Educational Leadership and Coaching Article
Educational Leadership & Coaching: Five Feedback Essentials to Provide Teachers During These Times April 17, 2020 Alexandra Guilamo Dear district leaders, principals, assistant principals, coaches, and more, Let me start by sharing a heartfelt thank you. Being a leader, strategic planner, model of the ‘why’ to this work, and guardian of equity for all, is no small feat. It was challenging before the 2019-2020 school year began. However, the impact of COVID19 has made educational leadership and coaching even more challenging for us all. But in this time of uncertainty and challenge, we need your leadership now more than ever. Leaders and coaches rallied together for, what many thought would be, short school closures amidst the COVID19 pandemic. However, as of today, April 17, 2020, some of our largest school districts (including all schools in Illinois) are already announcing that their school closures will stay in place for the remainder of the school year. As more districts face the reality that our physical schools will be closed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year, your leadership will again need to adapt. It now must shift from getting needed resources and materials to families (which should now be in place) to coaching all instructional staff in how to maximize their impact during our new shared reality for ALL students. We must resist the urge to expect that teachers will instantly be able to make it work under these conditions. Much like the reality in our physical schools, simply giving teachers and students ‘stuff’ is not the formula for success (Guilamo, A., 2020). Instead, I urge leaders and coaches to leverage coaching and feedback as a critical tool in every toolkit. But I’m not talking about any and all feedback; what teachers will need now more than ever, is feedback around 5 essentials that will help ensure equity, stability, and learning in the short and long term. As leaders observe virtual lessons and monitor supposed student engagement, these five feedback essential must be prioritized by every district: Put first things first; Have SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, & timebound) expectations for learning and communication for all students and family partners; Focus on practices and methods used to deliver meaningful learning, not programs; Use a balance of relationships and data to use collaboration time strategically and plan with other instructional staff; Reflect on ‘H2O’ impact and actively engage in virtual professional learning to improve that impact Put first things first: The current challenges and complexities presented by COVID19 are mentally, emotionally, physically, and linguistically exhausting for our students and their families (Guilamo, A., 2020). As such, that is the first need that teachers must attend to and the first feedback that leaders and coaches must provide. Students and their families are depending on schools to ensure learning experiences and an education that will prepare every single one of their children for the future. In these unique times, however, many teachers are realizing that preparing their students for the future is much more complicated than pushing ‘send’ on an email that shares a new packet of materials to their students. That’s because remote learning in and of itself is not the way to learning and achievement – instead, remote learning classrooms now have to look different, much in the same way that multilingual classrooms have always had to be different in order to account for the additional challenges and complexities they have. There is no more important feedback that leaders and coaches can provide teachers than (Guilamo, A., 2020): the explicit planning for students to feel a sense of stability and safety, a teacher’s sensitivity to student home identities and situations, the explicit planning for equity and access to meaningful learning for all learners regardless of living conditions that are outside of their control, the assurance of student agency and encouragement to stay engaged as learners as they take academic risks in their homes Have SMART (specific, meaningful, attainable, realistic, & timebound) expectations for learning and communication for all students and family partners: With multilingual families representing the fastest growing population of students in the US), in the last 3 – 4 weeks, I have received more messages and questions about the right set of expectations for our multilingual families from districts across the country. The answer is that there is no ‘right’ set of expectations for families during these unprecedented times. There are many schools that have planned for tech and non-tech versions of learning. However, much like instruction in physical building, these plans must be differentiated for the range of students needs and family situations that are now their classrooms. Teachers will need feedback that is a new brand of SMART to ensure that teachers are taking student needs and family situations in their expectations for learning and continued communication. For example, for a family of 6 school-age children, one device, and a parents that still must work to provide food on the table and a roof over their families’ heads, the expectation for learning and communication must be adjusted in order to maintain stability and emotional safety of the entire family. For a host of reasons, there are many families that do not currently qualify for free internet connectivity, and so the expectation for the amount of communication and what they upload online to offer proof of learning will need to be adjusted to ensure – again – that first things come first. Focus on practices and methods used to deliver meaningful learning, not programs: During the first weeks of home learning students could withstand extended time spent in packets and in front of a screen on apps. However, enduring the rest of the school year staring at a packet or in front of a computer screen completing this ‘stuff’ will not effectively prepare students for any future worthy of hope and real engagement. Teachers will need substantial support in how they balance student use