In the first blog post on Coaching With a Lens for Equity, I dug into why coaches are well-positioned to engage in equity work. I also discussed Joellen Killion’s coaching heavy and coaching light and the importance of shifting mindsets when it comes to equity work. If you haven’t read part one of the blog, I suggest you do so here. I also discussed that entering into dialogue around equity and race is not always easy since we, as a people, have mostly learned to avoid these conversations. In this post we will look at Wisconsin’s Model to Inform Culturally Responsive Practices as a starting place for entering into this work.
The model to inform states, “Wisconsin’s model to inform is about the journey. Becoming culturally responsive is a lifelong journey, not a final destination. This journey involves intentionally choosing to stay engaged in introspection, embracing alternative truths, and ensuring that every student is successful.” Given that the journey is lifelong, it makes sense that it is visually depicted as a circle with culturally responsive practices at the center and the process (will, skill & fill) around the outside.
The Model to inform defines will, skill and fill as follows: (Will) The desire to lead and a commitment to achieving equitable outcomes for all students, (Fill) gaining cultural knowledge about ourselves and others, and (Skill) applying knowledge and leading the change, skillfully putting beliefs and learning into action. The eight inner pie pieces describe actions that one can take in their journey to become more culturally responsive. Each piece of piece of pie is connected to a process. If an educator is unsure of where to begin, they should start with self-awareness, or developing their will. Fill engages educators in furthering their learning about others and skill moves to action.
Before we can bring our coaching lens to working with others, we must also consider our own coaching journey. It is important to note that this work is continuous. You can’t move from will to skill and consider yourself master of equity. Throughout your life you may find yourself at different places in the work depending on the educators, students, families and communities you work with. At any given time you should consider will, fill and skill. For example, Wisconsin has a large American Indian population. In my educational experience I hadn’t previously worked with this community, so I’ve been spending time in the fill zone of the journey by engaging in online book study groups and engaging in dialogued. On the flip side, a recent student engagement survey for the state provided data that the LGBTQ+ students are twice as likely as their peers to say they feel like they don’t belong at school. This is an area I feel prepared to lean in and work with schools to develop curriculum and inclusive environments to make these students feel more welcomed-- so I may spend more time in the skill zone.
Once you’ve considered your own will, fill and skill journey, consider how, as a coach you may support others in theirs. The following chart, created in collaboration with several Wisconsin coaching stakeholders, provides some concrete actions you might take in supporting individuals and teams no matter what process of the model they find themselves in.
Coaching with an Equity Lens
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Possible Actions
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A coach continually strengthens self-awareness of how identity and culture affect who they are and how they interact with learners and families
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Engage in reading, viewing, and listening about unconscious bias, colorblindness, and micromessages.
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A coach supports staff in continually strengthening self-awareness
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Facilitate the use of protocols which provide for safe environments to engage in courageous conversations. Ask questions that prompt a client to examine their own culture and how it shapes their actions. Protocols for equity work may be found in The Power of Protocols: An Educators’ Guide to Better Practice.
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A coach supports individual staff members’ and teams’ focus on equity by actively considering whether mismatches in systems, structures, policies, practices, values, and beliefs inhibit learner success and contribute to inequitable outcomes for underserved students.
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Facilitate teams in the disaggregation of data, engage in root cause analysis and calculate risk ratios. Lead courageous conversations about disproportionality.
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Coaches support staff in knowing and understanding their students and families, and in using evidence-based practices, curriculum and policies that respect the identities and cultures of learners and families served by schools.
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Learn about the unique strengths and blend of identities that families bring to the school setting. Ask how staff are incorporating these strengths and identities into school practices, policies and curriculum.
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Coaches, in partnerships with principals and other leaders, create positive school cultures, characterized by “an unwavering belief that all students can and will learn” (Du Four). In a positive culture, adults accept responsibility for learner success.
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Collaboratively examine the assumptions and implicit biases that create barriers for historically marginalized students to fully access the learning environment.
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Coaches and principals work together to lead, model, and advocate for equity.
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Collaborate with leadership in the investigation of systems and problem solve for lasting change. Provide resources and support for ongoing professional learning focused on equity, such as a book study focused on anti-bias education and culturally responsive pedagogy.
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Special thanks to Barb Novak, Heidi Laabs, Kathy Myles, Wendy Savaske and Ananda Mirilli for their contributions.
