It's not often that a book can feel like a word-filled hug and a slap across the academic face at the same time.
Responsive Coaching takes practical examples of coaching and generously sews the seeds of research-informed approaches which means that this book achieves both being a bible to leaders and coaches as well as a priceless guide to those being coached.
Josh Goodrich has, for many years, been at the forefront of professional coaching and educational transformation as the CEO of Steplab which has joined forced with the tenacious and equally brilliant Tom Sherrington and WALKTHRUs. However, Responsive Coaching is a tome three years in the making and promises to be a game-changer in teacher development.
Let's Talk About Structure
Structurally, this book joins recent publications which feature much-needed overhaul in the way they are structured. Likening it somewhat to a 'choose your own adventure' book, the reader can either follow a linear path through the chapters of Theory, Practice and Implementation and also enjoy dipping into any section they need to for joyous nuggets of advice.
This level of interaction is credit to how Josh has been able to map his brain onto the very fabric of the book, with the help of Peps Mccrea. Josh credits Peps with the graphics contained within the book and yet one cannot design something that doesn't yet exist. Josh's Responsive Coaching Map is a marvel to behold and guides you not only to where you are in the process within the book, but also through your coaching journey.
There is much to be said as well for the seamless way that Josh transitions from one chapter to the next, answering a plethora of questions and considerations around one theme before illuminating the next great unanswered challenge and then embarking on the next chapter where inevitably, his words meet the challenge head on.
Josh's Responsive Coaching Map is a marvel to behold
Case Studies
Not used in the traditional sense, Josh uses names and scenarios from the very beginning of the book, allowing his readership - some of whom may just been curious about coaching - to instantly observe how a real-world conversation might play out. There are so many books and guides on 'how to' approach new approaches but rarely can you find one so well focussed on novice and expert coaches alike.
There is always the risk that people see an attempt to sequence a process that has so many variables and opinions as somehow limiting, as though to deviate from this path or another is to undo the work you have done or - worse - make a mistake. Josh's use of case studies in this book allays these fears because the reader is always given the opportunity to see what a new idea or section might look like for them in their given context, if they use a little imagination. Certainly, with sections given over to model conversations, these scripts are excellent starting points.
A New Familiar Language
So, here's the hug: Josh uses language that is familiar and brimming with common sense. He distils deeply complicated principals and gently hands them to you repackaged with a flourish akin to that scene in Love Actually with Rowan Atkinson. Except, this time, you want the packaging and the spritz of Himalayan monkey sea salt because you know it's for own good and quite possibly the betterment of all education and professional development.
Then comes the slap: of course coaching is responsive, of course we need time and strategies to diagnose, to set goals that form habits and of course Oliver Caviglioli has adapted his exquisite graphic interpretation of Willingham's simple model of working memory to work with Josh's model. Why? Because it makes sense; in the true beauty of simplicity it makes sense.
Some of the greatest achievements in human history have been the decoding of deeply complex ideas into equations that can be used for myriad purposes. Schrodinger's famous equation is used in every-day computing and manufacturing from mobile phones to GPS, 'planes to calculators.
By spending such a considerable amount of time and energy on similarly refining his model, Josh has similarly made accessible his deeply important ideas which makes Responsive Coaching familiar yet seminal, reassuringly logical and brilliantly ground-breaking.
Theory
Another layer of brilliance is also in how Josh tackles the ‘how to’ with as much expertise as the ‘what’. An example of this comes in Section 1 where he offers us his model of catalysing change but then goes a step further and considers how coaches can actually go about strengthening awareness, developing insight, setting goals, establishing steps and building habits. While the book is not a ‘how to’ guide, it does so much more than present the ideas for the reader’s practical interpretation. It creates a mental model of the coaching process that is so robust that coaches can flexibly use it to think deeply about every or each aspect of practice.
A personal highlight is Josh’s take on the facilitative to directive spectrum within coaching. He argues that it is not the fixed context of the individual (career stage, etc) that sets the coach’s decision about where to pitch their involvement. Instead, he proposes that as the coach moves through the five catalysts for change, they should be prepared to responsively slide up and down the facilitative to directive scale dependent on the level of expertise, clarity, insight the coachee has in that particular area. This means that coaches might need to switch from a facilitative style when exploring catalysts that the coachee has confidence in to a directive style when exploring those where they have less concrete understanding. This particular section of the book leaves you asking just how the coach should decide when and how to switch the style and of course, the following chapter comes immediately to our aid.
