Working with mentors
Further support and resources:
The foundations of mentoring practice lie in processes of critical reflection on the practice of teaching. Training institutions have their own modes of working, practices and procedures. However, common to all is the essential element of the meeting, usually a weekly meeting in which the week's progress is discussed and an agenda is set (targets), to be reviewed the following week. It is ideally a dialogue between an experienced and expert colleague and a beginning, novice teacher. Evidence gained from lesson observation (by and of the student teacher) generally forms the backbone of the 'learning conversation'. As with feedback to pupils:
“All learners, of whatever age, need the same things: clearly described goals and/or tasks; praise and reward; recognition of achievement; and clear information, or guidance, on what might be done to improve”. (Gipps C, 1997. Assessment: a teacher’s guide to the issues).
Evaluation nationally and locally has shown that STs consider a good mentor to be one who enables them to make the most progress because s/he:
- views the mentoring as a dialogue; a sharing of ideas
- guides rather than insists on specific teaching methods
- identifies a range of teaching and learning strategies and leaves STs to select their own approach
- offers constructive criticism alongside sensitive support and encouragement
- encourages STs to evaluate their own performance and identify their own learning needs
