Mentoring and Coaching
September, 2006
What is mentoring?
• Mentoring is a professional development
strategy designed to improve teaching and
learning through close professional
relationships between or among teachers.
• By engaging in thoughtful dialogues,
teachers are able to reflect on their own
practices and become more independent and
self-directed practitioners.
Why mentoring?
• Studies of success rates of various teacher
in-servicing components support the
potential effectiveness of mentoring as a
means of improving instructional practice.
•
Nova Scotia Educational Leadership Consortium
A comparison
-Joyce and Showers
IN-SERVICE
COMPONENT
SKILLS
ATTAINED
TRANSFER TO
CLASSROOM
Presentation of
Theory
Demonstration
10% -20%
5% - 10%
30% - 35%
5% - 10%
Practice
60% - 70%
5% - 10%
Feedback
70% - 80%
10% - 20%
Mentoring
80% - 90%
80% - 90%
Mentoring…
• …affects school culture by promoting
stronger collegial relationships.
• …supports significant educational change.
• …promotes reflection and decision-making
by providing time, space, and
encouragement.
• …leads to increased student achievement.
The 3 Cs of Mentoring
• Consulting – A consultant provides information
on curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
• Collaborating – Collaborative interactions
involve shared planning, decision-making,
problem-solving, and reflection.
• Coaching- A coach supports a participating
teacher’s thinking, problem-solving, and goal
achievement.
Continuum of Interaction
• Consulting
Collaborating
Coaching
• The goal is to create a reciprocal learning focused
relationship.
• Skilled mentors do not have all the answers; they
focus on developing the participating teacher’s
capacity to improve their own practice.
Mentoring Relationship
Respect
Trust
Communication
Mentoring Opportunities
• In small groups:
 Book-study group
 Grade-level group
 Subject-specific group
 Goal-specific group
As Individuals:
 Coaching / Collaborating / Consulting
Interpersonal Skills







Attending
Active Listening
Questioning
Presenting
Confirming
Summarizing
Problem Solving
Confidentiality
•
The relationship and conversations
between the mentor and the participating
teacher remain confidential.
The Coaching Process
PreConference
Post Conference
Observation
The Coaching Process
PreConference
Demonstration/ CoTeaching/ Planning
Post-Conference
Do and Don’t
Do
Coach, collaborate, and consult
Work with individuals or small groups
Listen and ask questions
Paraphrase and summarize
Collect data
Provide resources
Do and Don’t
Mentors will not…
 Supervise, evaluate or judge
 Provide pullout services
 Provide ready-to-go lessons
 Substitute or fill-in for other teachers
Mentoring Relationships
• Participating in mentoring relationships
contributes to both career and personal
development.
Mentoring Relationships
• Mentoring relationships are vehicles for job
enrichment and professional development.
• Mentors provide support.
• Mentors create a safe place and establish a
trusting relationship.
• Mentors provide support by listening and
encouraging.
The Roles of The Mentor
• Confidante – discusses issues or has
conversations in confidence.
• Coach – gives feedback and problem solves
to help improve professional practices.
• Colleague – shares experiences, resources,
ideas and strategies.
• Facilitator – guides the learning partner in
discovering solutions or decisions.