EVOCATIVE COACHINGEvocative Coaching takes a teacher-centered, no-fault, strengths-based approach to performance improvement. Bringing together the most reliable research and wisdom in educational leadership and professional coaching, Evocative Coaching presents a simple yet profound model for facilitating new conversations in schools through Story Listening, Expressing Empathy, Appreciative Inquiry, and Design Thinking. This inspirational process reinvigorates the passion for making schools better, one conversation at a time.

An innovative resource, Evocative Coaching contains research-based theory, helpful strategies, specifi c suggestions, and a wealth of anecdotes from coaches working in schools. The model presented in this book invites educators to focus on what they do best and to engage in larger, more integral conversations about their work and the things they care about most. Grounded in evidence-based practices, Evocative Coaching enables educators to better meet the challenges they face in today’s schools.

Praise for Evocative Coaching

“ Evocative Coaching takes a refreshing tack when it comes to excellence in education: trust and assist teachers to develop fresh, new ideas for inspiring student learning. That method fosters genuine motivation and honors what teachers, and all people, need most to be creative and successful. Conversations can change the world and this book can change the conversation.”

—DANIEL H. PINK, author, A Whole New Mind and Drive

“ If you could choose only one inspiring and resource-fi lled book on coaching, what do you suppose it would be? For me the answer is right here. Evocative Coaching is a gem; it’s something that should be read by anyone involved in a helping profession—and that’s everyone!”

—DAVID COOPERRIDER, author, Appreciative Inquiry

“ Evocative Coaching provides a wonderful blend of solid theory and practical wisdom in bringing coaching to our schools. I appreciated its new insights on presence and listening in conversations, particularly in hearing people’s stories with greater empathy through the ‘No-Fault Turn.’ This is a much needed book for educators and communities alike in imagining what is possible for their children and youth.”

—DAVID B. DRAKE, PH.D., executive director, Center for Narrative Coaching, www.NarrativeCoaching.com

www.josseybass.com

EDUCATION

Cover design by Michael CookAuthor photo by Paul Rumohr

EVOCATIVE COACHING

Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time

BOB & MEGAN TSCHANNEN-MORAN

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Bob Tschannen-Moran is president of LifeTrek Coaching International and founder of the Center for Evocative Coaching. He is the co-author of the Coaching Psychology Manual.

Megan Tschannen-Moran is a professor of Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership at the College of William and Mary’s School of Education. She is the author of Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools from Jossey-Bass.

To learn more about Evocative Coaching and to sign up for the Evocative Coach Training Program, visit www.EvocativeCoaching.com.

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Praise for Evocative Coaching

“Brilliantly illuminates the precious space that can exist between a teacher anda coach. As is clearly delineated in Evocative Coaching, that remarkable spaceholds the power to truly transform schools, one person and one relationship ata time.”

—Jim Loehr, Ed.D.,best-selling author and co-founder,

Human Performance Institute

“This practical and sophisticated book is worth reading. Evocative Coaching regardsteachers as wanting to learn and coaching as skillfully getting out of the way oflearning. To enhance trust, liberate creativity, and build autonomy, coaches chore-ograph story, empathy, inquiry, and design, providing value to any professionallearning community.”

—Arthur L. Costa, Ed. D. and Robert J. Garmston,Ed. D., Professors Emeriti, California State University,

Sacramento and co-authors of Cognitive Coaching

“Coaching is as much about the heart as about the head. Evocative Coaching

brings together head and heart in ways that unleash the transformational potential of coaching in schools. It makes an extremely valuable contributionto the field.”

—Jim Knight, author,Instructional Coaching

“I have long subscribed to the belief that there is no such thing as teaching, onlylearning. Evocative Coaching turns that belief into a way of working with teachersthat inspires their cooperation and engagement in the process of performanceimprovement. Evocative Coaching is horse sense for teachers, to paraphrase my re-cent book title, and it promises to make a real difference in the schools and schoolleaders who put its principles into practice.”

—Monty Roberts, author ofThe Man Who Listens to Horses,

www.MontyRoberts.com

“Do you care deeply about empowering teachers, schools, and students to enjoyand benefit from the light of learning? Evocative Coaching provides a wise, practi-cal, and content-rich guide for those of us who believe in the necessity-and the

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dream-of a future enlivened by successful education. I encourage you to get it,use it, and share it with others; it will make a huge difference!”

