Instructional coaching is widely recognized as an effective professional development strategy for improving teaching. ESL instructional coaching, however, is a relatively new field of research and practice. Little is known about what actually transpires in the name of instructional coaching.

For this study, we analyzed pre- and postinstructional coaching videotapes of classroom instruction as well as videotapes of actual instructional coaching sessions (pre- and postconference) to understand more deeply the coaching process. The videotape evidence demonstrated that instructional coaching shaped not only teacher practices (i.e., content, instruction, assessment, and management) as Knight (2009) argued but also teachers’ and students’ identities, power, and agency in positive ways. Teachers who had dominated instruction in whole-class settings shifted to use of small groups, encouraging authentic student interaction. As one teacher observed, “before it was pretty automatic, you know? Let’s just get through this skill in the basal [i.e., elementary reading textbook] and we’re done for the day. And now it’s like I don’t want to do that anymore.” She continued, “I will jump through the district mandates—just not quite so high! I will implement what I have to, and add what I feel is best for my ESL learners. For example, last week we were reading ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ as our basal story, so I also read ‘Rubia and the Three Osos’ and ‘Somebody and the Three Blairs.’” The teacher went on to share how students compared stories, acted them out, drew pictures, and wrote in journals. The cumulative video evidence shows that using a critical sociocultural perspective (i.e., Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007) to understand instructional coaching makes visible the intersectionality of student and teacher learning in the mainstream classroom.

REFERENCES

Knight, J. (2009). Instructional coaching. In J. Knight (Ed.), Coaching approaches and perspectives (pp. 29-55). Thousand Oakes, CA: Corwin.

Lewis, C., Enciso, P., & Moje, E. B. (2007). Introduction: Reframing sociocultural research on literacy. In C. Lewis, P. Enciso, & E. B. Moje (Eds.), Reframing sociocultural research on literacy: Identify, agency, and power (pp. 1-11). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Dr. Teemant has spent 15 years focused on preparing mainstream teachers to serve English language learners in the regular classroom. Her latest research validates a new ESL instructional coaching model for mainstream teachers and connects teacher pedagogy to student achievement.

Dr. Tyra is an early childhood literacy expert, with extensive experience as a bilingual teacher. She currently consults as an ESL instructional coach for IUPUI in Indianapolis Public Schools.