085: Compassionate Coaching with Kathy Perret and Kenny McKee

About this episode

The episode explores compassionate coaching as a partnership between educators, focusing on overcoming barriers and fostering collaboration.

Coaching should feel like a partnership where educators bring their expertise, name the barriers they face, and co-create next steps that actually fit their classrooms. We sit down with Kenny McKee and Kathy Perrett, co-authors of Compassionate Coaching, to explore a humane, practical framework for helping teachers move forward without judgment or gimmicks. In this episode, we unpack six recurring barriers: lack of confidence, failure, overload, disruption, isolation, and tough school culture. Kenny shares how reframing "failure" with design thinking and action research turns data into direction, not blame. Kathy explains how to introduce coaching so it's not "come fix me," but truly collaborative. You'll hear how to offer options without overwhelming, ask for permission before advising, and attribute ideas in ways that build trust rather than hierarchy. We also highlight a simple data routine that changes conversations quickly: ask students two questions: "What helped you learn today?" What got in the way? Then use those insights to plan the next lesson together. Across stories from elementary to high school, single-site to multi-school roles, we show how compassionate coaching…

People in this episode

Guests: Kathy Perret, Kenny McKee

Topics covered

• coaching
• teacher agency
• student voice
• collaboration
• barriers in education
• design thinking

Keywords

• coaching
• education
• teacher support
• barriers
• collaboration
• design thinking
• student feedback

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Compassionate Coaching

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