When I got my first teaching job, I felt a mix of validation, excitement, and genuine anxiety. I wanted to be a good educator: to teach well, to fit in and be a valued member of the staff, to impress my principal and make him proud. But, driving my little blue Reliant into the faculty lot my first day, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull off such an ambitious list. I wasn’t even sure where to park.
Much later, as a principal, I reflected on those first-year feelings of excitement, frayed nerves, and self-inflicted pressure to achieve. I realized I’d been carrying the weight of a successful school year solely on my shoulders. My “wants” had actually been professional “needs,” and I couldn’t possibly meet them all by myself.
That’s why it is important that new teachers don’t feel like they are working in isolation. Collaboration is essential to a teacher’s sense of belonging, and having professional guidance—through mentoring and coaching—can create a sense of connection rather than loneliness.
Mentor vs. Coach
I used to think of “mentoring” as helpful to new teachers and “coaching” as a tool for more experienced ones. Mentors, I thought, could show a teacher where to find the copy machine or how to schedule a parent-teacher conference. Distinct from mentoring, I reasoned, was instructional coaching, which was beneficial for teachers who wanted to sharpen their skills.
But experience has changed my thinking. Mentors don’t need to be reserved only for new teachers, and coaching shouldn’t only be considered as support for more experienced ones. All teachers can benefit from both. For that reason, instead of looking at mentoring and coaching as having distinct (and different) outcomes, I propose principals merge their new-teacher mentoring models with the established benefits of instructional coaching. After all, new teachers need to feel support in areas small and large, from copies to content.
Who Can Fill This Role?
A friend of mine, Anika, is a teacher in a district with limited central office or academic support for teachers. Her district, like many, does not have instructional coaches available. Even if they’d like to build a coaching model, they can’t afford the investment. In districts like these, a principal is the primary mentor, coach, and supervisor for the entire teaching staff.
That was the case for Anika. Unfortunately, her principal seemed reluctant to provide coaching. “I think he wanted distance between my work and the judgment of that work,” she told me. It’s easy to understand why. Principals often see themselves less as a “coach” and more as an “evaluator.” Evaluations are tied to contracts, which are tied to a teacher’s livelihood, success, reputation, and future career options. If a new teacher receives a poor evaluation or needs a plan for improvement, the decision to renew a contract falls solely on the teacher’s supervisor—the principal—which is a very heavy responsibility.
With that in mind, it makes sense to ask, “Can a principal be an evaluator, a mentor, and a coach?” I believe they can, especially if they can reimagine evaluations as less “judgment” and more “shared partnership.”
Mentors don’t need to be reserved only for new teachers, and coaching shouldn’t only be considered as support for more experienced ones.
I recently spoke to a third-year teacher who described feeling unprepared when he started teaching. “I’d never managed a classroom of my own for an entire school year,” he said. “I didn’t know where to start—what resources to use, how to pace instruction, or how to plan.”
His principal was instrumental in assuaging these worries and building his confidence. “We sat down for several informal meetings in which she outlined norms and expectations that were in place at our school. She helped me make a list of tasks and skills to prioritize.”
That part, he said, felt like the principal being a supervisor and mentor. “But soon, our meetings evolved into conversations about content and instruction. She made suggestions. She offered links to videos about instructional practices. She even modeled a lesson for me.”
In time, their meetings moved from guided practice to independence—exactly what happens with an instructional coach.
10 Strategies for Merging Your Roles
As he told me about his experience, I thought of other principals I’ve known who have successfully merged their roles as mentor, coach, and supervisor. Here are a few recurring steps to make that happen:
1. Learn what coaching looks like. Most of us were trained to be principals, not coaches. But there are excellent resources to help us learn about the trust, credibility, nuance, and connection necessary for coaching. Books such as The Instructional Coaching Handbook (ASCD, 2023) and The Coach Approach (ASCD, 2017) are a great place to start. As a bonus, learning the nuances of coaching and knowing when to use those skills can make us better principals in many areas of our work.
2. Focus on new teachers. All principals are pressed for time, and prioritizing can be difficult—but mentoring and coaching new teachers should be a priority. Giving new teachers a solid start is an investment, paying off in decades of positive outcomes for schools, teachers, and communities. A new teacher who has a horrible year might turn into a veteran teacher who is disillusioned, tired, and toxic. A new teacher who grows in joy, skill, and purpose might turn into a committed, effective, long-term teacher.
3. Provide balance. Academics, rigor, assessment, instruction—these are indisputably important measures of a teacher’s instructional growth. But if we use a singular focus with new teachers by hammering on outcomes, standards, and data-driven results, we might squash their creativity and joy. Instead, we need to balance markers of academic success with all the other things that are important in schools. Personally, when asked what I value most in new teachers, I say, “An open heart.” I empower them to believe in their students, to like them, to have fun, and to make their classroom a place students want to be.
