mentoring and coaching 2010 jmc

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Mentoring and Coaching James McLean 51010018

Contents

Contents .....................................................................................1

1. Introduction ............................................................................2

2. Review of Literature ..............................................................3

3. Key Principles underpinning approaches to Mentoring &

Coaching ...................................................................................4

4. Emerging issues supporting colleagues, probationer

teachers and students ............................................................11

5. Review of my practice relating to mentoring and coaching

...................................................................................................15

6. Mentoring to promote improved practice .........................19

7. Techniques and tools used in the mentoring process .....23

8. Next steps .............................................................................26

9. Conclusion ...........................................................................28

10. Bibliography ......................................................................29

Appendix A : Testimonial from Head Teacher

Appendix B : Testimonial from Depute Head Teacher

Appendix C : Certificate of Authenticity Colleague

Appendix D : Certificate of Authenticity Mentee

Appendix E : School Observation Tool

Appendix F: Appendix F : Exemplar tool : Movement Interaction &

Behaviour

Appendix G : Collaborative Conversation Log

Appendix H : Chartered Teacher Competency Grid

Appendix I : Professional review and development grid

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1. Introduction

My studies for the Chartered Teacher Program (CTP) have allowed me to

place great importance on the consistency of systematic reflection in all

aspects of my teaching practice.

Clift et al (1990) note that schools are difficult environments for reflective

thinking, and a redesign of time, compatible colleagues and administration

support would be needed to make systematic reflection more likely. I am

not sure how much has really improved since 1990, but certainly the CTP

has allowed me to look carefully at my professional practice, by using

reflective learning as a tool to make improvements.

In undertaking the Mentoring and Coaching Module, reflection again is a

recurring theme. If I were to aspire to being an agent for change as a

Chartered Teacher, then the Mentoring and Coaching module was one in

which I could make changes in my practice, and ensure development

because of interactions with the new teacher I was to mentor

Fletcher(2000).

In the current climate of financial cuts the opportunities for Professional

Development are few, however the opportunities arising from Mentoring are

plentiful. I felt sure that the time and commitment required to effectively

and efficiently allow the development of a new teacher to take place would

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also allow me to develop into a better, more competent, and skillful

practitioner.

2. Review of Literature

In Scotland before the publication and agreement on A Teaching

Profession for the 21st Century more commonly known as the McCrone

report in 2001, newly qualified teachers were interviewed for posts, and if

successful, and in full time employment carried out a period of 2 years

probation. During this time the newly qualified teacher was given a full

timetable, and apart from a few observations typically left to their own

devices, where they had to learn how to teach, in addition to all the

administrative duties required in the profession, unfortunately some new

teachers could become overwhelmed. This situation was not ideal, and

certainly it was reported in American schools that as many as 50% of newly

qualified teachers left the profession within the first 5 years. Ingersol and

Smith (2003).

In 2002 following publication of A teaching Profession for the 21 st Century

the probationary arrangements for newly qualified teachers changed

significantly. Each student was given a guaranteed 1 year contract, and

during the probation year would have a maximum 0.7 Full Time Entitlement

(FTE) with the remaining 0.3 FTE allocated for development time including

support with a dedicated Mentor, called a nominated probationer supporter

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in General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) documents who was also

given a 0.1 FTE to devote time to the mentoring process. GTCS ( 2007)

In addition to the Mentoring of new teachers as described above through

the Teacher Induction System (TIS) there also exists many informal

mentoring activities. The Scottish Intranet Glow, makes provision for a Glow

Mentor, and through Teacher Learning Communities (TLC), there are

opportunities for experienced teachers to engage in peer mentoring and

coaching.

3. Key Principles underpinning approaches to Mentoring & Coaching

Mentor

noun

1.

a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

2.an influential senior sponsor or supporter.

and

noun

(in the Odyssey) a loyal adviser of Odysseus entrusted with the

care and education of Telemachus.

