| School site-based instructional coaching is a form of job-embedded professional development for teachers and an element of school reform. Coaches are hired based upon their pedagogical knowledge, content expertise, prior teaching experience, and "people skills." They are adept at handling a variety of social interactions at school sites, including conflict management and navigating toxic school cultures. Although coaching has been implemented in many schools, a 2008 study conducted by the United States Department of Education found no significant gains in student achievement in schools with coaches.;This study attempts to define what constitutes good instructional coaching. In-depth interviews were conducted with four instructional coaches, who were asked to define how they build relationships and work interdependently with teachers. To triangulate the data, additional interviews were conducted with four teachers, each of whom had worked with one of the coaches. The Emotional Intelligence---Holonomy Matrix was used to analyze the data and interpret the complex social skills coaches use to work collaboratively with teachers. |
