A SUGGESTED 3 DAY AGENDA FOR MENTOR TRAINING
By Barry Sweeny, copyright 2004
The mentor training agenda, which is shown
below, has been refined through the experiences of the author who
has led hundreds of mentor trainings since 1988. Initially his experience
was in a K-12 school district where the author was Mentor Program
Coordinator, but since 1991 the author has served as a consultant
and trainer for many school districts, ESCs, state and regional
education groups, universities and other education agencies nation-wide.
Since the mentoring process and relationship evolve, usually over
about two school years, the mentor and protege will need on-going
support and training. That means, of course, that the initial three
day mentor training presented in this agenda is not sufficient to
address all the mentoring needs of the pair, nor is it enough to
sustain their continuous professional growth and transform their
practice so that student performance is improved. That takes sustained
support to attain.
Separate mentor and protege support groups need to be held about
each quarter to allow the mentors and the proteges to learn from
their peers. Also, joint mentor & protege training may be needed
as the pair begin coaching and after the curriculum has been covered
the first time. In the latter case, mentors often need help in shifting
their focus from helping the new teacher learn the curriculum to
supporting protege professional growth, particularly in the use
of strategies for improving individual student and whole group learning,
assessment, and other school improvement related issues.
Note - This Agenda merely lists
topics and gives a sense of the time needed for each. It does not
provide much detail, such as the activities needed to make the training
engaging and compelling for participants, not the directions a leader
would need to do them. For that information, I strongly recommend
you purchase my 2008 book, "Leading the Teacher Mentoring and
Induction Program : Second Edition" which was published by
Corwin
Press. Chapter 6 in that book gives very specific details on
exactly how I conduct my "High Impact Mentoring and Coaching
Training".
- AGENDA -
DAY ONE
THE NEEDS OF BEGINNING TEACHERS
- Did you have a mentor? What were your needs as a beginning teacher?
Were they met?
- The research on beginning teacher needs, Transition from novice
to expert educator
- Mentoring that supports the current transitions & reforms
in education
THE CONTEXT FOR MENTORING
- The Three Mentoring Program goals
- Two models for peer assistance: "Best practice" or
collaboration & growth?
- The three parts of an effective mentoring program : job, M-P
relationship, process
- The impact of mentoring on school structures, culture, and on
student learning
THE JOBS OF THE MENTOR, PROTEGE, PRINCIPAL & DISTRICT
ADMINISTRATORS
- The roles, tasks, and expectations
- Mentor self-assessment #1
- Priorities, checklists and suggestions, building a plan for
your work
DAY TWO
THE MENTOR-PROTEGE RELATIONSHIP
- How we work & communicate makes all the difference in the
process & the results
- A developmental relationship which requires mentors to adapt
their mentoring
- Critical attributes of the mentoring relationship
- Characteristics of a successful mentoring pair
- Mentor self-assessment #2
THE MENTORING PROCESS: HOW TO FACILITATE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- How mentors promote the development of proteges
- Natural leadership tendencies & mentoring style, mentor
self-assessment #3
- Potential growth areas for an improving mentor
- Change issues, diagnosing readiness & facilitating learning
- Mentor growth plans, consolidating self-assessment conclusions,
setting goals
- The mentoring process: A working model
DAY THREE
PEER COACHING FOR MENTORS & PROTEGES
- A demonstration, some practice & some analysis
- Definitions & a comparison of coaching with evaluation
- A model coaching process
- Pre & post conferences, guidelines for communication &
feedback, questioning skills
- Designing and using observation tools
- Helpful hints: building trust, communicating, promoting growth
- It's your turn now. A demonstration lesson and "group coaching".
THE CLOSING CEREMONY
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