1.2 Effective mentoring

Hobson and Malderez (2013) define mentoring as:

This definition makes clear that one of the primary roles mentors play is both acculturator and sponsor (Hobson and Malderez, 2013). Mentors support beginner teachers to move progressively into the community of practice of the school by helping them to learn the practices and expectations of teaching and of the school context.

Mentors also work in a developmental capacity. Close support is offered initially and then, as the beginner teachers’ skills, knowledge and understanding increase and they become both more proficient and confident, the emphasis shifts to empowering and enabling (Clutterbuck, 2004). The mentor’s role is to support the beginner teacher along this continuum as they move towards autonomy.

Mentoring is also about bridging the beginner teacher’s school and university or academic experiences – taking a wider interest in your mentee’s academic work will also help provide holistic support. The effective mentor works to shape the beginner teachers’ understanding of the interrelationship between learning from research, theory and experience and how the context itself affects learning (Mutton, Hagger and Burn, 2011). Here the mentor is educator, collaborator and model.

Lastly, mentors also need to provide emotional support for beginner teachers in order to ensure their wellbeing. This role can often be under-emphasised by mentors who may place more significant focus on practical issues such as classroom management or subject knowledge.

The variety of roles that effective mentors need to play are summarised in Figure 2 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   (to view a larger pdf version: open this link in a new tab or window by holding down Ctrl, or Cmd on a Mac, when you click)

Figure 2 The variety of roles a mentor takes on

Show description|Hide 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.

Figure 2 The variety of roles a mentor takes on

The next activity will help you consider your own mentoring skills and identify where your strengths may be.

You can use your audit findings to reflect on your strengths and areas for development. You may also wish to consider setting yourself some targets to realise as you complete the course. In Week 4, you will return to this activity to consider your progress.