How to Coach Resistance: Turning Pushback Into Possibility

by Elena Aguilar

A practical guide for education coaches navigating teacher resistance and driving lasting change In How to Coach Resistance, bestselling author and coaching expert Elena Aguilar takes on one of the most persistent challenges in what to do when teachers push back, shut down, or comply on the surface while changing nothing. Drawing on decades of experience as a teacher, coach, and founder of Bright Morning, Aguilar offers a powerful new understanding of resistance, not as a character flaw or a problem to overcome, but as a signal to interpret. In the clear, compassionate, story-rich style that has made her one of the most trusted voices in coaching, Aguilar shows that resistance is behavior on the surface, but underneath it are emotions, threatened human needs, and personal and institutional histories that shape how educators respond to change. At the heart of the book is a transformative resistance does not live only in the teacher. It emerges in the space between a teacher’s protection and a coach’s push. That shift changes everything. It means resistance is not fixed, and it gives coaches far more agency than they may realize. What makes this book especially urgent is its connection to the larger purpose of serving children. When resistance hardens into cynicism, withdrawal, chronic mistrust, or toxic school culture, it erodes the professional community that strong teaching depends on. It becomes harder for educators to collaborate, reflect honestly, take risks, and create the vibrant, trusting communities that children need and deserve. Bridging one-on-one coaching and group facilitation, How to Coach Resistance brings emotional intelligence, coaching practice, and organizational insight to a topic too often oversimplified. This is not a book about overpowering resistance. It is a book about learning to read it, work with it, and transform it into possibility.

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2026

About the author

Elena has trained thousands of educators across the United States and abroad in transformational coaching. She is the author of four highly acclaimed books: The Art of Coaching, (2013) and The Art of Coaching Teams, (2016) Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators (2018) and the Onward Workbook (2018), and the forthcoming Coaching for Equity (August 2020). She is a regular contributor to Edutopia and ASCD’s Educational Leadership, and she was a blogger for EdWeek Teacher for many years.

Elena Aguilar is an author and the President of Bright Morning Consulting. Her expertise derives from twenty five years as a classroom teacher, instructional coach and leadership coach working in diverse school environments. In her role as a consultant, she has partnered with leaders in public and private organizations across the United States and abroad. Elena is also the co-founder of Kenya Big Picture Learning, and she’s on the advisory board of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Elena holds a BA in history and Latin American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her teaching credential from California State University, Hayward, and she also holds an administrative services credential.

Elena lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, son, and two cats. When she’s not coaching or writing she enjoys traveling abroad, photographing birds, hiking, drinking coffee and reading fiction.

Reviews

[Sarah]

I have a lot of -takeaways- from the book. What I would have liked more of is coaching in time constraints or coaching behavioral support