A Culture of Feedback: Indicators and Opportunities

By Tammy Gibbons, Director of Professional Development, AWSA

A Culture of Feedback. Every school would say this is an essential ingredient of a high-performing school. Students receive timely feedback targeted at specific areas and ways to improve. Teachers provide feedback to one another in constructive and actionable ways. Coaches and principals are engaging in conversations about the impact of instruction and lesson design. Sounds glorious right? There are many factors that often keep a school from attaining a culture of feedback and also some sure-fire principles and beliefs to uphold.

What is a coaching culture?

An environment where every level of the organization prioritizes growth of the individual alongside the growth of the school itself. It’s helping other people grow in their work, everyday.
Teachers and leaders seek feedback, readily share feedback in constructive ways, and act with empathy.
Leaders having an everyday impact through meaningful conversations that lead to improved performance and personal growth. It is not limited to supervision compliance.

The principles and core values that align with this culture can be viewed as indicators when being observed.

Indicators of a coaching culture:

Accountability and Responsibility: Everyone is responsible for their action and their inaction. A non-defensive self-examination of results
Clear vision and objectives: School improvement is visible, coaching is built into performance goal setting
Strength-based approach: Leveraging everyone’s strengths to improve success measures is the norm.
Risk Mitigation: Staff anticipate issues and have strategies to address them, paying attention to predictable turmoil
Increased engagement: Visible risk taking, courage, collaboration and embracing conflict
Support change: Clear and articulated action plans and incentives for change
Celebrates impact: Public validation of those that embrace a coaching mindset, those who verbalize the impact of collaboration, and those who regularly exhibit the culture you want to grow.

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Leadership is an action, not a position.” In a coaching culture, providing feedback and being a good receiver of feedback is the norm and everyone takes action - it doesn’t only belong to those who hold titles like specialist, coach, or administrator. The professionalism strand of Educator Effectiveness focuses on everyone’s ability to identify areas for personal and professional growth and to be a positive contributing member of a school community. Inherent in this work is every educator's ability to, and responsibility for, interrupting and disrupting inequitable and fixed mindsets and engaging in healthy conflicts that promote higher learning for all. Not a small challenge for many. In some ways, there has been a long standing culture that the administrator is the only one who can, or should, be providing feedback to educators. If we want to move the needle for kids in Wisconsin, a culture of feedback must exist.

If you and your school are looking for ways to build the skills to accelerate your coaching culture, AWSA provides multiple opportunities to access learning and coaching support.

Professional Learning:

The Impactful Coaching Academy is hosted twice per year (fall and winter cohort). This 4 day Academy articulates foundational skills while participants engage in practical applications of coaching principles and protocols.

Impactful Coaching: Advancing Your Skills is a two day academy meant to extend the learning for participants who’ve experienced the 4 days in the past.

Impactful Coaching Webinar Series 5 webinars throughout the year, participants can engage virtually in 2 hour sessions of learning and application. These are not introductory sessions and should be attended by those already engaging in coaching on a regular basis. Participants can attend the full series or pick by topic.

Leading Professional Learning Communities is a 4 day academy meant to accelerate your current efforts to build a collaborative culture. It is recommended that participants come with team members as action planning and scenario practice are built into the experience.

Choosing to develop the skills necessary to be effective and impactful in providing the type of feedback that advances teaching decisions can have a significant impact on achievement and engagement for students, and is an important choice.

Coaching:

Leaders who model vulnerability and reflection tend to build a culture of feedback at a more rapid rate. Having a thought partner in the work is something AWSA wants to be sure you have access to. There are lots of options available for school leaders to have a coach, check out your options HERE and begin a lasting relationship today!