Better Conversations: Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected

Check out The Better Conversations trailer: https://youtu.be/y3FrWTXC8Uw


"I thought I knew how to have a conversation; I’ve had millions of them.  Some were good, others not so much so. But I want to have GREAT conversations, and Jim Knight has taught me how. The proof is in: better conversations are possible and the results are worth the investment."
--DOUGLAS FISHER
Coauthor of Rigorous Reading and Unstoppable Learning

Because conversation is the lifeblood of any school
You don’t want this book―you need this book. Why this confident claim? Think about how many times you’ve walked away from school conversations, sensing they could be more productive, but at a loss for how to improve them.

Enter instructional coaching expert Jim Knight, who in Better Conversations honors our capacity for improving our schools by improving our communication. Asserting that our schools are only as good as the conversations within them, Jim shows us how to adopt the habits essential to transforming the quality of our dialogues. 

As coaches, as administrators, as teachers, it’s time to thrive. Learn how to:

• Coach ourselves and each other to become better communicators
• Listen with empathy 
• Find common ground 
• Build Trust

Our students’ academic, social, and emotional growth depends upon our doing this hard work. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, open our minds, and dare to change for the better of the students we serve. You can get started now with Better Conversationsand the accompanying Reflection Guide to Better Conversations.

Jim Knight is Senior Partner of the Instructional Coaching Group and a Research Associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. For more than two decades, he has studied instructional coaching and professional learning, becoming one of the leading voices internationally in the field of instructional coaching.

Jim has authored numerous influential books and articles on instructional coaching, leadership, and effective teaching practice. The Impact Cycle: What Instructional Coaches Should Do To Foster Powerful Improvements in Teaching, Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach to Dramatically Improving Instruction and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success are considered seminal texts in the field. Jim regularly presents and consults internationally, leading workshops, institutes, and keynote presentations across the United States and around the world. Through his work with educators and school systems, he has helped shape coaching practices that support meaningful professional growth and improved outcomes for students.