—Marilee Adams, Ph.D., author of,Change Your Questions, Change Your Life,

adjunct professor, American University,School of Public Affairs

“Evocative Coaching makes a gift to our schools and the administrators, faculty, andstaff. The authors’ diverse experiences and gifts combine to present a clear andcoherent model and process for transforming schools. Their model will serve inmany other relationships and situations as well. It really is about transformation‘one conversation at a time.’”

—Ralph Kelly and Jane Magruder Watkins,authors of Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of

the Imagination, www.AppreciativeInquiryUnlimited.com

“Evocative Coaching is a lovely and ambitious volume that offers a far-reaching syn-thesis of leading edge thinking when it comes to coaching in schools. Teachers,school counselors, and administrators will find both inspiration and practical toolsfor creating bold new conversations of discovery and learning. Read this!”

—Doug Silsbee, author,The Mindful Coach and Presence-Based Coaching

Evocative Coaching is a generous gift for all of us who work to support teachers to dothe vitally important job of teaching, in the most skillful and enriching way pos-sible. As well as providing a thorough and well-documented compendium of coach-ing practices, Evocative Coaching presents a unique blend of two provenpractices—Nonviolent Communication and Appreciative Inquiry—along withsome new moves that clearly demonstrate how to engage teachers in a positive,effective, no-fault approach to continual growth and improvement.

—Sura Hart, certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication,

co-author of The No-Fault Classroom, The Compassionate Classroom,and Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids

“Evocative Coaching is the best book about how to assist individuals through coach-ing that I have ever read. A realistic and easy to use process that everyone canlearn and use.”

—Cynthia Lemmerman, Ed.D.,Ohio Department of Education,

Associate Superintendent for School Improvement

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EVOCATIVE COACHING

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EVOCATIVE COACHING

Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time

Bob and MeganTschannen-Moran

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Copyright © 2010 by LifeTrek, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-BassA Wiley Imprint989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted underSection 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of thepublisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright ClearanceCenter, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the PermissionsDepartment, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008,or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further informationmay have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Nonviolent Communication and NVC are registered service marks of Marshall Rosenberg and the Center for Nonviolent Communication, 5600 San Francisco Rd NE, Suite A, Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA,www.cnvc.org. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions that NVC has made in our lives and in our understanding of how to communicate better with honesty and empathy.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts inpreparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completenessof the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for aparticular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with aprofessional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or anyother commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call ourCustomer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print maynot be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tschannen-Moran, Bob.Evocative coaching : transforming schools one conversation at a time / Bob & Megan Tschannen-Moran.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-0-470-54759-5 (pbk.)

1. Teachers—In-service training. 2. Communication in education. 3. School improvement programs.I. Tschannen-Moran, Megan, 1956- II. Title.LB1731.T73 2010370.71 55—dc22

2010003900

Printed in the United States of America

FIRST EDITION

PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

�

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CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables xiii

Gratitudes xv

Preface xix

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO EVOCATIVE COACHING 1

1 What Is Evocative Coaching? 3

The Promise and Practice of Coaching 3

Evocative Coaching Defined 7

Why Evocative Coaching Works 8

What Makes Coaching Evocative? 11

• Concern for Consciousness • Concern for Connection• Concern for Competence • Concern for Contribution• Concern for Creativity

The Dynamic Dance of Evocative Coaching 18

• Story • Empathy • Inquiry • Design

Summary 26

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 26

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2 Coaching Presence 27

A New Metaphor for Coaching 27

Evocative Coaching as a Way of Being 28

Lessons from a Horse Whisperer 30

Fostering Trust and Rapport 35

• Benevolence • Honesty • Openness • Reliability • Competence

Holding the Coaching Space 43

• Calm Assurance • Playfulness • Openness to Possibility

Conveying Coaching Presence 47

Coaching Presence in the Context of Hierarchy 48

Summary 51

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 52

PART TWO: THE FOUR STEPS OF EVOCATIVE COACHING 53

Interlude Loop I: The No-Fault Turn 55

3 Story Listening 59

The Power of Story 60

Evoking Coachable Stories 63

Mindful Listening 69

• Listen Calmly • Listen Openly • Listen Attentively

Quiet Listening 74

Reflective Listening 76

Imaginative Listening 78

• Imagine Vantage Points • Imagine Pivot Points • Imagine Lesson Points

Summary 83

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 84

4 Expressing Empathy 85

Understanding Empathy 85

Embodying Empathy 89

Access Points for Empathy 90

• Presenting Energy • Story Elements • Classroom Observations• Resistance to Change

