CONFLICT AND COOPERATION: Micropolitical Forces Affecting Coaches’ Access

Coaches develop and use strategies to gain access to teachers’ classrooms to support teacher learning and instructional improvement. These strategies respond to the specific conditions in which coaches work, including organizational structures and interpersonal factors that can either facilitate or impede access. In this interview study of 28 content-focused coaches in one district, we used a micropolitical lens to explore the forces that influenced coaches’ access to teachers’ classrooms. Ultimately, we identified nine distinct forces that either supported or constrained coaches’ access to classrooms. These forces were bound together in a micropolitical system of interpersonal and structural forces influenced by larger macropolitical forces. Interpersonal forces emanated from three kinds of actors in the school organization: administrators, teachers, and the coaches themselves. Implications for the application of micropolitical theory to future research on the negotiations inherent to coaching and the implications for school districts seeking to establish an effective coaching program are discussed.