Course: Tutor Teachers as Mentors

Facilitator: Sharon Ross
Literary Consultant
sross985@gmail.com

What?




P 06: The impact of  teacher's practice on ākonga learning, achievement, and well-being is central to the appraisal process.

Overarching statements

1. Teachers play a critical role in enabling the educational achievement of all ākonga/ learners 1.
2. The Treaty of Waitangi extends equal status and rights to Māori and Pākehā. This places a particular responsibility on all teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand to promote equitable learning outcomes.
3. In an increasingly multi-cultural Aotearoa New Zealand, teachers need to be aware of and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga.
4. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Code of Ethics / Ngā Tikanga Matatika commits certificated teachers to the highest standards of professional service in promoting the learning of those they teach

Information for all teachers to refer to about the teacher standards:

Name change:
Provisionally Certified Teachers (PCTs)

Roles and Requirements of Mentor Teachers:

Pages 17 and 18 of Guidelines of Induction and Mentoring and Mentor Teachers above.

Includes professional and personal roles.  This may include using data gathered and also personal support such as 'maintain their enthusiasm'.

Support and Guidance:

Suited to your PCT's needs. Discussed on pages 25 & 26 of Guidelines of Induction and Mentoring and Mentor Teachers above. 

Page 10 of A Mentor Teacher Guide gives tips for meeting with mentored teachers.  Good ideas for recognising success and rewarding improvements in practice.  Page 11 gives guidelines for how t support a mentored teacher.

The book also has some examples of observation sheets that could be used.





Observations:

I liked these questions because they will be good for H when I'm working with her, but also good for me to think about when I'm writing feedback from observations.

After observations, give them your feedback and make a time to discuss it (within 24 hours). There is an observation feedback sheet on p.22 of A Mentor Teacher Guide.

"Allow the mentored teacher to start the follow-up discussion. What did they think went well? Do they agree with your feedback? What do they think are the next steps for them as a teacher and for their students? What feedback was particularly important for them? Why?

Setting up successful observations is straightforward, but it does require preplanning (to contract the purpose of the observation) and follow up.

Effective feedback: 

• "Affirms, informs, and guides future learning (ELP 2003 p. 84 or ELP 2006 p.86)
• Constructive
• Based on evidence - data, planning, ....
• "Causes thinking to occur" - William
• Keep as evidence

Be aware of the support required:
Sometimes it is enough for the mentor to be available. At other times it may be necessary to explicitly explain a process, step by step.

Keeping records:
Guidelines for induction and Mentoring (above) p.10
Preactising Teacher Criteria (above) p.07
A Metor Teacher Guide (Deirdre Senior) p.09

Online support/examples of record keeping:

• http://traintheteacher.me/graduating-teacher-standards-e-portfolio/ (click on 'here' at the end)
• https://sites.google.com/site/rtcacoltham/
• https://sites.google.com/site/nzteacherreflections/home
• http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Practising-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning

Induction and Mentoring in your setting - an analysis of needs:

So what?

For me, the biggest point was validation - for the first term, much of H's release time was spent fighting fires - meeting testing and camp requirements.  I was feeling like I hadn't spent enough time doing observations. However, during this workshop, I came to realise that that was okay.  H was burdened by a huge testing regime and needed to complete a lot of camp preparations.  Now that those things are done, I can turn my attention to a programme of mentoring.

What now?

I need to work out H's release times and look at her goals so we can plan a mentoring programme that will meet her needs.