A
New Teacher Mentoring Knowledge Base of Best Practices
By Barry Sweeny, copyright 2008
The ideas presented below represent years of experience by the author
as a mentor program coordinator & consultant as well as ideas
selected from mentoring programs across the world and from mentors
across the years. This mentoring wisdom favors a view of mentoring
as a professional development activity, so rely on your own sense
of purpose for mentoring to guide the ways in which you might adapt
and use this rich resource.
1. SOME BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
- New staff need & deserve an on-going growth opportunity
and support for that expectation.
- Mentoring is the central feature of a successful induction process.
- Without mentoring, new staff focus on survival.
- With mentoring, new staff can focus on professional development
and on serving their students.
- All participants in mentoring gain from the experience.
- Many mentor programs don't achieve their potential because they
have not been built on the mentoring knowledge base.
- If you have expectations, you need a formal program with in-depth
training.
- Mentoring can vary widely, from mentor-protege pairs, to teams
of mentors.
2. THE PURPOSE AND GOALS FOR MENTORING
- The purpose of the program is the same as
every other district program, "To help all students learn
and achieve at high levels." In this way, induction and mentoring
serve the strategic reason the district exits.
- The goals of the program are what it uniquely
contributes to achieving the purpose that no other program contributes.
Goals typically remain the same year-to-year because they need
to be done every year..
- Mentoring goals at a general level vary from orientation, to
induction (becoming a full member of a profession), to instructional
improvement, to an intent to change the culture of the school
to a more collaborative learning environment.
- The goals drive every other decision so set them early and
refer back to them often to evaluate the potential effectiveness
of later decisions.
- Other common options for mentor program goals are:
- To speed up the learning of a new job or skill and reduce
the stress of transition
- To improve instructional performance through modeling by
a top performer
- To attract new staff in a very competitive recruiting environment
- To retain excellent veteran staff in a setting where their
contributions are valued
- To respond to state, district, or contractual mandates,
or to university programs
- To promote the socialization of new staff into the school
"family", values & traditions
- To alter the culture and the norms of the school by creating
a collaborative subculture
Most programs identify several goals. The best way to achieve several
goals is to have activities that target each goal. Activities can
address more than one goal. Identify additional (and different)
goals for new but experienced staff you hire.
3. THE MENTOR'S ROLES & TASKS
- If you have a document such as, "Characteristics of Effective
Mentors", eliminate it by dividing the items into TWO lists
according to the definitions below for "Roles" and "Tasks".
- The roles and tasks must be well defined, especially if you
have expectations for results.
- Define the mentor's roles in terms of functions,
using ACTIVE VERBS such as "support or encourage".
These describe what mentors should be like - the kinds of persons
they are.
- Define the mentoring tasks in terms of activities,,
using ACTIVE VERBS such as "observe, coach, or plan".
These describe what effective mentors do.
- Focus first on activities that new staff value the most (curriculum
& class management)
- Mentors can not "do it all". Use mentoring as a part
of a total induction program.
- A complete induction program includes orientation, mentoring,
visitations, staff development tailored to their needs, &
support groups. To address expectations for growth versus standards,
add professional growth goals, plans and portfolios,. These latter
items must be processes that are facilitated by mentors if they
are to be more than mere compliance activities.
- Encourage mentors to help the protege build strong links with
and remain open to learning from others besides the mentor.
- Teach mentors to diagnose the protege's needs and to target
help in those areas.
- Teach mentors to diagnose when the protege is ready to learn
and to appropriately challenge their growth in those areas.
- Feedback must be non-judgmental, descriptive and positive
4. SELECTION OF MENTORS
The decision between the following two approaches must be a conscious,
carefully made choice and should be consistent with the goals of
the mentoring program. The author strongly suggests the "Inclusive"
method.
A. EXCLUSIVE APPROACH
- The best models of excellent instructional practice are selected
as mentors.
- Many other experienced staff are rejected as "not good
enough".
- The mentor's job is to ensure that the protege reaches a minimal
skill level.
- A high degree of stress often accompanies mentor status.
- Mentors are often called on to "evaluate" the protege.
- The technical skills of teachers are highly valued.
- There are risks that mentors will be perceived as an "elite"
group and that mentoring will become divisive.
- There are risks that mentoring may not promote collaboration
within the staff as a whole.
B. INCLUSIVE APPROACH
- The best models are those who are continual, visible learners
- Most veteran teachers can be mentors, but some will self-select
out when role of the mentor and expectation of visible learning
is known.
- The mentor's job is to model professional growth, a focus on
improving student learning, and to support the protege's professional
growth.
- Lower levels of stress result from expectations that all will
be learners.
- Requires built-in, on-going training & support for mentor
& proteges
- Requires planned opportunities for monitoring, checking for
problems, and a process to support mentors & proteges &
to deal with problems.
- People skills and development of critical thinking are highly
valued.
5. MATCHING MENTORS & PROTEGES
- The highest priority is given to similar job assignments, close
proximity & common plan or lunch periods.
- Age differences of 5+ years are often sought, but experience
differences are crucial and more important than age difference.
