The ISTE Standards for Coaches 2c, “Establish shared goals with educators, reflect on successes and continually improve coaching and teaching practice that are meaningful and useful to a wide audience,” emphasizes the need for constant iteration within the teaching profession through shared goals and reflection at the classroom and coaching instructional levels.
Source: STEM Summit
Evidence: “The session on Progress and Challenges in Building an Equitable K-12 STEM Ecosystem presented an opportunity to hear from individuals in a variety of different sectors (public, private, nonprofit, etc.) and then to discuss with professionals from across the different area of STEM education. The panel of presenters spoke to the various facets of the ecosystem and the inherent communication gaps that exist among organizations attempting to work in the same space and do similar work. The panel then provided an opportunity for the representatives from different sectors to speak to how they actively support STEM education and what they wish others knew about their work. Most intriguing to me, panel members spoke to what other groups in the ecosystem needed to understand and what was paramount for each to work on and accomplish for the extended ecosystem to be successful. Ultimately, most of the requests centered around increased communication and collaboration in efforts in order to reduce duplication of work and increase efficiency and effectiveness of outcomes.”
Explanation: Open, honest, and intentional dialogue and discussion among educators from all areas in STEM education are necessary in order to establish shared goals that can be meaningful and useful for a wide audience of students, teachers, and society.
Source: Coaching the Coaches
Evidence: “The act of learning about peer coaching became real through the practical applications of these lessons learned under the guidance of Dr. Foltos and Dr. Wicks. These theoretical lessons offered many possibilities for practice, while the application offered real-life examples. My personal goal is to continue to improve upon my utilization of these applied skills as well as to continue my overall study of peer coaching skills and strategies. As a lifelong learner, I realize this is a lifelong process where the process is the journey and the destination is an ever-moving target of growth where one never truly “arrives”.”
Explanation: Practical applications of peer coaching through real lessons learned in collaboration with another educator highlight the value to developing shared goals, reflecting, and working to continuously improve coaching and teaching practice together.
