Page 249 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

Part 3: Meditate

As educators, we spend a lot of time giving and receiving information every
day. However, our connections with others are more impactful when we
listen and inquire. Coaching can be defined as this quest or journey of
listening and inquiring to guide the coachee toward revealing his or her
internal capital.

Educator Erin Lawson (district technology coach at Orchard Farm School
District in Saint Charles, Missouri) shares her experience on developing the
sine qua non condition for coaching to be successful:

As a district technology coach, “technology” and “coach” seem to separate
often. My role as a coach requires building and keeping trusting relation-
ships with the educators in my district. Once a relationship is built, and I
know the strengths and stretches of a person, the process of gently pushing
that person to be the best educator begins. Technology integration happens
naturally within that growth process.

When coaching, we thrive to support the coachee to think deeply and make
new connections. For coaching to be effective, the coach has to suspend his
or her judgments and actively engage in colearning and codeveloping. It all
starts by listening, but this is a complex skill that is often taken for granted.
Scharmer (2018) talks about “generative listening” as the highest level of
listening. When we use this type of listening, we are intentional; we aren’t
passive or simply reconfirming what we already know. Instead, we listen
with the intention to innovate. Generative listening is a very active listening
style that allows space for the unknown and the new to emerge. It is a prac-
tice in mutual understanding and respect. Here are some tips for being an
effective generative listener:

✦ Let go of “just being a teacher” and embrace your singulari-
ties. When you listen to someone, do not listen from a formal
distance but insert a bit of your personal self into it. Do you
listen to your colleagues or students the way you listen to your
parents or your own children? Give all your attention to the
other person.

162 Stretch Yourself

Stretch Yourself: A Personalized Journey to Deepen Your Teaching Practice 249