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Distinctive Empathy Reflections 94

• Distinguish Observations • Distinguish Feelings • Distinguish Needs• Distinguish Requests

Elevating Readiness to Change 112

Celebrating Effort and Progress 117

The Golden Sigh 118

Summary 119

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 120

Interlude Loop II: The Strengths-Building Turn 121

5 Appreciative Inquiry 125

Appreciative Inquiry 126

• The Positive Principle • The Constructionist Principle • The Simultaneity Principle• The Anticipatory Principle • The Poetic Principle

Initiating the Learning Conversation 131

Illuminating the Best of What Is 134

• Discovering Strengths • Appreciative Interviews • Appreciative Assessments• Observing Vitalities • Appreciative Classroom Observation Tools

Imagining the Best of What Might Be 153

• Framing Aspirations • Inviting Possibilities

Coaching with Strengths, Observations, Aspirations, and Possibilities 160

• Reviewing Data from a Strengths-Based Perspective• Noticing and Elevating Teacher Energies • Positive Reframing• Moving Through Ambivalence • From SWOT to SOAP

Summary 168

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 169

6 Design Thinking 171

Calling Forth Motivation and Movement 174

• Positive Relationships • Positive Energy and Emotions • Positive Images• Positive Actions

Coaching Tools for Design Thinking 189

• Brainstorming Design Ideas • Exploring Inertia • Framing Innovations as Experiments • Making Experiments S-M-A-R-T • Mapping Out S-M-A-R-T Experiments • Awareness Experiments • Confirming Commitment

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Around and Around the Möbius Strip: Back to Story 207

Summary 208

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 209

PART THREE: EVOCATIVE COACHING IN PRACTICE 211

7 Aligning Environments 213

Understanding Environments 214

Flow 217

Navigating the River of Change 219

• The Rapids • The Doldrums

Managing Clouds, Wind, and Thunder 223

• Clouds of Climate • Winds of Collective Efficacy • Thunder of Conflict

Ripples in a Pond 226

Stories as Catalysts for Transformation 228

Summary 230

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 230

8 Coaching Conversations 233

The Great 8: Choreographing the Coaching Dance 234

Story Listening 236

1. Initiate 2. Elaborate

Expressing Empathy 243

3. Validate

Appreciative Inquiry 246

4. Appreciate 5. Extrapolate

Design Thinking 252

6. Innovate 7. Deliberate 8. Activate

Summary 258

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 259

9 The Reflective Coach 261

Coaching the Self 261

Hearing Our Own Stories 262

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Self-Empathy 264

Inquiring into Our Own Professional Practice 265

• Self-Observation • Asking for Feedback

Design Action-Learning Experiments 276

Professional Coach Code of Ethics 277

Conclusion 279

Questions for Reflection and Discussion 281

Appendix A Evocative Coaching Principles, Questions, and Reflections 283

Appendix B Practice Exercises 297

Appendix C Content Review Questions 307

Appendix D The IAC Coaching Masteries® Overview 313

References 319

Recommended Readings and Resources 329

About the Authors 333

Index 335

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figures

1.1 The Möbius Model of Evocative Coaching 19LI.1 Loop I: The No-Fault Turn 564.1 Nonviolent Communication Model 964.2 Wheel of Needs 107

LII.1 Loop II: The Strengths-Based Turn 1225.1 Five Principles of Appreciative Inquiry 1285.2 Student Engagement Observation Tool 1475.3 Teacher Verbal Behaviors Observation Tool 1495.4 Level of Questioning Observation Tool 1526.1 Immunity Map Worksheet 1956.2 Experimental Design Template 2047.1 Ripples in a Pond Process 2279.1 Charting Talk Time 2679.2 Charting Coach Behaviors 2709.3 Noticing Evocative Coaching Style Points 273

Tables

4.1 Feeling Words 1014.2 Reframing Causal Judgments 1049.1 The Evocative Coaching Dance 272

AA.1 The Evocative Coaching Dance 285

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For Margaret Moore and Wellcoaches

Your support and collaboration have meant so much to mein developing my ideas and approach.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to play with you, andfor stretching me to be my very best self.

— Bob Tschannen-Moran

For Wayne Hoy and Anita Woolfolk Hoy

Here is how I’ve invested the conceptual capital that you invested in me. It continues to appreciate through “the

miracle of compound interest”!