(American Heritage Dictionary website, undated)

Mentoring is an age old philosophy, and will have been considered and

practised long before the publication of the Odyssey and since. Today there

are many definitions and variations of mentoring, but as said by Peeler &

Jane (2003) all involve some sort of on-going supportive relationships.

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Brooks and Sikes (1997) advise that to be a good mentor one should have

a range of different strategies and high level skills in order to manage what

is a sophisticated and complex activity, this modern view, extends but also

complements the view of the Classical model of mentoring where Nicholls

(2002) describes a mentor as having values of a role model, teacher,

counsellor, adviser and encourager, each role employing a wide range of

skills and strategies, all of which are needed to Mentor effectively in the 21 st

Century , a century where changes have been made and we as a

population are more at ease with the idea of caring relationships, an article

in the (Sunday Times Website 2009) proposed the idea that we are a caring

society, where we are treated with respect. The mentoring model

complementing this view is the Nurturing Model, where emphasis is placed

on caring and nurturing, Anderson and Shannon (1995) put forward a

number of functions that they deemed as mutually exclusive within the this

model, namely : befriending , teaching, sponsoring, encouraging and

counselling, this model allows the mentor-mentee relationship to be

informal, and friendly, but because of this informality, it may be difficult, on

occasion to be truly honest for fear of spoiling the friendship.

Another model to consider would be the Competency model, and if we

examine the various standards set by the General Teaching Council of

Scotland (GTCS), then a competency model may seem best suited to the

task. A new teacher in his or her Probation year has to work towards

reaching the Standard for Full Registration (SFR). The SFR details baseline

standards or competencies that a new teacher would expect to apply

throughout their career, these competencies are visited throughout a

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probationary year, and when complete signed off by the mentor. This

process can be seen as procedural, where the mentor is simply coaching

the mentee through the agreed set of competencies, the downside of this

as reported by Awaya et all (2003) is there is a presumption of rank, and

the mentee is subordinate to the mentee. This model does not allow the

mentee to challenge the mentor, it does not allow the mentee to reflect on

issues, instead the mentee is focussed only on satisfying the procedural

needs of the mentor, thus this arrangement could be problematic, if the

mentee had issues with the mentor, then because of the hierarchy and

control placed over the mentee. this could give rise to the mentor not

approving the mentees evidence or profile at the end of the year, and thus

the mentee would not meet the SFR.

It is clear that this model in isolation would not be suitable for this process,

and some other model of mentoring would have to work alongside.

The GTCS state they have a responsibility to ensure that those registered

to teach in Scotland's schools are

competent and suitable to work as teachers (GTCS website, undated)

However this does not relate to the competencies completed in an

induction year, competencies are specific skills, techniques, attitudes and

knowledge. Competence is the demonstration of an integrated deep

structure (understanding) and on the general ability to coordinate

appropriate internal cognitive, effective and other resources for successful

adaption Wood and Power (1997), this then suggests that in mentoring

new teachers a combination of Mentoring models would best suit, a model

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that would fit with the completion of competencies and another to address

the more thoughtful reflective process that would allow the new teacher to

understand the thinking behind the skills acquired. I feel this is especially

important since the overall point of the induction scheme is to produce , as

stated by the GTCS competent teachers

The purpose of the TIS is to build a bridge for the student who has

achieved the Standard for Initial Teacher Education to becoming a fully

qualified teacher. (Ingersoll & Smith (2004) This bridge can include many

different forms in its construction, CPD, presentations, workshops,

seminars, coaching and mentoring.

The selection of a probationer mentor in schools is carefully described in

GTCS (2007) documents, they ask that amongst other qualities a

prospective mentor should have personal attributes such as patience, be

approachable, empathetic, supportive and a good listener. these are words

that we may associate with a relationship , (Awaya et al 2003) who also

state that the role of the mentor has a presumption of rank in which the

mentee is subsumed, the GTCS have sought to avoid this form of

relationship by promoting attributes that positively promote developing a

relationship as part of the growth in the development of a new teacher. In

creating a professional, trusting relationship it is easier to for both mentor

and mentee to reflect upon teaching practice, the reflection as stated by

Arnold (2004, citing ODonoghue 1997). should drive feedback from each

party and include the bad events allowing the mentee to face up to and

challenge their practice.

