AN INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING

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AN INTRODUCTION TO MENTORING
Adapted by SK Lau
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WHAT IS MENTORING?

• Successful mentoring involves having two or more
  individuals willingly form a mutually respectful,
  trusting relationship focused on goals that meet
  the needs and foster the potential of the mentee,
  while considering the needs of the mentor, and
  the contexts in which they both have to function.
  
•  
• Kochan (2002)
•  

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WHAT IS MENTORING?

• Mentoring is .. a dynamic, reciprocal
  relationship in a work environment between an
  advanced career incumbent (mentor) and a beginner
  (protégé) aimed at promoting the career
  development of both.
• Healey and Welchert (1990)

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TEACHER INDUCTION

• Research suggests that the primary needs of
  beginning teachers include
• Sustained help in development as a competent
  person not screening.
• Mentors who are on-site, committed and skilled.
• Opportunities to talk with other novice teachers
  in a setting free of evaluation.
• Orientation to the school system, curriculum and
  community.
• Realistic assignments (e.g. the number of
  preparations, types of classes, and the number of
  extra-curricular activities)
• Reiman Thies-Sprinthall (1998)

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NEEDS OF BTs AND MTs
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THE CYCLE OF ASSISTANCE

• Establishing a helping and trusting
  relationship.
• Planning lessons and units with the teacher.
• Planning for observation.
• Observing the instruction.
• Analyzing the data for important patterns in the
  teaching process.
• Planning for the conference.
• Conferencing to review the classroom event.
• Renewed planning.
• Cogan ( 1973)

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THE NOVICE-MENTOR RELATIONSHIP (Andrews 1986)
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LEVELS OF MENTORING (McIntyre Hagger 1992)
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MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS (Elliott and Calderhead
1994)

• High
• Novices withdraw from the C Novices
  grow through
• mentoring relationship with H
  development of new
• no growth possible A knowledge and
  images
• L
• Low L High
• SUPPORT E
• N
• Novice is not encouraged G Novice
  becomes confirmed
• to consider or reflect on E in
  pre-existing images of
• knowledge and images teaching
• Low

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SUPPORTING BTs

• Support sought by beginning teachers
• Technical support
• Therapeutic support
• Palliative support
• Strategic support
• BTs solicited support from those persons they
  deemed to be most appropriate or who were most
  readily accessible eclectic pragmatism.

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Good supervisory discussions are

• ones that help a teacher learn they are positive
  yet not uncritical, but always motivating.
• interactive, democratic and empowering but loosen
  the control of the supervisor.

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Good supervisory discussions

• evolve in diverse ways there is no standard
  model processes are person specific.
• may not end up where supervisors think they will.

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Good supervisory discussions involve

• insights that occur unexpectedly.
• risk for all parties both personally and
  academically as assumptions are challenged.
• a range of views and disagreement.

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Good supervisory discussions

• are open perfection is impossible.
• are contextually grounded and framed in the
  teachers terms.
• are rational yet involve the emotions the two
  are not mutually exclusive