Understanding Teacher Resistance and Responding Effectively, Ep. 16: The Coaching Podcast

When teachers are resistant to coaching, instructional coaches feel it, big time.

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar: “Why are you in here? My test scores are fine. I have been doing this for years. I’m in the classroom every day, I know best. This is the way we’ve always done it.”

All of these statements are a type of resistance. We all have that one teacher, or two, who is resistant to coaching.

But even when teachers aren’t excited to work with us,, we need to work with them because every teacher deserves a coach.

How can you work with a resistant teacher?

First and foremost, recognize it. This is probably one the easiest things to do because it’s usually pretty obvious. Once you have identified the teacher(s) who is being resistant, you want to decide what kind of resistance they are putting up: overt or covert.

An overt resistant teacher is not shy. This teacher will tell you how it is with no restraint. He/she will say things like, “I think decisions should be made by people who are in the classroom.” This teacher will question your knowledge of a certain grade level because you’ve never taught it.

The convert teacher is dodging you like they are fighting for the dodgeball championship trophy. They will have every excuse under the sun as to why they can’t meet with you. This teacher tells you they “forgot” about your already re-scheduled three times meeting, they “left” their binder at home (which is probably empty), or just doesn’t respond to your emails at all.

Now we have to ask the most important question: Why?

One reason might be because they had a bad coaching experience. Sometimes coaches are misused by administration, so the teacher sees the coach as a “rat” who is out to get them or someone who deals with testing. They also may have had a coach tell them everything they are doing wrong. The good news is, there are solutions to these problems! You just have to turn into episode 16 of Buzzing with Ms. B to find it out! Plus, you’ll get a great resource to use!

Another reason might be a teacher is feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. We all know there are only so many hours in a day. The demand on a teacher’s time is insane. They are constantly asked to do one more thing and one more thing. Therefore, meeting with you and working with you might just be one more thing to do. You can lessen the resistance by being empathetic or lessening the load if you can.

A teacher might also be feeling a bit self-conscious. When you’re coming in with all of this knowledge, the teacher might be feeling down about themselves. You can solve this too! Tune into all of Episode 16 to find out how.

The final reason a teacher might be resistant might hit home a bit harder. The reason could simple be: you. Maybe the teacher has the wrong impression of you. Maybe you said something wrong in a tone the teacher didn’t like. You are human. It happens. You can fix this too and form a better relationship with even this type of resistance it just might take a bit of extra time. Find out how by listening to Buzzing with Ms. B the Coaching Podcast.

There are many types of resistance, and there are many ways to fix it. However, there are two tried and true ways to help you work with a resistant teacher. Find out what these two ways are by tuning into Episode 16 of Buzzing with Ms. B The Coaching Podcast. Happy Coaching!