Wedgebuster

On 1/18/2019 at 11:24 AM, CoachPeo said:

Good points, I am one of those former coaches/teachers that moved into administration.  I value the teachers that coach and I agree on their impact.  The fact is there is a shortage of teachers.  We try to hire the best teachers and many do not coach.  It is unfortunate, but when I have 3 candidates for an open position we take the best teacher regardless if they coach.  That has forced us to look for coaches from outside the school.  I do not like it and hope things change soon.

 

 

So then my question is, as an administrator, is coaching not a major "plus" for a potential teaching candidate?   I would think that what you can glean from an interview and a resume is pretty limited.  The commitment to kids and community that someone who takes a lot of time out of their day to coach, not to mention the connection with kids that you know will develop from coaching,  in my mind has to at least factor a little bit into the equation.  Can you really gain a significant amount of insight into someone's teaching ability vs someone else's teaching ability from a resume, some letters of recommendation, and an interview? 

I'm a teacher/coach that has been frustrated in the past by watching admin pass over someone that you know would coach for someone who is "better with their use of technology in the classroom"  or "more innovative with their teaching strategies" (in actuality probably just better at throwing out buzz words in their interview).  Only to see that person struggle to connect with kids and therefore struggle as a teacher. 

55 minutes ago, MarshallCounty said:

Schools are not actively hiring individuals who coach, and many more educators want nothing to do with coaching.  

Totally agree here

I am very thankful that as a teenager I attended a school where every football staff member 9-12 worked in the corporation, and most in the High school.   Many of the assistants were head coaches in Winter or Spring sports.    I did a lot of school work because I liked and valued my relationship with those teacher/coaches that probably wouldn't have gotten accomplished if I didn't have that depth of relationship with them.   

Why schools can't see that the relationship between coach (or any other beyond the school day activity leader) and participant, is going to more than make up for any perceived lack of skill in the classroom is beyond me.   Moreover,  in most instances, you see the best coaches are the best teachers.  Great communicators who can quickly build relationships with kids.  What more does a school want? 

A lot of the issue lies in the fact that most administrators aren't the grizzled former veteran coaches and teachers that they once were.   With the teaching profession becoming less and less attractive, your seeing more and more young teacher jumping ship from the classroom to administration.  A lot of principals and superintendents out there that have taught for less than 5 years and coached even less.  These people do not value what a great teacher/coach can bring to a school the way that their predecessors once did. 

Why does everyone get stuck on win-loss records?  Don't you have to consider WHERE these guys put that record together at?   Some places getting your squad above .500 might be much more impressive than winning a sectional somewhere else.    Still everyone loves to post about win-loss records and why these coaches aren't great hires for this or that job. 

Can any of the coaching turnover rate be attributed to some of the education policy changes that have been in place in Indiana over the last few years?  Seems to be a lot of high expectations for an ever shrinking talent pool of teacher coaches.