The Role of External and Internal Team Coaches in Teacher Design Teams. A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Teacher design teams (TDTs) are increasingly used as a means for teacher professional development. It has been posited that for teacher learning to occur, TDTs need support from team coaches. These coaches are either external experts or peer teachers that guide the team from within. The current literature is in debate on whether external or internal coaches are most effective in supporting TDTs. In this study, we, therefore, examine whether these coach types differ in how they fulfil their role. We additionally evaluate how coaching interacts with the team learning process and the TDT trajectory’s outcomes. We used a mixed methods design in the context of a large-scale TDT trajectory in Flanders (Belgium). We administered questionnaires among 63 teachers of 18 TDTs, and conducted interviews with the coaches of 14 TDTs. Our results indicate that coaching activities correlate with the majority of team learning beliefs and behaviours (TLBB) examined, as well as with perceived team effectiveness and the quality of material developed. Whereas teachers in TDTs with an internal coach seem to evaluate the coaching activities and the TLBB more positively than teachers in TDTs with an external coach, the opposite holds for perceptions of the trajectory’s outcomes.

Networked Professional Learning Communities as Means to Flemish Secondary School Leaders’ Professional Learning and Well-Being

“…A chairperson or group facilitator who is not afraid to introduce structure, halt endless discussions and make decisions in support of the group's objective(s) [26,54,71]. In line with research by Compen and Schelfhout [83], we found that external process coaches were not better positioned to adopt such a role and establish the PLC's objectives than was an internal process coach. When participants are acquainted and the PLC's objectives are not too complex (requiring considerable external input), the role of the process coach can easily be adopted by a primus inter pares.…”

“…Collaborative activities and the social support found therein can increase job enthusiasm, satisfaction and motivation [44] and, the confidence one has in his or her job [7]. Participation in PLCs-and similar forms of group coaching-is, furthermore, believed to facilitate (teacher) professional learning [13,26,27,32,34,81] and render concrete tools or material [82,83]. Notwithstanding several of these findings were derived from teacher and within-school PLC set-ups, we hypothesize similar tendencies using principal networked PLCs.…”

“…Yet, in the case of PLC members convening over broad and/or complex policy issues, the expertise internally available might be too limited to guarantee an adequate supply of new information. In those circumstances, an external source of expertise seems indispensable [83]. His or her contributions require careful consideration though as we found these to have the potential to curb LPs-and consequently favourable PLC outcomes [36]-in two ways.…”

Supporting Teacher Redesign Teams: A Descriptive Framework for Role Enactment of Academic Developers as Facilitators

“…In line with this, Vangrieken et al (2017) state that teacher communities are conducive for sustainable improvements in teaching practices and can have an (indirect) positive impact on teachers’ professional development and student achievement (Hord, 2004; Lomos et al, 2011; Stoll et al, 2006). Furthermore, Compen and Schelfhout (2020) state that the enhanced ownership emerging from commitment in collaborative discourse is suggested to positively impact teachers’ enthusiasm to implement the curricular changes.…”

Let’s Team Up! Measuring Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Team Teaching Experiences

“…As indicated in the definition, collaboration takes place between two or more professionals. Usually two teachers are involved (i.e., two (general) teachers, or a (general) teacher and a special education teacher), but other ways of collaboration are equally possible (e.g., between three or more professionals, with a student teacher, a mentor during field experiences, a teacher trainer, a child caretaker, a paramedic, or even a larger group of teachers with specific development goals [25]).…”