This glideshow is a curation of ideas and resources that I hope will connect with your role supporting new teachers. It is based on my experiences working with and learning from your colleagues across Canada.
Contents
Mentoring is…
The acrostic below represents my thinking about the fundamental aspects essential to any mentoring relationship.
Mutual • Mentoring relationships that flourish are reciprocal – all parties learn and grow
Evolving • Mentors exhibit flexibility of stance and role based on the needs of the person they are supporting
Non-evaluative • Mentoring supports are not connected to evaluation or judgement of a colleague’s performance
Trusting • Relational trust is built through effective listening and fostered in an environment characterized by emotional safety and mutual respect
Open • Through powerful learning designs (e.g., observation and debriefing) practice is deprivatized and the intentional sharing of knowledge and practice occurs
Real • Mentoring activities are personalized, based on each person’s authentic learning goals and connected to their “real world”
Supported • Conditions to foster effective mentoring relationships are supported at both the school and board level (e.g., joint release days, foundational learning for mentors)
Honouring strengths • A deliberate seeking out of the strengths and attributes that each person brings to the mentoring relationship sets the context for meaningful sharing to occur
Invitational • All parties have voluntarily chosen to engage in mentorship
Personalized • Each person may choose to engage in multiple models of mentorship as they build a web of mentoring supports
Reciprocal learning is a foundational component of all mentoring relationships. One of the most powerful outcomes of mentorship is that it serves as a means for job embedded deprivatization of practice and fosters reflection, learning and growth of mentors themselves.
In summary, mentorship is an act of learning.
Connecting our Hearts
Inside all of our students who come to school each day are their hearts, and inside every heart of every student are their hopes, dreams, and wishes for their lives and learning.
We know creating a safe place for the hearts of our students is a critical precondition for learning but in order to do this I think it is essential that the hearts of the educators supporting our students are also safe, and secure, and supported.
I see this as a reciprocal process. In other words, our students can become part of our mentoring web and we can become part of theirs.
Looking in the Mirror
Mentoring is an act of learning. One of the most powerful things a mentor can do is help their colleague hold up a mirror to their practice and in this mirror see all their strengths and attributes, not just the flaws and challenges of what isn’t working.
Through this de-privatization of practice, the quiet victories and moments of beauty that teaching provides can be surfaced, elevated and celebrated.
As mentors one of our biggest challenges is to hold up this same mirror to ourselves and not just see our own flaws.
Simply put, as a profession we are incredibly hard on ourselves. Our day ends and we don't celebrate our 17 quiet victories, we reflect upon the one (or two or three!) things that went wrong.
In other words, we fail the “best edu-friend” test. If our colleague came to us with their challenges, concerns and worries we’d be so accepting and understanding but somehow it’s difficult to give this same level of acceptance to ourselves. We’re reluctant to acknowledge celebrate and elevate our own strengths and attributes.
Webs of Support
Our learning from the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) is helpful here. Through our longitudinal research we found that high growth new teachers access 5 – 7 different mentor supports (i.e. they built a mentoring web). The more strands in each of our webs, the stronger and more resilient the webs are.
With these supportive webs, our hearts as educators are warmed and our well-being is supported. Our warm hearts create a space for continued personal and professional learning and growth – for ourselves, for our educator colleagues and ultimately for every student.
Roles & Stances of an Effective Mentor (3Cs)
In their book Mentoring Matters: A Practical Guide to Learning-Focused Relationships Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman describe a practical framework for mentors to consider. The chart below provides an at a glance guide to the 3Cs adapted with permission from their work.
Consultant
Offering Support and Providing Resources
- Mentor shares key information about logistics, school or work site culture, policies and practices
- Beyond simple advice, a consultant provides the why and how of their thinking
Cues
- Credible voice / Use of pronoun “I” / Phrases like “it’s important to”…. “keep in mind that”
Cautions
- We tend to default to this stance / Overuse can build dependency on the mentor
Collaborator
Creating Challenge and Encouraging Growth
- Mentor and colleague co-develop strategies and approaches
- 50/50 pattern of interaction and idea production
Cues
- Confident, approachable voice / Use of pronoun “we” / Phrases like “let’s think about”…. “how might we”
Cautions
- Mentors need to ensure collaboration is authentic and they don’t take over
Coach
Facilitating Professional Vision
- Mentor supports internal idea production through inquiry and paraphrase
- Ultimate aim is to develop colleague’s internal resources for self-coaching and independence
Cues
- Approachable voice, attending fully / Use of pronoun “you” / Questions like “what might be some ways to?”.... “given all that you know, what options are you considering?”
