Making the most of your mentorship

Mentoring is an essential part of the teaching tradition in New Zealand and, while it is mandatory for all new teachers, many other teachers also recognise the benefits of learning from one of their colleagues.

The University of Otago’s Joan Turner says there are some key considerations to take into account when beginning or planning a mentorship.

“One of the things that is crucial is having a shared understanding between mentor and mentee of what the expectations are of each other and about the different roles they play in that.”

By clearly defining what the purpose of the mentorship is, you can ensure there are benefits for both the mentor and the mentee, Joan says.

“It also works best when you can set aside some dedicated time to put into it. Everybody gets busy and everyone has really good intentions, but often it can just sort of fizzle out unless there’s some planning and a system that allows some time.”

Joan believes it is important for school leaders to allocate time for mentoring and to provide recognition of the mentorship, particularly for the mentor. Without this, both mentors and mentees can struggle with feeling guilty about not meeting expectations.

“It’s a trap to fall into, being scared to ask for a bit of support or feeling guilty and pressured because usually mentors have got their own classes or other roles.”

Another important consideration is to make sure the person who is mentoring also receives professional learning around how to provide that support.

“Someone who’s really good at relationships and talking to people in a pastoral sense still doesn’t necessarily have the skill set, because it’s not part of their job as a teacher to be a really good mentor of adults.”

Professional development for mentors is currently a big focus in the education sector, as is the type of guidance provided to mentees. A mentor’s role is to support the mentee as they continue their professional learning and develop as a teacher by helping them to think about and refine their practice.

“It’s about asking the questions that help them develop understanding for themselves, rather than telling them what to do,” says Joan.

“One of the things that amazes me is the range of different school settings we have in this country. There’s definitely no ‘one size fits all’ because all their contexts are so different.

“So if you’ve got a mentor who can help you think about how best to adapt the theory that you’ve learned to the situation that you’re in now, and make the best choices about the teaching approaches to take –  how to adapt what you’re doing, how to apply that theory to best suit the needs of these students in front of you at this moment – that’s a skill that you’re going to need all the way through your career.”

Joan recommends reading the Education Council’s guidelines about mentorship (available in English and te reo Māori) to help mentors and mentees sort out what each person’s roles and responsibilities are.

Access the Education Council’s guidelines and other resources on mentorship(external link).

Joan Turner is National Coordinator of Provisionally Certificated Teachers and Mentors at Education Support Services at the University of Otago. She has collaborated with school leaders in planning professional learning and development (PLD) and has facilitated PLD at individual teacher, middle leader, whole staff and cross-school levels.

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