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Coaching with Equity in Mind
EDU A310N

Course Information

Description

What are best practices in using coaching as a strategy for capacity-building of individuals? And how can we use this strategy to shift educational institutions to become more equitable? This course invites you to explore how coaching can help individuals lean into their strengths, recognize their biases, and coach with an awareness of the ways in which social identity and dominant culture impact the coaching relationship. As part of our class time, each week you will engage in a coaching practicum where you use a research-based coaching format to work with peers to practice key skills related to coaching with equity in mind. These skills include developing rapport, building trust and psychological safety, actively listening, effectively questioning, working through levels of dialogue and providing actionable feedback.

During this practicum, you will coach a peer on cultivating their chosen equity leadership disposition (https://www.leadershipacademy.org/resources/equity-leadership-dispositions-2/). The beauty of coaching is that you don’t need to be an expert in the area that your coachee chooses; you just need to be able to listen carefully and create a holding environment where they can do their own learning. Through targeted feedback from peers and teaching team members, you will leave this course with improved basic coaching skills. You will also leave with a deeper understanding of how to integrate equity leadership dispositions into your practice.

School Graduate School of Education
Credits 2
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department Education
Course Component Regular Course
Instruction Mode In Person
Subject Education
Grading Basis HGSE Satisfactory/No Credit
Learning Goals After completing this course, you will be able to: Know a research-based coaching structure. Plan and lead a series of individual coaching sessions in which you demonstrate these coaching skills: building trust and rapport, setting goals, establishing a holding environment, listening, questioning, and providing feedback. Reflect on own identity and implicit biases and explore the role of personal identity in coaching relationships. Practice engaging your coachee in dialogue around identity, implicit bias, privilege, resilience, exclusionary behaviors, and dominant culture (to the extent that these concepts help them make progress toward their stated goal). Know how to guide your coachee through levels of dialogue, starting with social dialogue and progressing toward dialogue for self-insight and dialogue for behavioral change. Know the difference between facilitative and directive approaches to coaching.
Career Focus This course is designed for leaders at any level who understand that one of their most important responsibilities is developing the capacity of others. HGSE students have taken this course to prepare to work as counselors, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, principals, and system-level leaders or to take similar roles in higher education. Cross-registrants from schools of public health, medicine, law, government, and business also find it valuable to support careers where foundational coaching skills and a strategy for keeping equity in mind are important for both supporting the growth of others and becoming a more equitable leader.