Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership

by Peter M. DeWitt

Overview

Practical strategies for building coach-leader relationships

 

Leadership is complex work. High quality leadership coaching is one of the most effective methods of professional development for leaders. Coach It Further uses a narrative format to illustrate the important aspects of leadership that leaders and coaches can work on together to achieve their shared goals. It includes:

• Authentic stories from leaders and students
• The Collaborative Leadership Growth Cycle, which provides leaders with a starting point and specific steps to take to reach their goals
• Strategies for the four priorities research shows school leaders are most concerned about: collective efficacy, communication, student and family engagement, and political climate
• Reflection questions for leadership coaches to use with their leader-coaches  

Whether you are a seasoned coach, a leader looking to be coached, or a leader looking for guidance on how to coach burgeoning leaders among your staff, this book will build your confidence and provide you with valuable insights and strategies. 

Offers a model of how educators can engage in the art of leadership coaching. School administrators will connect to the realistic, varied, and detailed examples illustrating the complexities of leadership. Here you will find thoughtful insights and practical suggestions for improving the quality of leadership coaching in your practice.

–Jenni Donohoo, Best-selling author and Professional Learning Facilitator

 

A must-read for school leaders and leadership coaches. You will connect to the real struggles of a principal learning to be coached. This book is chock-full of research, tips, and examples to help you improve your self-efficacy as a leader.

–Jessica Johnson, School Leader

Co-Author of The Coach Approach to School Leadership and Breaking Out of Isolation

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506399478
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/31/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For the last 10 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books. 

 

DeWitt′s professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy. 

Additionally, in the Summer of 2021, DeWitt created a year long on-demand, asynchronous coaching course through Thinkific where he has created a community of learners that include k-12 educators in leadership positions. 

 

DeWitt′s work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

 

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week, which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week′s A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, sexual orientation, research, trauma and many other educational topics. 

 

Additionally, DeWitt is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Pasi Sahlberg, Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan.

 

He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York State′s (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year, and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts&Sciences), and sits on numerous advisory boards. 

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books. Click on title to purchase. They include:
Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press. 2012).

Flipping Leadership Doesn′t Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin Press. 2014)

Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward).

School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin Press/ Ontario Principals Council. 2017).

Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018). 

Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020).

Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin Press. Learning Forward. 2021).

De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works (Corwin Press. 2022). 

Leading with Intention - Developing self-awareness to fostering an unreasonable human interconnectedness to impact the school community (co-authored with Michael Nelson. Corwin Press. 2024).

Peter′s articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages. 

Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Learning Forward, National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), University of Oklahoma, Cognition Education (New Zealand), Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), Victoria Department of Education (Australia), University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the National Education Association (NEA), New Brunswick Teacher′s Association (Canada), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), Education Scotland (Scotland), Glasgow City Council (Scotland), Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait) the National Association of School Psychologists, ASCD, l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO), the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario (CPCO), and the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), National School Climate Center, GLSEN, PBS, NPR, BAM Radio Network, ABC, and NBC′s Education Nation.

Learn more about bringing Peter DeWitt to your school or district at petermdewitt.com

