Topic: The narrative experience of a first-year literacy coach in a intermediate elementary school.

Research puzzle:

The ensuing research puzzle reflects my wonder about: A) building relationships, modeling and coaching, and B) establishing professional learning communities as a first-year literacy coach:  

In what ways, do I as a literacy coach navigate between my roles and responsibilities to build partnerships with teachers? In what ways, do I as a literacy coach establish collaboration among teachers to build professional learning communities? In what ways do teachers impact my coaching, modeling and building relationships?

The theoretical framework undergirding this study is defined under the tenets of social constructivism, as defined by Beck and Kosnik (2006), “an approach that encourages all members of a learning community to present their ideas strongly, while remaining open to the idea of others. It is a passionate approach, involving the whole person: thought, emotion, and action” (pp. 7-8).  Social constructivism draws on the past approaches to constructivism in education as argued by Dewey (1916, 1933), Piaget (1954), and Vygotsky (1978), and on sociocultural theory as reflected by Foucault (1997), Derrida (1997), and Rorty (1991). Beck and Kosnik outline social constructivist trends in teacher education with the grounding of constructivism and sociocultural theory. One of these trends is teacher partnerships with preservice, new, and experienced teachers. As reflected by Darling-Hammond (1999), preservice and new teachers reported working with experienced teachers as a rich and coherent learning experience, and senior teachers reported they deepened their knowledge as mentors and teacher leaders. This co-construction of knowledge within a social context is reflective of teachers learning outside the traditional context. As a literacy coach, I believe knowledge is socially constructed through beliefs and practices, interaction between faculty, staff, students, and the community.

            Beck and Kosnik (2006) discuss three concepts of social constructivism, which I believe apply to the literacy coach’s development of building relationships, partnerships, and professional learning communities: integration, inquiry, and community. Beck and Kosnik believe integration grounds social constructivism in the Vygotskian constructivist belief of the link between knowledge and experience and theory and practice. Literacy coaches and teachers bring various beliefs, life, and educational experiences together in a community of learning. Literacy coaches foster partnerships with and among teachers to build professional learning communities. Thus, it is the integration of all these that create the whole of learning.

Beck and Kosnik’s second concept of inquiry is what sparks active learning. They emphasize “social constructivists maintain that all knowledge is subject to constant reassessment and critique, nothing being taken as fixed or absolute, as beyond examination and reconstruction” (p. 24). The focus of this concept is to partake in continuous dialogue, co-learning, and reflection. The literacy coach is present for clarification, feedback, and further input. With the first two concepts in mind, a sense of community emerges as the third concept. A community of not just cooperative learning, but a sense of emotional expression, support, sharing, and inclusion. This is where literacy coaching comes full circle in the coaching cycle from inquiry to active learner, and a community of collaboration.

Signficance of the study:

Though there is a body of research on literacy coaches’ roles in the prescriptive and step by step sense of the position (Casey, 2006; Deussen, Coskie, Robinsok, & Autio, 2007; Joyce & Showers, 2002; Killion, 2008; Puig & Froelich, 2007; Toll, 2005, 2007, 2014), there is minimal evidence on the various identities (Rainville & Jones, 2008) and coaching stances (Ippolito, 2010) they must navigate to build collaborative relationships and professional learning communities, or on the high quality training necessary to effectively implement the common core standards.

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