The Coach-Administrator Relationship

Today's post is brought to you by Penny Antell.

Principals are concerned about the atmosphere in their buildings as much as they are about the bottom line –test scores and school report cards.  In order to be an effective literacy coach, building a relationship with the leader of the school is important.  The principal needs the assurance that your views and plans with the classroom teachers are indeed worthy of the change that will be created.  They need to be able to trust in the coach’s plans and believe in the person the coach is.  In order for this to happen, they need to have an understanding of who the coach is. What they believe in.  How they will go about helping the classroom teacher improve his/her practice.  For the classroom teacher, with the principal’s support of the literacy coach, s/he will feel confident about creating changes within the classroom.  

Having a relationship with the principal allows the coach to highlight the great learning opportunities students have experienced within the classroom setting. Through the time spent together the coach is able to discover concerns and compliments the principal has about the building and staff within as well.  Together, the discussions afforded through weekly meetings strengthens the coaching situation.  Through creating relationships one is able to structure change in a positive forward manner.  

Fortunately, I’ve only lived through one situation in a school district where a leader came into the district and rather than honoring the building of relationships to allow for change to be embraced, plowed forward changing the way things are done.  As you can well imagine this was disastrous.  Once change is created in this manner, trust is difficult to rebuild.  

When first establishing oneself in the role of literacy coach, it is critical to insist upon a weekly session with the building principal to allow for discussion of the good, the bad, and the ugly portions of the position and to lay out or develop plans together to improve situations and strengthen the incredible learning opportunities occurring within the building.

Heed caution though. Move forward slowly.  Get to know the person who holds this role.  Listen to what is being shared by those under the principal’s leadership as well as the principal him/herself.  Attend these meetings with the positive effects flowing freely through praises for all that has happened.  The coach takes care not to judge or complain about teachers being worked with.  The coach is the teachers biggest cheer leader in the school.  If a problem solving conversation does need to take place this is done through suggestions for improvement – not bashing or complaining.  Attending a session with the principal in a negative mode will benefit no one.

As a coach, this weekly session with the principal can act as a catalyst for further change as the principal is able to take the information learned and use it to further boost the change that has begun by looking for opportunities to notice specific actions and comment in a supportive manner.  The principal also has the opportunity to watch for missing actions and call for these in a way that can create forward movement.