Listening Supports Reflection

Donald Schön (1983) described professionals as reflective practitioners who continually make sense of their experiences in order to improve future practice.

Reflection, however, rarely develops in isolation.

Trainees often begin mentor meetings with incomplete or confused thinking.

For example, a trainee may initially state:

"The lesson just didn't go very well."

Through careful listening and thoughtful questioning, the mentor can help the trainee move beyond this broad judgement.

By the end of the discussion, the trainee may instead recognise:

"Actually, most pupils understood the learning. The issue was that I moved on before checking whether the quieter pupils were ready."

Notice that the mentor has not provided the answer.

Instead, listening has allowed the trainee to organise their own thinking.

This distinction is important. Effective mentors do not simply solve problems. Instead, they help trainees develop the professional thinking required to solve future problems independently.