Mentors, schools and learning
What is the role of mentoring in schools and pre-service education courses?
Maryann Brown looks at two virtual mentoring programs in which pre-service education students mentor school students, and explores the development of the role of practising teachers acting as mentors to pre-service students.
Anyone who has ever had a valued mentor knows the pleasure of being affirmed, guided and supported through a series of experiences. I have been fortunate to have had wonderful mentors in my life. These people have shared a similar attitude to work and some fundamental beliefs with me. Some have been formally assigned as mentors and some have been informally allied. The interesting thing is that while I have learnt a great deal from mentors, I know they have also learnt from me. Sometimes we have worked on shared projects together. Whatever the relationship, I have been convinced of the value of mentoring as a way of learning.
The term mentor has its origins in Homer’s The Odyssey. When Odysseus went off to fight the Trojan Wars he entrusted his advisor, Mentor, with the care of his household and the education of his son. Over time, the term mentor has developed to mean trusted advisor, counsellor, teacher, wise person and friend. There is a sense of embracing a responsibility that values the sharing of experiences and knowledge as a way of learning.
Mentoring has been included in the pre-service secondary teacher education program that I coordinate at the University of Ballarat. Initially, I worked on a couple of projects where university students had the opportunity to act as virtual mentors for school students within our region. More recently I have been interested in developing the possibilities of teachers in schools acting as mentors for pre-service teachers.
Virtual mentoring
The School of Education at the University of Ballarat has been involved in virtual mentoring programs for a number of years. Essentially, pre-service teachers are paired with school students and they learn from each other. Two programs have run in the secondary teacher education course, the Graduate Diploma of Education (GDE). In one program, English curriculum method students have supported students in their Victorian Certificate of Education work. In another, GDE students have acted as mentors for students from rural schools as they have developed a project together. These mentoring experiences have been conducted mainly through email contact, although there have been some ‘real’ meetings at the beginning and end.
The English curriculum students supported the VCE students in a number of ways. They offered suggestions to help students get started on tasks; they commented on pieces of work; they asked reflective questions; they ‘discussed’ (virtually) issues that students were studying; they proofread drafts; they assisted students in finding resources; and they sometimes provided support or advice about broader social issues.
At university we were focussing on learning about the VCE, the texts the students were studying and the tasks they would be required to do. We were conscious of not ‘doing the work’ for the students, but supporting and guiding them in their learning.
Some interesting learning experiences eventuated:
I was really pleased that we have been given the opportunity to ‘mentor’ students in English. It enables us to apply our teacher training to a real setting. We work with ‘real’ students with actual work requirements...
I have to say I’m enjoying the project immensely. I find myself checking the email each day now... to see if there’s a message... I think I am learning a lot, and an advantage with virtual classrooms is that I can check up if I’m not sure about something before I send a reply...
Another Virtual Mentoring Program, run with rural students in year 10, often from isolated areas, required the students to develop a project with their mentor on an area of shared interest. Email contact was regular and a web page or electronic presentation was the end product. The program has been evaluated each year and the feedback is generally very positive.
The strengths of the program, according to the school student partners, have tended to focus on personal/social and technological issues. School students particularly commented on the importance of having control of their learning.
I actually got to study something I was interested in. I could take it as far as I wanted. I liked being able to really extend myself and study with someone close to my own age. It was good to be exposed to university life.
The students liked the opportunity to negotiate content and outcomes, and to manage their time. ‘I had more room to move and do what I want’. They also enjoyed using the technology, communicat-ing via email and developing a web page. ‘I learnt a lot about the Internet and how to make a good web page’. The social side of the program was a feature: ‘I enjoyed having someone other than a teacher with the same interests to help with work’; ‘It was fun, I met lots of nice people and got on really well with my mentor. It was great seeing our project come together’.
The experiences gained from the Virtual Mentoring Programs have informed my thinking about mentoring of pre-service teachers by practising teachers:
- the mentoring relationship develops over time;
- the partners act as co-learners;
- mentors negotiate their roles with students; and
- they negotiate the tasks they will develop.
Qualities of effective mentors
Mentoring of school students and university students has some common elements. Mentors and partners have to share an interest in working together and learning together. Effective mentors need to have a sound understanding of the importance of good relationships in the learning process. They need to be prepared to work with the student to establish that relationship and to accept the learner as an individual. The mentor needs to be able to support the learner without stifling them, to challenge the learner without threatening them.
Schoolteacher mentors have some additional responsibilities. They need to introduce the student to the complexities of the organisational structure of the school and the profession without daunting them; to share their passion for their content area and their profession, and their understanding of the complexity of the teaching and learning interaction. The realities of teaching need to be addressed, but the enthusiasm and idealism of beginning teachers should never be quashed. Schoolteacher mentors need to see the student holistically and to work with them to develop their potential. It is crucial that communication channels remain open even when there is tension, and that all parties appreciate the value of reflecting on professional practice.
To achieve the best possible outcomes it is important for universities to work together with schools and mentor teachers to establish shared goals and a sound understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all participants.
Teachers mentoring pre-service teachers
Some of the tensions around teacher education seem to stem from disagreement about ‘who should be doing what’. University learning is sometimes viewed as unnecessarily theoretical; often pre-service teachers are criticised for not being adequately prepared at university. Wendy Hastings and Don Squires point out that ‘the relationship between the university and the rest of the education profession is often shaped by traditional attitudes and expectations [and assumptions about power residing with the universities]... and such an arrangement can seriously inhibit student learning.’
The traditional model of becoming a teacher has involved the learning of content knowledge and then getting plenty of practical experience. Teachers have been asked to ‘supervise’ and judge students on practical placements. Supervisors have held the power and have been expected to pass on their accumulated wisdom. Nowadays there is much greater understanding of the complexity of the learning process and the subtleties of the teaching/learning interaction.
In the UK there has been a move towards the school-based teacher education model, where pre-service teachers spend extended periods working with mentor teachers in schools. The model has generated research into the role and responsibilities of mentors and the relationships they develop with pre-service teachers. Many teacher education courses in Australia are trying to work more closely with schools and are developing programs where teachers are seen as mentors rather than the traditional supervisors.
Most teachers who agree to have student teachers are extremely committed to the profession and they understand that learning to teach is developmental and ongoing. They share a desire to have skilled, reflective, creative professionals who respond to students and the challenges of their position. Formalising the school-based experience as one based on mentoring seems an obvious development.
Different mentoring models have been, and will be, developed by schools and universities. There is no doubt that mentoring-virtual and real-has a valuable place in the world of education. Being mentored by pre-service teachers can broaden school students’ horizons; pre-service teachers can learn about school students’ learning through acting as mentors, and they, in turn, can be guided into the teaching profession by practising teacher mentors.
Hastings, W & Squires, D (2002).
'Restructuring and reculturing: Practicum supervision as professional development for teachers’.
Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 30:1, 79-91.
EQ Winter 2002 © Curriculum Corporation