Establish a mutual trust and respect.
Encourage mentee to lead the reflection to aid discussion for development.
Encourage continuing observations of a wide range of subjects and staff with a focus on areas being discussed in targets.
1. To ensure my trainees feel their own views are equal in value, start all mentor meetings and observation feedback sessions with their views and comments. It is vital that they are allowed to reflect and share their views, alongside considering the focus of meetings, this informing their own perception of needs and areas of strength. I feel that it is important for the trainee to lead feedback in order to evaluate where there may be problems and how we can problem solve in order to progress.
2. In order to support new teachers in taking risks and trying something new, it is imperative that they observe other teachers across the curriculum to view other teaching styles and consider how their ideas can be adjusted to other subject areas.
3. Use mentor target setting to allocate time to wider reading of new initiative/ideas in teaching. Use this reading in later mentoring sessions to consider how this can be implemented in own planning.
I plan to have question led mentor meetings, allowing my mentee to reflect and identify their own targets where appropriate. I also plan to do some joint observations with my mentee to see in practice what good/outstanding looks like in different strands. To provide a range of strategies to try to enable my mentee to get a feel for a variety of teaching styles in order to see which strategies work best for them.
1) In meetings to develop a culture of openness which allows student's to discuss and ask questions about their teaching practices and the progress of the students in their lessons.
2) To have an 'open door' policy which allows students to go and observed as many teachers as possible, to enable them to witness good practice and adapt it to their own teaching.
3) To allow trainees to reflect on their own practices and use lesson observations and even student voice to improve their teachings practices.
Adopting a coaching approach to mentoring and letting the trainee develop as an individual is proving successful. Ensuring that as a department we are collaborating to ensure a consistent approach to lesson feedback.
After reading the CUREE framework I would plan to put the following in place:
1. For growing self reflection I would discuss with the trainee what area they would most like me to observe in their lesson and focus in on one thing. For example, he/she may feel they are struggling with behaviour management, I would suggest to strip a lesson back to basics and focus on effective behaviour management strategies.
2. For a learning conversation, I would ensure that in mentor meetings it is a two way dialogue and the trainee feels that they can ask questions and speak openly about their lesson.
3. For experimenting and observing, I would encourage the trainee to take risks in lessons, such as a no pen lesson or no projectors for a week.
1. Ensuring that there is an open and honest dialogue between mentor and trainee by ensuring that any feedback given is constructive and supportive and by allowing the trainee to feel that they can approach their mentor for advice, ask any questions and seek support in all areas.
2. In our school, we have started to use Pineapple Charts, which allow teachers to open up their classrooms for lessons that they choose, so that other teachers can pop in for an informal learning walk. By embracing this strategy, it will enable the trainee to observe good practice among a range of different teachers, learn new strategies for behaviour as well as teaching and learning.
3. Regular mentor meetings where the trainee feels responsible for their learning and the next steps for what they need and want to achieve. The mentor can help the trainee to reflect on what they have seen and learnt and help them with how they can use this to move forward with their training.