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In addition to the personal attributes highlighted by the GTCS there are

professional qualities, and in providing mentoring there should be a

balance. Professionally as described by Hobson et al (2009) we would be

supporting the mentees journey through the standards and competencies,

the journey would be measured, at the beginning or initiation stage of the

process where the relationship begins to carry meaning for both the mentor

and mentee, expectations are defined, trust is built and an honest open

relationship is established . This support is gradually reduced to the final

stage where the mentee is seeking less guidance and is working

independently. However this may not be the end of the relationship as

further development may move in a more collegiate or peer direction,

throughout the teachers career.

Important to all of the latter is mentor training, the desired outcome of an

induction year is for the mentee to develop better teaching skills, that

impact on the quality of learning experienced by pupils, the mentee should

be able to develop in confidence, self esteem and be able to reflect and

respond positively to practice writes Arnold (2004).It is therefore essential

that mentors receive appropriate training, this is recognised by the GTCS

and in response the Local Authority in which I am employed sets aside a 2

day training course for prospective mentors. This service may change as

the Local Authority are piloting an arrangement where an experienced

mentor takes the full time responsibility for mentoring a number of new

teachers in many schools across the Authority.

Like any relationship, the mentoring process should be one that is long

lasting and dynamic write Healy and Walchert (2000), and if the induction

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process is to reduce teacher turnover and improve the learning experiences

of the pupils then mentors have to be selected for the proper reasons.

Johnson (2003) demonstrated integrating three qualities of competence

that align with essential qualities of a Mentor. The model describes how a

good mentor demonstrates a balance of virtues, abilities and competencies.

Attributes from the (GTCS 2007 ) can be seen in this model and associated

table. below

Illustration adapted from Johnson (2003)

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ABILITIES COMPETENCIES VIRTUESCognitive: Student Development Integrity

Intellectual skill Relational Phases Caring

Cognitive Complexity Relationship Structure Prudence

Emotional: Mentor Functions

Emotional BalanceBoundarymanagement

Personality Cross Gender skills

Relational: Cross Race Skills

Communication Skills Respect for Autonomy

Capacity for intimacy Self Awareness

Virtues

Competencie

s

Abilities

Mentor

Competence


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Table adapted from Johnson (2003)

In summary from reviewing the relevant literature, there is sufficient

evidence to show that the role of the mentor is in the provision of on-going

support Peeler & Jane (2003) and within that on-going support there are a

number of models that give the necessary support. Nichols (2002) makes

good descriptions of the apprentice model, which would be ideal in an

industrial or skills based occupation, the competency model, which fits into

education as teachers must reach the standards set by the GTCS and finally

and probably the most relevant the reflective model, which in order to

promote critical reflection will require the mentor to be thoughtful, but

thorough in the cross examination of the mentees work. Throughout the

Probation year, and throughout teaching practice, the Standards for Initial

training and the Standard for Full registration state that critical reflection be

applied to current practices in order to improve teaching and pupil learning,

it is the task of the mentor to question the mentee on these reflections, to

allow the mentee to make sense of events and through collaboration both

mentor and mentee are allowed to develop. It is in this model that Schons

reflection-on-action and reflection-inaction is encouraged in order to

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promote reflective practice and give both mentor and mentee a deeper

insight into their practice.

The dilemma in the mentoring process for the Chartered Teacher is that by

definition they are seeking to improve practice and become leaders of

learning, however if they volunteer for mentoring, then in many cases they

have a full timetable which does not allow for the 0.1 commitment, thus

someone else is chosen, and they have to turn to other activities such as

those described below.

