Teacher Attitudes towards Coaching
Once a school has created the position of mathematics coach and clearly defined this role for teachers to see, the attitudes of the teachers must be assessed. For many teachers, the presence of a math coach in the school can be welcome or threatening, depending on the specific role of the coach within the school.
According to Jacobs, Lamb & Philipp (2010), “when professional development is sustained beyond 2 years and coupled with leadership activities, teachers continue to gain in their abilities to interpret children’s understanding and to use those understandings in deciding how to respond” (p. 182). In the same way, Boston & Garrison Wilhelm (2015) declared improvements in teachers and student achievement thanks to coaching is visible over time, with significantly gains in the second year of application. However, teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards coaching will contribute to positive or negative results (Guskey, 2002).
According to Akhavan & Tracz (2016) every school must have the driving force to increase teacher effectiveness throughout change and reform. While reform can occur by changing schedules, moving students among classroom, or curriculum changes, the critical factor for true reform and school improvement is the teachers’ ability to positively impact student learning. Akhavan & Tracz (2016) further stated that coaching has been one form of professional development to improve teacher effectiveness with teacher attitudes towards it have evolved as well. Joyce and Showers (1980) said that the first proposed coaching style was in-classroom professional development which reinforced the transfer of new skills acquired from professional development to turn them into practices. In contrast, nearly 40 years later, coaching is most often used as professional development after contract hours to increase teacher’s ability to meet student’s needs.
One way to measure teacher attitude is to determine teacher efficacy. According to Guskey and Passaro (1994,) teacher efficacy is defined as “teachers’ beliefs or conviction that they can influence how well students learn, even those who may be difficult or unmotivated” (p. 628). Teacher efficacy can be gauged by analyzing how teacher perceive their ability to impact student achievement before receiving support from a mathematics coach and then again after receiving support and comparing the outcomes. In order to achieve the highest measure of success, the math coach must motivate and create in teachers the belief that they can make a difference. Therefore, fostering and nurturing efficacy will be essential for success.
Smith & Rowley (2005) found that teachers prefer being part of professional development in a more collaborative environment within the school, rather than teaching and learning in isolation. They also found also teachers are more willing to expend their time learning if they will be participating in common goals for the school and students, rather than participating in professional development without meaningful purpose. Joyce & Showers (1980) first published this finding of where coaching was provided by other teachers, the results demonstrated teachers who worked collaboratively in regular meetings with other teachers and coaches, had higher rates of using new learning compared to teachers who worked in isolation.
Other studies indicate that coaching is important for teachers if they believe it supports and helps them to improve student achievement. It seems that the amount of coaching that teachers receive is equivalent to the success of the coaching as a professional development model. In addition, it looks like teachers are more willing to be coached by professional development if the focus is on their specifics needs related to the needs of their students. Individual teacher growth focus may have a more positive coaching experience which eventually affects students improvement (Akhavan & Tracz , 2016).