Home > Work > The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation
1 " Everyone we work with knows a lot more and can do a lot more than we think. It's our job as coaches to find out what it is that they know, care about, can do, and are committed to, and then to use that information to help them move their practice. "
― Elena Aguilar , The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation
2 " The coach's job is to help the client get out of the habit of putting out fires and instead to invest time and energy into installing automatic sprinkler systems and removing fuel and sources of ignition” (Bloom, Castagna, Warren, and Moir, 2005, p. 106). To coach for system change, we must start by cataloguing the fires. "
3 " Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), calculates that it takes ten thousand hours of deliberate practice—practice that promotes continuous improvement—to master a complex skill. This translates into about seven years for those working in schools. "
4 " teachers need close to fifty hours of PD in a given area to improve their skills and their students' learning "
5 " Most transformation programs satisfy themselves with shifting the same old furniture about in the same old room. But real transformation requires that we redesign the room itself. Perhaps even blow up the old room. It requires that we change the thinking behind our thinking. Danah Zohar (1997, p. 243) "
6 " Here's the thing about beliefs; we all have them and they drive our actions. We experience our beliefs as truths, and we can usually find evidence to support them. Subsequently, they create boundaries around what we think we can and can't do, what can and can't be done in the world. Some of our beliefs are tucked into our subconscious, where they operate without our awareness. Sometimes our beliefs contradict each other or our core values. Some of our beliefs make us strong, powerful people; some do not serve us. The good news is that beliefs can be updated or changed. "
7 " If I envision a just, fair future, I must behave justly and fairly today. "
8 " We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present. Adlai E. Stevenson (1952) "
9 " Coaching is the art of creating an environment, through conversation and a way of being, that facilitates the process by which a person can move toward desired goals in a fulfilling manner. Tim Gallwey (2000, p. 177) "
10 " The art of coaching is doing, thinking, and being: doing a set of actions, holding a set of beliefs, and being in a way that results in those actions leading to change. These are the three things that can make coaching transformational. "
11 " Curriculum must be improved in order to meet the needs of all our students. Our schools cannot continue to exist or be treated as isolated entities in a community—those of us working with and in schools must support them to become more tightly connected to, in service of, and responsive to the communities in which they are located. "
12 " a coach helps build the capacity of others by facilitating their learning. "
13 " Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code (2009), describes coaches as farmers who cultivate talent in others. "
14 " those of us who intend to practice it as a vehicle for transformation must be responsible for presenting a clear definition of what it is, who we are, what we do, and why we do it. "
15 " We need to interrupt any stories that are not in alignment with what we're doing. "
16 " The art of coaching is doing, thinking, and being: doing a set of actions, holding a set of beliefs, and being in a way that results in those actions leading to change. "
17 " Coaching is a form of professional development that brings out the best in people, uncovers strengths and skills, builds effective teams, cultivates compassion, and builds emotionally resilient educators. Coaching at its essence is the way that human beings, and individuals, have always learned best. "