I will always be grateful for your invitation to explore theworld of Big Ideas and the simple yet profound notion that

there is nothing so practical as a good theory.— Megan Tschannen-Moran

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GRATITUDES

This book, perhaps like most books, has taken on a life of its own. In thefinal month of writing, there were so many serendipities and surprises, so

many discoveries and developments, that we came to speak of it as “the book thatwanted to be written” and “the book that was writing itself.” It felt like we wereworking an enormous jigsaw puzzle. As one thing fell into place, something elsehad to move or be created. Just when we thought we had it all figured out, anew book, resource, or conversation would come along that would give us newideas on how or where to put something better. It was a classic case of designthinking: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. And it could not have beenmore stimulating. Ideas were bursting in such rapid succession that we couldhardly keep up with them ourselves. So we start by expressing gratitude for the cre-ative process itself and for the encouragement of our editor at Jossey-Bass, KateGagnon. The entire Jossey-Bass team, including our copyeditor, Pam Suwinsky—whose work launched a whole new round of helpful and significant revisions—ourproduction editor, Justin Frahm, and our editorial assistants, Julia Parmer, andTracy Gallagher, were a delight to work with.

We also express gratitude for what the process of writing this book has taughtus about coaching, adult learning, and growth-fostering relationships. As profes-sionals, we both coach individuals and teach classes that have benefited and arebenefiting greatly from the insights and understandings that have emerged throughthe process of writing this book. You, the reader, will be introduced to those

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concepts, as best we were able to articulate them, through the words, quotes,and pictures on these pages. For us, however, it was the process of writing andcompleting the book that taught us so much. Having written it, we are bettercoaches and teachers today.

There is such a wide range of factors that made this book what it is today thatit is hard to know where to start. We each, of course, have formal background andtraining in our respective disciplines with mentors and teachers along the way.Both of us have been changed profoundly, however, both in our practice and inour understanding, by the exposure and training we have received in appreciativeinquiry (http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu) and Nonviolent Communication(NVC; www.cnvc.org). These two disciplines, as you will learn, are integral partsof evocative coaching. We thank David Cooperrider and Marshall Rosenberg,who launched the disciplines of appreciative inquiry and Nonviolent Communi-cation many decades ago, for introducing them into the world. We thank JaneMagruder Watkins and Ralph Kelley for teaching us appreciative inquiry and acadre of certified NVC trainers, including Robert Gonzales, Sura Hart, GreggKendrick, Wes Taylor, and Jeff Brown, for teaching us Nonviolent Communication.

We have, however, been taught by our students perhaps more than by anyof our trainers. There may be nothing more practical than a good theory, but thereis nothing like having the opportunity to teach a good theory to people who reallywant to learn. That has been our experience with our students in the Wellcoachestraining program and in the educational leadership program at the College ofWilliam & Mary. We thank them for the continuing ways in which they call us intogreatness. In so many ways, they have become our teachers. We especially expressour gratitude to the graduates of the William & Mary Educational Leadershipprogram who contributed their stories to this book. Without their stories of coach-ing in schools, the principles of evocative coaching would not have been devel-oped as fully and would not have come alive on the pages of this book.

We feel deep gratitude for the work of our colleagues and friends, Erika Jackson,Christina Lombardo Ray, Kate Kriynovich, Cynthia Lemmerman, and JanetChahrour, who reviewed an earlier draft of this book and offered helpful suggestions,questions, and comments that served to deepen and enrich our thinking and toimprove the quality of the final product. Erika also collaborated with us in designingthe evocative coaching training program. She has always been willing to give tirelesslyand generously of her energy and ideas. We are grateful for who she is and what shedoes.

We would be remiss if we did not thank our immediate families for theirindefatigable interest in and concern for how this book was coming along. Our chil-dren, Bryn Moran and Evan and Michelle Tschannen, have grown up to be greatfriends and thinking partners. Megan’s sister, Maura Moran, has been steadfast

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in her support and in urging us over many years to get these ideas out into theworld. Most of all, Bob’s parents, Bob and June Tschannen, deserve special recog-nition for their boundless support throughout our lives and for their unfailingenthusiasm for this project. We would not be where we are today without them.