Cautions
- Stance can cause frustration if colleague lacks internal resources for idea generation
Observation & Debriefing Protocols
Observation and debriefing, whether it be informal observation of a mentor’s classroom by a beginning teacher or a more formal site of learning process, represents a powerful tool for personalized and authentic professional learning.
By learning from and with each other, colleagues build meaningful communities of collaboration focused on the real world of teaching and learning in practice.
Core Elements of the Learning Experience
Orientation
- An opportunity for visiting teachers to share specific learning goals for the observation with the teacher being observed and/or visit guide
Observation
- Focused observation of teaching and learning over a sustained period of time (e.g. a full morning)
Debriefing
- An opportunity for visiting teachers and mentors to reflect on the classroom experience, ask questions, and share ideas with each other and the host teacher, and/or the visit guide
Action Planning
- A structured so what / now what action planning process for applying the learning to each participant’s specific teaching context
Follow Up
- Direct assistance for visiting teachers from mentors and/or the visit guide to support the implementation of new ideas and strategies back in their own classrooms
Importance of Collaborative Debriefing and Action Planning
Classroom observation without collaborative debriefing can have what I call the “orange wallpaper” effect. Participants may like the day, enjoy being in someone else’s classroom, but leave with their next step being to use the same lovely orange wallpaper the host teacher has on their bulletin board.
Immediately following up the classroom observation with a collaborative debriefing and action planning process involving the classroom teacher, mentors, visit guide and other visiting teachers allows the focus of the participating teachers to shift away from what they saw to how they can apply their learning to their own teaching context. Focusing on the “so what / now what” provides visiting teachers opportunities to construct the practical next steps they will implement with their own students while simultaneously expanding their web of mentoring supports.
New Teacher Induction Program Learning
Longitudinal research in Ontario has shown us that mentoring plays a critical role in the professional growth of new teachers.
New teachers receiving supports report meaningful and sustained improvement in their confidence, efficacy, instructional practice, and commitment to ongoing learning. I would submit the factors summarized below influence the growth of not just new teachers but all educators at every age, stage, and phase of their career.
Mentoring Web
Having a formally assigned mentor is not linked to growth…being mentored is. High growth new teachers accessed 5 to 7 different mentorship supports (i.e. they built a mentoring web).
Differentiated Learning
High growth new teachers constructed their learning via a menu of authentic learning opportunities using joint release days with multiple mentors. Classroom observation and debriefing was the learning design with the strongest correlation to growth in instructional practice.
Principal Encouragement
Ongoing feedback and encouragement from the Principal was the strongest predictor of growth for new teachers. This speaks to the power of listening, the power of encouragement, and the ability of the principal to provide a meaningful piece of a mentoring web for a new teacher.
School Culture
A collaborative school culture was an important factor in building a sense of confidence and efficacy for new teachers. When you’re new you tend to adapt or adopt the culture you find yourself in … so again the importance of all mentors, colleagues and supports for all learners in the school.
Mentoring as Learning
In our research we were particularly interested in what actions mentors and colleagues took that new teachers found most helpful in supporting their growth. I’ve mapped our learning to the 3 Cs below.
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Consultant
- Providing ongoing formal and informal supports
- Sharing resources
Collaborator
- Fostering collaboration with beginning teachers, mentors and colleagues (i.e. helping to build a mentoring web)
Coach
- Engaging in classroom observation and debriefing
- Providing ongoing feedback
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One of the most powerful outcomes of intentionally sharing knowledge and practice is the learning and growth of mentors themselves. Here are the powerful insights that mentors have shared about the reciprocal learning they engage in with beginning teachers:
Increases Reflection on Current Practice
- Mentoring has opened me up to the possibility of growth and to the potential of new ideas…. this has helped me become more reflective about my own practice.
Fosters Inspirational Connections with Colleagues
- Mentoring has improved my relationships with other teachers (not just new teachers). I’ve become more aware of the value of colleagues, and more encouraged to share.
Impacts Teaching Practice & Learning of Students
- Learning about the importance of listening and coaching didn’t just help me support beginning teachers, it helped me become a better mentor for my students!
Mentoring for Mentors Resources
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Mentoring Essentials eBooks & Glideshows
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All Mentoring for Mentors Resources
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Wishing you a mentoring journey filled with quiet moments of beauty and thanking you for the difference you are making to the lives and learning of your colleagues and ultimately our students.
In appreciation,