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Mentoring is complex and rewarding. There are many great teachers who want to help those new to the profession. Mentors can play vital roles in supporting and guiding NQTs, keeping them in the profession and making them in turn great teachers!
The Mentoring Course is a SACE accredited short course.
In this course you will:
Mentor 1:
What have you learned about learning and teaching?
I have learned that it is beneficial to listen to others carefully and then offer advice. Learning opportunities can sometimes take place using the same/similar activities across grades. Teaching is about sharing the load and asking for help. Teaching is a COMMUNITY. Share resources, tips, contacts, and advice. It is important to be patient with yourself; you do not have to accomplish everything on your checklist (prioritise!).
What have you learned about yourself?
Being a mentor this year to a new teacher felt meaningful and that I was of service.
Mentor 2:
What have you learned about learning and teaching?
I learned that I love mentoring. I love listening to the challenges and situations that Teacher A and Teacher B faced. I could share my own experiences with them and offer advice through these. But I also learned that being a mentor was also about listening and guiding the mentee to find their own answers and solutions.
What have you learned about yourself?
I learned that I am a good listener. I was able to listen to all three mentees and their own unique situations. It is important to truly listen and not just look for answers, but to hear another person’s challenge and facilitate discussion to find solutions.
I learned that I would love to be in a mentoring role for teachers and hope to be in a coordination or subject advisor role in the future.
One of the greatest needs expressed by our newly qualified teachers is that of a mentor. To this end, we attempt to match each NQT with an appropriate mentor who understands their context, phase and subject specialities.
We also look for mentors who naturally incline to this role informally or formally within their schools, as well as those who have strong recollections of how difficult their first year of teaching was and can empathise with the NQTs’ challenges. Most mentors selected thus far are based on recommendations from our NQTs directly.
To make the formal mentor role more worthwhile, we have established a short course at the university which awards participants 25 SACE Professional Development points.
The course is effectively a structure in which we are attempting to form a Professional Learning Community. Rather than university staff telling experienced teachers how to mentor, the group convenes as a gathering of professionals to discuss what mentoring means in contexts where time is limited and demands on resources are high.
The philosophy is that mentoring too is a learning journey which enables experienced teachers to reflect and grow as they help others.
If you are an experienced teacher and would like to be considered as a mentor in future, please sign up with us to participate in this Professional Learning Community.