Finally, we express gratitude to each other. When we first told our colleaguesand friends our aspiration of writing a book together, some looked askance at thethought of collaborating with a spouse or partner. “Are you sure your relationshipcan survive that?” was the underlying question. Our relationship not only sur-vived, it thrived. We have worked together since the beginning of our courtshipand marriage more than thirty-five years ago. Although we each have our ownindividual, professional pursuits, we enjoy greatly the opportunities we have tostimulate each other’s thinking and energy around areas of mutual interest andconcern. We love working together, and people tell us it shows. The book you holdin your hand is just one more expression of our shared interests in life and work.How can we be anything but grateful for that?

Bob and Megan Tschannen-Moranwww.EvocativeCoaching.com

July 2010

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PREFACE

Individuals have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding and for alteringtheir self-concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behavior; these resources can betapped if a definable, growth-promoting climate can be provided.

—CARL ROGERS (1980, P. 115)

xix

This book is written for students, but it is not about students. Evocative Coach-

ing was born of a desire to see students everywhere learning in vibrant, life-giving environments. It is designed to assist teachers to reinvigorate their teachingpractices so that students can flourish. When teachers and schools come alive, thework of student learning is sure to follow. This book is about creating relation-ships that foster and support the ongoing learning of the women and men whoshow up every day to share their curiosity, knowledge, and spirits with students.Teachers know all too well the pressure of the bottom line of student achieve-ment and success; in this book we describe a method through which instructionalleaders—coaches, mentors, peer coaches, department chairs, supervisors, andothers—can assist teachers to more fully meet that bottom line, not by increasingthe pressure on teachers but by increasing their trust, self-efficacy, motivation,appreciation, resourcefulness, and engagement.

When one educational leader heard the title of our book, she responded withinstant enthusiasm. “I like the word evocative,” she exclaimed. “I want to see if mypeople are willing to have ‘evocative conversations,’ to have different conversationsthan we are used to having. The word communicates that I want them to come upwith stuff, to be active learners, to not just sit there and listen to me talk.” Herresponse captured what we hope this book will accomplish: we hope it will infusethose responsible for the work of schools with energy and mutuality in the searchfor transformation. Old models of telling and selling teachers on how to do things

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better in their classrooms have not proven to be effective. New models are replac-ing the old. This book represents new-model wisdom and practice, combining ourtwo areas of expertise in adult learning and educational leadership.

After graduating from Yale Divinity School in 1979, Bob served churches inthe inner city of Chicago and in downtown Columbus, Ohio, before becominga professional business and life coach in 1998. Since becoming a coach, he hasparticipated in four coach training programs, worked with hundreds of individ-uals and organizations, and become an active member of the faculty of Well-coaches Coach Training School. Wellcoaches graduates are health, fitness, andwellness professionals who assist people to master the challenges of health andwell-being, including nutrition, weight management, exercise, life satisfaction, stressmanagement, and medical conditions. The Wellcoaches model enables people todiscover a better way to change and Bob has had a significant hand in developingthe curriculum for teaching that model, recently published in book form as a Coach-

ing Psychology Manual (Moore & Tschannen-Moran, 2010). We have learned that itis tough to get people to change when you are trying to change them. We havealso learned that people can change themselves, often profoundly, when they aretrusted and empowered to do so. Evocative Coaching promotes working with teach-ers in just that way.

Megan’s work as a school leader began during the fourteen years we lived andworked in the inner city of Chicago. There she started and led a K–8 school fora multicultural and multiracial population of primarily low-income students. Shedid this on a shoestring budget with young teachers who were willing to work forvery little money because they were inspired by the vision of “unleashing the powerof education early in the lives of disadvantaged children.” They also valued thequality of the relationships among the staff, students, parents, and community. Inthe face of oftentimes daunting challenges, two ingredients—self-efficacy andtrust—made the difference between success and failure. When we moved toColumbus, Ohio, in 1993, Megan earned her doctorate at The Ohio State Uni-versity and took on an active research agenda documenting the importance ofthose two ingredients for successful schools. She has published numerous schol-arly articles on teacher self-efficacy and the role of trust in schools, as well as herbook, Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools (2004, Jossey-Bass).

Evocative Coaching represents a synergistic combining of our two careers.Increasingly, as school leaders have read Trust Matters, they have asked us to assistthem in evaluating their culture of trust, to foster high-trust environments, and torepair trust once it has been broken. Our efforts in response to these requests have,in their own way, led to this book. We have seen how existing models of supervi-sion, professional development, and accountability work against cultures of trust.We have seen how they demotivate rather than motivate change. And we have

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seen how those models interfere with the performance and joy of teachers. Ithas been heartbreaking to see so many well-intentioned people dig themselves intoever-deeper holes.

