I've been thinking lately about the difference between a teacher and a learning coach. Reflecting on my experiences in education I wonder if it's that a teacher teaches content while a learning coach coaches learning. Thinking about how our day is split up in LH3 I feel like I'm a learning coach during iExplore and iExperience and a teacher during iDevelop.
During reading, maths and writing (maybe a bit less so in writing) I feel like I'm just going through the motions of teaching content to the kids. In reading I focus on comprehension skills like summarising and making connections and in maths we focus on teaching specific strategies and knowledge.
So, I've been wondering how to change from being a teacher during iDevelop to being a learning coach. I think the easiest place for me to start figuring this out is in reading. I'm not really sure where to begin but I need to figure out what my groups really need to learn about reading and how I can provide that learning opportunity for them.
I have two reading groups, both reading at around 8-9.5 years old which is a bit concerning. The year 5s and 6s should be reading between 10-12 and the year 7s should be between 12-14. So my question to myself is - how do I help my learners achieve increased reading comprehension while coaching their learning rather than just teaching them content? (So far literature circles is the only idea I have but I'm not sure how to run these in a way that achieves my goal). I have some research to do!
Good reflection Sarah! My feelings about the subject is that you can do both. The content of the lesson will help guide the thinking skills and motivation "boosting". Making sure that you are questioning and providing opportunities for learners to ask questions and opportunities for other learners to help with their point of view. So if it helps "teaching leads to facilitating, which leads to opportunities for leadership, which leads to shared learning experience, which leads to learning skills"
ReplyDeleteWow Sarah, what a great post! You have given me food for thought! :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree Sarah. It is sometimes difficult to make the shift from 'teacher' to 'learning coach'. From research that I have undertaken recently, one theme that seems to keep emerging is that of 'personalised learning'. Like you mentioned in your blog post about your maths workshops, if the learners opt in to an area/level of learning that they feel is appropriate (and more likely to be of interest), then that may well put you on the road to facilitating learning alongside the learner, rather than teach to.
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