Are workshops a waste of time?

My colleague Jake Cornett and I recently wrote a chapter included in Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives, which summarized more than 200 publications discussing research on coaching.  The one most obvious finding buried in all of those articles was that workshops without follow-up do not lead to implementation.  The research we reviewed suggested that the best implementation rate you can hope for after a workshop is about 15%. In one study that I conducted, I found that the after-effects of a workshop can be negative if teachers leave sessions frustrated or disappointed. (If you'd like to read the study feel free to email me at jknight@ku.edu, and I'll be happy to send you a summary)

My recent experiences at the NSDC conference further eroded my faith in workshops.  Again and again I heard educational leaders say that stand alone workshops are simply not good professional development.  So what does this all mean? Should we stop leading and offering workshops?

This summer, when Michael Fullan was a presenter at our CRL Summer conference,  I asked him this question.  I was quite interested in his answer, especially since I am in the midst of writing a book about how to lead workshops.  Michael said that workshops are still important because "they are a mechanism for introducing new ideas into a system."  But, Michael explained, they have to be part of a broader systemic approach to school reform, one that might involve other approaches to professional learning such as instructional coaching, Professlonal Learning Communities, Japanese Lesson Study, focus, continuity,and principal leadership.

Given these concerns about stand alone workshops, I've started asking several questions when I am invited to work with a district to provide support for their development of a coaching program.  If I just lead workshops about coaching (kind of an ironic thing to do, actually), my fear is that I may actually be part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. However, my hope is that if I advocate for high quality PD, my colleagues and I can make a real difference.  

My questions are listed below. Let me know if you think we need to add or subtract any from the list or if you have any additional thoughts about whether or not workshops still matter:

1.     How many schools are being served by this project?

2.     How many coaches do you/will you have in place?

3.     What are your students’ major needs?

4.     What are your teachers’ major needs?

5.     On which teaching practices and other interventions do your current professional development efforts focus?

6.     Which teacher or student needs are/are not addressed by your current professional development?

7.     Do your teacher evaluation methods and walk-throughs target your professional development focus?

8.     Do you have too many, the right amount, or not enough teaching practices being implemented in your district?

9.     What do your coaches know about coaching?

10. What do they need to know about coaching?

11. Do they deeply understand the teaching practices they share?

12. Do they need to learn more about the teaching practices they share?

13. Do they need ongoing coaching to develop their skills, or will workshops be sufficient?

14. What do the principals know about the teaching practices, the methods of evaluation, the coaching practices?

15. What do they need to know?

16. Is there some one to coach the coaches?

17. If yes, what support does that coach of the coaches need?

18. What do we need to do to ensure that coaches, administrators, teachers, and students learn what they need to learn to make this project a success?

19. What other issues need to be addressed to create an effective professional development plan for your coaches, administrators, teachers, and students?

Instructional Coaching Conference 2009

The details for next year's Instructional Coaching Conference are coming together.  The conference will be hosted at the Eldridge Hotel and Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas on October 12, 13, and 14. So I thought I'd share some information here.  First off, I'm thrilled to share (in no particular order) that Stephen Barkley author of Quality Teaching in a Culture of Coaching , Gary Bloom  author of Blended Coaching and Powerful Partnerships, MC Moran author of Differentiated Literacy Coaching ,and Mary Vreeman and Cheryl Jones authors of Instructional Coaches and Classroom Teachers  have all agreed to present at next year's conference. Additionally, we plan to include a track of presentations called Coaches Sharing with Coaches, where the Pathways to Success coaches will share their experiences using the the Big Four Comprehensive Model for Improving Instruction (my next book after Partnership Learning).  Beta versions of all the tools will be given away at the conference; many are already up, and more will be posted as they are created.  The formative assessment tool manual is going up next week.  If you check back soon, you'll be able to download it.

