Coaching cut #54: A cursory nod

This pitfall sits in the modelling stage. Specifically, it happens when the coach is priming the teacher with what to look for during the model, i.e., the success criteria. Instead of unpacking why each criterion matters for student learning, the coach simply flags that they exist: “Watch how I pause, name the student after the question has been asked and step away as I name the student.” The coachee nods along, but all they’ve been told is what to look for, not why it matters.

It’s an easy one to fall into. Success criteria can feel obvious. We know that pausing after a question gives every student time to think, and that stepping away opens up the room. But unless we check, we’re assuming the coachee shares our mental model -- and mental models, by their nature, differ from person to person.

Time pressure doesn’t help either. Coaches and teachers are both short on time, and when the criteria seem self-evident, it’s tempting to nod to each one and move on. But it’s a false economy. If the coachee doesn’t understand the purpose behind each criterion, they won’t know what to really look for during the model; they’ll see the surface but miss what matters, which makes it much harder to replicate. And success criteria often carry across action steps. A coachee who truly understands why scanning the room matters during cold call will recognise its value in other techniques too. The time spent unpacking the criteria pays dividends well beyond a single coaching conversation.

In the clip below, the coach directs the coachee’s attention to the surface-level features of each criterion (”watch how I pause”) without ever explaining the purpose behind them. The coachee agrees to watch, but do they understand why the pause matters? Do they know why that question demands that length of pause? The coach hasn’t made that part of the preparation, so the answer is almost certainly no.

We wrap the success criteria around the model. This means doing two things:

Before the model, the coach explains the purpose of each criterion in terms of student learning – not just what it looks like, but why it matters. The coachee isn’t just told “watch for the pause.” They’re told that the pause exists to give every student the opportunity to think, and they’re asked to consider whether the length of the pause matches the demands of the question.

After the model, the coach doesn’t just ask “did you spot the three things?” They ask the coachee to articulate what they noticed and why it was important for learning. This is where the real work happens. A coachee who can explain that the pause allowed thinking time for a linking question, or that the step-away sent a clear message that the answer was for everyone, has built a mental model of why those criteria exist and not just a checklist of what they look like.

That distinction, between noticing a criterion and understanding its purpose, is the difference between a coachee who performs the action step once because they were told to and a coachee who commits to it because they understand what it does for students.

Thanks to all our readers for your support! Please keep telling us your coaching experiences and we hope the cuts help you to keep getting better!