Ana Valdez: Welcome, everyone, to the Lastinger Center Professional Learning webinar on cultivating trust.

My name is Ana Valdez, and I am an associate here at the Lastinger Center, and I’m part of the early learning team. I do everything coaching and everything CoP.

This session is being recorded, but if at any moment you’d like to pause just so that you can reflect, you can do that as needed.

Today we’re going to explore strategies that help early childhood educators build agency, identify their spheres of influence and use coaching strategies that foster reflective and intentional practice.

Let me say that again: coaching strategies that foster reflective and intentional practice.

​So what exactly is coaching for agency?

​In our next slide, we’re going to talk a little bit about why agency matters. It’s about educators owning their growth and decisions, because owning your growth and owning your decisions is going to lead to intentional and confident practice and better outcomes for children.

​And at the end of the day, that is what we want, those positive outcomes for all the children that our educators touch.

​We want you to reflect on challenges that you face coaching for agency. I want you to think about that. Think a little bit about some of the challenges you face when you’re coaching for agency.

We’re going to start with the spheres of influence. Think about something that you’ve recently complained about or felt frustrated by.

And don’t tell me there hasn’t been anything you haven’t recently complained about, because that is human nature, right? We all complain, and we all feel frustrated by something.

So think about it, and preferably think about something professionally. Think about something you’ve recently complained about or felt frustrated by.

How many of those things do you have control over? Probably not too much.​

How many of those things can you influence? Or how many of those things are outside of your control?​

Let’s take a look at the Spheres of Influence framework. The framework helps us focus our energy on what really matters and where we can make a difference.

If you look at our framework, that little teeny tiny thing in the center that you might think “that’s so small.” 

Those are the things we can control. But in the whole scheme of things, that little red dot is what we should be focusing our energy on.​

The other light blue circle are those things we have a little bit of influence on. We can do a little bit. We can’t do a lot about it, but we do have a little bit of influence over.

​And then that outer dark blue circle, those are the things that we have no control over.

​So the sphere is broken down into three areas: the control, which is our own thoughts and our actions. It’s the things that are occupying our mind and the actions we can take.

Then we have influence and these are the areas we can affect indirectly. For example, your classroom arrangement and program decisions. We have a little bit of influence in those things.

​And then there are things that we have no control over. District policies and systematic factors, those things are out of our reach, and it just doesn’t matter how much energy you spend on that, you just have no control over it.

​So what we want to do is we want to be able to work in our control and our influence because those are things that we can shift a little bit here, move a little bit there and have a little bit of control over.

​Let me give you an example: You may have a teacher that’s upset about a center-wide policy. She has absolutely no control over that. There’s nothing she can do.

​But that teacher can decide how she wants to rearrange her classroom. She can select her teaching strategies. There’s a little bit of control and influence there. She can select how she communicates with the parents.

​Those are all things that we have control over. And it’s important to get this across to those teachers we coach.

​We get used to going into a classroom, and sometimes we have those teachers that you walk in and they’re always complaining about something. They can’t help it. It’s just something that happens, right? It’s human nature.

​As a coach, we want to try to shift their perspective and help them think a little bit of those things they can control and those things they have a little bit of influence over.

Sometimes, when you do that as a coach, the educator might say, “OK, might take a little bit,” but maybe that educator has an aha moment where they can say, “OK, maybe it’s best for the children if I do work on what I can control, or maybe I can influence this a little bit for a positive outcome for the children.”

So it’s all about how we have those coaching conversations to help those teachers understand that there’s just some things that are out of our control. But think of all the things you can control and all the good that that could do.

OK, so we want to share some research with you. This is very interesting. Research shows that we have about 68,000 thoughts daily.

Think about that. We try to go to sleep, and all these racing thoughts that are constantly going on in our minds.

​The research shows that we have about 68,000 thoughts daily and 98% of those are on repeat. That means it’s constant.

​Those 68,000 thoughts, you have them today, you’re probably going to have them tomorrow, you’re probably going to have them the day after.

​That leads to a lot of stress, right? We all feel that stress and that sense of anxiety when we redirect our focus into the things we can control. It increases our well-being and our productivity.

And you as coaches can help teachers recognize their sphere, validate their feelings about frustrations, and gently shift focus toward actionable areas, actionable steps, things they can do so we can shift that perspective of theirs.

​So if you have a teacher that’s complaining about an inflexible schedule.

