Collaborating with the Coach

Collaboration with the school librarian should not be defined just by working with other teachers (classroom teachers, related art teachers, etc.). Today’s schools are often full of other staff members who present opportunities for building relationships and fostering collaborative projects. As school library programs grow and evolve, one of those potential areas to look for collaboration is with the instructional coach.

For the purposes of this article, we’re using the title of instructional coach, but similar jobs could have a variety of titles including, but not limited to, literacy specialist, reading specialist, etc. While they tend to be more literacy based, there are also places where math and other subject areas are a focus of a coach’s job. No matter what the titles, the concept of their jobs remains the same. They are there as guides and support for classroom teachers to improve the instruction in the classrooms.  So, by building a collaborative relationship with the instructional coach, we can open the door to collaborative opportunities with the classroom teachers as well.

Defining Roles and Expertise

Sometimes there can be overlap in the perceived roles of the school librarian and instructional coach. One of the places to start when building a collaborative relationship is to sit down and map out the responsibilities and expectations of each position. The school librarian and the instructional coach can make a list of everything that falls under their respective job responsibilities. Matching objectives automatically look like perfect places for collaboration, but some of the non-matching objectives may be places for collaboration, too, as collaboration can play to the complementary strengths of each position. There are then probably going to be job-specific objectives for both positions. Ironing out all this ahead of time is helpful because it can eliminate any feelings of someone having their toes stepped on, and it can make it clear to the teachers in the building who to go to when they have specific needs. Teachers may discover that coming to both the school librarian and instructional coach together may be even more helpful.

Collaboration and Instruction

Instructional coaches often go into the classroom to model a strategy or lesson with students, so taking that opportunity and making it even more powerful, the school librarian and instructional coach can model that same lesson or strategy while also modeling collaboration  at the same time.

The instructional coach might work on reading strategies that pull out the most important information from a text. The librarian might take that important information and use that as a beginning for determining questions for a research project. The collaborative lesson is a great opportunity to model strategies for the teacher and for them to see the potential in collaborating with the school librarian at the same time.

When grade levels get together to plan instruction and projects, it can be so much more powerful when a team approach is taken. The school librarian and instructional coach both can have an opportunity to be impactful in helping to design instruction and in taking student learning to a new level in their school.  Everyone brings their specific skill sets and by putting them together a stronger learning opportunity can develop.

Collaboration and Professional Development

A key role shared by instructional coaches and school librarians is to provide professional development to teachers. This provides a perfect place for collaboration. Just as you co-plan, co-teach, and co-assess with the classroom teachers about instruction you can do with students, the same can be applied to professional development and working with the instructional coach.

When designing a professional development on writing, the school librarian and instructional coach would sit down and look for ways that both of their talents and strengths could enhance and enrich the session. The instructional coach may want to focus on mentor text and using pictures books to help model writing styles. The librarian can focus on providing a wide variety of texts and samples from the collection. Another example might be a session on using different types of text. The school librarian could focus on technology tools and strategies and the instructional coach could focus on how to use that text from the variety of sources in the classroom.

Professional development sessions that are planned by the school librarian and instructional coach are also a great opportunity to introduce (or reintroduce) the vast amount of resources available in the school library. Often it is easy to get in a rut of “I use this book every year” or “we always go to this website.” This is especially common when a teacher finds something that works well—why change it? But school librarians know that there are countless new books, websites, databases, etc., and are always adding those to the collection. Students often need something more current to relate to for discussions, so using these new resources in professional development and matching that with how you can use them in instruction can be a perfect way to increase their use.

Also important to successful collaboration is that the school librarian and instructional coach back each other’s individual efforts as well. The school librarian should be attending all the trainings and professional development the instructional coach offers. The instructional coach should be attending all the sessions the school librarian offers. This support not only helps keep everyone informed, but demonstrates the value each places in the other’s role and expertise.

Sharing the professional development responsibilities allows both educators to utilize their strengths. It provides an opportunity to enrich and make the session even more valuable to those in attendance. It also means teachers know they have two different people to connect with if they need additional support or help after the training. From the school librarian side of things, it also keeps the school librarian in the loop of what is happening in the classroom, and it can keep the instructional coach in the loop of what is going on in the library.

Collaboration as Leaders

Typically, the instructional coach is seen as one of the building’s leaders who works with the principal and administration in guiding the direction of the school. One would hope that the school librarian is seen in that same role. Schools are full of leaders—formal and informal. School librarians and instructional coaches could often be both types depending on their job descriptions and expectations. Even if they are informal leaders, however, because they work with every staff member, with every student, and with every administrator, they will find they have a lot in common. The instructional coach and the school librarian  can also be powerful voices because they have the global perspective of the school. Working together as a team allows them to use that knowledge to help move the school forward.

In one school for example, the instructional coach and the school librarian were the co-chairs of the school improvement process. Together they worked to lead their building in analyzing the data, determining what professional development was needed, and providing support to teachers as they implemented new strategies They were, so to speak, a “dynamic duo” when it came to leadership.

At the end of the day, every opportunity to collaborate with classroom teachers, related arts teachers, and instructional coaches provides the chance to impact students’ learning. Working together only makes us stronger, so taking the time to collaborate with the instructional coaches can build a strong relationship that has a powerful impact on the school.