A Rhizomatic Case Analysis of Instructional Coaching as Becoming

Abstract

Drawing on rhizomatic theory, we examine the professional development approach of instructional coaching as a space of becoming. Analyzing episodes from a year-long coaching collaboration, we show how teacher/coach interaction can be understood as a complex and shifting network of material and discursive elements that can combine to produce surprising outcomes. Thinking through key rhizomatic figurations of assemblage, rhizomatic lines, and territorialization, we examine coaching across intra-actional events: how happenings in coaching conference extend and intertwine with larger assemblages of the classroom and school. We show how rhizomatic ruptures emerging in practice may open up new possibilities for teachers and students.