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

First Edition

Foreword by Coach Ron Mulson



September 2018 | 224 pages | Corwin

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. 


Watch Peter's interview with WNYT-NBC as he discusses Coach It Further.

 

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

 
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

Dr. Peter DeWitt 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
Hudson Valley Community College

In this well-timed book, Peter DeWitt 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 DeWitt 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
Best-selling author and Professional Learning Facilitator

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
school leader and author

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, Head Master Ellenbrook Independent Primary School Western Australia
Neil MacNeill, Head Master Ellenbrook Independent Primary School Western Australia

Peter M. DeWitt

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... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781506399492
$39.95

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