Coaching the Whole Educator
Coaching the Whole Educator is a podcast for instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and school leaders who want to strengthen their educators’ effectiveness and resilience, especially the ones who need it most. Each week, you’ll hear quick tips, proven strategies, and coaching mindsets designed to keep you on top of your coaching game. This show is rooted in a human-centered approach, where we get things done through people’s humanity, not around it. Whether you’re new to instructional coaching or a seasoned instructional coach or leader looking for fresh perspective, you’ll learn how to focus on the mindsets and motivations driving unproductive behaviors. By getting to the root of resistance, you’ll discover how to build stronger relationships, lead with clarity, and create lasting impact in your school.
Episodes
In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca sits down again with veteran instructional coaching expert Steve Barkley to unpack one of the most overlooked but powerful parts of the coaching cycle: the pre-conference. Together, they break down why pre-conferences are essential for effective instructional coaching, teacher growth, and human-centered school leadership.
Steve explains how pre-conferences create tr...
🚨Don’t forget to register for the VATLL Power of Coaching Conference, February 3–4, 2026! 🚨
Here’s a question I keep bumping into as a leader and a coach:
When does empathy help, and when does it quietly stall us out?
In the first episode of our three-part series on coaching and leadership, Chris and I dig into one of leadership’s most uncomfortable tensions. I’ll say it plainly: empathy matters. A lot. And… somet...
This episode dives straight into the conversation every educator and leader needs right now: How AI is reshaping coaching, leadership, and the way we build an Innovator’s Mindset in schools.
Becca sits down with George Couros, world-recognized educator and author of The Innovator’s Mindset, to unpack how AI can support real human-centered leadership instead of replacing it. Together, they explore how AI can fuel curios...
Looking for inspiration and real talk you can actually use as a school leader? This episode brings you a powerful conversation between Becca and the vibrant duo behind The Principal Exchange, Andra and Sarah. Together, they explore the real challenges principals face every day. The isolation. The constant demands. The search for support that truly understands the weight of school leadership.
You will hear the story of ...
What if the resistance you’re seeing isn’t defiance—it’s a clue?
In this episode, Dr. Donna Spangler shares the coaching breakthrough that changed everything: She stopped trying to convince teachers, and they started showing up with purpose, ownership, and even excitement.
After going through The Resistance Remedy course, Donna realized she wasn’t dealing with a skill gap—she was missing the belief gap. Once she started...
We’ve been taught that good listeners don’t interrupt—but what if the right kind of interrupting is exactly what great leaders do?
Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking, “That should’ve gone better”?
You said the words.
They said the words.
But something still missed the mark.
Here’s the truth: It’s not what you said. It’s what you didn’t hear.
In this episode, I sit down with listening expert C...
Rolling out a new curriculum?
Brace yourself—resistance, frustration, and missteps are inevitable… unless you do it right. Join Sean Lindsey and me as we break down what it really takes to get teachers, students, and families on board—without wasted effort or top-down mandates that fall flat.
We’re talking about:
- The most common mistake leaders make when choosing a curriculum – Teachers and students aren’t just chec...
The Ladder of Conscious Competence
- Four stages: Conscious/Unconscious Competence & Incompetence.
- This can explain why there’s a lack of knowledge transfer at your school
- Why having unconscious competence makes skills hard to teach.
The Peter Principle in Education
- People are promoted beyond their skillset (shifting from teaching children to teaching adults).
- Success in one role doesn’t guarantee succes...
Tune in for an engaging conversation with clinical psychologist Dr. Kate Lund as she joins host Becca Silver to explore perfectionism and resilience. This episode dives into how perfectionism can show up in the lives of coaches, leaders, and teachers, and why it often gets in the way of satisfaction and well-being.
Dr. Lund explains the difference between perfectionism and healthy striving, sharing how the constant urg...
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In this episode, Becca sits down with Steve Barkley, a pioneer in instructional coaching whose influence has shaped how educators think about growth, feedback, and collaboration. Together, they unpack what it really takes to create lasting change in classrooms; not through evaluation, but through curiosity and co...
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What separates schools that grow from those that stall? One word: trust.
In this episode, Becca unpacks research showing that strong trust can double a school’s chance of improving student learning. She breaks down the four types of trust: integrity, intent, capabilities, and results and shares how leaders can pinp...
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In this powerful episode, Becca sits down with Dr. Ann Ishimaru and Dr. Decoteau Irby, authors of Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change, to unpack what it really means to lead for equity in today’s schools.
Together, they trace the evolution of equity leadership through four distinct ph...
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Ever wonder how the smallest moments can spark the biggest shifts in learning and leadership? In this episode of Research Rundown, Becca reveals the science behind a simple one hour intervention that slashed achievement gaps and boosted happiness for years, all by strengthening students’ sense of belonging. Discov...
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Kind Cotton: Soft, sustainable apparel, where every purchase provides a book to a child.
How can schools and teams make data feel human and actually useful? In this episode, Becca talks with data culture expert Jessica Lane about approaches that move beyond dashboards and charts to create meaningful impact.
Jessica shares practical ways to start small, focus on “tiny data,” and connect every action to r...
[Podcast Sponsor]
Kind Cotton: Soft, sustainable apparel, where every purchase provides a book to a child.
Discover how teacher agency really works.
In this episode, Becca explores the research on teacher agency, showing it’s not simply a personal trait, but shaped by school leadership, collaboration, and trust. You’ll hear why true teacher ownership can’t be forced, and how creating the right conditions helps teachers ...
Get ready for a smarter approach to professional learning!
In this episode, Becca challenges coaches and school leaders to stop treating professional development like a one-size-fits-all event. Instead, she shares how to design support that truly matches the needs of your educators.
Think of it through the MTSS lens:
✨ Tier 1: Learning that brings everyone together around a shared goal.
🎯 Tier 2: Targeted ses...
Get ready to see leadership and the next generation from a whole new angle. In this insightful episode, Becca sits down with author and leadership expert Tim Elmore to talk about what Gen Z is bringing to the workplace. Tim shares stories that challenge assumptions, clears up common misconceptions, and shows how Gen Z can help leaders grow sharper in their skills. You’ll hear why shortcuts sometimes represent a new ki...
Why does the same feedback spark growth in one teacher but shut down another? In this episode, Becca Silver unpacks the research on the “four ways of knowing” and how it shapes the way educators receive feedback. You’ll learn how to recognize these differences, adjust your coaching approach, and move past resistance with compassion and clarity. This conversation will help you shift feedback from frustration to connect...
What happens when a teacher leader decides to stop fixing everything and start empowering others? In this episode, I sit down with Todd Goodman, a teacher and leader who has sparked a grassroots movement of change in his school community. Todd shares how shifting away from the exhausting “fix-it mindset” freed him to build trust, empower his peers, and create real transformation for students.
You’ll hear how frameworks...
One of the biggest mistakes leaders make with new initiatives is selling the benefits without naming what it might cost teachers. Grounded in Kahneman and Tversky’s Prospect Theory, this episode explores why the fear of loss often outweighs the promise of gain. Whether it’s autonomy, time, competence, or belonging, the risks teachers anticipate can feel heavier than the advantages leaders emphasize.
Through research an...
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