Mentoring can be messy. But when it is delivered effectively it can be transformational – especially for early career teachers (ECTs).
In this article, I would like to draw on my experience as a mentor to offer five practical pillars of mentoring for ECTs.
The Early Career Framework
First, a quick recap of why mentoring is now front and centre for all new teachers. According to the Early Career Framework (DfE, 2019), all ECTs going through induction must have an induction mentor. Mentors offer sessions to provide feedback and offer or source effective support, including subject or phase-specific coaching and supporting the ECT if they are having difficulties. The ECF says that the mentor must:
- Meet regularly with the ECT for structured mentor sessions to provide effective targeted feedback.
- Work collaboratively with the ECT and other colleagues involved in the ECT’s induction.
- Provide/support access to effective support, including phase or subject-specific mentoring and coaching.
- Take prompt/appropriate action if an ECT appears to be having difficulties.
While there is a clear link to mentoring ECTs, this article offers five key elements that all mentors might adopt, no matter who they are supporting.
1, Know your ‘productive place’
Much research has sought to define the mechanics of coaching and mentoring. It is important to know our role, but do not get lost in defining the everyday mechanics of what it means to be a mentor amid new Early Career Framework (ECF) terminology.
In my experience, a successful and nurturing relationship between an ECT and mentor often includes the mechanics and objectives of both a coaching and mentoring relationship.
- Mentoring as relating “primarily to the identification and nurturing of potential for the whole person” (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 2005).
- Coaching as “primarily related to performance improvement (often short-term) in a specific skills area. The goals, or at least the intermediate or sub-goals, are typically set with or at the suggestion of the coach” (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 2005).
As Lofthouse and Thomas (2017) highlight, what both mentoring and coaching share is the ability to create a “productive place” for professional dialogue if facilitated effectively. This is a good focus to have.
2, Applause
Mentoring an ECT into the first few years of their teaching journey is a privilege.
The ECF was launched by the DfE as part of its wider response to the recruitment and retention challenges facing the profession. However, avoid anchoring on the idea that the mentoring is all about keeping ECTs in the job.
The mentoring relationship should be built on trust and with a long-term commitment to the development of the whole person (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 2005).
Each week when meeting with mentees I ask them to begin with an “applause” from the previous week, before moving into “asks” and “actions” (see below).
Each session begins with an affirmative recognition of something that can be celebrated: a tricky phone call with a parent that went well, a notable moment from a developmental drop-in, or a positive comment from a student. It reminds your mentee that applause of self and one another is an important part of our growth as educators.
3, Ask
Socrates is revered for the use of questions to probe the validity of misconceptions and assumptions.
Questions would be posed by both educator and learner as a means of drawing out an understanding of a topic.
Brill and Yarden (2003) note that this is one of the main reasons why Socratic questioning is so powerful in educational organisations.
It is easy to lose sight of the many questions you had when you were a novice.
I recently took on my first trust-wide improvement role. From “where is the nearest toilet?” to “what is our school improvement plan for that academy?”, keeping a daily note of questions for my colleagues has been important in navigating unfamiliar territory.
On occasion, ECTs may not understand what questions to ask or other barriers that exist to them asking effective questions.
Create deliberate time and space to “ask questions together”. This may be questions directed towards aspects of practice or more broadly to other aspects of school life and the education landscape.
4, Action
Social psychologist, Kurt Lewin, is credited with the maxim “there is nothing so practical as a good theory” (Hunt, 1987).
The implied philosophy is that to develop substantive theory, practitioners must have access to instances of good practice.
In the context of mentoring ECTs, practice that is consistently being done well is being delivered with the mechanics and principles of good theoretical underpinning.
We do not expose the ECT to these theories because of a whim, we do it because it is widely tested and because we know it can impact practice.
Space should be made for the ECT to consider the rationale and underpinning or thinking behind these approaches in relation to their practice.
Emma Nelson is an ECT at Tees Valley Education Trust in the North East of England. Emma shared with me how this has been a mechanism of her mentoring relationship with the deputy headteacher.
“My mentor helps me source research reading around key teaching and learning principles,” she explained, “and she then helps me break-down the theory into bite-sized steps for her and I to practise in our sessions.”
Emma believes that this helps her to develop clarity on pedagogical approaches rather than leaving them ambiguous. She added: “Much like in our classrooms with learners, this enables me to help learning stick because we are recapping and retrieving with small granular steps.”
5, Space to grow as a mentor
Mentoring growth in others is rewarding and complex. It is important for us to create space for our own growth too throughout the process.
In my own mentoring relationship, I will sometimes use a trusted colleague in the senior leadership team or even from outside of my own school/s to check in with and discuss how my mentees are progressing.
Without breaking confidence or trust, this can be a useful way of seeking expertise from others regarding what instructional steps may need to look like for your mentee moving forward.
Rosanna Hume is lead practitioner at St Wilfred’s RC College in South Shields and has worked extensively with ECTs. She told me: “Your own professional development as a mentor is critical so try and set a specific time to one side each week for your own CPD.”
Rosanna suggests engaging with EduTwitter, CPD and support networks like #WomenEd, listening to podcasts – not least the SecEd Podcast and its recent episode on mentoring and coaching – are all part of what the regular diet of a mentor should be.
- Sean Harris is a doctoral researcher with Teesside University and a trust improvement leader at Tees Valley Education in the North East. Follow him on Twitter @SeanHarris_NE and read his previous articles for SecEd via http://bit.ly/seced-harris
SecEd Autumn Edition 2022
This article first appeared in SecEd's Autumn Edition 2022. This edition was sent free of charge to every secondary school in the country. A digital edition is also available via www.sec-ed.co.uk/digital-editions/
Further information & resources
- Allen: The art of mentoring, the Centre for Monitoring, 2004.
- Brill & Yarden: Learning biology through research papers: A stimulus for question-asking, Cell Biology Education, 2003.
- Connor & Pokora: Coaching and mentoring at work: Developing effective practice, Open University Press, 2007
- DfE: Early Career Framework, January 2019: https://bit.ly/3vqkRQc
- Hunt: Beginning with Ourselves: In practice, theory and human affairs, Brookline, 1987.
- Howard, Hawkins, & Goldsmith: The art and practice of leadership coaching: 50 top executive coaches reveal their secrets, John Wiley, 2005.
- Lofthouse & Thomas: Concerning collaboration: Teachers’ perspectives on working in partnerships to develop teaching practices, Professional Development in Education (43,1), 2017.
- Megginson & Clutterbuck: Techniques for coaching and mentoring, Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, 2005.
- SecEd Podcast: Coaching and mentoring in schools, September 2021: https://bit.ly/3jh8Zwi