Other topics to be covered include Culturally Responsive Instructional Coaching, Research on Instructional Coaching (if you are interested in presenting your research please let me know), Twitterpalooza (where Twitter folks from around the country share ideas and talk about expanding our network of coaches through Twitter ) as well as a series of Pecha Kucha presentations given by coaches. Pecha Kucha presentations are ones that where the presenter is allowed to use 20 images each shown for 20 seconds. You can learn more about Pecha Kucha here, or see a Daniel Pink Pecha Kucha here.  If you'd like to give one of these presentations, please contact me jimknight@mac.com, as the Kansas Coaching Project will waive the conference fees for all presenters.   

There will be more news soon, but I am very excited about this information and wanted to get the word out. I should add that each year our conference sells out by August, and we will get the application up online by next Friday.  

Instructional Coaches and Fidelity

One of the most frequent comments I hear when I talk with people about school change is that coaches will only be effective if they ensure that teachers implement new practices with fidelity.  This is an easily justified goal. If teachers don't teach innovations with fidelity, the thinking is, they won't get results. So we need to make sure teachers do it (whatever it might be) the way it is supposed to be done. I think, however, that it is worth while to ask what is fidelity before we totally adopt this way of thinking?

For me, there are some thorny issues that we need to think about with respect to the topic of fidelity.  Of course, if coaching is going to be effective, coaches need to partner with teachers to provide the supports that empower teachers to implement new practices in a high-quality way that gets results.  But we make a big mistake, I think, if we assume this means that teachers must mindlessly follow a script.

Lucy West, in the new book I edited Coaching: Approaches and Practices  suggests that coaches, rather than encouraging fidelity, which she describes a "dictum to follow a script," should strive for mindful engagement of the curriculum with teachers.

I agree completely for a number of reasons, but I'll mention two here. First, asking teachers to implement exactly what a script says, exactly as the script says, treats teacher like workers on an assembly line rather than professionals.  This means, I suspect, that an over emphasis on fidelity likely leads to low quality instruction where teachers do every task on a checklist but do not teach with passion, or love, or even in a manner that involves reflection.

The second issue, though is more troubling. I just don't think it is likely that a heavy emphasis on fidelity is practically effective.  As Thomas Davenport has shown in Thinking For a Living  when professionals (whom he calls knowledge workers) such as teachers are not given the opportunity to reflect and think for themselves, they resist change.  Simply put: what knowledge workers do is they think for a living; if someone else (researchers, administrators, policy makers) does the thinking for teachers, teachers will resist.

Now I'm not saying everything is up for grabs, or that a teacher can say, "OK, this year, no more reading and writing, this year it is all hockey."  That is ridiculous. I'm also not saying coaches shouldn't worry about high quality implementation, or understanding the teaching practices they share.  In fact, I believe just the opposite.

Coaches need to deeply understand the materials they share, and they should be highly skilled at finding precise and easy-to-understand explanations for those practices.  However, when they explain, model, observe, and explore data, coaches need to present that information in a way that allows teachers to do the thinking.  For example, when explaining teaching practices, instructional coaches can say, "Here's what the research says. However, do we need to adapt this at all so it will work for you and your students. What do you think about this approach?"  95% of the time when coaches ask for teachers' opinions, the teachers say, "let's do it the way you describe it."  When coaches tell teachers what to do without honoring their thoughts and voices, however, the first thought if not word for the teachers is, "I want to change it."

There are several key lessons here. 

First, instructional coaches have to deeply understand the teaching practices they share.

Second, coaches have to find precise language to describe in easy-to-understand language how a new teaching practice will look in a teacher's classroom.

Third, rather than telling teachers how to do it (encouraging mindless fidelity) coaches should engage teachers in reflective conversations about how they think teaching practices might work in their classrooms (mindful engagement).

By treating teachers like professionals, by letting them do at least some of the thinking, coaches have a much better chance of enabling high-quality teaching and better student learning--and isn't the whole point. 

Turning to One Another

Margaret Wheatley’s Turning to One Another is a passionate argument for the power of meaningful communication, a book I recommend everyone take the time to read with care.   When I read it recently as part of my research for my book on Partnership Learning , I saw several themes. I’ll list them here and include quotations from her book to illustrate each theme.   After that, I’ll say a little bit about the implications of her ideas for coaches and me.