- Matching personality types or educational views is undesirable
as it minimizes the learning opportunity. Such matching may even
be unnecessary if training promotes exploration of differences,
capitalizing on the diversity of the pair, and planning to avoid
problems.
- Often the principal does the recruiting and knows information
others don't about the protege. Principals also often know aspects
of mentors' practice as teachers. For these reasons, principals
should help decide on matching.
- Often the Mentor Program Coordinator knows issues concerning
experienced, or at least trained mentors that
principals do not have the opportunity to know, and so should
also have input on matching.
6. EXPECTATIONS FOR MENTORS & PROTEGES
- Mentors must know the expectation for their communication with
program leaders or coordinators. However, they have learning preferences
and so, should have options such as dialog journals, personal
conferences, frequent phone calls, letters, or a combination of
several of these options.
- Mentors must know the expectation for their interaction with
their proteges. Guidelines are better than time logs, and can
include statements such as "every day during the first three
weeks, then 2-3 times a week", and "weekly is OK after
the first semester".
- Mentors can not "do it all", so guard against mentor
overload. Remind mentors to do their own work in advance of "crunch"
times like semester end, so they are available to help proteges.
- Proteges are already overloaded with just doing their job. Guard
against too many requirements for released time, extra workshops,
etc., especially in the first months. As an example, quarterly
protege support groups seem adequate.
- Modify the mentor & beginning teacher's assignment to increase
success by reducing:
- Class sizes, preparations, number of difficult children,
travel between schools
- Assignment to a specialty or level that is not the new
teacher's strength or area of certification
- Athletic or dramatic coaching, extra-curricular student
activities or clubs
7. TRAINING
- This is the most frequently recommended feature by experienced
mentors and coordinators
- Ideally a district should allow teachers to attend the mentor
training even if there is no one yet who needs the specific person
as a mentor. Build a "pool" of trained enthusiasts.
- Good teachers of children do not necessarily make good mentors.
There are many skills needed to work with adults which are not
learned in classrooms.
- Design the training to instill attitudes and promote skill development
that will accomplish the program's purposes. Examine the mentor's
roles and tasks for training needs
- Design the training to intentionally model to mentors and provide
practice by mentors of the key mentoring attitudes and skills.
- Monitor and take notes regarding trainees who seem to struggle
or are reluctant to enter into such practice and role playing.
- When trainees seem uncomfortable, counsel them to drop out,
saying something like, "If these activities make you uncomfortable,
maybe now is not the best time for you to become a mentor. Feel
free to leave at the next break."
- Mentor training should include beginning to work with a program
coordinator who will serve as a Mentor of Mentors (MoM). Beginning
steps can include, sharing strengths and mentor growth goals,
selecting communications options (see Expectations) or providing
coaching feedback to a coordinator who is also the mentor trainer.
- Provide training and expectations that mentors and proteges
will peer coach each other.
8. THE SUPPORT FOR MENTORING
- During their first year, mentor training and support must be
monthly, and should include work with the MoM and mentor support
groups.
- During their first year, protege training must be monthly and
support groups should be quarterly. If other expectations for
time are not too high, monthly trainings could include a time
for support activities.
- Training/support should provide numerous opportunities for mentors
to develop supportive relationships with other mentors & proteges
with other new teachers. Offer strategies for how to use other
mentors for support & ideas. Include unassigned, but trained
mentors.
- Periodic mentor support group meetings help to hold mentors
accountable to each other and to the program expectations. Support
group meetings increase learning from other mentors.
- A primary goal of the support groups should also be to uncover,
refine, and write down the growing knowledge base about:
- Mentoring practices for mentors
- Teaching best practices for proteges.
9. THE CONTEXT FOR MENTORING
- Mentors should be able to volunteer and to say "No, not
this year".
- Be patient. Learning to be a good mentor takes time. Find ways
to provide that time if you want quality mentoring.
- Doing good mentoring takes time too, so provide it. Make a specific
amount of substitute time available to the mentoring pair and
let them control its use. A recommendation is one day per month
which can be used in half day chunks. Promote its use by linking
several mentors together in the use of one sub throughout the
course of one day.
- Provide a stipend to mentors in recognition of the responsibility
they have assumed and of the many hours beyond the school day
which will be required.
- Other incentives for mentors include:
- Release from supervision duty such as chaperon assignments,
hall duty, & recess.
- Opportunity to attend a conference or workshop with the
protege.
- Reduced class sizes, preparations, number of classes.
- Tuition for graduate work.
- Team teaching, which increases the instructional continuity
in mentor's classroom at times when the mentor leaves to work
with the protege.
- End of year recognition dinner, certificates, plaques,
golden apples, etc.
- Consider the ways in which mentoring activities can be used
to gain more mileage from or add support to other improvement
or collaborative efforts. An example is a peer coaching training
shared between veteran staff who will coach each other and mentors
& proteges who will also coach each other.
- Another possibility would be sharing a sub for mentors in the
morning and a different set of peer coaches in the afternoon.
A final example is the use of experienced mentors to train future
mentors or to train future peer coaches.
- Consider starting an administrative mentoring program. Administrators
are often more isolated than teachers and need the same support.
Also, administrators who experience mentoring themselves are more
likely to support mentoring for new teachers too.
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