Living and working in this time of doing more with less pushes everyone to re-think priorities. When it seems that everything is important and no more cutting back is possible, re-thinking priorities becomes downright painful. Writing helps me prioritize on a level of getting past the shoulda’s and coulda’s lists, so I examined just how serious I was about what I thought mattered most about my work here. I wrote “Coaching Munificence” to clarify my thinking.
Since November when I wrote that, I’ve tweaked it by applying the quality of munificence to instructional coaching. I’ve finally gotten past thinking of myself as a teacher–I’m a former teacher who is now an instructional coach. Those of you who have talked with me know I slip very easily into teacher-mode, so I’m still working on my self-talk to reinforce the distinct difference between teacher and coach.
The district professional development for all instructional coaches is strategies for cognitive coaching. Besides Planning and Reflecting conversations, cognitive coaching helps coaches recognizes States of Mind that support or inhibit a person’s ability to solve problems, clarify thinking, and increase resourcefulness.
The last district instructional coaches’ meeting focused on interdependence, one of the 5 states of mind. High school teachers work mostly in isolation. Teachers typically have to change their habitual mode of thinking to develop their interdependence with other adults in the school, in the district, and in the community.
Choosing to develop one’s interdependence requires thinking that leads to action that one doesn’t typically do. For example, how often does a teacher ask a colleague for advice, for suggestions, for criticism? How often has a colleague asked a co-worker how she or he manages time or books or behavior or anything else? How often do colleagues use meeting or collaboration time to discuss their hopes, goals, limitations, and strengths?
I’ve had a few conversations this week with teachers that have resonated differently with me simply because I’ve been paying attention to possible paths toward increased interdependence.
In the end, we all depend on each other to some extent. When someone needs help or a favor, we feel perfectly comfortable asking, and usually, help arrives without having to ask for it. Interdependence seems natural when someone is distressed. Interdependence can also seem natural when we deliberately notice incidents of interdependence.
Developing the interdependent habit has been extremely helpful for me. It reduces stress. It makes me feel connected. It makes my working life easier even though all signs are pointing to more stress undermining our capacity to function at our best.
Most people can feel increased stress before others notice it. Developing interdependence may help.
