A Reflective Guide to Mentoring and being a teacher-mentor

A Reflective Guide to Mentoring and being a teacher-mentor

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Early Childhood and School Education Group, Department of Education and Training Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002 February 2016

? State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2016 The copyright in this document is owned by the State of Victoria (Department of Education and

Training), or in the case of some materials, by third parties (third party materials). No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, the National Education Access Licence for Schools (NEALS) (see below) or with permission.

An educational institution situated in Australia which is not conducted for profit, or a body responsible for administering such an institution, may copy and communicate the materials, other

than third party materials, for the educational purposes of the institution. Authorised by the Department of Education and Training, 2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002

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1. Introduction.......................................................................................... 1

How is this guide organised? ....................................................................................................................... 1 What role do mentors play in the VIT registration process?.......................................................... 2

2. What is the purpose of mentoring? .................................................... 3

What do we mean by mentoring? .............................................................................................................. 3 Why do we need mentors? ........................................................................................................................... 5 Mutual benefits of mentoring ...................................................................................................................... 6

3. How well does our school context support effective mentoring? .... 7

Considering our school's learning architecture .................................................................................. 7 Enabling structures to support mentoring ............................................................................................ 8 How and why are enabling structures important?............................................................................. 8 Considering operational constraints ........................................................................................................ 9 What enabling structures are present at my school? ..................................................................... 11

4. What kind of mentor will I be? ........................................................ 13

Considering my professional stance ...................................................................................................... 13 How do I approach others?........................................................................................................................ 14 How do I position a beginning teacher? ............................................................................................... 14 What are my underlying dispositions? ................................................................................................. 16 What might this mean for being a mentor? ........................................................................................ 17

5. What do I need to know and do as a mentor?................................. 19

Who am I mentoring? What kind of support do they need? ........................................................ 19 Strategies and options for supporting beginning teachers .......................................................... 20 The 4Cs: Clarifying, Consulting, Collaborating and Coaching...................................................... 21 Classroom observation as a means of supporting professional learning............................... 26 Facilitating professional conversations ............................................................................................... 30 Giving and receiving feedback.................................................................................................................. 35 Evidence-informed conversations.......................................................................................................... 36 Difficult or challenging conversations .................................................................................................. 39 The Evidence Based Professional Learning Cycle............................................................................ 41

6: What does the research say? ............................................................ 44

Common themes in the research............................................................................................................. 45 What practices get in the way of effective mentoring? .................................................................. 48 Want to know more? .................................................................................................................................... 50

7. What might all this mean for me?.................................................... 52

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