Beyond Mentoring: How veteran mentors apply their new skills as teachers and leaders in schools

Transcription

1 Beyond Mentoring: How veteran mentors apply their new skills as teachers and leaders in schools Susan Hanson and Ellen Moir New Teacher Center University of California, Santa Cruz 725 Front Street, Suite 400 Santa Cruz, CA (831) Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 67

2 Beyond Mentoring: How veteran mentors apply their new skills as teachers and leaders in schools The number of mentoring and induction programs for novice teachers has increased dramatically over the past decade. Little research has examined how mentoring contributes to the professional development of experienced teachers and the impact of the mentoring experience on professional practice. This article looks at the skills, knowledge, and dispositions of three mentors who returned to their school communities after three years, and how that experience has influenced their professional practice. Supporting new teachers is complex and demanding work. The veteran teachers who step forward to mentor novice colleagues need time, thoughtfully designed training, and ongoing support to develop the new set of skills and understandings for their role as teachers of teachers. While mentors report that the experience contributes to their professional replenishment and professional competency (Huling, 2001; Moir & Bloom, 2003; Mullinix, 2002), little is known about how they apply their new skills on return to the classroom. The New Teacher Center Teacher Induction Model has emerged from 18 years experience in the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project, a state and district-supported mentoring program. Our model provides for matching new teachers with carefully selected experienced teachers trained to work with adult learners. Mentors are released full time from classroom duties with the expectation they will serve a three-year term. Mentors have a caseload of first and second-year teachers whom they work with in their classrooms, during the school day, for at least one-and-ahalf hours a week. Mentoring support is grounded in the NTC Formative Assessment System, a structured professional development system linked to state teaching standards and content area standards. Mentors observe classroom practice and offer feedback, support new teachers to design effective lessons, help with collection and analysis of student data, and offer demonstration lessons. They identify district and community resources and facilitate new teacher interaction with colleagues, parents, and administrators. Although mentors provide emotional support and help with classroom management, their focus is on helping new teachers to assess and meet their students Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 68

3 instructional needs. New teachers also participate in daylong workshops, have opportunities to network with other new teachers, and are provided time to observe exemplary teachers. Our induction model recognizes that becoming a skilled mentor is a developmental process grounded in ongoing collaborative work with peers. Mentors come together each week for a Friday Forum, where they learn together about mentoring, beginning teacher development, formative assessment, standards, teaching, effective pedagogy for working with English Language Learners, and subject specific content and pedagogy. A mentoring curriculum provides a framework for Friday Forums, but the topics addressed and the learning processes are selected in response to the self-assessed mentor teachers needs. Time is allocated to strengthen the mentor community of practice, to revisit mentoring concepts and strategies, to practice and deepen skills, to model and analyze best mentoring practices or the use of formative assessment protocols, and to problem-solve issues of practice. In addition to helping new teachers reach higher levels of practice, our induction program provides an important new professional role for the veteran teachers who become mentors. Selection as a mentor provides a new avenue for leadership for senior teachers who wish to share their expertise with their peers, one that validates their central role in education. Over 120 teachers working in two local counties have completed their mentorship. What Mentors Do After Mentoring This past year we interviewed 18 former mentors from the SCNTP. The interviewees were selected from a group of 72 teachers who began working as mentors between the years of 1999 and 2000 and completed their mentorship. They provided a history of their career path and answered questions regarding the contribution of their mentoring experience to their personal development, their leadership activities, and their current work. Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 69

4 We also mailed a survey to former mentors 1. From 50 respondents we learned that 91% of them returned to work in schools or teacher training programs. Just over one third returned to the classroom, almost half took leadership positions, and just under one fifth officially retired. What Mentors Do After Mentoring Current Position Number Classroom Teacher 17 (34%) Resource Specialists, 12 (24%) Teacher Leaders 2 Principal or Assistant 9 (18%) Principal, College Professor 3 (6%) Other 3 9 (18%) Mentors report that having been a mentor enhanced their professional practice and that the Friday Forums were particularly important. In this paper, we offer three vignettes of former mentors who have applied the knowledge and skills they gained as mentors upon returning to work in schools. Representative portraits of a resource specialist, a classroom teacher, and administrator illustrate the power of the mentoring experience to influence the career paths and the professional practice of educators and the schools in which they work. Bilingual Resource Teacher Jan is a Bilingual Resource Teacher in an elementary school. This full-time position allows Jan to work with other teachers and to focus on English language learners. The job felt like it would have more continuity for me as far as being able to influence collaboration and instruction. For me it s instruction, planning, and collaboration. That s what I want to be a part of. 1 The survey was mailed to 72 mentors. 8 were returned with wrong address. 64 were probably received. 2 Includes bilingual resource teachers, literacy coaches, Reading specialists, inclusion specialists. 3 Includes primarily mentors who are retired and/or consulting. Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 70