A Radical Brokenness

“We have never wanted to be alone. But today, we are alone. We are more fragmented and isolated from one another than ever before. Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes it as “a radical brokenness in all of existence.” We move at frantic speed, spinning out into greater isolation. We seek consolation in everything except each other. The entire world seems hypnotized in the wrong direction – encouraging us to love things rather than people, to embrace everything new without noticing what’s lost or wrong, to choose fear instead of peace. We promise ourselves everything except each other. We’ve forgotten the source of true contentment and well-being”   (pg. 4).

Noise

“This is a very noisy era. I believe the volume is directly related to our need to be listened to. In public places, in the media, we reward the loudest and most outrageous. People are literally clamoring for attention, and they’ll do whatever it takes to be noticed. Things will only get louder until we figure out how to sit down and listen. Most of us would welcome things quieting down. We can do our part to begin lowering the volume by our own willingness to listen” (pg. 91).

Time

  “Do you have as much time to think as you did a year ago? When was the last time you spent time reflecting on something important to you? At work, do you have more or less time now to think about what you’re doing? Are you encouraged to spend time thinking with colleagues and co-workers or reflecting on what you’re learning” (pg. 96)?

“We’re forfeiting the very things that make us human. Our road to hell is being paved with hasty intentions. I hope we can notice what we’re losing – in our day-to-day life, in our community, in our world.   I hope we’ll be brave enough to slow things down” (pg. 96).

“Conversation … takes time. We need time to sit together, to listen, to worry and dream together. As this age of turmoil tears us apart, we need to reclaim time to be together. Otherwise we cannot stop the fragmentation” (pg. 5).

Listening

“I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again” (pg. 3).

“We have the opportunity many times a day, everyday, to be the one who listens to others, curious rather than certain. But the greatest benefit of all is that listening moves us closer. When we listen with less judgment, we always develop better relationship with each other. It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do. Curiosity and good listening bring us back together” (pg. 36).

Differences

“Most of us have had the experience of listening to someone and realizing how different they are from us. We don’t share any of their experiences, values, or opinions. But surprisingly, at the end of listening to them, we feel more connected to them” (pg. 117).

“… in all our diversity, we share the experience of being human. We each have the same longings and feelings. We each feel fear, loneliness, grief. We each want to be happy and to live a meaningful life. We discover this shared human experience whenever we listen to someone’s unique story”   (pg. 118).

“Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know. Real listening always bring people closer together” (pg. 145)

Equality

“Conversation can only take place among equals. If anyone feels superior, it destroys conversation. Words then are used to dominate, coerce, manipulate. Those who act superior can’t help but treat others as objects to accomplish their causes and plans. When we see each other as equals, we stop misusing them” (pg. 141).

Our Fundamental Human Goodness

“In our daily life, we encounter people who are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together. Many of us are more withdrawn and distrustful than ever. Yet this incessant display of the worst in us makes it essential that we rely on human goodness. Without that belief in each other, there is really no hope” (pg. 72).

“Goodness and talent are common human traits. Most people are more generous and talented than we assume. It’s hard to see this day-to-day when we work in restrictive environments where we’re told what to do, told what to think, usually ignored, often disrespected, sometimes dehumanized. Once you’ve worked and lived under these conditions, it’s difficult to remember your own capacities, let along those of others. But in an emergency, when others are suffering, we emerge powerfully, leaving behind our roles, our boredom, our exhaustion. Disasters reveal capacities long buried by bureaucracy and disrespect” (pg, 125).

“Work that serves the common good doesn’t take away our energy. Instead, energy pours into our bodies through our open hearts and generous spirits” (pg. 127).

Wheatley and Coaching

Coaches, I think, are wonderfully positioned to do the good work that Dr. Wheatley discusses.   By taking time, truly listening, and talking about ideas they care about, coaches, I believe, can profoundly improve the world inside their schools. Coaches, by really listening to teachers, by treating teachers with deep respect, can offer some teachers a kind of altered reality.   “I know,” a coach might say during a one-to-one conversation with a teacher, “that talk in the staff lounge isn’t very positive or supportive, but right here right now we can treat each other with kindness. We can show each other that we care.”

