The Role of the Administrator in Coaching Classroom Management

The school/building administrator is crucial in the success of any coaching structure. In coaching classroom management, it is important for the head of school or principal to envision the classroom and school environment that she would like for students and teachers, and determine the program/method that will be used for classroom management. One such program is CHAMPS which defines the behavioral expectations in a classroom/school for each activity. It addresses Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement and Participation. There are many different choices of programs, and the administrator should choose one that has been researched and validated for success. The best programs include considerations of five areas for behavior management, labeled STOIC. The STOIC planning strategy can also be applied in coaching teachers.

Knight, 2008, p. 97 as cited from Sprick et al., 2007

Training, support and evaluation are crucial for the implementation of any behavior management system. Staff training should be ongoing with strategies for training new teachers who may have missed several training sessions. It can be helpful to maintain regular sessions between coaches and new teachers for appropriate training and support; the administrator can structure this approach. The administrator is also instrumental in supporting the coaches in their professional growth through ongoing training and networking opportunities.

To ensure that training and support are effective, evaluation is important. Evaluation does not need to be punitive or threatening for the teacher. By using well-defined protocols for short walk-throughs, administrators can observe the teacher and students to evaluate progress. The administrator can use these observations for positive and corrective feedback, and to determine if the teacher would benefit from working with a coach. The administrator is the best guide for teachers in pairing them with appropriate coaches; this  confirms that the administrator values coaching. The administrator is key in the cycle of coaching within a school. “The administrator wears many hats toward shaping classroom management: to develop a vision for the school, choose a classroom management model, arrange training in that model, inform staff of what is expected, monitor implementation, provide feedback to staff, and encourage teachers to seek out coaches” (Knight, 2008, p. 100).

Did you learn about any classroom management models at university? I loved my Maths Education professor at University of Ottawa and found her class engaging and interesting. I remember that we had to do a presentation related to classroom management. My memory of the specifics is vague by I remember presenting in a group about Keller’s ARC Model. I just had to look it up as all I remembered was that it was useful for motivating students. To be more specific, it’s relevant to instructional design. There are definitely similarities between the two models, probably due to the fact that the ARCS model helps Structure the class for success and incorporates other elements of effective behavior management such a monitoring and feedback. There are many well documented, researched, positive, proactive models for improving student and teacher success. How can we do a better job of moving this theory to practice? It seems to me that the approach of training and supporting teachers in classroom management once they’re employed in a school is the best approach to building teacher efficacy in effective classroom management. A community of practice and a coach would be helpful in providing support for developing capacity with the approach, as well as providing an environment for the thoughtful implementation of the method with support in the deep thinking processes for lasting change in addition to the modification of practice.