Mentoring Made easy

Mentoring is crucial for teachers to grow and learn. Having the skills to mentor is even more important. Quality questions encourage quality reflection. These conversations either empower or disempower people to want to learn and grow. This course shares Coaching Psychology as evidence-based strategies to make mentoring simple and pactical.

In this course we explore;

1. The Changing Nature of Mentoring
Mentoring in education has existed for a long time but with changes to accountability, appraisals and professional development plans, mentoring has changed. Here we explore the similarities & differences between coaching and mentoring as well as unpacking the role of a mentor.

2. Creating a Culture of Trust
We may be aware of the learning process for students, but what about staff? In order for adults to learn, we need to question our current beliefs, decisions, thoughts and actions. This can be both exciting and confronting. Knowing how to build a culture of trust is crucial if mentors are going to effectively cultivate a positive relationship.

3. Coaching in Education
Coaching is the fastest growing industry in the world and is now makes its way into education. Coaching uses specific micro-skills in listening and questioning that support the process of mentoring. By learning these micro-skills, mentors are able to have meaningful conversations that are strategic and encourage reflection.

4. The Art of Questioning
As teachers, we are always asking questions of our students, coupled with detailed instructions on how to scaffold learning as they move towards achieving outcomes. However, in a mentoring context, the outcome is not determined by us but by the mentee. As a result, we must use specific and effective questioning to help people be solution-focussed as opposed to problem-focussed. By doing so, people become more empowered, more responsible and more engaged with their own goals.

5. The Frameworks
Now that we are clearer on our role and have some basic coaching micro-skills to build, we need specific tools to help us scaffold our conversations. Here we explore three universal and common frameworks, the Coaching Wheel, SMART goals and GROW.

6. Putting it all together
The foundation of any successful mentor program is planning. Here you create your individualised mentoring program that is unique for you and your role at school. Whether this be using the Professional Teaching Standards to reflect on practice, supporting colleagues in career development or working with pre-service teachers, you will have an opportunity to create your mentoring program complete with skills, tools and resources.