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USING THE "TRAINING
OF TRAINERS" MODEL
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TO DEVELOP AN
EFFECTIVE MENTOR TRAINING
By Barry Sweeny, 1996
Some organizations prefer to hire a consultant
to provide mentor training for the mentors-to-be on their staff.
While this does provide access to the experience of an expert and
to a proven training design, that approach has its limits. A better
solution which I use as a mentoring consultant incorporates a "training
of trainers" process in which I share my expertise AND I help
you to become self-sufficient too. This paper explains how this
approach works.
The result of this approach is that the organization can both access
the experience and ideas of a proven mentor trainer and training
design, as well as eventually develop a cadre of in-house mentor
training experts of their own. This is particularly valuable since
mentors will require on-going support, coaching, and periodic training,
all of which should eventually be supplied by in-house staff. An
additional benefit of this approach is that those who become the
in-house mentor trainers will become even better mentors themselves.
The following sequence is one suggested method for such a "training
of trainer's" approach.
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- A SUGGESTED SEQUENCE
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1. Selection of the training cadre
: It's best to try and select at least the initial training
cadre from the group that designed the mentor training program.
These are the folks who know the purposes to be attained and who
have struggled to reach consensus on roles, tasks, etc. which will
form the essence of the training content. It is also a wise idea
to select several people, perhaps 3-4, to be the trainers. This
allows working in several combinations, assignment to training sections
based on strengths of the individual trainer, as well as promoting
continuity across time when one or two trainers can not continue
in that role and others must be developed to fill their places.
2. Define the role of the trainer cadre : The role
of the training cadre is that they will serve as mentors to the
mentors, at least during the training, if not afterwards. This means
that the cadre must be able to model the best instructional practices
and the qualities of effective mentors, and the knowledge and skills
that mentors must learn.
3. Determine what teachers are likely to already know and
what they will need to learn : The training cadre meets
to discuss the Mentor Program's purposes and the roles and tasks
of mentors. They discuss and reach consensus about the typical strengths
of exisiting teachers likely to become mentors. The expectations
for mentors and their probable strengths are compared to determine
what knowledge and skills should be the focus of training content.
4. Develop questions to guide observation of a mentor training:
The training cadre discusses and develops questions about each
of the areas likely to be in the training. These questions should
be written from the perspective of what the training cadre wants
to learn about how to lead a mentor training and what the content
of the training should include.
5. Hire a mentoring expert to conduct the first mentor training:
or attend a mentor training elsewhere. The training cadre participates
in a regular mentor training. They observe the trainer looking for
the answers to their questions, taking notes on ideas and solutions
to problems.
6. The training cadre analyzes the training experience &
develops recommendations : After the "model"
mentor training the cadre meets to compare notes, discuss options,
and to reach consensus on what was important and what is useful.
The cadre meets with the expert trainer to critique the training,
ask questions and to clarify why specific strategeies were used
in the training. The cadre develops a recommendation for what the
training content should include and for what the training process
should be like to deliver the content. The recommendation should
also include the specific skills and strategies that mentors need
to develop and a proposed process for facilitating that learning.
7. The mentoring consultant critiques the training design
: The mentor training cadre and the mentoring consultant meet
and review the recommendations for the training design, including
both content and process.
8. Training design revision : The training cadre
( and perhaps the original program committee) revise the training
design to incorporate the recommendations and all of the experience
of the mentoring consultant, and the mentor program committee. The
design is checked to ensure that it will accomplish the purposes
of the program and that it aligns with the needs of teachers who
will be the mentors (step #3 above).
9. Assign trainer responsibilities : The training
cadre discusses their individual strengths as teachers/trainers
and how they might best match their strengths to the needs of the
training design. Individual preferences of the trainers should also
be considered. Each part of the training should be assigned to at
least two people, whether or not they will actual team teach it
or not. In this way there will be a person who can lead a part of
the training if the other person is unable to do so. If a part of
the training is not assigned to anyone the mentoring consultant
might do that part. In any case, some pair of people should assume
the responsibility to work with the consultant in designing that
part and eventually assume the leadership for that part.
10. Trainer preparation : The individuals in the
cadre work in pairs to prepare the materials, details of the training
sections, training strategies, resources needed, participant activities,
etc. Eventually the whole cadre compares their plans and refines
the training to ensure a variety of training strategies & activities
and to ensure that the pieces fit well together as a whole. The
cadre predicts the time each section and the whole training will
take.
11. Training "walk-through" : Trainers
schedule and conduct a "dress rehersal" which is observed
by a representative of the program committee and the mentoring consultant.
The rehersal should also be video taped to allow the trainers to
self-critique and compare their own impressions with those of the
two observers.
12. Final training design refinements : The cadre
and the consultant (optional) meet to agree on final revisions to
the tarining design, trainer assignments, activities, etc. The cadre
discusses the role of the consultant during the training, such as
to serve as an mobserver and coach. Design an evaluation for participants
of the training to complete.
13. Conduct the training with mentors : The cadre
conducts the actual training with mentors. The training is video
taped to allow comparisons with the rehersal and to allow the trainers
to self-critique their techniques and to revise their design. Conduct
the evaluation by the participants.
14. Final design revisions : The training cadre
(and consultant?) discuss the consultant and participants' feed
back, the video, and their personal feelings about the mentor training.
They make any final revisions to the training design and materials.
15. Plan for change : The mentor training cadre
needs to expect and plan for future transitions in its membership.
It is good to expand the initial cadre to include other experienced
mentors as the program grows. Their personal mentoring stories and
experiences will enrich the training.
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