Differentiated Mentoring and Coaching in Education

Books abound to guide mentoring and coaching for preservice and inservice teachers’ professional learning. However, none fully account for the differences among teachers in experience and expertise and how these factors change over time. This book addresses this need by presenting a dynamic model for teacher/coach interactions, the Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) model for mentoring and coaching. Like students, teachers benefit when support is personalized. The GIR model includes five coaching moves that are selectively used to match support to need. This book guides mentors and coaches in refining their approaches, helping them provide differentiated support to teachers from a range of grade levels, academic areas, contexts, and levels of experience. As strains on teachers escalate, mentoring and coaching using the GIR model is an effective, energizing approach to prepare, sustain, and retain teachers and increase their instructional effectiveness. To help you use the book with others, the author has created a Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities. Request the guide here.

Book Features:

• A conceptually simple model that expands upon personalized development in the relational work of coaching.
• Five coaching interactions that vary incrementally in level of support.
• Callout boxes with helpful questions, lists, and procedures, plus online resources for additional support.
• Examples that illustrate how to use the GIR model with teachers from preservice to the expert practitioner.
• “Reflect and Respond” prompts in each chapter that encourage contemplation of the concepts and support application.

Vicki S. Collet is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas, an associate director of the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project, and author of Collaborative Lesson Study: ReVisioning Teacher Professional Development.

“This resource would be valuable for a new coach or an educational system setting up a coaching model for the greatest impact on student learning.”

—AASA School Administrator

“Differentiated Mentoring and Coaching in Education is a treasure chest of practical coaching moves to build teacher agency and increase student achievement. New and established coaches will find inspiration in the Gradual Increase of Responsibility model to reenergize and deepen their practice.”
—Annie Patterson, Public Education Business Coalition