(En inglés)
Role and Impact of Coaching
Jennifer Ross: So I feel that coaching really is the bridge between training and really supporting teachers or family members or whoever to be able to implement practices. I think that training definitely has a place within our field, but sometimes, it's a struggle to figure out how can I actually implement these practices so we can walk alongside teachers and really support them on the "how to implement."
April Bowen: The collaborative coaching partnership between the coachee and I is a relationship where -- a safe relationship where they can come to me and discuss anything that's going on in the classroom, any questions they might have around teaching practices or child behaviors in the classroom, and it's a place for us to share new ideas as well.
Denise Perez Binder: I began my career as a special education preschool teacher. So I know what it's like to be in the classroom and to feel that overwhelming feeling of, "Am I really doing everything that I could be doing, and I know I could be doing this better." So as a coach, I get to help my colleagues and practitioners gain that confidence and develop new skills that they may otherwise not have been able to establish on their own.
Becky Zaleski: Teachers are not always comfortable with having an outsider come into their room, and so making sure their relationship is there and that they trust that you're there for good, that you're not there to catch them doing something wrong, is the foundation, for sure.
Becka Androes: It was done in a really safe way, because my mentor listened to me. And so that was an important aspect of that whole mentor piece, was the fact that my mentor listened and developed a relationship with me. Another little important piece that my mentor did is she did point out all of the strengths. And we have to remember that too when we're working with children. We have to focus on those strengths and bring those underneath to help lift up all the changes that we're trying to make.
Lily Hutchinson: I felt appreciated in the beginning, like when she talked about all your strengths and efforts and challenges and how every detail, she looked at it, and even though we don't realize them each day, she looked at it how I was handling the classroom, the management and activity, but when she tells you about your strengths and efforts and what you all did, great things in the class, that's amazing to know. And then she starts to tell you about how we can improve together, bring more new strategies, new ideas. So that was the reflection.
Debra Walter: I feel like coaching has really helped me to see my strengths. I think sometimes I tend to be hard on myself. So it's really helpful to get outside looking in. Yeah, and then to get challenged, I'm always kind of up for a challenge.
Debbie Roberts: Yeah, she's a striver. It really helps me to have somebody else there who has a perspective that I don't have.
Emily Stephens: Helping teachers build that self-reflective process -- especially teachers are really busy, they are working very hard and long hours -- and so whenever I can help them really stop and pause and think about what they're doing and think about just making a small change here or a small change there can really impact the relationships that they have with the children and the families and can really improve the outcomes. I think that's huge. And then when you get that buy-in from the teachers, they are able to see the difference, and then you really get moving forward fast.
Kristin Monson: The impact of coaching has been incredible to me, where teachers before would sit and struggle and struggle and struggle. Now that they've received coaching, I see them involve their executive function and really problem-solve through issues, even on their own without my support. So I feel like coaching has given them a different way of thinking
about struggles as they teach. In addition to that, I see them utilizing tools to increase quality in how they interact with children and how they set up their environments that they did not access prior to our coaching conversations. And that has only increased the quality of care that we're providing for children and families.
Eunice Lopez: The best outcomes for children is what we're looking for. So this whole coaching model is really tied into children's outcomes. When we support practitioners, we know that that's going to be reflected in the classroom, and then children win, teachers win, and everybody's happy at the end of the day.
Conozca más acerca de la importancia del coaching en entornos de cuidado infantil. Este video es parte del módulo de Coaching basado en la práctica, uno de los Módulos de aprendizaje de educación superior de la Alianza EarlyEdU (video en inglés).
