Hello! This is a series about a Community of Practice. It starts here and continues here.
I, the facilitator and researcher, was a little nervous doing this work because it felt so important. I had prepared carefully and knew both my research goals and also that I needed to listen carefully to the coaches to see which direction things needed to go. It was a precarious space – being physically a part of the Community of Practice, without being a full participant (a decision I had made before the CoP began and was explained to the coaches before we started.) I knew that the coaches had asked for some predictability, so we started again with the goals of this session.
The goals this week were to:
- Review coaching practices
- What would you do? Scenarios
- Create goals for ourselves.
We reviewed the community agreements:
- Stay Engaged
- Speak Your Truth
- Experience Discomfort
- Expect and Accept Non-Closure
- What’s said here, stays here; what’s learned here, leaves here
Then we dove into the coaching practices using radical love – the reflection sheet. We discussed that the cadence of the CoP session, held on a Wednesday, and then the reflection tool showing up in their email on a Friday helped each of them plan the next week with those characteristics and actions in the top of their mind. These coaches were immediately attempting to put into practice what they had learned in one week! I was so excited.
After the valuable conversation about the coaching practices we began to flow into the next conversation using the scenarios. We each read and annotated our paper copies of the scenarios. We started with the first one on the page (copied below)
When radical love is present, a coach facilitates goal-setting by listening deeply, asking powerful questions about what matters most to the teacher, and co-constructing goals that honor the teacher’s voice and context. The process becomes less about fixing deficits and more about nurturing strengths, identity, and joy in teaching and learning.
Here’s a dialogue between a coach and a teacher beginning to set goals together.
Coach: Thanks for taking the time to meet today. Before we think about specific goals, I’d love to start by hearing what’s been bringing you joy in your teaching lately. What moments or practices feel most alive for you right now?
Teacher: Hm, I think I really enjoy when my students are collaborating in small groups. That’s when I see them most engaged with each other and the content.
Coach: I hear that those collaborative moments matter a lot to you—it sounds like they connect to how you want your students to experience learning. Why do you think those moments stand out for you?
Teacher: Because they’re truly thinking together, and it feels less like I’m the only one talking. I want more of that.
Coach: That makes so much sense. Creating space where students take ownership and share ideas aligns with the strengths I already see in your teaching—you set such a welcoming tone. If we were to imagine a goal around amplifying those moments, what would success look like in your classroom?
Teacher: I’d love to see those kinds of discussions happening more consistently, not just once in a while.
Coach: Beautiful. So maybe our goal could center on designing intentional structures that set students up for meaningful collaboration. How does that sound to you?
Teacher: That resonates. I don’t want to lose the joy or spontaneity, just nurture it and make it more reliable.
Coach: Perfect. We can co-create some strategies that honor your style and your students’ identities. And as we move forward, I’ll keep checking in with you about how it feels—what’s working and what’s worth adjusting—so the goal is always grounded in your voice and vision.
How would you begin to facilitate goal setting with a teacher? What would you say or do? What might you change in this sample dialogue?
We spoke about how we might change the scenario to make it more authentic, more ourselves. Coaches expressed that they hadn’t thought about goal setting in this way, so that felt promising.
What would you highlight, circle, or star? What pieces feel close to your practice? Which pieces feel further away from your practice?
Then we molded the next scenario through our conversations.
High accountability helps drive meaningful change, but unconditional acceptance ensures that accountability feels safe, not punitive. The combination creates trust, reduces defensiveness, and fosters genuine transformation—teachers are challenged to grow, but always within a spirit of radical love and belonging.
Here’s a dialogue between coach and teacher setting the stage for accountability and trust.
Coach: I want to begin by saying that I see you as a professional with deep strengths and a real commitment to your students. Our work together isn’t about pointing out what’s wrong—it’s about helping you take your practice even further in ways that feel authentic to you.
Teacher: I appreciate that. Sometimes I worry coaching will feel like someone just checking up on me or criticizing.