For this reason, I really believe that coaching is not just about effective instruction, coaching is about creating a more positive culture in school, one conversation at a time.   School culture is manifested in conversations, and no one has more conversations than a coach.   In my workshops, I often suggest that coaches need to make a decision about what they will discuss, and stick to it.   For me, that means, if a conversation isn’t good for kids, isn’t good for the school, then the coach probably should not be involved in it.

Ultimately, I believe we will never have the kind of schools we want if we do not start having more mutually humanizing conversations.   We can’t expect our kids to enjoy and benefit from learning if the teachers feel frightened, alone, and under attack.   Coaches can provide real, meaningful support, and by listening, as Wheatley says, they might just change the world.

Personal reflections

I opened this book at just the right time because watching the Republican Convention—even though I am a Canadian, not an American citizen—I found myself getting angrier by the minute as I watched what to me seemed like a deliberate attempt to deceive the American public. (If you’re interested, I’d be happy to send you an email letter summarizing my thoughts). Margaret Wheatley, however, has reminded me of Gandhi’s famous quotation, “Be the change you want to see.”   Despite my anger, I will prove nothing by trying to bully those whose opinions are different than mine.   So, I will do my best to listen first even when it seems that those who are talking aren’t listening to me.   Indeed, by listening, I might learn a lot, and I might even help some see my point of view.   If I start by shouting, there’s little chance anything I say will have any impact.

  Next week

I’ll be writing about Open Space Technology , by Harrison Owen, which describes a kind of reflection learning structure that presenters and coaches can use to foster meaningful dialogue during workshops and other forms of presentations. It is a great book, and if you give presentations or lead workshops, and you’ve never heard of it, I think you’ll find it useful.

What Sway can teach instructional coaches about influence

The popular business book, Sway , by Ori and Rom Brafman is an example of what I consider be a new genre of book, which I refer to as "edutainment."  Books, like The Tipping Point , Blink , and The Wisdom of Crowds , are filled with interesting anecdotes, short sentences, and accessible, compelling stories.  The books are fun, but they also make you think, which I guess is the best part.

Sway, is about, as the subtitle says, 'the irresistible pull of irrational behavior," and the book identifies several "psychological forces that de-rail rational thinking."  I'll list some of these forces below, and then briefly discuss why they might be relevant to coaches.

Irrational Force #1: The Diagnosis Bias

Since life is so rich and complicated, we all have to make snap decisions about people and events around us. As the authors note, "the moment we label a person or a situation, we put blinders on to all evidence that contradicts our diagnosis" p.7.  The trouble, the authors claim, is that these quick decisions, bias our perceptions, and, even more important perhaps, people around us tend to act consistently once we diagnose them.  Educators have know this as the Pygmalion Effect .

Implications for Coaches

Coaches need to be careful not to label teachers too quickly. If a coach determines a teacher is weak, they may be blind to the potential of that teacher. A better tactic might be to assume that each teacher has tremendous potential, and that coaching is a way that a coach can help the teach reach that potential.  The authors' comments  for all us, I think, are also especially meaningful for coaches: we should "remain flexible and examine things from different perspectives   … keeping evaluations tentative instead of certain, learning to be comfortable with complex, sometimes contradictory information, and taking your time and considering things from different angles before coming to a conclusion.   It can be as straightforward as coming up with a kind of self-imposed ‘waiting period’ before making a diagnostic judgment" p.178.  Of course this advice also applies to teachers in the classroom working with children.

Irrational Force #2: Loss Aversion

The authors, citing numerous sources, explain that people are more concerned with not losing than they are with actually making rational decisions.  A person who loses a few dollars on the stock market might hang on to stock for a long time, expecting the stock to go up, rather than cut his or her losses.  Then as the stock continues to decline, that person, even after losing more and more money, might stubbornly hold onto the stock with the irrational hope that the stock will rise. As the authors say, “our natural tendency to avoid the pain of loss is most likely to distort our thinking when we place too much importance on short-term goals. When we adopt the long-view, on the other hand, immediate potential losses don’t seem as menacing”   (p. 172).

