Strengthening Teachers’ Career-long Professional Learning through Mentoring Processes
This project plan is submitted by the University of Glasgow on behalf of an innovative partnership
between two universities working with two local authorities. The project involves two pilots
involving the University of Glasgow and the University of Aberdeen working in partnership with
North Lanarkshire Council and Aberdeenshire Council. The two universities work with both local
authorities..
Project Aims
•
To develop a strengthened model of professional learning through mentoring processes.
•
To identify strategies and processes to develop and sustain mentoring processes with
teachers across primary and secondary schools in order to improve pupil learning.
Project steps and milestones
Project Steps
Date
Milestone
1.PLANNING
Planning meetings with
headteachers in primary and
secondary schools in both
authorities to identify and
agree plan for next phase of
work.
1 – 31 March 2014
Project Plan
delivered to
Education
Scotland
2. IMPLEMENTATION
First Development Activity in
case schools in each local
authority.
First Activity
competed.
Baseline data collected (e.g.
mentoring experiences, PRD
process, and familiarity with
CLPL Standards) collected in
case study schools in each
local authority via
questionnaires
Baseline data
collected.
3. IMPLEMENTATION &
EVALUATION
Second Development Activity
in case study schools
Second
development day
completed
Work-base followup activities
agreed with
schools.
Completion
Date
31 March
2014
April 2014
May 2014
1
4. EVALUATION
Questionnaire with all project
participants.
June 2014
Interviews with selection of
participants (e.g. teachers,
HTs, SMT in case study
schools
5. EVALUATION
Joint partnership meeting to
discuss and plan analysis of
evaluation data collection,
plan report and review
materials and resources.
6. EVALUATION
Analysis of data and Final
Report writing
Data collection
competed
September
2014
September 2014
Plan for analysing
data developed.
Materials and
resources
reviewed.
September
2014
September –
October 2014
Final Report
submitted to
Education
Scotland
October
2014
Aberdeenshire and North Lanarkshire Councils
Following involvement in the first phase of the Mentor Pilot all case study schools have
expressed their desire to continue their involvement in the Mentor Project in order to sustain and
expand their use of mentor processes to strengthen teachers’ career-long professional learning
and improve pupil learning.
Since the conclusion of the first phase of the Mentor Pilot Project the schools’ success in
embedding mentoring within the current processes of continuous professional learning and
school improvement has varied. While valuing the mentoring approach and seeking to widen it
use among school staff, the focus and the pace of development has differed in the schools
involved. The next phase of the project focuses on identifying the opportunities, barriers and
strategies required to sustain and further develop mentoring approaches across the whole
school. There will a particular emphasis on understanding strategies required to develop
mentoring approaches in primary and secondary schools in urban and rural locations.
Implementation
1. Meetings/discussion have taken place with the headteachers in each of the schools involved in
the initial Mentoring Pilot Project to identify progress in using mentoring processes to strengthen
teachers’ career-long professional learning. The plan for the next steps and implementation of
the second phase of the project has been developed jointly with them.
2. The first development activity focuses on the identification of the strengths, challenges, next
steps and strategies requires to embed mentoring processes to strengthen career-long
professional learning within each case study school and across the primary/secondary cluster in
the two local authorities. The training in developing professional dialogue through mentoring
approaches will be re-visited in order to further support capacity building in each cluster.
Milestones:

Baseline data concerning established processes for teachers’ professional learning and school
improvement and the use of mentoring approaches since phase 1 of the project will be collected.

A plan for targeted development across whole school will be co-constructed with each school and
across the clusters.
3. The second development activity will focus on the development of mentoring approaches with a
combination of staff involved in the first phase and members of staff in the schools new to the
mentoring approaches.
Strategic plans will be developed with the headteachers and SMT as appropriate in the primary
and secondary schools and across the clusters.
Milestones:

Focus for school based enquiry to be supported through mentoring processes identified with staff
new to the approach

Strategic plan developed with headteacher, SMT and local authority cluster to embed and sustain
mentoring processes to strengthen teachers’ career-long professional learning to improve pupil
learning.
4. Evaluation – questionnaire issued to all participants and a selection of participants (staff new to
the approach, HTs, members of SMT and local authority personnel).
Milestones:

Questionnaires completed and selected staff interviewed.
5. Evaluation - approach to data analysis discussed by partners. Materials Reviewed
Milestones:

Data analysis approach agreed by all partners and data analysis undertaken
6. Evaluation - Plan for Final Report discussed by partners.
Milestones:

Structure for Final Report agreed by all partners (focus on strategies for embedding and
sustaining mentoring processes to strengthen teachers’ career-long professional learning,
including specific strategies for primary and secondary schools in rural and urban locations).

Final Report submitted to Education Scotland