Coaching For Reflection Dr. Anne Rodrigue July 4, 2007

1. Coaching For ReflectionDr. Anne RodrigueJuly 4, 2007

2. I cannot teach unless I recognize my own ignorance, unless I identify what I do not know, what I have not mastered. (Freire, 1996)

3. Teaching is full of enormous complexities, paradoxes, and tensions and hence, teaching itself invites inquiry. Dana, Fiteham, Nancy, Silva-Yendol Diance (2003, p.7)

4. Teacher inquiry invites intentional planned reflection with a focus on problem posing.

5. Cognitive Coaching • Developed by Art Costa and Robert Garmston. • Method of coaching that focuses on “metacognition”. • The knowledge of one’s own thinking process and strategies and the ability to consciously reflect and act on the knowledge of cognition to modify those processes and strategies. • Metacognition – perception, action, reason, emotion, and memory.

6. Cognitive Coaching • Metacognition – adjective used to describe the awareness of thinking D. Daniels (2002) • Reflection – verb of the process of thinking

7. Cognitive Coaching Uses Three Conversations: • Planning • Reflecting • Problem-solving

8. Cognitive Coaching • Planning Conversations: • Clarify goals • Determine success monitors • Anticipate approaches • Plan strategies • Make decisions • Identify personal learning • Event - Mentoring, Lesson, Activity, Demonstration, etc. • Indicators of success • Effectiveness of approaches, strategies, decisions

9. Cognitive Coaching • Reflecting Conversations: • Analyze what was seen and heard; • Recall support information; • Compare; • Infer; • Help the individual construct new meanings.

10. Cognitive Coaching • Problem-solving Conversations: • Get the person to move from “existing state to desired state”. How? • Pose a data search. • Ask for justification from research literature. • Pose an analytical question: • How does this compare to … ? • What is different about … ? • Invite creation or imagination. • Seek an expression of values. • Elicit a choice from among alternatives.

11. Coach will: • Paraphrase • Report • Mirror • Ask question • Invite a shift Discussion Solution is reached Return to reflecting conversation Solution is implemented Cognitive Coaching

12. “The antithesis of reflection is mindless routine.” Rodrigue (2006)

13. Some Starters • Planning • Routines • Beginning/end of class • Use of resources • Position in classroom • Questioning: who?, how? • Materials • Instructional techniques • Assessment practices • Why? – what? – for whom? • Levels of reflection

14. The Routine T-Chart Looks Like … Sounds Like …

15. “What is Reflective Practice?”

16. The Definitions

17. The Definitions

18. The Definitions

19. Three commonalities exist in most definitions: • Methodical processes • Inquiry orientation • Improvement as a goal Taggard & Wilson (1998, p.17)

20. Reflections as a New Paradigm Reflective Practice PURPOSE Understanding & Competence Learning is constructed. Learning is personal and holistic. Knowledge is a tool. ASSUMPTIONS Instructor as Facilitator Practitioner as Action Researcher Dialectic Collaborative Contextually-Based Experiential Knowledge and Formal Knowledge STRATEGIES Adapted from Osterman & Koltkamp (2004) Reflective Practice for Educators

21. Individual Reflection contributes to: • enhanced educational practice; • greater awareness of personal performance; • increased recognition of professional dilemmas; • different ways of thinking about dilemmas; and • making adjustments in practice.

22. Individual Reflection contributes to: • increased student learning; • increased personal capacity to learn and improve; • restored balance and perspective –a time out for reflection and change; • renewed clarity of self, personal, and professional growth; and • empowerment.

23. Dewey’s Three Characteristics/Attitudes of a Reflective Teacher: • Open-mindedness • Responsibility • Wholeheartedness Taggard & Wilson (1998, p.17)

24. Reflective Break(Open-mindness, Responsibility, Wholeheartedness) • Do you possess these characteristics now? At what level? (High, Medium, Low) • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 2. Which areas need more development? • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 3. Where can you begin? • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 4. Which other desirable characteristics should a reflective practitioner have? • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________

25. Four Processes to Develop and Sustain a Critical Focus of Teaching • Describing - What do I do? • Informing - What does this description mean? • Confronting - How did I get here? • Reconstructing - How might I do things differently? (Smyth, 1991)

26. Reflective Thinking Model (G. Taggart, 1996)

27. Hierarchical Levels of Reflection LEVEL 3 Ethics, Morals LEVEL 2 Theories, Beliefs LEVEL 1 Actions, Behaviours Level 1: The level of a teacher’s actions in the classroom - a teacher’s observable behaviours Level 2: The theoretical level - the theories behind the teacher’s behaviours in Level 1 Level 3: The ethical, moral level - the role of the wider community in influencing a teacher’s theories (Level 2) and practices (Level 1)