​As a former assistant principal, that was something that happened the first week of school before the children even got there.

Teachers got their schedules. It was chaos, right? They can’t help it. It was almost like they’re welcome back.

I’m going to stress you out because I don’t like my schedule, but if a teacher complaints about an inflexible schedule, right, as a coach, you can say what parts of your daily routine can you adjust to better support your goals?

Let’s give them a little bit of ownership, right? What can you do that is within your control? We’re not going to go to the office and cause chaos, right? What can you do in your daily routine that you can adjust that’s going to better support your goals?

This framework is going to empower them by helping teachers identify where their efforts will be most effective.​

Are you going to have the most impact? If you’re working in your circle of “I can’t control this,” you’re not going to be very effective. But if we’re working on the things we can control, then little by little we’re going to have that positive outcome that we are looking for.

Now when we work on a teacher’s sphere of influence, we’re eventually going to get them to that coaching for agency.

What does it mean to coach towards agency? What does that mean to you? When you hear the word agency, what does that make you think about?​

Agency means having a sense of control over your actions and their results.​

When we coach towards agency, we are helping teachers build confidence and take ownership of their practice. And when that happens, the teacher feels empowered. An empowered teacher is going to make positive changes in their classroom that are going to impact those children positively.​

When someone lacks agency, life can feel like it’s happening to them without their input.

​Think about that. When you have a teacher who lacks agency, it could feel to that teacher that the day is just going on without their input, and that could really affect a teacher’s confidence.

​They’re not feeling empowered. And really, what kind of outcome is that going to have for the children?

And like I mentioned earlier, at any time you can feel free to pause, do some reflecting on your own and then just start and rejoin the webinar.​

How do we support agency as coaches? How can we do that?​

Well, we can help teachers identify what is important to them.​

When you’re having those coaching conversations, we’re going to give them ownership by asking them what is important to them.​

Would we collaborate in conversations where the teacher’s voice is heard? That is a way that we can support agency.​

So think about that. Parity.​

If you went through coaching with us, one of the areas of the rubric is that parity.​

In case you don’t remember, parity is when there is a coaching conversation going on and we hear both voices equally, preferably the coaches a little more because we want to ask those questions that are going to help that teacher get to their “aha” moment.

​So we want to have collaborative conversations where the teacher’s voice is central.​

We want to make sure that we’re expressing confidence in their abilities to overcome challenges.​

We do that by using positive coaching phrases that are going to allow that teacher to feel that confidence in her ability or his ability to overcome challenges.​

And we’re going to guide them to focus their efforts on where they have the most control and influence.

Earlier I said when we go visit a teacher, sometimes we’re met with that one teacher who has all the woe is me, right?​

Everything is happening. “I don’t like my schedule, my parents are not engaged. I don’t like the policy.”

When we have those conversations and we’re confronted with an educator like that, the important thing is to guide them to the area where they have the most control and a little bit of influence.​

And that is going to have a positive effect and it’s going to begin to build that agency in the teacher.​

There are three key strategies that are going to help us do this and those strategies are naming, reframing and deconstructing beliefs.​

When we help a teacher build that agency, we’re going to lead to empowerment and well-being.

​We’re not there to fix the teachers. That’s not our role as a coach. People don’t need fixing.​

So coaching is not about fixing the teacher, but supporting their growth based on their beliefs and their experiences.​

And remember, every teacher comes in with a different set of beliefs and a different set of experiences.

​It’s not a one-size-fits-all. They each bring their own beliefs and their own experiences.

​So we talked about those 3 strategies, naming, reframing and deconstructing beliefs.

​When we talk about naming, it might sound something like, “I hear that you feel nervous about talking to parents.”

​So when we name something, we’re acknowledging the feeling and we’re going to bring it to light. We’re going to bring it to awareness.

​“I hear that you are struggling with your classroom setup,” that is naming it, and that is something we want to do.

​“I hear you. This is what I hear you saying.”​

Then we’re going to reframe it. Instead of seeing that as a challenge or as a barrier, let’s see it as an opportunity to build stronger relationships.

​So you have a teacher who’s very nervous about talking to parents, so we’re going to name it. “I hear that you feel nervous about talking to parents.”

​Then we’re going to reframe it. “How about if instead of seeing that challenge as a barrier, let’s see it as an opportunity to build stronger relationships?”

