Professional Learning Communities Within Behavior Strand

​During the 23-24 school year, behavior strand leaders participate in a bi-weekly learning community. This space allows leaders from different programs to gather, share, and learn from one another in a free-flowing manner. This year we have focused our efforts on coaching and supervision. Our main resource is “The Art of Coaching” by Elena Aguilar.  The books states, “The Art of Coaching offers all the tools necessary for professionals who coach educators. It demystifies the process of coaching with easy-to-apply, immediately actionable ideas. Elena Aguilar offers a model for transformational coaching designed for new and veteran coaches, teacher leaders, mentors, principals, and other administrators.” The information below has helped guide my thinking as I support others with their beliefs around behaviors, academics, and the educational system.
 
In chapter 3 of the “Art of Coaching”, the author introduces a framework titled “The Ladder of Inference”. This framework provides a tool to see how our beliefs are formed and why we do what we do.  The “Ladder of Inference” is formed around 7 concepts.
Concept 1: Observable Data and Experiences
Concept 2: Selected Data      
Concept 3: Added Meaning
Concept 4: Assumptions
Concept 5: Conclusions
Concept 6: Beliefs
Concept 7: Actions
 
The role of a coach is to support others with moving through the steps listed above to form their belief system. As leaders,  we must actively explore our beliefs systems, to see transformational and sustained change within our school systems. Finally, “The ladder of Inference is a tool to help us delineate the cognitive steps that lead to our belief system, When we guide clients down the ladder, they can explore other ladders to climb up. This is how we dismantle racist belief systems, or beliefs systems about boys and education, or girls and math, and so on.”-Elena Aguilar

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Blog Post By: Davonte Wilson, Assistant Director of School Partnerships