4. Emerging issues supporting colleagues, probationer teachers and

students

In school many opportunities arise allowing engagement with mentoring and

coaching. My role as a Glow mentor allows me to interface with every staff

member, and many pupils, however the name is a misnomer as really the

balance leans more towards coaching than mentoring simply because the

learners are relatively inexperienced with the system and my role is therefore as

stated by Parsloe and Rae (2000) to adopt a hands-on, instructor like role, where

through repeated sessions I allow the learner to progress in a spiral fashion, and

as they learn, my instruction lessons, become less frequent and less intense until

a point is reached and they require no further help. The figure below gives a

graphical representation of this process

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Parlsoe and Rae (2000)

Additionally any agendas regarding the training is focussed on achieving

specific and immediate tasks, as an example teachers and pupils want to

be able to create a Glow Group , or use a text editor or such like tasks,

compare this to mentoring where the mentee would set an agenda, with the

mentor providing support and guidance allowing the mentee to move

forward and face future challenges, with minimal, if any instruction, this

confirms Megginson & Clutterbuck (2005) who state that coaching is

primarily related to performance improvement over a short time in a

particular skills area, and mentoring relates primarily to the nurturing

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potential for the whole person, possibly a long term relationship, where the

goals are always set by the mentee.

The Glow Mentor role is contrasted with my role in Tapestry, the name

given to a group of teachers who meet regularly and collaboratively explore

Assessment is for Learning (AIFL) techniques in the classroom.

The Tapestry group is now in its third year of working, the group the

collaboratively and confidentially work towards improving learning and

teaching in the classroom. It allows both in its regular meetings and after

classroom observation sufficient time for reflection. It seamlessly moves

from elements of coaching to mentoring, depending on the activity and

because of this each member can make a real difference to professional

practice, and develop personal skills.It is a less intensive process , but no

less rewarding than a formal mentoring process. Each member of the

group at some time will reflect on the others practice, with an openness and

honesty allowing good and bad practice to be highlighted and reflected

upon. I feel the peer coaching and mentoring experienced in this group has

influenced positively on my confidence in class. Activities which are

prevalent in this group are for co-coaching: experimenting, understanding

each others learning goals and planning supported by questions, in

mentoring: identifying learning goals, providing guidance, feedback and

direction, and in specialist coaching: providing support to clarify goals,

reflecting on and debriefing shared learning experiences, all of these

activities are exemplified by CUREE (2005)

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The current climate of budgetary constraints may have an effect on

probationer mentoring. With the Local Authority (LA) seeking huge

reductions in the operating costs in schools, and imposing tight constraints

on teaching staff, by rigorously applying the ratio of teachers to pupils, it

has led to a situation where most teachers are on minimum non-contact

time. (The contractual agreement where teachers are allowed time to

prepare lessons, mark work and so on, away from pupils). In my school we

have brought in a retired teacher to engage with the mentoring process,

originally I saw this as a negative approach, as I felt the probationer may

feel at times isolated, especially as the teacher may not be as involved in

school as permanent members of staff, however Vilanni (2002) in a small

scale survey promoted the idea that using retired teachers as mentors is

worth consideration, especially in current times where the number of new

teachers may greatly exceed experienced teachers. Fortunately the teacher

in my school had spent many years at the school before retiring, and still

takes an active part in the life of the school.

Another arising issue because of budgetary constraints, may be a lack of

support for new Principal Teachers (PTs) , Faculty Heads (FH) or indeed

Senior Management (SMT). These positions could and should be

supported not at least because of the new skills and procedures to be

learned, and in those positions learning by mistakes , because of lack of

support is not ideal. Perhaps peer mentoring, where teachers are identified

and trained to work with new colleagues should be better promoted than

currently exists.

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5. Review of my practice relating to mentoring and coaching

Until my involvement in this module my practice was most likely centred

around coaching, My ICT background lent itself to me being approached by

staff and pupils to be coached on a particular skill required to efficiently

operate a piece of software. As this module progressed I realised I did have

the necessary attributes to potentially become a mentor, I was self-

confident I had faith in my ability to positively affect the growth and

development of others and I was a good collaborator, all of these attributes

highlighted by Hall et al, (2008) to define a mentor, however,

Simply being a good teacher does not ensure that a person would be agood mentor. Being an effective mentor requires a variety of skills andabilities that often go beyond those required of a good classroom instructor

