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Two Ways Mentoring
Can Improve Teaching & Student Learning -
© 1992, Barry Sweeny
INDEX:
The new teacher must be explicitly shown what the mentor is doing
to better address protege needs, and specifically told that this
is an exact model of what teachers must do in their classrooms with
each of their students. In this way, mentoring goes beyond ensuring
the professional growth of the beginning teacher. Effective mentoring
is the model for effective teaching of students too. Here are two
examples which specifically show how the way mentoring is conducted
can positively impact student learning. Over time, application of
this approach will transform the performance of both the mentor
and protege, and improve student learning as well.
Mentoring,
Students and Diversity:
- Some believe that mentors and proteges should be carefully matched
to each other by personality type, learning style, educational
philosophy, or some other method.
Evidence now suggests that this approach may lead to "smoother",
less stressful mentoring relationships but that it also frequently
can reduce the extent of actual learning between mentor and protege.
Instead, it seems that differences between a mentor and the protege
can be understood and even planned for, and are positives in that
these differences create learning opportunities which do not exist
when two people think in similar ways. In other words, diversity
can be a strength if people are prepared to work that way and
respect each other.
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- Further, teachers need time and explicitly prompting to discuss
the diverse aspects of their professional relationships and the
implications of their own learning for the learning of their students.
The question should be "How can what we have learned about
respecting each other and using the strengths of the team be used
in our classrooms?"
Adult Learning?
Certainly, we understand that working with other adults requires
an understanding that they can not be treated as we may treat our
students. That would be disrespectful, and it would lead to little
learning by them. There is however, another perspective to consider
about "Adult Learning".
If you haven't seen the "Principles
of Adult Learning" on this web site, go there now, print
it out, then review that list again from the perspective of the
following question. "Are there any of the above principles
which should not also apply to our students?". In other words,
"Is 'adult learning' only needed for adult learners?".
Does "allowing choice", or "respect the individual
learner", and "use what they already know", only
apply to adults?
Next, if your school is involved in implementing technology in
the curriculum and has been discussing "Engaged Learning Principles",
compare those to the "Principles of Adult Learning". You
will find that they are almost identical!
It is my position that if we really want students to actively engage
in their own learning and to show some responsibility and ownership
for their own learning, then we will utilize these same principles
to guide our teaching in our classrooms. If we do not, is it because
we have a captive audience in students, which we do not have with
adults?
How Does Mentoring Improve Student Learning? When
teachers are in a mentoring relationship and have been trained in
the Principles of Adult Learning (they all should be), they need
to be provided the time and explicit prompting to consider the above
questions and to discuss the implications for their own classrooms.
When mentors and proteges use the "Principles of Adult Learning"
in their mentoring with each other, they are explicitly practicing
exactly what they must learn to do in their own classrooms with
their own students.
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