Associate Teaching as Learning
Your work as an associate teacher is integral to the learning and growth of teacher-candidates. You serve as a "first mentor" to our newest teachers by providing ongoing consulting, collaborating and coaching support during and often well beyond the practicum placement.
This diagram is my attempt to summarize the strong connection between the foundational elements of mentorship and the role of associate teachers. We know in Ontario many associate teachers also serve as mentors as part of the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). As the diagram illustrates, the one key difference in these roles is the responsibility of associate teachers for evaluating the teacher-candidate during their practicum.
Reciprocal learning is a foundational component of successful mentoring relationships between associate teachers and teacher-candidates. One of the most powerful outcomes of this mentorship is that it serves as a means for job embedded de-privatization of practice and fosters reflection, learning and growth of mentors themselves. In summary, associate teaching is an act of learning.
Enhancing Collaboration in Support of Associate Teachers
What if faculties of education, teacher federations and school boards intentionally collaborated to provide a menu of supports for associate teachers?
In 2022 and 2023, I was privileged to work with and learn from the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF), Western and Lakehead Universities and local federation and school board leaders to do exactly this.
Read the report from the OTF featuring practical examples and key learnings from these projects.
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.
Building Relational Trust
You can do a lot of things without trust, but mentoring isn’t one of them. So how do we build the trust essential for any mentoring relationship? Below you’ll see the professional wisdom your colleagues have been kind enough to share with me (and with each other) at hundreds of professional learning sessions across Ontario.
How are you building (and rebuilding) trust in your mentoring relationships?
Ideas from Across Ontario
Building Inclusion
- Structuring goal setting conversations to avoid misalignment of expectations
- Modelling a genuine interest in learning together
- Demonstrating appreciation of and belief in your colleagues
- Providing an oasis of calm
- Celebrating successes together
Modelling Mutual Respect
- Respecting confidential nature of relationship
- Remaining non-judgemental
- Walking in the person's shoes
- Demonstrating congruence between words and actions
- Being receptive to feedback yourself
Sharing "Real World" Challenges
- Sharing own challenges to level the playing field
- Acknowledging the messiness of learning
- Being vulnerable as this opens the door to deeper sharing
- Sharing challenges but also the quiet victories that occur each day
Listening, Listening, Listening
- Being available to listen (both mentally and in real time)
- Being authentically present
- Recognizing the power of silence and the importance of simply listening
- Listening to learn as opposed to listening to speak
- Listening with uncertainty
Goal Setting Conversations
Mentoring is a powerful, personalized learning design. Yet the dynamics of mentoring relationships are complex. When there is a misalignment of expectations significant challenges can arise.
Engaging in collaborative goal setting conversations at the outset of any mentoring relationship helps to set the stage for success. Two potentially powerful outcomes of these learning focused conversations are:
- Building relational trust
- Clarifying roles and expectations
Building Relational Trust
Being “present” by applying the elements of effective listening is at the core of building trust and rapport in any relationship.
Clarifying Roles and Expectations
Positioning yourself as a co-learner by sharing your own learning goals for the mentoring relationship is a powerful approach. Mentoring relationships that flourish are reciprocal – all parties learn and grow.
Possible Goal Setting Conversation Questions
- What strengths and attributes do you bring to your role?
- What are your hopes, wishes and dreams for your students?
- What goals do you have for your professional learning this year?
- How do you see our collaboration best working?
- What are the best ways for us to communicate? (preferred tools, times, methods)
- Who else can provide support and mentorship?
- What are the next steps in our collaboration?
Goal Setting Conversations with your Teacher-Candidate Video (1 min 11 sec)
Professional Wisdom
Our new teachers are considering foundational questions as they enter the profession:
- Who am I as an educator and as a mentor?
- What do I believe is truly important about teaching and learning?
- How am I living these beliefs in my classroom, school, district and beyond?