Coach: I hear that, and I want to be really clear: I will hold us both accountable to the goals we co-create, but always in a way that supports—not punishes—you. For me, accountability means following through on what matters most to you and your students. It’s not about a list of mandates; it’s about keeping sight of your vision and making sure we do the work to get there.
Teacher: That feels different than how accountability usually gets framed.
Coach: Exactly. My role is to challenge and stretch your practice, but only because I believe in your ability and because your students deserve the absolute best you have to offer. At the same time, I accept you fully as you are right now—every teacher I work with is on a growth journey, myself included. Trust is built when you know I’ll both celebrate your wins and walk beside you when things get hard.
Teacher: That makes me feel like I can take risks without worrying about being judged.
Coach: That’s my hope. You can expect honest feedback from me, but always within a safe space of partnership. We’ll name what’s working, identify growth opportunities, and commit to action steps together. Then, I’ll hold you accountable to those steps—because your goals matter, and you’re not doing this alone.
How do you build trust with high accountability? What does this look like for you as a coach? How would you express this to a teacher? What might you change about the sample dialogue?
We had a rich conversation about accountability and how it is framed within this scenario. It felt important to clearly name what accountability could be in the scenario and how high expectations braided into this idea of radical love. The coaches agreed that accountability has a bad rap within education because it’s always used as a punitive measure. This group of humans felt it was important to reclaim accountability and high expectations into a love filled practice of coaching.
What would you highlight, circle, or star? What pieces feel close to your practice? Which pieces feel further away from your practice?
Our conversations were so rich, we ran out of time for the 3rd scenario, which I’ll share below anyways, so you can see the connection points to the characteristics of radical love.
Radical love changes how coaches measure progress and evidence by shifting the focus from rigid, quantitative metrics to more holistic, relational, and transformative indicators that honor the complexity of growth and change. Instead of merely tracking compliance or completion of tasks, coaches look for meaningful signs of movement, empowerment, and sustained transformation in the people being coached.
Here’s a dialogue between a teacher and an instructional coach deciding how progress will be measured.
Coach: As we think about your goals, I want us to consider how we’ll know progress is happening. For me, it’s not just about whether a checklist gets completed—it’s about whether you feel more empowered and whether your students are experiencing more joy and engagement.
Teacher: That’s actually reassuring. Sometimes progress feels hard to measure if it’s not tied to numbers or concrete checklists.
Coach: I hear you. Quantitative metrics have their place, but they don’t tell the full story of your growth. For example, I’ll be looking for things like: Are you trying new strategies with more confidence? Do you notice students taking more ownership of their learning? Do you feel more aligned with your values as an educator? Those are powerful indicators of transformation.
Teacher: That makes sense. I have seen my students leaning in more during discussions, and it feels different than before.
Coach: That’s exactly the kind of evidence we want to honor. Your noticing is a form of data, as much as student work or test results. Progress can look like increased energy in the room, student voices being lifted, or you feeling more joy and purpose in your teaching.
Teacher: I appreciate that. It helps me see progress as more than just hitting a target—it’s about the change I feel and the change I see in my students.
Coach: Exactly. We’ll still be specific about goals so you can recognize and celebrate achievement, but we’ll also keep space for these deeper, more human indicators. My job is to help you notice and name them, so you see how much you’re truly growing.
How would you demonstrate progress? What sorts of things would you include in your demonstration of growth with and for a teacher? What might you change about the sample dialogue?
What would you highlight, circle, or star? What pieces feel close to your practice? Which pieces feel further away from your practice?
What would have been most important for this group to discuss? How did just reading and annotating it alone aid or harm the process? These two questions had been second guessing myself, but I had also really taken to the intention of trusting the process, so I trusted the process.
We also ran out of time to do our goal setting. Instead of assigning homework or extending the time, I was flexible and stated we’d start with that next time. Which probably in hindsight helped coaches have clearer and stronger goals to aim for during this Community of Practice.
lizzie fortin 