When teachers, leaders, and support staff all come together to make positive changes at their school, the results are usually impressive. Getting everyone to work together seamlessly and function at higher levels is no small feat, so when everything clicks, it can feel like magic. The entire school community is in sync and working in tandem toward a shared goal of improving student learning.
Maybe you’ve experienced this kind of cohesion before. John Hattie identifies it as Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE), or the shared belief that teachers can have a positive impact on student learning. CTE also cultivates an understanding of every learner’s potential for growth. With an effect size of 1.57, it’s one of Hattie’s top strategies for increasing student achievement. That’s because CTE is often a self-fulfilling prophecy: when teachers and staff believe they can have a positive impact on their students–and they are equipped with the right strategies and tools to do so–they tend to make significant improvements to instruction.
According to the research, there’s a strong connection between what students (and educators) believe about themselves and how they perform in school. CTE can also mitigate the effects of lower socioeconomic status, improve parent and teacher relationships, and increase teachers’ engagement with their school. Teachers who genuinely believe that their students are capable of success will transfer that mindset to their students, motivating them to meet their expectations. Intentionally practicing CTE also helps educators be more effective in the classroom. Starting from a belief in students’ potential, teachers can intentionally plan and execute steps to get them closer to their goals.
But let’s be clear: CTE isn’t just about positive thinking. Educators also need intentional planning, goal setting, action, and reflection. Educational leaders play a key role in this process by helping teachers put their collective plans into action. As such, we must ensure teachers have the tools and strategies they need to implement their plans; we must also stay focused on what strategies can have the greatest impact on student learning. Getting clear about what everyone should be doing helps save valuable time and resources and improve student outcomes.
How To Be an Intentional Leader
Whether you're a principal leading instruction or an instructional coach, there are some basic principles to keep in mind as you cultivate a more intentional approach to instructional leadership. The aim, as discussed above, is to recognize everyone’s potential for growth and improve student outcomes. But to do that, we need to be intentional about our approach while collaborating with teachers.
1. Be intentional about listening.
The first step is to listen to those you serve. By listening to teachers, students, parents, other staff, and community members, leaders will get to know some of the key stakeholders at their school and understand their instructional needs.
Most people want to feel heard. Inviting teachers to share their instructional hopes, fears, and goals, and giving them our full attention, respect, and empathy, helps establish a level of trust. It lets others know that we genuinely care and want to help. Deep listening also helps leaders understand the current instructional realities of the school, how fast or slow you can move, and what goals are realistic. When you step into a classroom or meet with a focus group of parents, you will understand fairly quickly whether your school is ready for change, and how much.
One of the best ways to initiate these conversations is through a Listening Tour. A Listening Tour involves creating focus groups of parents, teachers, students, and local community members and asking them targeted instructional questions about what is happening in the classroom. Leaders will then gather feedback from these groups and identify what’s resonating with students and what’s not working. By understanding what’s really going on in classrooms, leaders can create more realistic and intentional instructional goals.
2. Be intentional about relationships.
Visiting classrooms and listening to teachers also allows leaders to connect with various individuals throughout the school and build relationships. Healthy relationships are part of the foundation of successful schools. Much research has been done about the importance of positive relationships for students, but adults also benefit from meaningful, trusting relationships with their peers. When adults form healthy relationships, they often experience less stress, a greater sense of purpose, and improved wellbeing.
However, it’s important to distinguish between personal relationships and instructional ones. Not only do we need to build a rapport with teachers, but they also need to trust our instructional expertise. Leaders can build this rapport by staying informed of the latest educational research and sharing that research with teachers. Suggested strategies, tools, and skills should also be backed by research and experience.
Though we want to remain positive and encouraging in these instructional relationships, sometimes we will encounter resistance. Change is hard and some staff members may push against it. However, it will be much easier to navigate that resistance if you start from a foundation of trust and respect. Move slowly and gain staff buy in by listening to their hesitations and discussing how to work through them and/or remove the roadblocks.
Check in on teachers and ask how they’re doing. Be fully present when you speak with them and patient as they answer. Demonstrate empathy for their situation. Reflect on what teachers say and ask clarifying questions. Try to be judgment-free and focus on the teacher's strengths. Encourage open communication so teachers feel comfortable sharing and coming to you with concerns. Use research and data to support your instructional suggestions.
3. Be intentional about your time.
Make sure you schedule time to be in the classroom. Visiting classrooms should be a priority as it gives instructional leaders a unique window into what is happening in that space. It’s also one of the best ways to gather information. Classroom walk-throughs and observations can tell us what students are learning, how they’re learning, and how they respond to instruction. In other words, leaders can observe who is doing the work and who is doing the thinking, and the level of the work and thinking. You might be able to diagnose an issue and confirm or challenge a belief the teacher has about their instruction. Then, you can have intentional conversations with the teacher about what you noticed, collaborate on a plan for improvement, and support them as they make enhancements.
4. Be intentional about your instructional goals.
Our measure of student achievement should be broader than standardized tests. While these tests have their place, they don’t give us the whole picture of what students are learning. We need to think more holistically. How can we prepare students to be successful beyond school? What skills do they need for their future careers and/or college, and how can we create learning opportunities to develop these skills?