Practice
The way the second section of the book builds a layer of practicality on the theoretical basis of the first section truly supports coaches to understand where the parameters of application sit. Again, this is no check list of actions but there are certain lines of thought and core understandings that apply to the considerations of all coaches trying to do their best for teacher development and Josh shows us exactly what these are and exemplifies the kind of thinking we should do in these domains. For example, he breaks down awareness (as with the other catalysts for change) into its component parts to provide a framework for coaches to develop their own awareness as well as evaluate the accuracy of their coachees. He writes here that noticing is a key component of awareness and that it is about sensing ‘what is important and unimportant about specific classroom situations’. What he doesn’t do is give us a checklist of what to notice or ignore. He wants us to apply the context specific nuance to our thought processes and give us the structure to make those thought processes purposeful. Yes, he gives us case studies to exemplify these points but the message is clear, observing teaching as a coach is a state of mind, not a tick list.
Josh then moves to the coaching conversation related specifically to strengthening awareness and again there is a helpful flow chart to remind us of the theory of facilitative to directive in action (another example of how theory and practice are skilfully linked and thoughtfully sequenced). If coachee awareness is weak, be directive, if it is partially accurately constructed, use questioning to shape and craft their existing model into something more effective. If their awareness is strong, move on, time is precious so no need to labour a point. Again, another reminder that this is not a checklist to be worked through in a coaching conversation, we have to be … responsive.
Implementation
Having been in the position of a leader looking to embed Instructional coaching, I can attest to the deep level of challenge this poses. Reading this chapter felt like an episode of This is your life at times as I thought back to the different instances whereby I have felt sure that ‘This time I’ve cracked it’ only to find that I had failed to see an implementation issue on the horizon. Josh uses his expertise and experience of large-scale implementation to provide warnings and again, structures for thinking, to help leaders avid the potential pitfalls. The chapter starts with an examination of trust – frustratingly fragile and rewardingly enriching, it is perhaps the ultimate challenge of any coaching programme. On this, the success of your growing coaching expertise rests. His honest and thorough exploration of the theme is refreshing and, not for the first time, adds a concrete structure to the abstract.
As the chapter progresses, we are drawn to consider other implementation challenges that simply need to be confronted. There are no easy answers but consideration is vital. For example, can the same person be responsible for judging / evaluating hard performance management targets as well as developing that same teacher through coaching? I have yet to see it done successfully and have seen it fail many times, almost every time in fact, in my early coaching career at my own hands. Josh is bold and clear in his advice here: ‘Ensure the same people who conduct high-stakes performance management for teachers aren’t also their coaches’. Refreshingly honest, if only I’d known it was that simple years ago!
Hurdle 5 is a real stand out for us. Schools simply have to develop a shared understanding of what great teaching is before embarking on large scale coaching programmes. Josh provides helpful advice on how to do this and this is something that we can testify to the impact of. In Adam’s setting, they spent a solid year building up a shared language just so that they could talk about teaching effectively.
Responsive coaching is genuinely a masterpiece
A final word on implementation – Josh identifies the need to train coaches effectively before allowing them to start coaching. Not only is this essential advice but it is also where Steplab’s coaching skills builder is invaluable for anyone looking to develop peer to peer coaching models across their school. Alongside the skills builder, the way that the Steplab platform is set up and the structure of the observation and feedback forms act as an excellent scaffold for the coaching process for novices and a great reflection tool for those with more coaching expertise. So, if you have read Responsive coaching and want to implement successfully, look no further than Steplab to help you do just that.
Final thoughts
Responsive coaching is genuinely a masterpiece. Coaching, at its heart, is a relationship; a human interaction with domain expertise as the driver for helping improvement. To take something so abstract and provide a roadmap for thinking and critiquing existing and future practice is not only skilful and impressive but is of such enormous value to a sector with a retention crisis (yes, coaching people to the point where they feel increasingly competent at their jobs will keep them in them), that it is sure to become an invaluable companion for any leader, teacher or coach, serious about developing others. Thank you Josh and contributors for such an impactful piece of writing.
Highly recommended, and then some.
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