Instructional Coaching in Guatemala: Reflection for Reform

This article describes action research performed by Guatemalan instructional coaches during intensive professional development. The focus was on building coaches’ abilities to reflect on classroom teaching and cultivating habits of pedagogical reflection in their teachers. Coaches participated in four weeks of professional development courses, which included school visits, classroom observations, and video analyses. The courses prepared the coaches for a six-week online forum of field-based learning activities and action research. Preliminary results suggest that the coaches and their teachers improved their abilities to reflect on core principles of teaching and learning, but more work was needed in the areas of learning communities and assessment.