Many educators have attempted to diagnose what’s wrong with current prac-tice and to recommend solutions. Their efforts have not always met with success.Megan recently heard a well-known educational scholar speak about his attemptsto bring about constructive change among a group of teachers he was workingwith. He was apparently encountering a great deal of resistance and was clearlyfrustrated. He suggested that if educators ever wanted to be considered profes-sionals, they would need to begin to collaborate like professionals. “And that is notalways nice,” he asserted. “When doctors collaborate, they don’t worry about beingpolite. Lives are at stake!” He then built on his medical analogy by saying, “Thepractice of medicine is not gentle. When doctors do open heart surgery, they sliceopen the chest wall and break the ribs in order to get to the heart.” Megan beganto see why he might be encountering resistance with the teachers he was work-ing with. If the energy and analogy he had in mind was to break open ribs in orderto repair defective hearts, teachers might well be wary of his efforts!

Fortunately there are ways to broker change that people warm up to and thatwe have had the privilege of facilitating through a combination of our one-on-one coaching and group work. By using the principles and practices described inthis book, paying careful attention to the process we call “Story–Empathy–Inquiry–Design” (S-E-I-D), and working in evocative ways with individuals andtheir environments, we have had the privilege of sharing in the joy of discovery,the passion born of self-efficacy, the cultivation of trust, and the invigoration thatcomes from shifting energy and direction. We believe in the ability of schools andschool leaders not only to do better but to fulfill their destiny as agents of trans-formation and citizenship in society. If this book makes a contribution to that ful-fillment, if it helps coaches and principals to assist teachers to reignite their passionand to discover better means to serve their purposes, if it assists coaches and otherinstructional leaders to have more evocative conversations with both strugglingand spectacular teachers, then we will have accomplished our goal.

The quality of the coaching relationship must come before all else. Ours isnot a “tough love” approach to coaching. We do not push and prod teachers tochange behavior, let alone shame them into changing, as though they are childrenwho cannot be trusted. We begin with the premise that teachers are capable adultswho can be trusted to figure out a great many things for themselves; we inspireteachers to change and we partner with them in the change process. “First thingsfirst” means that coaches put people before projects; if we fail to get the peoplepart right, we may as well forget about the project. Once we get the people partright, we can work the project hard, and teachers often respond in ways that far

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exceed our expectations. Even teachers who have not shown life for many yearscan be reawakened to the joy of teaching. When teachers are entrusted withpersonal responsibility, deep thinking, self-discovery, and self-efficacy, they findbetter answers and create better possibilities than any that could be handed tothem by others. Teacher-driven visions, plans, and behaviors are the ones thatstick.

When we turn people into projects, we lose connection to their humanity.

We are not the first ones to recognize and work with the relational contextof learning partnerships. Many others have gone before us, including Costa andGarmston (Cognitive Coaching, 2002), Knight (Instructional Coaching, 2007), Kise (Dif-

ferentiated Coaching, 2006), Barkley (Quality Teaching in a Culture of Coaching, 2005), andLipton and Wellman (Mentoring Matters, 2003). There is overlap between evocativecoaching and these other systems, but differences emerge through our applicationof principles gleaned from positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, NonviolentCommunication, social cognitive theory, and design thinking. As Kurt Lewinfamously said, “There is nothing so practical as a good theory.” This book is chock-full of well-grounded, well-researched theories that support the work of coachingin schools. We believe that, with the help of these bodies of knowledge, our workevokes fresh insights and new approaches for improving schools one conversationat a time.

Although this book is written for instructional leaders tasked with improvingthe quality of teaching, Evocative Coaching is not about teacher evaluation. Evalua-tion is an important function, and schools need sound evaluation systems to fulfilltheir obligation to parents and taxpayers and ensure that teachers are performingadequately to warrant their continued employment. We appreciate the efforts ofthose who have worked to make those systems both fair and reliable in distin-guishing between teachers who are meeting acceptable standards and those whoare falling below those standards. We also know, however, that the action plansgenerated by evaluation processes often do not result in significant performanceimprovement. Teachers may be warned and written up, but that does not makethem ready, willing, and able to change. Indeed, it can make them even moreintransigent and resistant than before. Making evocative coaching an integral partof school communities can assist more teachers to do better more of the time.When evocative coaching comes into play, the bar is raised, complacency goesdown, motivation goes up, and teachers live into the full measure of their call-ing. We have seen it happen, and we would like to see it happen more often.