5 As a mentor Jan was trained in how to help new teachers with the analysis of student work, and she felt teachers benefited from the structured collegial coaching process. She replicated the strategy with the teachers she was assigned to support. People loved it and so we really integrated it into our plans, especially in the beginning with writing, but then we started moving it into reading and then I moved it into teaching English language development (ELD). I just adapted the NTC model. Jan said that she and her colleagues use strategies and techniques they learned while working as mentors. Together they have become a critical influence for progress throughout the school district. That progress is reflected not only in expanding instructional strategies used by teachers to teach every student effectively, but also in the other areas of planning and collaboration that Jan values highly. Jan feels that one of the most powerful components of being a mentor was the weekly Friday Forum. On Fridays those three-hour staff development meetings were unbelievable because they don t usually happen at schools. The professional development staff meetings were really a model for me, as far as trying to bring that feeling back into the schools The feeling of being honored as a professional, the feeling of being able to study something, discuss it with your peers, and maybe implement some tiny change in your practice from being kind of nurtured in that environment. Now, as a member of the leadership team at her school, Jan employs strategies she used as a mentor and she has become a valuable resource for new ideas. For example, Jan influenced her administration to appropriate resources to three off-campus retreats where teachers could work collaboratively in ways that Jan hoped would resemble Friday Forums. Former mentors unanimously reported that their experiences as mentors enabled them to be stronger leaders. Jan, among others, noted her increased confidence resulting from having new skills and increased status and credibility after being a mentor. Like Jan, other former mentors Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 71

6 returning to schools were eager to help construct professional learning communities that include norms of collaboration learned from SCNTP. Elementary Classroom Teacher Mary returned to teaching the same grade, having gained, she said, a broader perspective about teaching and learning. She found she had to adjust to teaching students again, with more assessment for which she is accountable, less time for integrated projects, and her own goals for being an effective teacher. Mary works long days in order to review student work and target instruction based upon needs. I feel it every single day--how hard it is to meet the needs of 37 children in my classroom. And they re all different. I don t know how you can do everything there is to do Formative assessment, that s what you have to use to meet the needs of the kids. If we don t see what they did on Monday in order impact our instruction on Tuesday, we don t get as big a bang for our buck. Using a technique drawn from the Friday Forums, Problem Posing; Problem Solving, Mary hopes to create a professional culture of responsibility for all children at her school. We ll start it perhaps at our grade levels first where there s a relationship and there s trust, so teachers can be heard. I think that s Step 1 to establishing a uniform policy that we are a community and that all of these children are ours. Mary was placed on the leadership team upon her return and asked to help lead professional development days before school opened. Having led meetings as a mentor, she noted: I didn t fret about it I just knew how to do it, whereas other teachers on staff who hadn t done things like that found it was a huge commitment because they aren t used to organizing a meeting or running one We created the format Another teacher Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 72

7 and I put an assessment wall up so people can see. That s how you share, that s how you communicate, is to have that information up. That s right out of the New Teacher Project! Like other former mentors, Mary has confidence resulting from having new skills and enhanced status and credibility. Mary finds the strategies of coaching and working with new teachers is exactly what you do when you come back on a staff. She explained how the coaching skills are applicable at school: It s how to talk, how to work with other teachers at grade level meetings or at staff meetings. And how to listen. All those coaching strategies of paraphrasing and making sure that other people s voices are in the room. Being so aware of that, which is probably not something I recognized as much before the New Teacher Project. These are the things that help me to teach to others What I didn t have was the language, the labels. I can do it by modeling, but I also can do it by labeling. While Mary has had many successes as a teacher leader, like other veteran mentors returning to schools, she misses the reflective process with colleagues. Mary tried to develop a collegial community to serve this need. She gathered five colleagues to read and discuss articles, but after awhile it sort of fizzled. Her inability to create a collegial community focused on improving instruction disappointed her. I know enough about going back to the classroom to know that you can get so immersed in the routine of the classroom that there s no chance to reflect. Not a moment to reflect, and that s my sad thing that I haven t taken back from the project. Mary has the vision and skills to place teacher development at the core of school activities, but she found it challenging to sustain new collegial practices. She is one of several mentors who returned to schools as teachers and found national and state policy changes that leave teachers less room for initiative. Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 73

