How to Coach Resistance

Turning Pushback Into Possibility

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 education: 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 boo