COACHING PHILOSOPHY

I coach to support the important work that educators and early learning providers do, and to help them see themselves as valuable and capable leaders in their communities. I am dedicated to helping the educators and professionals whom I coach grow their learning environments to be successful at providing the highest quality and developmentally appropriate education programs.

Working as a coach side-by-side with my clients, together we develop reachable goals with positive outcomes for teachers, staff, and children that include equitable, anti-bias, and culturally relevant strategies. These strategies enable “all” children to learn and thrive, while supporting and welcoming families as partners along this journey.

I know that I’m providing effective coaching services when my clients, their staff, and teachers find sustainable joy and passion in their teaching practice that reflects their diverse range of experiences. I aim to help them develop a balance in their daily routines, opportunities for reflective practice, and positive outcomes for children and families that they serve at K-12 schools and early learning centers.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY

My aim in teaching and training is to support adult learners in their professional development in preparation for starting and continuing their leadership in education careers. Teacher professional development is a subject that is extremely near and dear to my heart. I believe that the goal of every adult education program should include a common desire for an outcome that results in high-achieving graduates.

Teacher education and professional development programs in the 21st century have been experiencing a growing number of challenges in creating and maintaining desirable, satisfying, and lasting teaching positions. Especially in today’s ever-changing education climate, qualified teachers must contend with a wide range of career expectations from principals and school districts that are line with state policies and federal mandates, which compound the complexity of maximizing professional development opportunities.

As an experienced educator and scholar, I believe that college and university graduates today must begin and continue their careers prepared with expert skills that go well beyond what teacher education programs have traditionally prepared them for. This is mostly due to how recent state and federal policies increasing academic rigor that have been introduced over the past 20 years have negatively impacted teacher preparation programs and public education as a whole. On the positive side, they have required programs make a stronger effort in preparing teachers for exhibiting more culturally responsive teaching methods, which is a powerful outcome of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

In all of my college and training courses, I encourage a culture of learning that values mutual responsibility and respect, lifelong learning and ethics as well as personal and professional development. My teaching philosophy embodies providing quality education to students, in regard to their development, growth, involvement, and recognition and celebration of the importance of respecting all living beings, with a strong foundation of equal rights and social justice.

As a Washington State certificated education leader, I am strongly committed to anti-bias, anti-racist, culturally relevant, and environmental education. Anti-bias and social justice has always been at the foundation of every classroom I’ve ever taught and every school I provided leadership for. I founded my nature-based school built on these principles and left a legacy to Washington state that still thrives today. The principles I’ve instituted included seeking and hiring teachers from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I have always made huge efforts of involving parents and the community in the classroom environment. I think this is an important key to successfully integrating anti-bias, trauma-informed, cultural relevancy in all U.S. schools.