Center for School Transformation
Evoking Excellence in Education
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School Provision #104: Peer Resources Reviews
Evocative Coaching
by Bob Tschannen-Moran, April 1, 2011
Peer Resources Network, a membership-based service provided by Peer Resources, a
non-profit, educational corporation based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,
specializing in the development of peer, coach and mentor programs, has just released
a spectacular review of our book,
Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time.Although you can read the review on their website, by visiting their listing of "The Best Coaching Books, Tapes and Videos," I thought you would enjoy reading it here, in School Provisions:
This book is a masterpiece. A must read for every educator, and a useful tool for every school district. It is positive, enlightening, and the questions for reflection and discussion at the end of every chapter could be used successfully by professional learning communities operating in many schools today. Evocative Coaching truly is a way of being. Bob and Megan are to be commended for their excellent work.
Evocative Coaching is defined as: "Calling forth motivation and movement in people, through conversation and a way of being, so desired outcomes and achievements enhance the quality of life." The focus in this book is on how coaches can improve their relationship with teachers, thereby enabling teachers to improve their own performance. One common thread running through this entire process is positive dialogue.
Coaching can begin when trust is established, strength building encouraged, and when conversations focus on people rather than projects. The authors envision an environment in which learning is transformed and school environments are reinvented; where schools are a place for reflection, empathy, and inquiry.
Using the process of "Story-Empathy-Inquiry-Design" (S-E-I-D), an environment is established that leads to discovery. People always have stories to tell and when the stories are shared in a nonjudgmental environment schools are transformed through conversation. Evocative coaches take time to listen and learn from the stories, to express empathy, and to ask questions. There are no judgments made, only time to think and plan for what might be the next step. I will incorporate this idea by asking the teachers I work with to tell me a story about why they are in this profession, what motivates them to get up in the morning, what keeps them up at night, and how they react when a student "finally" grasps a concept.
The evocative coaching idea reintroduces the 4,000 year old Mobius design. Evocative Coaching, like the Mobius strip, dwells in endless possibilities. It gets teachers excited about learning as they become even more skilled in their profession. It's done through listening rather than talking, asking rather than telling, and reflecting rather than commenting. It's about enabling teachers to figure out how they can do what they want to serve students better – one conversation at a time. (Review by Peer Resources Network member, D. Vonde).
If you are interested in a treasure-trove of resources on coaching and mentoring,
then I encourage you to check out the
Peer Resources Network.
To find out more about evocative coaching and the work of the
Center for School
Transformation, please contact us directly either by email (info@schooltransformation.com), phone (757-345-3452), or through
the Contact Form on our website.
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran, CEO & Co-Founder
Center for School Transformation
• www.SchoolTransformation.com