The 5 Agency-Building Questions
For Leaders Who Want to Empower Teachers
Last month, we talked about coaching vs. consulting, and how when you’re in coaching mode, you’re empowering others to make decisions that are right for them--not what you think is right for them.
Today, we’re looking at a road map for a certain kind of coaching conversation in which the person you’re supporting is after a specific end result.
I learned this conversation map as part of a Cognitive Coaching training, an incredible experience created by the Thinking Collaborative that continues to inform my coaching work.
The Five Agency-Building Questions are a sequence designed to put teachers in the driver’s seat as they explore concrete steps in getting to their goal.
Teachers will leave this conversation with insights about themselves and the confidence to take the first step toward what they want to accomplish.
Check out the breakdown of the sequence:
Clarify Goals: [Often this step is already done; you know you’re focused on, for example, improving learning outcomes in fractions, or improving students’ ability to analyze a literary text.] What do you want to accomplish with your students?
Success Indicators: Imagine you’ve met this goal; what might a visitor to your classroom see or hear at that point? Or, what student data would show success?
Anticipate Approaches: What are some possible steps toward this aim?
Establish Personal Focus: How do you hope to grow from this experience? Or, what do you want to pay attention to in yourself as you move forward?
Process Reflection: Where are you in your thinking now, compared to when we started this conversation?
When a coach follows this sequence in conversation with a teacher, they support reflection on personal growth, increase buy-in and ownership of the goal, and maximize the teacher’s internal resources that will aid in success.
If you’re a coach or school leader who needs a little memory aide from time to time, you will love this rhyme to help you remember the question sequence:
Where will you go?
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How will you know?
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How will it flow?
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How will you grow?
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What did this show?
Let’s talk about some scenarios in which this conversation sequence will be useful:
A teacher who desires a certain outcome for students and needs some support getting started. (Outcomes might include sharpening students’ critical thinking skills, increasing students’ number sense in mathematics, teaching students to effectively self-edit an essay, helping students work more effectively in groups, etc.)
A teacher who wants to better meet a particular student’s learning needs or to connect with and engage a particular student.
A teacher with a parent conference approaching that may enter difficult territory; a teacher who wants to have a plan for delivering sensitive information carefully.
A fellow leader who wants to ensure a faculty meeting goes smoothly and needs to make a plan that considers the personalities and politics at play.
So much more!
To see the 5 Agency-Building Questions in action, join the webinar “A Coach Approach to Leadership” —you’ll watch a live coaching demonstration using the questions. It will bring the tool to life in ways that will inspire and empower you to run out and find a teacher to support!
If you’re interested in learning more about the coach approach with a cohort of other school leaders, keep an eye out for an opportunity in next month’s Teach Learn Thrive Toolbox.
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