(Daresh 2003, pp23)

It is those skills and abilities that a potential mentor would be seeking to

identify and demonstrate a consistency in. In schools currently there may

be a temptation to simply choose an experienced member of staff simply

because they have space on their timetable, or even take the easier option

of choosing a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) in view of

budget lines, however this may prove to be false economy as they may be

experienced educators, but as Brooks and Sikes (1997) showed, mentoring

is not simply an extension of being a teacher, it requires a different

perspective, where abilities, aptitudes, attitudes and skills are necessary,

and although experienced teachers and SMT may have these it cannot be

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assumed they do. It is therefore essential that a potential mentor promotes

his or her interest in the position, and not simply chosen for convenience.

Then steps could be taken to establish if the candidate has the variety of

skills and attributes required.

Thinking of my own experiences of being mentored in my initial years as a

new teacher, I was fortunate to be mentored by my line manager, who was

quite able to separate her role as my manager and my mentor, I now see

her role was partly that of a co-operative teacher defined by Rudney and

Guilliame(2003) as a teacher with superior teaching skills, well honed

communications skills, and although I was a probationer before 2002, she

cleverly gave me an increasing amount of responsibility as my probation

progressed. At the time I saw nothing of this, we did communicate and

reflect on both our classroom teaching regularly, she clearly had skills and

abilities required to extend her role as a teacher and manager, into a

mentoring role, and if this mentor-mentee relationship is viewed or

conceived as a journey, then 10 years later it still continues, she continues

to provide me space to develop, she is a source of moral support, we are

equal partners in the relationship, and we still talk on the practicalities of our

subject, now I understand the entire process to be a derivation of the

classical model of Mentoring as described by Awaya et al (2001).

From my own experiences the characteristics of an effective mentoring

relationship cannot be simply defined, however a common theme is

throughout the literature studied is: relationships, and in 2006, at Local

Authority Induction teacher day, the new teachers were asked to generate a

person specification for the role of a mentor. The new teachers put their

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thoughts forward in a number of ways on flip charts, some were simply

embellished lists, some elaborate drawings, all were photographed. I

copied all the words, from all of the photographs and using computer

software a word cloud was generated. The cloud gives a visual

representation based on font size of the most frequently occurring words,

the more frequent then the bigger the font that the word uses.

The cloud generated from the words used by the new teachers is shown

below.

Computer Cloud Image

The most commonly used words, can be seen to be: experienced,

supportive, approachable, organised, trustworthy, listener, encouraging and

positive. All of these words would fit easily into a description of a

relationship.

The word most interesting to me was listener. In personal and professional

relationships, listening is a key component, we have to hear what we are

listening to, we have to respond appropriately to what we hear, we respond

in so many ways to what we hear, in all of the latter we are responding to

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what we hear and turning it into meaningful feedback, a nod, an interjection,

an explanation, a confirmation of what is said all contribute to what I now

understand to be a learning conversation. The opportunities for learning

conversations can be formal or informal, however when practised in a

mentoring environment, it ensures trust, it is sensitive to power imbalances,

it encourages reflection as defined by the General Teaching Council for

England (GTCE 2004).

In summary my practice relating to mentoring and coaching, is a developing

one, one which I now see as essential in improving my teaching practice,

and in particular my critical self evaluation and development and my

effectiveness in promoting learning in the classroom.

I feel my mentoring and coaching skills and abilities are developing, I can

still be unsure of what techniques to use and why, and I find myself

spending a considerable amount of time trying to ensure that my

conversations in a mentoring capacity do not appear as contrived, I am

confident though that as more opportunities arise to mentor in formal and

informal occasions my confidence will grow, and be mutually of benefit to all

parties.

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6. Mentoring to promote improved practice

Following summer school at University I approached the Headteacher, and

asked if I would be permitted to mentor one of our probation teachers. After

consideration, and because my timetable was full he suggested I co-mentor

a probationer, and that I would have the full support of himself and the

school in this task.

For the purposes of anonymity and readability I will refer to the probationary

teacher as Jenny throughout this document.