8 Middle School Vice Principal Nora is a vice principal at a middle school. As a mentor Nora supported new teachers at several schools, observing a range of policies and school norms and the impact of school culture on teaching and learning. When she started her first year as an administrator, Nora primarily observed and listened to her colleagues to understand the school culture and build trust. Beginning her second year, Nora shared ideas for processes and structures to improve the professional school culture. Her prior experience with mentor Friday Forum meetings guided her vision of new norms her school should employ: They talked about positive presuppositions and equity of voice. The whole notion that you don t look at someone and just go, Well, five years ago you made me angry, and so I m still going to be angry with you. Instead, we should assume that everyone s doing their best work and not look for grievances. Don t look for areas to criticize, but look at what it is and how can we improve together. Nora witnessed some teacher interactions in staff meetings that she wanted to eliminate. Working with the principal, Nora helped establish norms for staff meetings that encourage teachers to respect each other as professionals. Nora now helps facilitate the meetings and she is proud of their improvement. It really has transformed the culture at this school in terms of what teachers do and expect from meetings The tone of meetings, it s not quite night and day, but it s getting really close. Nora was eager to establish a professional learning community of teachers who would get used to talking about, not just what they re teaching, but how they re teaching and start having them learn from one another... so that they could Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 74

9 have a place to kind of debrief and set some goals for themselves as leaders being a leader during times of change or advocating for an area that we need to start looking at as a staff. She invited four teachers whom she had observed were always tapped for everything to the new Teacher Leadership Collaborative (TLC). Before long, the teachers wanted to bring their friends and now it is a group of It s similar to a Friday Forum. I just replicated that learning community. It was the first time in the school that I thought this is professionalism at it s best. We had people who previously wouldn t speak to one another and now they are starting to do some advocacy pieces with each other! Nora s perspective about teacher support that she gained as a mentor has also influenced her teacher evaluation responsibilities. I look at it [teacher evaluation] as a way to improve practice. I ask them a lot more questions about what they want me to look for and how they re going to align with the goals. I ask for that kind of information and it s not just me coming in and judging them, it s very different. Nora s passion for supporting teachers effectively and having them feel supported is the foundation for all her work. Our survey confirmed that, like Nora, most veteran mentors who become administrators give a high priority to supporting new teachers. Nora meets with new teachers every five weeks to talk about site-specific issues, and to learn about their needs. As in the SCNTP, her new teachers are released to observe colleagues classes with guidance: I say, When you re in Susan s room notice this and this. Then I have them talk to me about it. I want them to get used to learning from one another and talk about not just what they re teaching, but how they re teaching. Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 75

10 The Standards for the Teaching Profession Continuum that Nora used as a mentor has been useful for initiating conversations with new and struggling teachers about their performance. Being a mentor was pivotal because it changed my perception of myself from classroom teacher who is really comfortable with kids to someone who can work with adults and make change. As a mentor she learned how to provide teacher support focused on improving teaching practices.. What I learned from the project s version of coaching is that it s not about judgment. It s about taking data and then talking about the practice, and that s huge. Being accountable to someone with that coaching piece You have to make sure you re doing the real work of advising It s about talking and improving your practice. Nora follows her own advice to teachers. She reflects on her work using a continuum for administrators, which has shown the need to improve her budgeting skills, and she shares the information with the staff. Nora is an example of a teacher who as a mentor acquired knowledge about how effective instructional communities work, and she uses her new leadership position to provide structures, strategies, and support to help teachers hone their instructional craft knowledge (Suppovitz & Christman, 2005). As a vice principal she works to reproduce the collaborative model of support she experienced as a mentor and promote new professional relationships among teachers. The Value of Veteran Mentors for Schools These three vignettes of former mentors demonstrate how they have applied their new skills and attitudes to their new roles. Former mentors have new instructional skills and see themselves as leaders who can impact the educational system. The positions that former mentors assume, as well as the political and economic context of their schools, affect their ability to implement their vision. Mentoring as a leadership path is a fairly new role in education and some schools are unprepared to support former mentors as school and teacher leaders. Administrators should Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 76

11 consider the potential benefits and challenges of restructuring schools to take advantage of what veteran mentors have to offer upon their return. Interviews with former mentors working in schools suggest the New Teacher Center s mentor program is developing cadres of former teachers with the vision and skills to place the improvement of teacher practices at the core of school improvement. Joyce (2004) suggests teachers need to experience cooperative professional inquiry before they will commit to it (p. 82). Former mentors featured in this paper provide examples of such commitment. As teachers, leaders, and colleagues, they are eager to construct and sustain a school culture of professional practice that includes collaboration and inquiry to improve professional practice. References Huling, Leslie-Resta, Virginia, (2001) Teacher mentoring as professional development, ED Joyce, Bruce (2004) How are professional learning communities created? Educational Leadership, 86(1), Moir, Ellen & Bloom, Gary. (2003). Fostering leadership through mentoring. Educational Leadership, 60(8), Mullinix, Bonnie B. (2002). Selecting and retaining teacher mentors. ED Suppovitz, Jonathan A. & Christman, Jolley Bruce. (2005) Small Learning Communities That Actually Learn: Lessons for School Leaders. Phi Delta Kappan 86(9), Teacher Induction, Mentoring and Renewal Conference 77