Who leads and who follows?

Alexander the Great valued learning so highly, that he used to say he

was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to his

father Philip for life.

Samuel Smiles

Who I am?

21 years as an educator (14 in the UK and 7 years in Australia).

Currently a leader at Seaview High School with leadership of student

wellbeing, curriculum and a partnership portfolio.

An DECD’s assessor for the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

(Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher).

Other experience includes working in state-wide services in a Regional

Office and as a student counsellor.

Teaching area is English (including faculty leadership)

What is an effective mentor? How do we

know we are effective?

Ice breaker

On your table, (preferably) choose someone you do not know well.

Think about a time in your life when someone supported you to overcome a

challenging situation.

What was their relationship to you? What qualities and skills did they have which

supported you to overcome the challenge?

Being a good leader isn’t about having power over others, but about instilling

power in others.

Jessica Bohn

Coaching V Mentoring

Coaching is usually short term and focuses on specific skills. The process involves

upskilling the person being coached, leaving them to practise their new skill. A coach is

more often viewed as an expert.

Mentoring centres around both the personal and professional capabilities. The mentor

has skills in the area but the main job is to help the mentee develop their skills. The

mentor encourages them to reflect and problem solve.

Tomlinson, H (2004) Educational Leadership: Personal Growth for Professional Development, Paul Chapman Publishing, London

PERMA- wellbeing matters

PERMA is an acronym for a model of well-being put forth by a pioneer in the field of

positive psychology, Dr Martin Seligman. According to Seligman, PERMA makes up five

important building blocks of well-being and happiness:

Positive emotions – feeling good (optimism)

Engagement – being completely absorbed in activities

Relationships – being authentically connected to others

Meaning – purposeful existence

Achievement – a sense of accomplishment and success

Peter Wilson

Australian Institute of HR- photograph

Peter Wilson is Chairman of the Australian Human Resource Institute,

Chairman of Yarra Valley Water and of Vision Super, and a Director on

the World HR Federation, and the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership

Foundation.

He led the Business Council’s program to mentor senior executive women,

is an Advisory Council member of the Harvard Business Review, and

Adjunct Professor in the School of Management at Monash University.

He authored the book “Make Mentoring Work” in 2012.

Peter Wilson: Effective Mentoring

Mentors who approach the task with an open mind and a willingness to

listen are very likely to learn a thing or two.

Mentoring is often regarded as a one-way street where the mentor imparts

wisdom and knowledge to a less experienced person. But it’s surprising

how many mentors say they also learn from the relationship.

In a recent AHRI ( Australian HR institute) survey of human resources,

two-thirds of mentors said that they received reverse benefits from

mentoring.

https://www.ahri.com.au/ Peter Niesche

Make Mentoring Work- Peter Wilson

A harmonious set of values between mentor and mentee.

A safe haven of trust – especially for the mentee, who needs to expose their

innermost fears and concerns to their mentor in order to make material progress

in overcoming them.

You also bring to the table a unique set of skills with a common understanding.

We all aim to see progress and growth culminating in a confident professional teacher.

Table talk- 10 minutes

What skills/knowledge do you bring to the role of mentor?

What have you, the pre-service teacher (or your school) gained

from mentoring a pre-service teacher?

https://drsaraheaton.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/istock-001.jpg

Providing feedback and support.

Guiding principles.

Difficult conversations

Brian Nizinksy

Looking at the strengths, nurturing the

growth

Practicalities: the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

provide us with the guidelines for preservice teachers( also

Professional Experience Handbook- Flinders)

However, the manner in which feedback is delivered is important:

• Specific

• Constructive

• Positive

• Tone of voice

• Gesticulation

Giving feedback

In giving meaningful feedback mentors need to

Be specific and provide evidence of any conclusions made

Be constructive and concentrate on ways of improving

Avoid comments about personality or attitude

Do not attempt too much too quickly and focus on a few key points

Do not play the amateur psychologist and offer suggestions for underlying behaviour

Encourage the teacher to examine his or her performance

Don’t be drawn into an argument or dispute.