Jenny had previously visited the school prior to the summer holidays, and

was already familiar with her teaching timetable and many of the school

policies and procedures. I was given 1 period a week to engage with the

mentoring process, the other periods were with the mentor who would be

responsible for managing Jennys route to achieving the SFR.

An initial meeting was set up where Jenny met both her mentors.

The meeting agenda, was unusually set by the mentors, but it was thus as

we had to sort out what roles would be adopted, how we would treat

confidentiality, and the housekeeping for further meetings, times and rooms

and so on.

However I did get the opportunity to hear what Jenny expected from her

year in post, her fears, but also her enthusiasm to get the job done

properly. We had time to look at her Initial Professional Development Plan

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(IPDAP) and that prompted a conversation on what Jenny thought to be her

strong and weak areas.

It was agreed that for the year, that I would have a principal focus on AIFL,

and any observations, although informal would be recorded, reflected on

and actions taken , if necessary. The other Mentor would take

responsibility for the official observations and official GTCS documentation.

Throughout the process I have had regular meetings with the main mentor

where we discuss progress, and what targets have been set by Jenny for

the following meeting. This arrangement had a positive effect on my

mentoring as although we were equal partners in the relationship, the main

mentor had a great deal more experience of mentoring new teachers and I

was grateful for the many learning conversations that took place, allowing

me reflect and improve my mentoring and coaching skills.

My initial meeting with Jenny was fruitful, she was confident, excited and

looking forward to the year ahead. She had lots of ideas, and was keen to

try these in class. She was also well aware of her strengths and

weaknesses, we talked of the challenges she thought would come her way,

and hypothesized how we may get through them. Throughout the meeting it

was clear that she was going to use our time together in a positive way.

Jennys initial target was to experiment with one or two elements of AIFL,

and she chose to use the techniques of no hands up and thumbs up or

down for level of understanding. We agreed on an informal observation

later that week.

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At this point I was unaware of the tools available to me as we had not

covered this in the unit, so I used the standard school observation sheet

(See Appendix E: School Observation Sheet)

We then used the observation to start a learning conversation, and from

which she agreed additional targets. Indeed at each subsequent meeting

Jenny would arrive with a prepared agenda, and evidence of her reflection

on not just any classes I had observed, but on other aspects of her teaching

practice. I was beginning to see that she was benefiting from the process,

she was transforming good ideas into concrete lessons, she was becoming

part of the school community by becoming involved with the Duke of

Edinburgh group, and the ELT committee, and becoming more confident in

her professional competence , all positive signs writes Daresh (2003) that

she was benefitting from the mentoring experience.

Each meeting was an honest appraisal of her work, I felt I was becoming

more confident in the use of language when asking questions, and certainly

becoming a more active listener.

In October she raised the question of time, she was having great difficulty in

maintaining her initial work rate, I had raised this question a number of

weeks previous, but then she was confident and sure her schedule was

fine. She was upset and showing signs of losing some of her enthusiasm,

she was worried that if each lesson was not all singing and dancing then

somehow she was failing. I asked how she thought she could change this

perception, she spoke of how she would, by looking carefully at lessons

and decide what worked and what didnt. She knew she had to look at her

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organisation, and make sure that in addition to school she allowed time for

herself and family. Her reflection and action allowed her to develop a

manageable workload, yet still produce exciting innovative lessons, and

most importantly allow time for herself. Throughout this entire process I

had very little to do, I allowed Jenny the time to think and plan, I carefully

listened and if appropriate responded to her ideas, doubts, concerns and

abilities and gave her the space to think out solutions.

My critical incident was difficult to identify, but it was a light bulb moment

when I realised that I was beginning to routinely use reflection in action and

reflection on action, Schon (1983) , During conversations with Jenny I

would find myself analysing what was being said and trying to find a

suitable explanation. or fix, or theory that would immediately fit the situation,

however I would also, after the meeting, or on the drive home think more

carefully about what was actually said, the nuances behind statements and

then formulate new questions to ask, new areas to explore and so on. This I

feel was benefiting in equal amounts my own professional development,

and that of the mentee.

