Conflicting Storylines in Teacher Leadership: How One Literacy Coach Struggled to Position Herself and Her Work

Mangin, Melinda M.; Dunsmore, Kai Lonnie

doi:10.1080/1547688x.2013.806762

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Collectively, the logs documented the entire population of coaching activities for all four coaches over 7 consecutive weeks, a total of 764 activities and 861 hours (see Mangin & Dunsmore, 2013, for a complete description). These data were collected were conducted weekly over 7 consecutive weeks and included a final interview at the end of the school year.…”

Section: Data Sources and Collection Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Framing of Instructional Coaching as a Lever for Systemic or Individual Reform Influences the Enactment of Coaching

Mangin

Dunsmore²

2014

Educational Administration Quarterly

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Purpose: Instructional coaching is framed as both a means for systemic and individual reform. These competing conceptualizations of coaching as a mechanism for change have not been systematically examined, and therefore, we know little about how the framing of instructional coaching initiatives affects the enactment of coaching. In response to this gap in the literature, we examined one district's efforts to use literacy coaching as a means to facilitate system-wide changes in literacy practice. Our investigation asks: How does the framing of coaching as a lever for systemic and/or individual reform influence the enactment of literacy coaching? Research Methods: Qualitative data were collected from four literacy coaches in one district including time allocation logs, interviews (n = 32), recorded discussions, and written documentation. Additional data related to the coaches' training program included observations of 22 training sessions, interviews with the program leaders (n = 7) and regional district leader (n = 3), and survey data from training participants. Findings:Although the coaches in this study aimed to support systemwide changes in literacy practice, the training they received framed coaching as a means to support individual learning. In turn, the change strategies that the coaches employed mirrored this theory of change and focused on being responsive to individual teachers' particular needs, often at the expense of school and district goals. Thus, the findings from this research suggest that the framing of coach roles may influence enactment in consequential ways and raise questions about how coaching can be framed to support both individual and systemic reform. Implications: The findings from this research have implications for the framing of coach roles, the skills and knowledge needed for coaching, and the kinds of professional learning opportunities available to coaches.

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Section: Data Sources and Collection Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Framing of Instructional Coaching as a Lever for Systemic or Individual Reform Influences the Enactment of Coaching

Mangin

Dunsmore²

2014

Educational Administration Quarterly

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“…Because the literacy coaches directed much of the flow and content of the interactions, it would be easy to assume that the literacy coaches were more powerful than the teachers. However, as my analysis has shown, power circulated between the coaches and teachers in interesting ways, and neither coaches nor teachers can be easily These findings support and extend other research on literacy coaching that has acknowledged issues of identity, power, and positioning (Coburn & Woulfin, 2012;Hargreaves & Skelton, 2012;MacGillivray et al, 2004;MacPhee, 2013;Mangin & Dunsmore, 2013;Rainville & Jones, 2008). For instance, several researchers have acknowledged the political nature of literacy coaching and argued for the importance of attending to the ways that power circulates within coaching relationships (Coburn & Woulfin, 2012;Hargreaves & Skelton, 2012;MacGillivray et al, 2004;Mangin & Dunsmore, 2013).…”

Section: Norms Of Collaboration and "Making Nice"supporting

confidence: 68%

“…While many researchers have acknowledged that emotions play an important role in literacy coaches' daily work and their interactions with teachers (Gibson, 2005;Gibson, 2006;Hays & Harris, 2003;Kissel et al, 2011;Mangin & Dunsmore, 2013;Mangin & Stoelinga, 2011;McKinney & Girogis, 2009;Smith, 2007), few have specifically explored emotions in literacy coaching (Hunt & Handsfield, 2013). This study deepens the understanding of how coaches and teachers "do emotions" (Zembylas, 2005, p. 211) Much of the research on literacy coaching considers space as a backdrop for professional learning (Asaf, 2005;McKinney & Giorgis, 2009;Scott et al, 2012;Smith, 2007) without acknowledging how space operates in the production of and resistance to dominant Discourses within literacy coaching interactions.…”

Section: Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discursive Tactical Negotiations within and across Literacy Coaching Interactions

Hunt¹

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“…Positions are not related to functions embedded in a job or formal job descriptions but to the situated, dynamic, and mediated actions embedded in discursive patterns (McVee, 2011). Exploring principals' positioning of specialized teachers can discover fairly agreed-upon practices, routines, and norms (Mangin & Dunsmore, 2013).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Principals’ positioning of teacher specialists: between sensitivity, coaching, and dedication

Lorentzen¹

2020

International Journal of Leadership in Education

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This study investigates how principals position specialized teachers (i.e., teachers with expertise in a specific area who are assigned to build the capacity of teachers through professional development) and how these positions might enable and constrain the teachers' actions. Today, a general tendency to foster professionalization by establishing new specialized teacher roles is growing. Research reveals that principals' communication is crucial for these teachers' work, yet how they talk about the teachers is rarely the main object of investigation. By analyzing observational data and interviews with three principals, this study explores how Norwegian specialized teachers are positioned, locally referred to as teacher specialists, and hence how professionalization through specialization is put into practice. Drawing on positioning theory, three inductively derived positions are identified, revealing that the principals tend to equalize the specialists and the staff and emphasize the specialists' attributes rather than their subject knowledge. The results suggest that, although principals' positioning can impede potential conflicts within the collegium, de-emphasizing the specialists' expertise arguably makes it difficult to consider such roles as professionalization initiatives. Moreover, reducing specialized teachers to a matter of dedication and careful teacher approaches can constrain specialist-led development work and facilitation of inquirybased dialogs within the collegium.

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Conflicting Storylines in Teacher Leadership: How One Literacy Coach Struggled to Position Herself and Her Work

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

How the Framing of Instructional Coaching as a Lever for Systemic or Individual Reform Influences the Enactment of Coaching

How the Framing of Instructional Coaching as a Lever for Systemic or Individual Reform Influences the Enactment of Coaching

Discursive Tactical Negotiations within and across Literacy Coaching Interactions

Principals’ positioning of teacher specialists: between sensitivity, coaching, and dedication

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