TEACHER TO TEACHER COACHING: CRITICAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EXPANDED PRACTICE (INSERVICE, COLLEGIALITY, COLLABORATION).

摘要

Purpose of the Project. This project was designed to identify critical issues concerning the development of teacher to teacher coaching and the implications these have for expanding the use of such practices in schools. The project sought to: (1) Describe coaching as developed and practiced in two New Jersey high schools; (2) Define problems teachers faced as they worked to build, maintain, and expand coaching practices in their schools; (3) Identify critical behaviors, procedures, and conditions which either facilitate or impede the practice of coaching in schools; (4) Compile a list of teacher recommendations regarding the improvement of coaching in their schools; and (5) Determine the implications these behaviors, procedures, conditions, and recommendations have for expanding the use of coaching practices in schools.; Method. An indepth field study was initiated to explore impediments to and facilitators of colleague coaching. To gain a multidimensional perspective of the practice, four data collection procedures were employed: (1) the critical incident technique, (2) interviews and conversations with coaching teachers, (3) arranged group discussions, and (4) observations of coaching activities. As information was collected and examined, salient elements were extracted and sorted into categories. These analytical categories emerged gradually, were compared continually, and were eventually collapsed under three broad headings evident in the related literature. After testing these with teachers at arranged group discussions, additional information was collected to fill gaps in understanding. The process provided an evolving set of factors affecting the development and expansions of coaching practices in participating schools.; Findings. Research for this project found: (1) teacher to teacher coaching serves important functions beyond those typically identified in the literature of the field; (2) organizational, interpersonal, and procedural factors affected efforts to build and expand coaching practices in the schools; (3) coaching is complex and is not easily transferable from one site to the next; and (4) both the nature and the meaning of coaching were dependent upon prevailing institutional norms and expectations.