Teaching and learning are complex and when you are new to your role there are a lot of firsts. The first time a student challenges you as a teacher. The first time a parent calls the school with a concern. The first time you write report cards. As a mentor you face all of these same challenges but you have a lot fewer firsts. For all of us in education, experience has been a teacher. Through your lived experiences in classrooms and schools you have developed professional wisdom. Your professional wisdom can provide a valuable starting point for newer colleagues to consider as they reflect on their practice and begin to form their professional identity. Professional wisdom is a gift you have to offer and also a gift you continue to receive. Being intellectually humble allows us to listen with uncertainty and to be open to continued learning and growth from our new and experienced colleagues (and our students). Placing students at the centre of our shared thinking and learning grounds our mentoring conversations in why we are all here. It reminds us at that any age, stage or phase of our career we continue to learn. That is the beauty of mentorship...it is an act of learning.
Scaling Questions as a Tool for Debriefing
Opportunities for individuals to reflect on practice and debrief with mentors can be powerful learning for both parties. One approach to debriefing conversations is scaling questions adapted from the solution-focussed conversation work of Nancy McConkey.
Scaling Questions Conversation Map at a Glance
- On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst lesson you’ve experienced and 10 being the best, how was this lesson for you?
- Oh a <e.g., 6> – What were the positive things that made it a 6?
- How might you bump it up a notch to a 7? (specific ideas)
- Continue with Coaching stance or shift to Consultant or Collaborator based on needs
What is powerful about this tool is not only the variety of mentoring contexts within which it can be applied to your work as an associate teacher but also the underlying assumptions described below.
Attributes Based Approach
A purposeful seeking out of strengths is at the heart of this approach. Often, the person you are mentoring has given their challenges considerable thought prior to speaking with you.
Islands of Competence
By asking about the positive things you ensure the conversation begins with a success. Even a “1” is better than a “0!”
Ownership resides with the Mentee
Your impression is set aside as ultimately the person you are mentoring will be the one implementing the ideas in their own context (classroom, school, work site).
Flexibility of Stance & Role
As a skilled mentor you may choose to continue in the coaching stance or shift to consultant or collaborator, based on the needs of the person you are debriefing with. At first, scaling questions may feel a bit like following a script but over time this tool can simply be embedded into a mentor’s repertoire of learning focused conversation strategies.
Don’t like Numbers?
For some, applying a quantitative number to an experience may not feel comfortable. If that’s the case, the initial scaling question can be simply adapted as in the example below:
- Thinking about both the worst morning you’ve ever had and the best one; how was this morning for you?
- Oh…the morning was “fine” – Fine sounds better than so so…what made it fine?
- How might you bump it up to “very fine” (specific ideas)
- Continue with Coaching stance or shift to Consultant or Collaborator based on needs
Supporting Resources
These videos are part of the Associate Teacher Partnership Project I participated in when I was at the Ontario Ministry of Education. It was led by Lakehead University in collaboration with 7 local school districts to support the mentoring of Associate Teachers.
- Complexity of Teaching and Learning (1 min 56 sec)
- Scaling Questions as a Tool for Debriefing (2 min 43 sec)
When I was the program coordinator for beginning teachers in TDSB I collaborated with OISE in support of associate teachers as part of a project entitled Authentic Voices from the Field.
Appreciative Inquiry for Reflection & Growth
Appreciative Inquiry is an “attributes-based” approach that can be used to facilitate reflective conversations either during formal learning sessions or as part of the ongoing dialogue between mentors and colleagues.
At the core of Appreciative Inquiry is the belief that all participants come to mentoring relationships possessing many strengths and that by building on these assets, the answers to the issues and challenges they face can be collaboratively constructed.
This thinking is why we always begin with an examination of what is working well in current practice (themes of success). Many of these themes can then be applied as actual strategies to collaboratively address specific challenges and issues.
Appreciative Inquiry Conversation Map at a Glance
Themes of Success
- Thinking about your commitment to making a difference for all learners...tell a story about the best experience you’ve had in your role?
- What lessons did you learn that continue to be important to you personally and professionally?
Issues and Challenges
- What issues you are encountering? (i.e. what are the stones in your shoe?)
- Looking ahead, what are the wishes you have for your role?
Collaborative Strategy Harvest of Ideas
- What specific ideas, strategies, and resources are you considering to address the issue or concerns expressed?
- So What / Now What – share an individual action plan of possible next steps (next day / next week / next month)
This approach supports engagement in meaningful mentoring conversations. Imagine asking the teacher you are mentoring at the end of their week about the best thing that happened in their classroom, the challenges they are facing and how we might collaborate to address these issues.
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,