Instructional Coaching: More Than Improving Practice

Conversations about instructional coaching and teacher identity often begin with what teachers will do differently. Maybe a teacher will try a new questioning strategy. Maybe students will have more opportunities to talk. A lesson might be redesigned, an assessment will be tweaked, or a new instructional routine will become part of the classroom. All of those things matter. 

But there is something else happening through coaching that we don’t always talk about: the way educators come to see themselves as professionals. Coaching isn’t just about improving what we do. It can also shape how we are as educators. 

What Does It Mean to Be a Professional?

Being a professional doesn’t mean having everything figured out. In fact, professionalism has very little to do with always getting it right. It involves being open to wonder, reflecting, seeking help, trying new things, recognizing when something isn’t working, and being curious about the reasons behind it. 

That can be difficult in education because we spend a lot of time thinking about outcomes. We set goals, plan lessons, collect data, look at student work, and ask whether students learned what we hoped they would learn. And, of course, outcomes matter. But what happens when the outcome isn’t what we expected? 

Expected Outcomes Can Be Powerful—But So Can Unexpected Ones

There is something reassuring about getting the outcome we expected. We plan a lesson, students respond as we hoped, and we walk away thinking, “that went well.”

Those moments matter. They build confidence and remind us that our decisions can have a positive impact on students. But there is a danger when we start using successful outcomes as proof that we are successful professionals. If a good outcome means, “I’m a good teacher,” then what does an unexpected outcome mean?

It can be tempting to conclude that we failed. But maybe an unexpected outcome isn’t a verdict. Maybe it’s just information. Maybe it is an opportunity to learn something we couldn’t have learned if everything had gone exactly according to plan. This is one of the reasons coaching conversations can be so valuable. They give educators a place to make sense of those moments without turning them into judgments about their worth or ability. 

Coaching Creates Room to Be a Learner

There is something powerful about having another person sit beside you and say, essentially, “Let’s figure this out together.” Not “Here’s what you did wrong.” Not “Here’s what you should have done.”

But:

• What happened?
• What are you noticing?
• What are you wondering?
• What surprised you?
• What were students thinking or doing?
• What might you learn from that?
• What could you try next?

That kind of support communicates something important: you don’t have to know everything to be a professional.

Actually, being willing to not know may be part of what makes us professionals. We are constantly learning because our classrooms are constantly changing. Our students are different. Their needs are different. The context is different. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow.

Professionalism, then, isn’t about perfection. It’s about how we respond when things are uncertain, unexpected, or unfinished. Maybe this is one of the biggest gifts instructional coaching can offer. It gives educators space to move from proving to becoming. 

When we are focused on proving ourselves, every outcome can feel like a judgment.

• Was the lesson effective?
• Did students meet the objective?
• Was the strategy used correctly?
• Did I do enough?

But when we are focused on becoming, the questions change. Now we ask:

• What am I learning?
• What am I noticing?
• What do I understand now that I didn’t understand before?
• What might I try next?
• Who am I becoming through this work?

Those questions create a different kind of professional identity—one built around curiosity rather than certainty and growth rather than perfection. 

How Instructional Coaching Shapes Teacher Identity

Instructional coaching certainly has the potential to improve instruction, but its impact can go deeper than that. Good coaching can help educators become more comfortable with reflection, uncertainty, feedback, experimentation, and even failure. It can remind us that an unexpected outcome doesn’t have to change how we see ourselves.

A lesson can miss the mark without making us a bad teacher. A strategy can fall flat without making us ineffective. A plan can change without meaning we weren’t prepared. And a surprising student response can remind us that learning is rarely as predictable as we would like it to be. The goal isn’t to make every outcome predictable. The goal is to become the kind of professional who can meet whatever outcome comes our way with curiosity, reflection, and a willingness to learn. 

What Instructional Coaching Is Really About

Maybe that’s what instructional coaching is really about. Not only supporting educators in improving their teaching skills, but also fostering an environment where they can view themselves as capable professionals who are continually evolving.

Perhaps the most powerful question instructional coaching can help educators ask is not simply, “How can I improve this lesson?” It is: “Who am I becoming as I learn from my practice?” 

Resources

ESC Region 13 Instructional Coaching is here to support you in your professional growth. Connect with any of our instructional coaches if you have questions or needs. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates and resources in instructional coaching. Visit our website for professional development opportunities, services, and products. Visit the ESC Region 13 blog for more instructional coaching and strategic instruction related articles.