Abstract
A School’s performance is affected by the effectiveness of teachers’ teaching styles. Teachers should have effective delivery mechanisms. Literacy leaders should devise appropriate systems to coach teachers on proper delivery mechanisms. Proper motivational and personal development strategies are essential for effective delivery by teachers. Businesses maintain human resources managers whereas school have literacy coaches who act as human resources managers alongside other school management duties.
Introduction
Literacy is defined as development of oral and print language, which starts at early ages in human development. It does not develop separately, however oral language comes out first. Teachers have the role of teaching their students different units to grow their knowledge. Effectiveness in a certain lesson can be measured by how well students understand what the teacher taught. Teachers may have wide knowledge about a certain topic, but if they are not able to deliver the knowledge to their students, they will not be effective in their work. To enhance learning, teachers must be managed well (Barbara, 2009). This paper takes discuses how literacy coaching cycle is used to facilitate learning in school environment.
Literacy Coaching Cycle
Head teachers play the role of providing essential leadership in literacy program. They should look into short, medium and long team teacher’s development and devise appropriate methods for literacy development. Literacy coach should have the knowledge and skill to command respect in their schools. Literacy coaching takes different forms depending on a certain teacher’s grade. In elementary schools, the major role is teaching student how to read. Teachers at this point may have no much difficulty in understanding what they are teaching and pupils are more willing to learn. Teachers have the required knowledge from their colleges.
In middles and secondary schools, other than the teacher having the knowledge of the subject, the teacher is more likely to be faced will repellence from teenagers and young adults. Elementary teachers lay a strong foundation of learning to students; they should have diagnosis and interventional strategy to develop reading skills in pupils. At secondary school level much emphasis is placed on motivational and invention skills; teachers should ensure they develop good learning environment in a class.
How literacy coaching can be used as a tool to assist literacy coaches support teachers
School management should assume the role of human resources management in their school, for quality and effective delivery by teachers. They should develop curriculum, personal development and instructions to improve reading, writing and thinking. Coaching can take the form of simple dialogue between school leadership and teachers at an individual or group level. Most of the time teachers have complains that come from how a school is managed, they should be involved in school management but school leaders should command respect through their actions.
In an effective literacy coaching, literacy coach should make strategic class visits to access the level of delivery that teachers are attaining. He should though use intelligence not to create an impression to students that a particular teacher is suspected not to be performing or to discuss a teacher with students. Other strategic moves that a literacy coach can use are having external examinations that follow a certain syllabus. The performance will give a reflection of the level of understanding that students have gotten (Moxley, Rosemarye & Rosemarye, 2006).Coaching takes the following forms:
Large group formal coaching
Large-group formal coaching targets an entire department, where the coach speaks of personal development of teachers in a move to fulfil psychological contracts engaged in by employment contract. The coach may talk of plans put in place for teachers benefit or may have a consultant in certain areas. In these meeting, issues arising from teachers are looked into.
Small-group professional coaching (formal)
The focus is on a small number of teachers who have similar characteristics talked about their progress in an organisation. Small groups maybe head of departments, elementary teachers, certain grade class teachers among other.
Small group formal coaching (informal)
It has the same approach like Small-group formal coaching however, it is spontaneous in most cases it comes with a certain performance that need immediate address. For example if a certain class has recorded deteriorated performance, then such a meeting may be conveyed to address such an issue.
Modelling formal
This takes the form of brainstorming and decision making in some issues teachers feel not addressed appropriately. These meetings may be inform of team building activities away from school and should be planned. Democracy should prevail where necessary however, it is important to note that some decisions cannot be made through democracy.
One on one (informal or formal)
It is important that sometime a manager spends time with individual teachers and discuss issues special to the teacher. This facilitates understanding and proper appraisal (Moxley, Rosemarye & Rosemarye, 2006).
Conclusion
Literacy coaching is a school management approach where leaders facilitate learning through teaching staffs empowerment. It takes the form of human resources management in profit-oriented businesses. Literacy coaches should be well trained and knowledgeable about different teachers and students needs in different grades. An effective literacy coaching, takes an individual approach and group approach; the approaches can be formal or informal.
References
Barbara, J.(2009). Literacy coaching: learning to collaborate. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Moxley, E., Rosemarye, T., & Rosemarye, T.(2006).Literacy coaching: a handbook for school leaders. California: Corwin Press.