​And then we’re going to deconstruct the belief. We’re going to say something like, “what makes you believe that you’re not good at leadership?”

​“What makes you think that you’re not a good communicator? What makes you think that they’re not going to understand that, they’re going to understand you?” Let’s explore that.

​That’s what it would look like when you’re implementing those three strategies.

​You’re going to name, you’re going to reframe and then we’re going to deconstruct the belief.

​“What makes you say that?”

​And I think that of those three strategies, the most important one is probably the last one.

​“What makes you say that? Tell me why you think that. Let’s talk about that.” ​It’s a great way to have a coaching conversation and have a teacher open up to you.

​When we implement those three strategies, they deepen reflection and they open the door for that teacher to have new possibilities, new outcomes and a deeper sense of empowerment.

​So those are the three strategies that I invite all coaches to try when you are trying to build agency, and you’ll know which teacher needs a little bit more and a little bit less.

​And sometimes it’s all about being able to maneuver the situation.

​I want to share some examples on how naming, reframing and deconstructing beliefs can work in coaching.

​So number one is a growth mindset.

​A teacher might see a child’s slow progress as a failure.

​We name the feeling of frustration. We reframe the challenge as an opportunity for creative problem solving and then we help that teacher question rigid expectations about milestones.

​So when we have a situation like that, we apply the three strategies, and that happens a lot.

​How many times have we encountered a teacher who is frustrated with a child’s progress? A lot of times, I bet.

​So we’re going to acknowledge that the teacher feels frustrated. We’re going to reframe it by encouraging that teacher to see it as an opportunity for creative problem solving. And then we’re going to ask that teacher, what makes you think that? Why are you feeling like that?

​That’s just one example you may encounter.

​You may also come across a situation where a coachee feels anxious about communicating with parents (and directors often also.)

​So we’re going to name the nervousness, we’re going to reframe their expertise as a strength and we’re going to talk about why this teacher is having self doubt.

​“I hear that you’re anxious about talking to parents. How about if we take this opportunity and we apply it to your expertise?”

​You can share your knowledge with parents and then by deconstructing that belief, we can say, “why do you feel that you’re not good at communicating? What makes you say that?”

​And again, we’re applying the three strategies.

​How about a teacher? Maybe you’ve encountered a teacher who has been hesitant to take on a leadership role, maybe as a lead teacher due to lack of confidence, right?

​We’re going to name the self-doubt. We’re going to reframe it by highlighting her strengths and the impact that she could possibly have on the staff and on the children. And then we’re going to deconstruct her belief about her worthiness or experience.

​“Well, what makes you think you wouldn’t be a good leader? What’s making you think that you don’t have the experience to do this?”

​Those are just three examples that you as coaches may encounter at some point in your coaching journey and how you can apply the three strategies of naming, reframing and deconstructing beliefs to help that teacher grow a little bit in her taking ownership and thus increasing her agency.

​Think about all the conversations you have with teachers and where you can start inserting these strategies.

​And remember that sometimes their beliefs are rooted in past experiences and it requires a lot of patience and empathy to explore all that background.

​I encourage you to keep all these examples in mind when you are supporting your teachers.

​Remember that early learning teachers face many barriers in acting within their spheres of influence; limited resources, systematic constraint or even personal doubts.

​So as coaches, our role is to validate these challenges as best we can while we’re still supporting the teachers to find their agency within what they can influence.

​So small intentional actions to build confidence and momentum.

​A few other things.

​Always acknowledge that frustration and barriers are real and valid. Their frustrations and their barriers are real and valid.

​Make sure you balance empathy with empowerment. Don’t dismiss their concerns, but help them focus on possibilities.

​Try to prompt teachers to identify achievable next steps. They’re all important, but this is something that is simple and I believe to be very important.

​Always prompt them. And we do this by asking those ordered questions, right? Prompt teachers to identify achievable next steps because any small step in my book is a win.

​For example, if a teacher can’t change a policy, maybe they pilot a new activity within their classroom.​

So use that as a chance to strengthen trust and partnership.

​As we reflect and we close, I want you all to think about one specific action that you would like to take in your coaching practice in the next coming days or in the next coming weeks, and what strategies do you think you can put into play to begin fostering agency?

​I want to thank you all for joining today’s session, and remember that coaching for agency helps transform teaching practice and improves outcomes for children.

​Thank you for joining us.