Being a Mentor
Session 1
1
The Edinburgh City Council in partnership
with Edinburgh University
Mentoring Experience
• Consider a positive mentoring
experience that you have had
• Share this with your partner
2
Skills and Qualities
of a good Mentor
• Think about your own experience
• Identify the skills and qualities
demonstrated by the mentor
• How did they make you feel?
3
Consider your Mentor’s
skills and qualities
• Do some self evaluation against this list
• Where are you in relation to the list of skills
and qualities? Is there anything missing from
your list?
• What do you do well?
• What would you like to develop?
4
Skills and Qualities
These personal skills and qualities are key to the role of a good
mentor and coach.
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ability to create an environment of trust
high order communication skills
empathy
sensitivity
respect
honesty
belief in potential
5
Mentors......
• Develop a productive and supportive
relationship.
• Understand professional standards.
• Use formative assessment strategies.
• Consider mentee’s work to guide instruction
and the setting of professional goals.
• Facilitate learning opportunities.
• Build leadership capacity and skills.
Ref:
New Teacher Center,
Santa Cruz,
California
(2007)
6
Mentors......
• Develop a productive and supportive
relationship.
• Understand professional standards.
• Use formative assessment strategies.
• Consider mentee’s work to guide instruction
and the setting of professional goals.
• Facilitate learning opportunities.
• Build leadership capacity and skills.
Ref:
New Teacher Center,
Santa Cruz,
California
(2007)
7
Mentoring Competencies
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Focus on mentoring goals
Listen to understand
Strive for excellence
Have a flexible approach
Ref:
New Teacher Center,
Santa Cruz,
California
(2007)
8
A Mentoring Dialogue
Assess the mentee’s needs by:
• building trust
• identifying successes and areas for development
Establish a focus for work by:
• paraphrasing
• clarifying
Support mentee’s development by:
• instruction
• collaboration
• reflection
Promote accountability by:
• identifying next steps
• follow-up
9
Ref:
New Teacher Center,
Santa Cruz,
California
(2007)
The Mentoring Continuum
• Instructive
• Collaborative
• Facilitative
Ref:
New Teacher Center,
Santa Cruz,
California
(2007)
10
Questions
• Open
• Investigative
• Closed
‘The Iceberg Model’
Results (The Outcomes)
Behaviours ( Our Habits)
Emotions (What we feel)
Thinking (What we think)
Ref:
Rock, David (2007)
Quiet Leadership;
Harper Collins,
New York
Unpicking Situations
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What did you set out to do?
What happened?
What did you expect/not expect?
What were the certainties/uncertainties?
How did you feel at each stage?
What are the outcomes?
Ref:
Megginson,D. and Clutterbuck,D.(2009)
Further Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring
Butterworth–Heinemann
13
How will I reach my goals?
• What actions will I take?
• Timescales
• Other resources
• How I will know? (success criteria)
From: Shetland Islands Council Coaching
14
References
• New Teacher Center, Santa Cruz, California (2007)
http://www.newteachercenter.org/
• Further Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring
David Megginson and David Clutterbuck
Butterworth–Heinemann, Oxford (2009)
• Quiet Leadership
David Rock
Harper-Collins, New York (2007)
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