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"Mentoring of Mentors: Training Program Leaders
to Ensure High Impact Mentoring"
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by Barry Sweeny, © 2008
PAGE INDEX:
Why
YOU Need a "Mentoring of Mentors" Training
There are at least THREE REASONS why your mentors might need mentoring
themselves:
- The changes in expectations of teachers today
are so dramatic that even our best mentors are very challenged
to be the teachers they know their students deserve. Given that,
how can mentors show new teachers the path to excellent practice
when they are trying to discover this for themselves?!
- Add to this that mentors have probably never
experienced themselves the kind of excellent mentoring they
need to provide new teachers now. How can mentors give "a
gift" that they have never personally received?
- Clearly, the High Impact Mentor Training and
the High Impact Coaching Strategies Trainings are critical INITIAL
steps in addressing this challenge, but they are inadequate
by themselves to ensure mastery of these powerful strategies and
implementation of that training.
Every effective staff developer knows that mastery
and implementation of new skills after training requires follow
up coaching and support. Over twenty years of mentoring has shown
that, unless you provide high impact support and mentoring for your
mentors, you CAN'T EXPECT CONSISTENT HIGH IMPACT MENTORING of your
new teachers. Mentoring of mentors ensures that your mentors have
personally experienced and been taught how to be high impact mentors
and that they have the support they need to IMPLEMENT that training
in their work with your new teachers. THEN, you can expect a high
impact from mentoring on teaching practices and student learning.
Description
of the Mentoring of Mentors (M.o.M.) Training
THE M.O.M. TRAINING - The content of the Mentoring of Mentors Training
is designed to ensure effective IMPLEMENTATION by all mentors of
the "High Impact Mentoring Strategies Training". This,
of course, assumes that leaders who would support that implementation,
have themselves been through that initial training. Then, the M.o.M.
Training is the powerful final step in the sequence. The M.o.M.
training includes:
- 1. An initial short presentation of the M.o.M.
model
- 2. A demonstration of that model, and a discussion
of the experience and the model
- 3. Then, for most of the time, participants
work in whole group, triads, and pairs to practice the M.o.M.
strategies and process.
- 4. Corrective coaching from Barry Sweeny is
continually provided.
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- Therefore...
- IF mentoring leaders have already attended the
"High Impact Mentor Strategies Training", AND The "High
Impact Coaching Strategies Training", THEN the "Mentoring
of Mentors Training" can be accomplished in ONE DAY.
- IF these prerequisites are not yet experienced,
then the mentoring leaders need those trainings FIRST. ONLT then
can they be expected to demonstrate these powerful practices for
others and support others' mastery of those skills and strategies.
When the prerequisite trainings have not been attended, the sequence
will require FOUR DAYS.
But, don't stop there. If you expect IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE TRAINING, read on...
Description
of the Follow-Up Support Needed for Implementation of the M.o.M. Training
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Don't expect your program leaders to be able to fully and effectively
implement the High Impact M.o.M. Model from just attending the M.o.M.
training. Just as mentors need to personally experience mentoring
so they know what their own mentoring should be like, so YOUR mentor
of mentors, will probably need to personally experience mentoring
before he/she can be an effective Mentor of Mentors. That's why,
following the M.o.M. training, Barry Sweeny should personally mentor
your program leaders on-site as they begin to implement their Mentor
of Mentors role.
A. Barry's follow-up support utilizes ALL the
steps of the M.o.M. model, including individual consultation,
observation of your M.o.M. at work and with mentors, reflective
coaching based on the observational data, problem solving, as
well as planning and support for making improvements in the M.o.M.
practice of your program leader.
B. However, the M.o.M. process is not just used
in supporting your mentors. The M.o.M. process should be consistently
used in most of the leader's work of program coordination. Barry's
follow-up support will help your leaders discover how this actually
happens, how to do it effectively, and how to embed mentoring
into their daily work. That is why Barry's follow-up support may
not take a great deal of additional time. Some of the time is
observation of the work your leaders are already doing.
In this way, your leaders will become consistent,
daily models and teachers of the powerful process of High Impact
Mentoring and Coaching. That consistent modeling and teaching of
the model is what will ensure that YOUR induction and mentoring
PROGRAM and all the PRACTICES of the participants in it are working
to transform teaching. That is when, you can begin to expect
effective implementation of the vision of high impact instruction
and the improvement of student learning.
How
Many People Are Needed to Do the M.o.M. Training?
It doesn't matter! Even though most of the description
above is about a group of people being trained, the M.o.M. strategies
can also be provided to JUST ONE person, or to a very few people.
Whatever the size of YOUR program's leadership, Barry can make the
process effective. Your induction program coordinator, mentor trainers,
and any others who lead elements of your induction program should
all be trained and supported so they can be effective Mentors of
Mentors.
Barry has provided the M.o.M. Training for one individual,
small groups of mentor trainers, groups of lead mentors, and groups
of mentor site coordinators numbering over 120. When Barry works
with a group, the process looks more like a "training".
When working with an individual or just a few leaders, it is a one-on-one
mentoring and coaching process that ensures your leaders will personally
experience and develop skill in using the Mentoring of Mentors model.
Either way works great because even in the training, every individual
observes, uses, and is coached on the M.o.M. strategies.
Of course, the on-site follow-up support
of your leaders happens primarily one conversation with one individual
at a time. That follow-up mentoring of your program leaders takes
some time, but that step is what will ensure the high impact on
results that you need and expect.
Participant
Comments About the Mentoring of Mentors Training
"Of the thirty categories to mark on the MoM training evaluation
form, I scored five at "I was impressed" (I was!) and
the remaining 25 at "This was incredible!" because the
training WAS amazing. The days were long and challenging, but were
packed full of wonderful information and activities. Barry did an
excellent job of tying all the many pieces together too. I have
gained so much more than I expected and I am very excited!"
- Mentor Program Coordinator, Maryland.
"When I was assigned the job of
leading this induction program, I had NO idea where to start or how
to be sure that all our efforts would produce the results we knew
we needed. I felt lost and overwhelmed. Wow! Barry really made me
think. His detailed and structured model has given me a road map for
my journey! I also love his presentation of the ideas because it addressed
both left and right brained learners! It was very powerful and helpful.
I would advise any other districts to REALLY consider adopting Barry's
model and utilizing it. " - Anna Brock, Mentor Program Coordinator,
Portales, New Mexico.
"Barry, the Mentoring of Mentors
Training was great! These three days were just what we hoped for.
Thanks for helping us address this challenging issue and showing us
how to take our next step in quality mentoring." - Paula Mower,
Induction Program Coordinator, Fort Worth Texas Independent School
District.
"I was privileged to be in a group
that Barry trained in Fort Worth earlier this year. That's WHAT led
me to invite him to our district. Even though we have some very talented
mentor managers and campus instructional specialists, we knew we did
not yet have all the skills we needed to help our mentors reach the
higher levels of mentoring practice we wanted. I knew our team needed
to learn from him. That is why we asked Barry Sweeny to lead our Mentoring
of Mentors training. We so appreciated his willingness to work with
us to adapt his training to fit our specific strengths and needs.
His insights and modeling were very helpful." - Jackie Hoover,
Director of Staff Development, Kileen Independent School District,
Kileen, Texas.
"Normally, I HATE doing role plays
and simulations, even though I use them in my own mentor trainings.
They often seem so fake. Still, I really was engaged by Barry's training,
and I think it was because it was a REAL experience, and not a simulation.
It was very powerful! I feel confident now that I can be the mentor
leader I know I need to be." - Mentor & Induction Program
Coordinator, Iowa. |