Tomlinson, H (2004) Educational Leadership: Personal Growth for Professional Development, Paul Chapman Publishing, London

Map their growth. Heat Mapping- focuses

conversations.

The decision to locate a teacher’s practice at a particular level is an on balance judgement

based on multiple observations of practice. However, many teachers may locate their

practice across more than one level as some capabilities are more developed than others.

The levels are guidance for practice, not prescription.

Australian Professional Standards

Heat mapping

Australian Professional Standard GRADUATE PROFICIENT

University Grade FAIL PASS CREDIT DISTINCTION HIGH DISTINCTION

Standard

Performance is below an acceptable standard

for a final year pre-service teacher

Performance is at an acceptable

standard for a final year pre-service

teacher

Performance is at the desired standard for

a final year pre-service teacher

Performance is at a high standard for a

final year pre-service teacher Performance and dispositions are at an

outstanding level for a final year pre-service teacher

Descriptors

General

Some expected theoretical and practical

knowledge and skills present, but reliant on

guidance at all or most levels of decision

making. May not be able to implement advice

or guidance.

Relies on guidance in decision making

and imitates expert teachers. Yet to

interpret and translate observed practice

using personal initiative.

Capable of application of theoretical

concepts into practice with minimal

guidance. Exhibits independence of

thought and initiative in planning and

teaching.

Demonstrates an ability to transfer advice

into new contexts without prompting, has

an observable capacity for insightful

analysis of an event, situation or case.

Demonstrates professional practice that is

highly independent, but collaborative

and consultative.

Probert Medal Nominee

Level of Trust

Not yet able to be left unsupervised with

students Still requires a high degree of mentor

supervision to ensure maintenance of safe

practices within the classroom.

Ready to be left unsupervised but needs

support for some complex teaching

situations.

Ready to be left unsupervised. May need

guidance in planning for some complex

teaching activities such as excursions.

Demonstrates readiness to assume full

teaching responsibilities. Shows

competence in planning and managing

complex teaching situations.

Demonstrates skilled classroom

management. Has the capacity to plan

well and manage with confidence a variety of complex teaching situations.

Teaching

Practice

and

Personal Learning

Performance is based largely on imitation of

mentors and others. Understanding and use of

theories of learning to inform teaching is not

sufficient to engender confidence in their ability

to teach unsupervised.

As yet is unable to reflect realistically on personal

performance.

Teaching performance is recipe-like and

often fails to account for contextual

factors or student needs for differentiation

of the curriculum.

Needs guidance in reflecting on and

planning for personal learning.

Incorporates awareness of how students

learn into teaching practice. Exhibits an

enthusiasm for teaching and encourages

student engagement.

Able to evaluate and assess personal performance and set personal learning

goals.

Able to develop new approaches to

routine practices that engage and excite

the learners. Responds readily to learner

interests and differences.

Initiates personal learning. Poses wise questions and seeks and utilises advice

judiciously.

Practice is creative, critically reflective,

generative of new ideas and

transformative of old ways of doing and

knowing.

Seeks new experiences and challenges to expand repertoire of capability.

Communication

Communication and relationships with students,

staff and parent are limited, unsociable or inappropriate.

Requires advice to communicate appropriately in some situations.

Communicates and relates appropriately

with students, staff, parents and caregivers.

Initiates effective communications and

relationships with the whole school community.

Presents a very positive professional

image and seeks opportunities to engage with the wider school community.

Scenarios- reprimanding or guiding.

Scenario A. A pre service teacher has posted on Facebook that your lessons are uninspiring. What is your response?

Scenario B. A pre service with strong IT skills makes the comment that teachers “shouldn’t be employed unless they have good IT knowledge”. What is your response?

Scenario C. A pre service teacher is unable to accept constructive feedback without becoming defensive or argumentative. What is your response?

Scenario D. A pre-service teacher relates to the students as their friend and tends to rescue rather than appropriately challenge students. What is your response??

Finally, as Einstein said “…….

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Mentoring