My mentoring experience, which will continue for Jennys probation has had

a positive effect on my learning and teaching. Regularly viewing another

teachers work is always good, and allows for the development of my own

lessons. Being privy to personal attitudes, ethics, ideas, doubts , concerns

and successes of another teacher and hearing how they are worked out

with or without advice from me is humbling, and yet again allows scope for

further reflection.

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7. Techniques and tools used in the mentoring process

The importance of body language, location and seating were my first

priority when meeting with Jenny. I had arranged for our meetings to held

in our Department office, chosen because it was quiet, away from pupils

and staff. I had arranged the seats so that we were side by side, so there

was no indication or presumption of authority, and finally the chairs were

turned slightly towards each other to give an open body language setting.

At our first meeting I asked Jenny if she was comfortable with the

arrangements, suggesting that if not another location could be found. Our

initial meeting was led by me, but in subsequent meetings the agenda was

always set by Jenny.

For the first few meetings I was concentrating on improving my listening

skills, I was always aware that in conversation with colleagues I felt I had to

say something, and that had to change with mentoring. I advised Jenny of

this weakness, knowing that this would not be an easy skill to aquire and

would most likely need changes to take place in my own basic attitudes as

suggested by Rogers and Farson (2007), and asked for her support.

Each meeting I would attempt to actively listen, knowing that this was an

essential technique to build on the trust set out in our first meetings, and it

would encourage positive problem solving. I would make every effort to give

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appropriate non-verbal signs, frequent eye contact, appropriate and

measured facial expressions such as nods and smiles. In addition I would

send out encouraging signs to Jenny that I was carefully listening to what

she was saying, I would use paraphrasing to demonstrate understanding.

Summarising what was said would also allow me to seek clarification, if

required in some of the points she was making.

As the weeks went by I became more skilled in this practice, and I felt that I

had moved on from being judgemental, giving the benefit of my advice , to

someone who could actively listen, could be non-judgemental and be happy

with silence, as this is a key moment where critical thinking is most likely to

occur. A variation of this silence technique is used in AIFL, where pupils are

given wait time where they really think about an answer before actually

saying it.

I then tried to introduce various language stems, however on occasion this

seemed very contrived, especially as I had met with Jenny on many

occasions prior to trying this tool, and she was clearly aware of my style in

mentoring conversations. In terms of language tools throughout our

meetings we would use in our conversation, instructional language where I

may illustrate points from my experience, or make suggestions, and I would

say that this style of conversation was used least, more commonly used

was the collaborative approach, this I feel was most frequent due to the

nature of our relationship. Together we were to approach the issues of

formative assessment in Jennys classes, and therefore we worked closely

on lesson plans, evidence gathering, and reflecting on the positives and

negatives in lessons.

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Complementing the weekly meetings were the informal observations I

made of Jennys teaching practice. The lessons observed were varied in

length, sometimes I would arrange only to see a particular part of a lesson

and as such come into class at an appropriate time. Other times I viewed

an entire lesson.

Each of the observations was planned, the focus was initiated and agreed

by Jenny, and all follow up sessions dealt only with what was previously

agreed.

At an early stage we spoke of the necessity of evidence, in observation the

evidence I gathered may not reflect the entire picture, and a conversation

took place regarding the use of audio or video evidence. described as one

of the most effective ways of enabling a trainee to improve on practice,

(Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Web Page

Undated) Confidentiality was assured, however Jenny was not comfortable

with this methodology, even though I suggested she observed my teaching

and made use of the audio-visual equipment in school in observation, but

again she was not comfortable.

It was clear from initial observations of Jenny and with conversations with

her main mentor, that Jenny was demonstrating clearly that she was rapidly

becoming a very efficient practitioner, she made excellent preparation for

lessons, and although in the beginning this caused her to stress with regard

to managing time, with a little guidance she began to plan more effectively

her lessons to allow her the freedom of more personal time.