Neuroscience research argues that the various parts of our brain are interrelated. This means that the emotional, physical, and social parts of our brain influence our cognitive abilities. Researchers argue that developing children’s emotional, physical, social, and linguistic skills, in addition to their cognitive skills, is critical to success later in life.
Social and emotional skills should be a core component of instruction. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) helps address the needs of the whole child and equips students with essential skills that will serve them throughout their lives. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has created a list of core social and emotional competencies, which include: self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, self-management, and relationship skills. As a leader, you can help teachers identify what SEL looks like in the classroom, plan for and promote strategies that build SEL skills, and determine how to measure student progress in these areas.
We also need to prepare students for future careers. According to the World Economic Forum's "Future of Jobs Report," the top skills companies are looking for now–and in the future–are: analytical thinking; creative thinking; resilience, flexibility, and agility; motivation and self-awareness; curiosity and life-long learning; technological literacy; dependability and attention to detail; empathy and active listening; leadership and social influence; and quality control. But teaching content or test-taking doesn’t always hit on these skills. To better prepare our students, teachers need to consider how to integrate these skills into daily practice and how to ensure students are growing in these areas. That’s where you come in as a leader. You can guide teachers as they promote essential professional skills in the classroom.
5. Be intentional about suggested strategies and ways to implement them.
When we have instructional conversations with teachers, we want to make sure that we're not just offering a different strategy, but we are offering a better strategy based on research. Teachers are already short on time so we need to be sure we respectfully collaborate with them to find the most efficient and effective tools that will allow them to see stronger results in a shorter amount of time.
John Hattie’s 250+ influences on student learning offers leaders a comprehensive list of strategies that work–as well as the ones that don’t. Any strategy with a .40 effect size or higher is considered to be highly impactful. For instance, cognitive task analysis, discussion, jigsaw, and scaffolding all have an effect size of .82 or higher, making them very effective learning strategies. When deciding which strategy to use, encourage teachers to weigh the pros and cons of the tactic against their objectives and learning goals. Finding the right strategy for the task will save teachers time and help them see results faster.
Remember that it isn’t enough to just pick a strategy from Hattie’s list; teachers also need to understand the steps they should take to implement that strategy. This is another area where instructional leaders can offer guidance and support as teachers discover and move through the steps.
Selecting more intentional strategies also involves looking at the broader needs of the classroom. According to the World Literacy Foundation, 1 in 5 people are illiterate and the effects of illiteracy stretch far beyond not being able to read or write. Lower literacy skills are also associated with higher rates of unemployment, lower earning potential, and a greater dependency on welfare and other social programs. This has huge economic, social, and health impacts. Researchers have found that the key to avoiding these negative impacts is early intervention–and part of early intervention is making sure that literacy is well-integrated into our classrooms.
6. Be intentional about your feedback.
Many studies confirm that people learn faster when they are given feedback on their work. That’s because feedback helps guide our learning and steer us in a productive direction. When teachers make a small change to their instruction, it often affects the outcomes, but they may not always understand how or why. Feedback can help clarify what instructional elements are working and which ones we might need to adjust.
However, not all feedback is created equal. When you visit classrooms, make sure you provide intentional feedback that is directly related to the teacher’s instructional goal and supported by the best instructional research. Effective feedback is constructive and provides teachers with concrete, meaningful steps to improve. In your follow-up meetings, ask teachers about what students did, why they did it, where they felt they went wrong, and how they might make the lesson more effective.
Understand that as teachers are growing, they're not always going to be successful in everything they attempt. Your feedback should be encouraging and motivate teachers to keep trying even if something doesn’t work or they make a mistake. Remember that learning takes courage, the courage to move through fears and failures in order to reach our full potential.
Help teachers develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for their work. Accountability helps people become more focused, motivated, and committed to their goals. Moreover, when those goals align with our values and interests, we can experience “self-concordance,” or a personal connection to those goals. This also increases our motivation, satisfaction, and sense of well being.
7. Be intentional about your growth.
As leaders, we need to continually learn and grow so we can better support those we serve. While studying research and best-practices in instruction is always helpful, I also suggest looking outside of the education field to learn new ideas and concepts that are transferable. Research from the business and leadership spaces can be particularly useful because businesses are able to pour so much money into their research. We can study ideas such as marketing, buy-in, and vision casting, and find ways to relate them to our field.
Leaders can also be a model and growth resource for teachers. If we dedicate ourselves to always learning, and encourage others to do the same, we can establish a culture of growth at our schools. Cultivating a growth mindset means not being afraid to try new things, take risks, and learn from your mistakes.
Be flexible and recognize that setbacks will happen–but how we handle them is what matters. Recognize that all students and teachers have the potential for limitless growth and help them tap into that potential.
My new book, Intentional Instructional Moves walks educators through a step-by-step process for implementing the most effective teaching strategies. It also includes research, reflection questions, and a complimentary online Companion Guide with over 50 relevant handouts to support teachers as they elevate their instruction.
For more information on coaching, see my previous book, Coaching Redefined.
Get in Touch
Please connect with me to share your own “be intentional” ideas or ask for assistance. We truly are all in this together.
Twitter: @Sherrystclair
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Website: Reflective Learning, LLC