone served.
The Post-Observation Conference
Next, sharing observational notes with bilingual and dual-language teachers gives teachers the opportunity to both self-reflect on what the coach noticed during the observation and answer any clarifying questions that the coach may have regarding something the teacher or students said or wrote that the coach could not fully understand. This time to self-reflect and contextualize language use prepares the coach and teacher to come back together during the final stage of the observation and feedback cycle—the post-observation conference. During the post-observation conference, both educators compare their analysis of the lesson and how effective it was for students. The crucial outcome of this post-observation conference is to accurately identify the decisions made during the observation that were effective as well as moments during the lesson that could have led to greater success had the teacher made a different decision.
This conversation should operate as though the teacher is driving a car with no precise directions for his or her destination. The coach is there to help that teacher think through whether turning left at an intersection is the best route to take or if turning right at the intersection would have helped him or her arrive at the destination more efficiently.
In bilingual and dual-language classrooms, there are multitudes of teaching intersections that teachers face every day. We call these intersections turning points. Just like the person in the car who could turn left or right, potential turning points in a lesson can range from incorporating scaffolds that match the language proficiency to not addressing smaller misbehaviors that escalated into an argument between students. Analyzing these turning points and looking for patterns in student learning create a trustworthy and reliable framework coaches can use to plan steps for teacher improvement, including a system of actions and supports to ensure their success.
Conclusion
This chapter discussed the challenges in defining a fair observation and feedback cycle. Coaches must strive to provide every teacher with a cycle that is honest and focused on closing the achievement gap of one of our most undereducated student groups. This requires a legitimate process for systematic observation that minimizes the amount of guesswork coaches will do as they use what they’ve observed throughout the cycle. Coaches don’t have to approach observation with a script or nothing approach. They must implement a process that is fair, systematic, and critical in establishing ways to minimize error and maximize the effectiveness of feedback (Pianta & Hamre, 2009). Once that process is in place, they can concentrate on how to give effective feedback. The next chapter discusses the eight goals of the observation and feedback cycle.
CHAPTER 2
The Eight Goals of the Observation and Feedback Cycle
Before outlining the full process of observation and feedback for bilingual and dual-language classrooms, it’s important to establish a common definition of the goals of an effective observation and feedback cycle. The goals fall into two categories: (1) goals that work to increase coaching effectiveness and its impact on student success, and (2) goals that work to build teachers’ capacity and competence to embrace and implement best practice for bilingual and dual-language learning.
A great deal of research has been devoted to coaching teachers. It is a topic of interest for experts from the broader educational world (Aguilar, 2013; Eisenberg, Eisenberg, Medrich, & Charner, 2017; Fox, Campbell, & Hargrove, 2011; Knight, 2007). While some of these experts’ research most adequately addresses coaching practices that exist in every kind of classroom, many such studies exclude the additional, unique needs of bilingual and dual-language classrooms, teachers, and students.
Instructional coaching researcher Jim Knight (2014) advocates for instructional coaching because “most people don’t know what it looks like when they do what they do” (p. 138). When I see recordings of presentations and professional development workshops I’ve delivered, I still feel shocked to hear my own voice. Much in the same vein, bilingual and dual-language teachers rarely have the opportunity to see their teaching and what student learning look like as they conduct the complex combination of steps that take place at any given moment in their classrooms.
This is why bilingual and dual-language teachers need an outside perspective or point of view. They need someone else willing and able to look at their instruction and decision making because they are so involved in teaching that they can’t see everything happening or perceive how students are responding (DeWitt, 2014). Coaches are better able to see those blind spots, or those areas teachers can’t see, because they are too close to know what they look like in the moment. Much like in sports, coaches who serve bilingual and dual-language classrooms can help teachers reflect on the decisions they make in the moment, provide feedback about the effectiveness of those decisions, and practice ways to incorporate and develop automaticity around new learning.
Author and speaker Peter DeWitt (2014) suggests that coaching focus on the following four fundamental goals: (1) ensure each encounter helps teachers improve, (2) connect colleagues’ successes, (3) provide an outside perspective, and (4) use multiple observations to obtain concrete data on student progress. My experience serving bilingual and dual-language teachers prompts me to add four additional goals: (5) achieve equity, (6) incorporate culture, (7) gather accurate evidence during the observation, and (8) embrace best practices.
The following sections discuss each of these eight goals of effective coaching in bilingual and dual-language classrooms in detail.
Goal 1: Ensure Each Encounter Helps Teachers Improve
The core of any observation and feedback cycle should be a laser focus on student learning. Programmatic alignment is important, but the feedback coaches provide must move beyond mere fidelity to a program model, initiative, or new textbook adoption. Rather, each encounter between coaches and the dual-language and bilingual teachers they serve must be guided by the systematic data collection from authentic assessments that provide meaningful insight into student learning across all program goals. A range of assessments is a vital resource that can guide coaches as they offer teachers a road map of supports aimed at improving student outcomes, and ultimately in evaluating teacher improvement. The key is that both teachers and coaches have access to authentic assessments that (1) are differentiated to match students’ language proficiencies and cultural background, and (2) use side-by-side rubrics for content