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The tools used to effect here were the selective scripting tool, the seating

chart movement, interaction and behaviour, (See Appendix F: Seating

Chart) and the collaborative conversation log, (See Appendix G:

Collaborative Conversation log) I had seen video evidence from the New

Teacher Center at the University of California Santa Cruz,(UCSC) where

new teachers were seen using the tools in the presence of experienced

mentors, and following observed lessons, each tool was used in order to

stimulate reflection of the lesson.

I found these tools to be of great value, my school observation sheet is

cluttered (See Appendix E: School Observation Tool) but the tools from

UCSC were easily customisable, they could be used for all or any part of

lessons, but importantly were in use before the lesson where lesson targets

could be identified, methods of evidence collection agreed upon and then

after the lesson the same document was used to aid reflection by

synthesizing the lesson, drawing conclusions and planning next steps

(University of Aberdeen Mentoring and Coaching Unit 4 adapted from

A.Costa and R.Garmston)

8. Next steps

The Chartered teacher programme was always going to be a vehicle by

which I could take steps to improve my teaching practice. I feel this module

has allowed me to address elements in the Standard for Chartered Teacher

(CT) relating to Professional Action. The mentoring process gave me the

opportunity to really investigate and overtake (See Appendix H CT 4.2.1 &

4.2.2). The mentoring I undertook was emotionally draining, and I felt I was

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very lucky to mentor a new teacher with fantastic enthusiasm and skills,

even so I began to look at my own practice more critically than before as a

result of the skills and abilities I was learning during mentoring. The

necessary research and reading to put mentoring and coaching into

practice has allowed me to put into context the undoubted value in Critical

Self Evaluation.

With regard to the Standard relating to Professional Values and Personal

Commitments the mentoring module placed a great deal of responsibility

onto me. I was partly responsible for allowing the development of a new

teacher, I can relate back to my probation years and think of the negative

comments made by experienced teachers, I did not want to be that sort of

Mentor, I was taking responsibility to ensure my mentee would benefit from

the process and therefore put a lot of time, and emotion into the task. It was

and at time of writing still is a privilege to be involved. (See Appendix H CT

1.2,1.3 & 1.4)

With reference to the Professional Knowledge and Understanding

standards, to be an effective Chartered Teacher would involve critical

understanding of current educational policy and research. The mentee saw

me as a person who is engaging in this process and would question

accordingly, especially with regard to assessments and in particular ,

formative assessment, I therefore feel confident that I have addressed

issues in this Standard (See Appendix H CT 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 & 2.5)

Finally in the Standards for Professional Skills and Actions the module has

necessitated me being enthusiastic, If I was not then what would the

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mentee think of teaching? I had to learn new skills in communication, from

listening to seating to conversations, all of these play a very important role

in how messages are conveyed and received, and ultimately how the

mentee is allowed to develop. (See Appendix H, CT 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4)

The next step is to build on lessons learned, to take a more active

leadership role, where I can be a positive influence on colleagues. I will

continue with my membership on the Effective Learning and Teaching

Committee, continue to promote the good work done in the Teacher

Learning Community group as these groups provide the backbone of my

teaching practice as they each identify and allow understanding of effective

classroom teaching strategies, which is at the heart of the business of

teaching, we must be able to effectively provide learning and teaching to

each and every pupil in our care. Finally I will continue to take advantage

of the Curriculum for Excellence and the opportunity to develop new and

innovative materials with my colleagues.

9. Conclusion

I feel I now have the enthusiasm, skills and abilities to take on further

mentoring roles within my school. I also feel that this is an area, where a

Chartered Teacher could contribute positively in the life of the school, as it

would be free from any department or managerial conflicts.

Through engaging in the process I can make a direct comparison with my

probation period and the Teacher Induction Scheme, and comment that the

new scheme is effective, it is exciting, it is challenging, but it will produce

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teachers who want to teach, and critically at an early stage, reflection on

practice is embedded into the skillset of the new teacher.

Finally in engaging with the Mentoring programme I can agree with

Donnelly (2004) who states that Mentoring is not one thing: it is a

range of

possibilities.

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