This book is about how the evocative coaching process works and how tobring it into schools to support the professional development of teachers in

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individualized and small group settings. It is our hope that this book will advancethe training and practice of coaches in all manner of educational settings. It isalso our hope that the principles and practices of evocative coaching will becomeinstitutionalized in the cultures of learning that make up school environments.As a few individuals begin to make use of this method, a new energy may beginto infuse entire school communities, transforming schools one conversation at atime.

About the Book

To assist readers to gain facility in using the evocative coaching process, we haveorganized this book around the flow of coaching conversations themselves. In PartOne, we focus primarily on the concept of coaching presence. How coaches showup for coaching is the single most important factor in the course and outcomes ofthe coaching relationship. How do we hold and carry our image of teachers andtheir potential? What are our intentions, orientation, energy, attitudes, focus, per-spectives, and way of being with teachers? How do we understand our role andfunction? We explore the concept of coaching presence—our awareness in themoment of who we are, what is going on, and how to engage—and encourage itsdevelopment through specific, teacher-centered practices.

Part Two describes the flow of coaching conversations using a Möbius stripmodel involving two turns, or loops, and four steps. The first turn, “the No-FaultTurn,” works with Story and Empathy to set the stage for the second turn, “theStrengths-Building Turn,” which forwards the action through Inquiry and Design.Each turn or loop of the Möbius strip is introduced with a brief interlude, beforethe steps of Story–Empathy–Inquiry–Design are described in detail. By the endof Part Two, readers will understand not only how these steps work in practicebut also the large and growing research base that undergirds the use of these stepsin our work with teachers. If we hope to promote teacher learning and growth,then the artful use of S-E-I-D is a requisite coaching and leadership skill.

Part Three seeks to make the artful use of Story–Empathy–Inquiry–Designmore likely, natural, and compelling. In Chapter Seven we introduce the con-cept of aligning environments to bring systems thinking into the mix. Coachingnever happens in a vacuum, and evocative coaches assist teachers to create theconditions that support their success. In Chapter Eight we compare the artful useof S-E-I-D to a dynamic dance, replete with choreography—the “Great 8 Move-ments” and “16 Style Points” of evocative coaching—for navigating our waythrough the two turns and four steps. Here we also highlight important consid-erations for coaches to attend to before coaching sessions begin and after they end.

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Finally, in Chapter Nine, we encourage coaches to become life-giving and self-renewing role models through daily mindfulness, self-care, and reflective-learningpractices.

Additional Resources

The four appendixes support further learning, teaching, and mastery of the evoca-tive coaching model. Appendix A lists the principles and sample questions thatappear and are discussed more fully throughout this book. There, in one conve-nient place, we have brought them all together. We see Appendix A as a kind ofready reference guide for mastering the evocative coaching process in schools.

For those readers who would like to incorporate the ideas in this book into aformal training or university course, there are resources in Appendixes B and Cthat you might find useful. Appendix B includes practice exercises that invitestudents to practice and reflect on the skills introduced in this book. Instructorswho are using this book for a class may want to use these exercises as classroomexperiences and homework assignments to enhance student learning. The exer-cises are designed to bring alive the principles of evocative coaching. Appendix Cprovides content review questions that can assist instructors to assess student com-prehension of key concepts. Individuals who would like to engage in a deeper levelof self-study may also find these resources useful.

Finally, for those readers interested in seeking coach certification through anindependent, international coach-certifying body and for those interested in com-paring the evocative coaching model to an independent definition of coachingmastery, we reprint in Appendix D the nine Coaching MasteriesTM of theInternational Association of Coaching (IAC), www.CertifiedCoach.org. It is oursense and hope that learning the evocative coaching process will equip people topass the IAC certification exam.

As you begin to implement the ideas in this book, we invite you to visit ourcompanion Web site, www.EvocativeCoaching.com, where you will find templates,related articles, and additional resources to support the evocative coaching process.There you will also find announcements and opportunities for coach training, uti-lizing convenient telephone and Internet technologies, so that you can better applyand engage the transformational principles and practices of evocative coachingin your own life and work. We look forward to hearing from you, staying in touch,and participating in your journey.

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EVOCATIVE COACHING

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PART ONE

INTRODUCTION TO EVOCATIVE COACHING

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