28. Activity – Levels of Reflection • Give an example of how a teacher could operate at each of the three levels. • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 2. Which level of reflection do you find yourself working at now? • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 3. What does this mean to you as a reflective teacher? • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________ • 4. Do you think a teacher should always operate (reflect) at any particular level? Explain. • ________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________

29. The Reflective Schema 8 Areas of Inquiry Reflective Stems Teacher Perceptions • Beliefs About Practice • Personal/Professional Identity • Student • Context • Curriculum • Content Knowledge • Assessment • Instructional Strategies • Social Justice • Who? • What? • When? • Where? • How? • Why? Reality Destination

30. Two Essential Conditions forReflective Practice • Trusting relationships • Thought and inquiry York-Barr, Sommers, Chere, Monte, (2001) Reflective Practice to Improve Schools

31. Trusting Relationships • Treat information with confidentiality. • Deprivatize practice. • Provide framework for a relationship based on learning. • Let participants feel safe, secure, and able to take risks.

32. Components of Trust • Being present. • Being aware of oneself, others and the environment. • Being open. • Listen without judgment and with empathy. • Seek understanding. • View learning as mutual. • Honour the person. • Honour the process.

33. Coaching for ReflectionSix Levels of Transfer Fogarty & Pete (2004)

34. Six Levels of Transfer • Overlooks • Duplicates • Replicates • Integrates • Propagates • Innovates Fogarty & Pete (2004)

35. Overlooks • Participates in the training but … • Is unable to see how to apply it when she/he returns to school. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

36. Duplicates • Takes the learning strategy and … • Duplicates it exactly as was taught. • No modification or contextualization. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

37. Replicates • Strategy is applied and it looks slightly different, but … • Is used in a similar context and with similar applications. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

38. Integrates • Uses new strategy/ learning. • Blends new learning with old. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

39. Propagates • Uses new strategy/ learning. • Maps the new strategy onto a different context or application. • Strategizes how and where it can be used. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

40. Innovates • New learning, strategy is adapted, reworked, rethought and … • May not even look like the original. • New learning results from first exposure. Fogarty & Pete (2004)

41. Activity – Group Discussion • What is the value of knowing the levels of transfer? • How can the levels of transfer be used to stimulate reflection? • Model lessons • Demonstrations • Use of resources • Video analysis • Student work

42. “Teachers need to get out of the old mode of thinking that knowledge can be acquired, taught and trained through manuals, books and lectures.” Nonaki & Takeuchi, 1995

43. Activities to Promote Teacher Reflection and Learning Journaling Letters to Myself Metaphor as Reflection Mentoring Teaching Portfolios Scrap-Booking Shadowing Students Study Groups Tuning Protocols Action Research Book Clubs Cadres Cases Classroom Walk-Through Coaching Critical Friends Examining Student Work

44. Sample Activities How do you view teaching? • An art form/or craft? • Instinctive? • Set of technical skills? Provide your own philosophy of teaching. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

45. Teacher As Professional-Metaphor Activity Using a metaphor, describe how you believe you are viewed as a professional and how you view yourself. Society’s view of Teacher as Professional My view of Teacher as Professional What would it take to change society’s view to my view? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

46. Reflective Journal “Reflective teachers can look back on events, make judgments about them, and alter their teaching behaviours in light of craft, research and ethical knowledge”. Valli, 1997

47. What is Journaling? • The process of thinking in writing • A way to reflect on experience

48. Benefits of Using Reflective Journals • Journals Provide: • A record of events and our reactions. • A source of data on which to base reflective discussions. • A means to analyze and reason through a dilemma. • An opportunity for us to challenge our assumptions and our practices and to make changes. • An impetus to take action that is informed and planned. • A lens through which to objectively view our teaching. • A reflective space for innovation. • A space in which to develop a personal philosophy of teaching. • Scholarly teaching involves an appreciation of the teaching and learning process and the ability to intervene purposefully and positively in the learning experience. A scholarly approach to teaching requires critical inquiry into practice and into learning.

49. Journals can be structured: • as a diary; • as a single page; • as a personal learning journal; • in terms of issues; • as a critical reflection.

50. Reflective Thinking • Set aside 5-10 minutes per day for reflective writing. • Ask yourself: • Was I as effective as I would like to be? • Answer the four main questions: • What happened? (description of the event) • Why? (analysis of the event) • What does it mean? • What can I do? (Implications for action) • Record the impact your actions are having on others and yourself. • When you feel brave enough, share the news.