University-based literacy coaches as outsiders to the rural school context

This study examines how social positioning as outsiders shaped how university-based literacy coaches supported novice, primary-grade teachers in a distance-coaching model. Coaches were external to the rural schools, districts, and communities where they coached. Grounded in a sociocultural perspective, we analyzed coach and teacher interviews to understand the positioning of a literacy coach as an outsider and how coaches provided professional development in this context. Findings include benefits and challenges of outsider coaching and coach actions to facilitate productive partnerships. The coaches were positioned as outsiders by role and institutional affiliation, yet insiders by social interactions with individual teachers. (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.