4. Don’t assume they know. I have a friend whose son is a new teacher. His principal has set up biweekly coaching meetings, but she uses so many acronyms and “edu-speak” that the teacher feels lost the entire time. Fearing the appearance of incompetence, he doesn’t admit he isn’t following.
“I don’t ask questions because I don’t want my principal to think I am stupid,” he told me. What a horrible way for a teacher to feel! Principals can be strong mentor-coaches by slowing down, unpacking concepts, and planning for space in which the teacher can ask clarifying questions without judgment.
5. Listen to their ideas. Teachers who are just coming out of teacher prep programs or student teaching experiences often have a wealth of new and exciting ideas to share. Just because they’re young or new doesn’t mean they can’t bring innovation and a fresh lens. Listening to new teachers, implementing their ideas, and giving them a voice will make them valued and respected members of the staff.
6. Highlight the good things. Have you ever been given a professional compliment and then, right away, heard about something that needs to get better? All you hear is the criticism, not the compliment. To build their confidence, principals can tell new teachers, repeatedly, what strengths they have and why they are valued. Even simple messages of pride and gratitude—“I’m glad you’re here,” “You’re making a difference,” “I’m excited for your future”—go a long way. Every new teacher wants to impress their boss because that is how they know they are doing a good job. Confidence breeds confidence.
7. Address small worries. There are many things new teachers might be anxious about, and some seem too small to matter . . . but to a new teacher, these worries are very real. One year, after hiring a new teacher and working through my orientation checklist, she hesitated. “I have just one more question.” She paused. “Where do I put my lunch?”
It was a flashback to my own first year, when I’d been worried about where to park, fearing I’d inadvertently take a veteran teacher’s coveted spot. These small worries can derail new teachers. Parking lots and refrigerator space are just two examples. There are also territory issues in assigned duties, curriculum, use of resources, and even in social circles. Being a safe and open place for new teachers to ask questions both big and small—and very small—will alleviate the worries that might otherwise crowd out the importance of the work.
8. Encourage reflection. New teachers may not have the confidence to reflect on their own work, but principals can teach the art of reflection through modeling positive and thoughtful questions. Following an observation or a classroom visit, the principal might start a casual conversation by asking questions with genuine curiosity. “What did you really like about that lesson?” “What did you appreciate?” “What felt wobbly?” “What would you do differently?” “What makes you proud about today?” “What will you adjust tomorrow?”
9. Focus on your outcome. I always share my ultimate hoped-for outcome with new teachers: “I want you to finish your year thinking, Well, that was awesome. I have more to learn, but I want to keep doing this. If that’s your mindset, we’ve both had a successful year.” Mentoring and coaching helps teachers overcome the internal critical voice, makes them feel included, and helps them think about teaching as a satisfying, long-term career.
10. Remember patience. Just this past year, I spoke with a principal at a conference who expressed frustration with a new teacher. I kept wanting to interrupt her, to say, “Please, please just give that teacher a break. She needs time to learn.” After all, the teacher had been on the job for six weeks. Who masters anything as complicated as teaching in six weeks? New teachers are adjusting to an entirely new job and lifestyle, and they do best in environments full of support, grace, and time. New teachers need principals who are patient, who forgive mistakes, who provide perspective. “Don’t try to master it all at once,” we need to tell them. Teaching is much like a muscle, building strength and capacity over time. With patience from their leader, new teachers can gain confidence and skill from each mistake and each celebration.
Always More to Learn
Making our schools into genuinely vibrant learning spaces isn’t just about learning environments for students—it’s about learning for adults, too. Whether a school has instructional coaches or not, there must be some system in place to support teachers’ confidence, effectiveness, and success. Long-term, it will help the teacher develop a sense of loyalty to the principal and a classroom environment that is inviting, engaging, and full of learning. It will help the principal be a better leader, too. Just as teaching a lesson makes a teacher more knowledgeable about content, mentoring and coaching helps principals understand the challenges and pitfalls that might put a new teacher at risk, and it keeps us grounded in empathy and connectedness. It’s easy to look at a new teacher and think, Wow . . . there’s a lot this new person needs to learn. It’s just as easy, and accurate, to think, There’s a lot I can learn as the principal, too. If the principal steps up as mentor-coach, everyone wins. There is always more learning to be done. And there is always a way to let new teachers know we see them, and we are very proud of them.
Reflect & Discuss
➛ Principals: How might you plan ahead to ensure you are able to routinely provide support for new teachers’ instructional growth?
➛ Teachers: What are some practical steps principals can take to create an environment where you feel comfortable asking questions, no matter how small?
The Teacher's Principal
A roadmap for principals to support teachers who are doing good work, and to help those who are faltering to get back on track.
