Managing Reluctance

May 8, 2012

Joellen Killion

Senior AdvisorLearning Forward

10931 W 71st Place

Arvada, CO 80004-1337

Joellen.Killion@learningforward.org

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Outcomes

• Develop an understanding of the rationale behind reluctance to engage with a learning coach

• Acquire strategies for engaging reluctant teachers in productive learning conversations

Roles of CoachesReasons for Reluctance• Change-related– The change is unattractive– The destination looks worse

than where I am now– I do not understand what is

being proposed

Roles of CoachesReasons for Reluctance

• Self-related– The journey there looks

painful– I do not want to invest the

energy

Roles of CoachesReasons for Reluctance

• Organization-related– I don’t trust those who are

asking me to change– I don’t know if I’ll get support to

make the change– I don’t know if the organization

has the resources to support the change

Roles of CoachesReasons for Reluctance

• Outcome-related– I do not trust that

the change will help me or my students

– I don’t know what the change looks like

Roles of CoachesWhich reasons for reluctance

are most evident in your school or district?

• Change-related

• Self-related

• Organization-related

• Outcome-related

ALBERTA LEARNING COACH DEFINITIONStrategies for Change• Pause• Listen• Acknowledge• Reframe

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4 Places to Pause

1. After a question is asked2. After someone speaks3. Waiting before answering4. A collective pause

Pausing

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Committed Listening

Listen without

• Formulating a response • Finding fault• Piggybacking• Developing advice• Giving a solution• Changing the speaker’s direction

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Acknowledge

• Recognize the dissonance• Appreciate the challenge• Accept the feelings

Reframe• Reframing takes a situation and a

set of circumstances and then gives those "facts" a different meaning. This different meaning allows us to take a different approach and gives us new possibilities for the action that we might take and the responses we might make.

ALBERTA LEARNING COACH DEFINITIONProblem Opportunity

Weakness Strength

Impossibility Goal

ALBERTA LEARNING COACH DEFINITIONApplying Strategies• Consider one teacher that you

sense is reluctant to engaging with a learning coach.

• Identify one strategy that might work with this teacher.

• Share the strategy and the reason you think this strategy might work.

Take Aways

• What are you taking away from our session today?