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Why We Need Coaches in Educational Leadership
Stories Matter
Audience for This Book
The Self-Efficacy of Leadership
Leadership Shouldn’t Be a Solitary Pursuit
Coach’s Corner: Virtual Coaching
Special Features
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1: Beginning a Coaching Relationship
What to Do Versus What Not to Do
Coach’s Corner: Strategies for Coaching Assistant Principals
Am I In Over My Head?
Coach’s Corner: Strategies for Addressing Insecurities
Coach’s Corner: Leadership PLCs on Voxer
It’s Time for a Coach
Chapter 2: Gavin “Accepts” Coaching
Coaching Credibility
Introducing Leadership Coach Michelle Hebert
Coach’s Corner: Credibility Matters
Of Course I Want to Be Coached!
Coach’s Corner: The Preengagement Survey
Let Go of Coaching Myths
Coach’s Corner: Sample Questions for Coaches to Ask Leaders
Chapter 3: Fostering a Supportive School Climate
Interact With Students and Staff at the Beginning of Each Day
Emphasize the Positive
Coach’s Corner: Student Focus Groups
Be Transparent About the Coaching
Invite Everyone to Work Toward the Mission
Coach’s Corner: Improving the Culture of the School
Embrace Vulnerability
Believe in Your Own Capability
Coach’s Corner: Self-Efficacy Review
Improve the Climate First, Then the Culture
Coach’s Corner: Fostering an Inclusive School Climate
Coach’s Corner: Coaching and School Climate
Coach’s Corner: Where Do You Want to Start?
Where Should Gavin Start?
Coach’s Corner: Ways to Strengthen a Collaborative Culture
Chapter 4: Gavin Becomes More OPEN to Coaching
What It Means to Be More OPEN to Coaching
Coach’s Corner: Set Ground Rules
Coach’s Corner: Walk-Throughs
Whose Agenda Is This?
Coach’s Corner: Understand Your Coachee’s Needs
Gavin Seeks Advice From a Friend
Chapter 5: Gavin Establishes His Goal
Why Does Collective Efficacy Still Matter?
Coach’s Corner: Understand the Research You Promote
Coach’s Corner: Raise Self-Efficacy
Coach’s Corner: Assess Your Own Style of Coaching
Four Priorities of Leadership
Chapter 6: A Survey That Inspires Collaboration
The Survey That Inspired It All
Coach’s Corner: Collaborative Leadership Team (CLT)
The Morning After
Coach’s Corner: Create a Collaborative Leadership Team (CLT)
Collaborative Leadership Team
Coach’s Corner: Strategies to Overcome the Challenges of Distance
Surface to Deep
Chapter 7: Priority I—Collective Efficacy
How Can Gavin Maximize His Time?
Coach’s Corner: Do What You Love
Coach’s Corner: Beware of Educational Jargon
Coach’s Corner: Strategies to Increase Trust in Schools
Coach’s Corner: Coaching Your Assistant Principals
Chapter 8: Priority II—Communication
Enabling Conditions
Coach’s Corner: Assess Your Communication Practices
Coaching Communication
Coach’s Corner: Establish Communication Frequency
Complications of Communication
Communication With Assistant Principals
Communication With Staff
Coach’s Corner: Communication Mistakes to Avoid
Coach’s Corner: Feedback Triggers to Watch Out For
Coaching Challenging Conversations
Coach’s Corner: Ways to Challenge in Conversations
Chapter 9: Priority III—Student and Community Engagement
Collaborative Leadership Team Explores Family Engagement
Coach’s Corner: Encourage Coachees to Assess Family Focus
The Collaborative Leadership Team Realizes All Doesn’t Mean All
Working With Outside Organizations
Coach’s Corner: Encourage Community Engagement
What Should Community Engagement Look Like?
Michelle’s Community Engagement Coaching Conversation
Chapter 10: Priority IV—The Political Climate
Negative Rhetoric Affects Us Too
Hattie’s Politics of Distraction
Coach’s Corner: Beware of the Politics of Distraction
The Collaborative Leadership Team Gets Distracted
Epilogue: Where Does Gavin Go From Here?
Understanding Priorities
Four Priorities
Afterword
References

Editorial Reviews

Coach It Further is a must-read for school leaders and leadership coaches. This is not your typical professional learning book. I promise you will enjoy reading as you follow the scenario of a principal learning to be coached. You will also make connections with the real struggles of leadership and coaching. This book is chock full of research, tips ,and examples to help you build your self-efficacy as a leader and lead your school to build collective efficacy.

Jessica Johnson

Peter De Witt has a credible authenticity that strikes a chord of recognition with teachers and principals. In Coach It Further he further develops the critical factor of collective efficacy and shows how a skilled coach can help a principal break a school cultural impasse and move a struggling school forward. This excellent book has a readability quality that will engage all readers.

Neil Mac Neill

In this well-timed book, Peter De Witt uses evidence-based stories to illustrate how educators can engage in the art of leadership coaching. School administrators will make multiple connections to the realistic, varied, and detailed examples De Witt uses to illustrate the complexities of leadership. If you’re looking to improve the quality of leadership coaching in schools and districts, you’ll find thoughtful insights and practical suggestions contained throughout.

Jenni Donohoo

Dr. Peter De Witt writes from the perspective of someone who has had an exceptionally varied combination of life experiences; the struggling student, the honors student, the teacher in both urban and rural educational settings, the administrator, the scholar, and the advocate for those in need of support. He is a rare combination of theorist and pragmatist and his insights on leadership and coaching are both thought-provoking and useful. They also may help many educators get closer to that ever-elusive good night’s sleep.

Ron Mulson

Peter DeWitt has a credible authenticity that strikes a chord of recognition with teachers and principals. In Coach It Further he further develops the critical factor of collective efficacy and shows how a skilled coach can help a principal break a school cultural impasse and move a struggling school forward. This excellent book has a readability quality that will engage all readers.

Neil MacNeill