5 Week 1 summary

This week you have considered the role of the mentor in school. A mentor is viewed as a teacher-educator in their own right, and helps the beginner teacher bring together experiential and intellectual forms of knowledge.

Mentoring is recognised as a continuum along which mentors apply a range of skills tailored to the needs and expertise of their beginner teacher, offering both support and challenge as needed. At the start, the mentor welcomes the beginner teacher into the school and helps them understand the school context. As soon as the beginner teacher is settled, the mentor moves on to supporting the beginner teacher to articulate and reflect on their practice, enabling them to become increasingly autonomous and able to meet standards for entry into the profession.

Mentors also support beginner teachers to explore research and theory, and to include innovations in their practice. Effective mentors set beginner teachers on a journey of professional learning for their whole career. Mentors understand how and when to collaborate with others to support the beginner teacher. Importantly, effective mentors know how to build and draw on wider networks of expertise to support their own mentoring practice, and the teaching knowledge of beginner teachers.

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