Student Centered Coaching: How Do We Change Teacher Practice Through the Art of Questioning ?

Bobbi Campbell contributed today's post. Read more of Bobbi's posts about student centered coaching here.

January is always the time of year when I feel most reflective and commit to changing something that I can control.  This year I am committing to changing my questioning techniques. I want to try to use David Perkins research on offering meaningful feedback to teachers and coaches in order to increase student learning.

We all know that truly changing instructional practice comes from the choice within the person needing to change.  That is what is so glorious about student-centered coaching - the focus is on the student, not the teacher.  It is through the art of questioning from the coach that can

move teachers to finding the answers within themselves. The overall purpose of the coaching is always on the student learning.

Perkins (2003), states that offering meaningful feedback can be categorized by the following:

1. Clarifying questions or statements
2. Value statements or questions
3. Questions or possibility statements

To help facilitate coaching conversations, here are a few talk stems from,“Coaching Conversations: Transforming YOur School One Conversation at a Time”  by Cheliotes and Reilly.

Clarifying Questions:

• “How do you see this different from…?”
• “How did your students respond to this process?”
• “What gaps did you notice within your student work samples?”

Value Statements/Questions:

• “You have really thought about this deeply.”
• “I see evidence of…”
• “It provides high engagement for students by…”

Reflective questions or possibilities:

• “What are you considering in regard to…”
• “What connections have you made to…”
• “I wonder what would happen if…”

I highly recommend reading the entire book! In closing, remember when giving feedback, ask yourself the following questions:  is the feedback productive? Is it specific enough to result in a change in practice? Is it respectful?