Supporting the Professional Development of English Language Teachers

Facilitative Mentoring

Melissa K. Smith, Marilyn Lewis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351737623
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Applying the principles of facilitative teaching to mentorship, this book brings together well-established knowledge about mentoring with the experiences and ideas of mentors in the field to advance and support the professional development of language teachers. Recognizing the impact of globalization and technology, Smith and Lewis identify processes and pathways for mentors to develop multi-layered skills for working with teachers in both their own and cross-cultural contexts, and in face-to-face and virtual settings. Grounded in theory, this innovative approach is illustrated with authentic experiences, and ready to be applied by readers in their specific settings around the world.

With an interactive design that encourages participation and practice, each chapter includes vignettes, reflections, and challenging scenarios from mentors in training. Self-reflection and task sections at the end of each chapter engage the reader in combining theory with practice. Sample materials such as mentor-mentee contracts, work plans, journal templates, discussion suggestions (face-to-face or online), and observation forms deepen understanding and enable mentors to adapt or create their own materials. This practical and context-adaptable guide is accessible to mentors at any career stage, for use in personal professional development, or as part of mentor training sessions.

Section IV
Task-Based Mentoring

Maybe the next time you observe, it would be a good idea to have something beforehand that you have talked to her about, either something that she wants you to observe about her teaching or even something that you want to observe in her teaching that you are having a problem with. [She] is a great teacher and I know you can learn a lot from her.

—Carlos (giving feedback to himself)

There was one teacher who came to me later asking for advice and help in creating and using portfolios. That was rewarding, and I felt like my efforts had been useful for at least one teacher. I was also able to see how impractical some of my advice had been in the session. If I were to do this session again, I would have done it differently and included more samples rather than theoretical ideas.

—Rachel

I loved doing that project. It has been a pivotal part of my experience in fact. I am so thankful that those teachers were willing to participate so wholeheartedly for me—and for them.

—Rachel

Chapter 9
Classroom Observation

What do you Think?

1. What can we learn from teachers’ experiences being observed and mentors’ experiences as observers?
2. What issues may a mentor face when observing a mentee?
3. What are some ways to manage these issues?
4. What are some considerations when planning for and implementing an observation?

Mentoring tasks are authentic and collaborative (between mentor and mentee) learning activities that should lead toward more success in the mentee’s classroom. Task-based mentoring is the process of using these activities to encourage teacher learning, reflection, and ownership. The next chapter talks about group mentoring tasks, and then Chapter 11 introduces action research as a collaborative activity for learning teaching. First, though, let’s begin with what is often seen as the primary task of a mentoring relationship: classroom observation.

Three veteran English language teachers in different settings were asked to reflect on being observed. One shared her positive experiences. The other two noted the same benefit: an outside, objective view of their classrooms. In her musings, however, the third teacher, first listed her negative experiences as if needing to clear out a path to the positives. Dovetailing with feedback, observation is often seen as a mentor’s primary role. Because it may also be the main source of affective issues, we start with these negatives, hoping to clear out a path to the positives.

In Their Own Words: Teachers Reflect on Being Observed

One Teacher’s List of Negatives

1. Observations with high stakes (potential effects on job retention or promotion, for example)
2. When observers haven’t told me what things they are hoping to see or why they’re coming
3. When I know I can’t and shouldn’t actually produce the high-quality/activity-packed/technology-packed pull-out-all-the-stops kind of lesson… AND, then, when I feel pressure to pull out all the stops
4. When there’s an observer effect on my students
5. When observations make me nervous and I can’t just be myself
6. When observers seem to miss the big picture and focus on what seems minor
7. When observers leave without saying a word of commendation… or without saying anything at all
8. When observers (who are also colleagues) don’t welcome me to observe their classes.

A Second Teacher’s Path to the Positives

I was nervous about observations when I first started teaching but now they don’t bother me. But, maybe that’s because I feel mostly comfortable at my current school? Perhaps at another school it would be scary. Or maybe it’s because I have never lost a job due to a negative observation? Or because people have always been friendly, even if there is advice that they need to give me? No one has ever been overly critical.

What do you Think?

1. Thinking back on your experiences being observed, which ideas resonate with you?
2. What negatives would you add?
3. In contrast, what positives would you add?
4. What do these positives and negatives say to you as a mentor?

Start-Up Issues: Classroom Management for Mentors

Teachers’ struggles to find a path to the positives may get to the heart of most of the start-up issues you’ll face when observing your mentees. No matter their intent, observers can easily come across as evaluators not mentors. When mentees feel no connection to them, view them as standing above rather than sitting beside, and see them in opposition rather than as collaborators, the affective filter goes up and any subsequent experiences are viewed through this negative lens.

Are there measures observers can take in order to come across as mentors rather than evaluators? In order to answer this question, it seems worth considering situations that face every classroom teacher and, by extension, the mentor-observer. These issues are often grouped under the broad heading of classroom management¹ or “Key teacher interventions,”² meaning the way the teacher organizes the students so that learning can take place. Ideas on classroom management are a good starting point for considering the role of mentors during observations. Not surprisingly, these ideas dovetail with feedback and with some of the intervention strategies discussed in Chapter 7. The observation is the time to begin managing difficult messages and facilitating reflection and mentee ownership.

Being Supportive

In his discussion on key interventions, Scrivener first notes that teachers should be supportive of class members. Similarly, a mentor should be supportive of the teacher throughout the observation whether all is going smoothly or not. To a certain extent, what supportive means is dependent on your mentees and their personal and cultural expectations. Whoever they are, however, support is more than just an inner feeling; it needs to be demonstrated in some appropriate way. This is for the sake of the teacher who is under scrutiny and also the students who may not understand properly why a stranger is present in their classroom.

Body language, especially facial expression, is one way of showing support. Having your head down constantly writi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Tables and Figures
• Preface
• SECTION I Mentee-Centered Mentoring
• SECTION II Mentoring in Context
• SECTION III Interactive Mentoring
• SECTION IV Task-Based Mentoring
• Conclusion
• About the Authors
• Index