Implications for Coaches

This force might be at work at the personal and organizational level.  That is, a teacher might not want to change a particular way of teaching, even if it is not working, simply because they've invested time in mastering the practice.  So, a teacher might act in a way that suggests that they are thinking,  "even though my way of teaching isn't working, I've spent so much time trying to teach this way, that I'm sticking with it."  Similarly, organizations that invest massive amounts of time and resources in developing pacing guides, for example, might just not want to abandon that practice even if it isn't working.  

Faced with this, coaches need to focus on providing persuasive learning experiences rather than talk and also suggest and promote data based decision making. If more decisions are based on data, better decisions should be made in schools. More importantly, schools will likely make better decisions if they focus on long-term thinking rather than quick fix solutions.

Irrational Force #3: Value Attribution

People, the authors tell us, "over estimate their ability to form objective opinion" (p.86).  One way this happens is that we value things, ideas, or people based on the context in which we view them.  The authors explain that "When we encounter a new object, person, or situation, the value we assign to it shapes our further perception of it, whether it’s our dismissal of a curiously inexpensive antique we find at a flea market or our admiration of a high-priced designer bag in a chic boutique” (p. 51).

Implications for Coaches

This one has really got me thinking.  I believe the implication here is that we have to be strategic about how ideas are spread across a school.  Coaches, I'm thinking, might want to make sure that they don't give away their services too easily, for fear that it might seem that coaching isn't that valuable.  Also, it makes a lot of sense for the superintendent and other major leaders in a district to be involved in any large group presentation about coaching, so that teachers see that important people in the district value coaching as a way to move a district forward.  Finally, bringing in respected outsiders to a district might also encourage others to view initiatives as being very valuable.  I'm still thinking about other implications, but I think this force is very important.

Irrational Force #4: The Primacy of Fairness

The authors cite many studies that show that people are more motivated by a need to be treated fairly than a need to get a good deal.  People, will turn down a deal that is beneficial to them if they think they are not being treated fairly.  When they feel cheated, in fact, people would rather treat the cheater a lesson than achieve their goals.  I'm not sure this is irrational, but it does have implications for coaches.

Implications for Coaches

The authors point out that people will be more likely to feel they are treated fairly if they are involved in whatever they are experiencing.  As the authors explain, “When we make decisions or take actions that will affect others, keeping them involved will help ensure that they feel the process is fair… A potentially divisive situation can be transformed into a collaborative effort, allowing people to evaluate the facts objectively, rather than be swayed by the sense that the process was unfair” (p. 180).

Clearly this makes sense for coaches, and explains why the instructional coaching process, based on reflective, respectful conversations, is quite effective.  Coaches need to ensure that teachers know they are equal decision makers in the process and that their voices really are heard by their coaches.

Irrational Force #5: Money Versus Altruism

The Brafmans explain that when we are offered money to do something it affects one part of the brain (which they call the "pleasure center"), and when we are asked to do something for altruistic reasons it affects another part of the brain (which they call the "altruism center").  Further, the authors comment that "it turns out that when the pleasure center and altruism centers go head to head, the pleasure center seems to have the ability to hijack the altruism center" (p. 144).  This means that if you ask people to something for moral reasons, and then offer them money, their motivation might actually go down, rather than up.

Implications for Coaches

Coaches and leaders of coaching programs, I think, would do well to really emphasize the moral purpose behind coaching work. Also, coaches and program leaders need to think carefully about offering money as the way to get people to attend workshops and other professional learning activities.  If people do it for the cash, they might not see the real value in what they are doing.  It might be wiser to especially emphasize the good that is being done through various professional development activities.  This is not to say that teachers shouldn't be paid for their time, but that payment should never be the real reason for the work.  By keeping improving student achievement as their main goal, coaches can actually increase the likelihood that teachers will be motivated to implement new, better ways of teaching.

Next week, I'll be reviewing an outstanding book about the power and potential of conversation: Margaret Wheatley's book Turning to One Another .