Long description

The diagram shows a wheel with ‘A mentor should’ in the centre circle and 13 arrows radiating out from it to circles containing the various roles a mentor takes on. Above the wheel are three arrows which have the crucially important roles a mentor takes on beside them. These are collaborator, judge, model beside the first arrow, psychological support above the middle arrow and acculturator, educator and sponsor beside the third arrow. Reading the circles clockwise from the top, they say: Act as a positive role model; Enthuse the beginner teacher in relation to their subject; Help the beginner teacher to understand something about the school’s context and how this affects practice; Be able to recognise when another professional colleague could facilitate and support; Be open to further professional development and learning opportunities, including exploiting research opportunities; Utilise and facilitate a reflective approach throughout the mentoring process; Set the teacher SMART targets to allow them to develop towards meeting QTS descriptors for the Professional Standards; Understand how to assess the beginner teacher’s progress and be able to do this accurately; Observe the beginner teacher and provide formative informal and formal feedback to enhance pedagogical practice; Support the beginner teacher to complete practice learning activities and be involved in lesson study/small scale study; Be familiar with the aims and expectations of the course design, course materials, assessment criteria and practice learning activities; Help develop the beginner teacher in a planned way by using an appropriate balance of support and challenge; Facilitate the beginner teacher’s links with colleagues and professional development opportunities.