Every Picture Tells a Story: Instructional Coaching Artfully Defined

In this interview with Tom Sherrington, co-author of Teaching WalkThrus with Oliver Caviglioli (John Catt Educational), hear about the formation of an innovative book that offers 50 essential teaching techniques, presented with clear and concise illustrations and explanations. Teaching WalkThrus provides a unique repository of key teaching methods, valuable to any classroom practitioner in any setting.

The storyboard structure of the book was an intentional choice by Sherrington and Caviglioli because the visuals help engage the reader while carrying them along the process. As Sherrington explains, “We constructed [it] around instructional coaching where you have a visual description of a set of ideas that you and your colleagues can see.” It’s about clarity on what is being discussed so that there is no miscommunication on strategy, idea, and concept.

Sherrington is pleased with the feedback so far as educators have remarked on the usefulness of the illustrative framework. “Already, we’re finding to our enormous joy and delight that people are using it much as we hoped. People are sending us pictures of their discussions, and their training sessions where they found this simple record [very] helpful.” 

As you listen to the interview, think through the following questions, and consider your views on instructional coaching and the processes or practices that work best from your perspective as an educator:

• Teacher retention and recruitment is an issue in the U.S. and the U.K. What areas do you feel need to be more of a focus, to ensure teachers feel important, valued, and that their development is supported?

• Dylan Wiliam makes the analogy that the knowledge you have as a teacher is like the knowledge you have for riding a bike. You can’t tell somebody how to ride a bike. Guidance and information can be offered, but ultimately it comes down to doing it. As a teacher, do you feel like you are the engine of your own improvement?

• Routines are the bedrock of positive behavior management. What is your position on “routine” as an educator and its effects on overall student behavior?

• As a teacher, determining areas of improvement on your own is an essential element for development. What areas do you feel personally attached to improving and committed to developing in your practice?

Learn more about Teaching WalkThrus and more great John Catt Educational publications, by visiting us.johncattbookshop.com

About Tom Sherrington

Tom Sherrington is a co-host of Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe. He has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. Through his consultancy – teacherhead consulting – he is interested in working with educators to explore and implement contemporary educational ideas that deliver an excellent all-round education for young people. 

His books include Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook, and his most recent work, Teaching WalkThrus co-authored with Oliver Caviglioli. Tom is a regular contributor to ResearchEd events and other conferences for teachers and policymakers. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world.

Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead