The Pursuit of Excellence Mentoring

as Professional Development

Gloria A. Morgan, Associate DeanDiane Clements, Assistant Professor

League of Innovation for Community Colleges

Innovation 2012

What is Mentoring

OA partnership between two people who have the desire to learn and grow within their profession.OOne person usually has greater

skills, wisdom, and experienceOBoth partners can learn, grow,

develop, and improve from this relationship

4 Must Haves in the Relationship

O TrustO RespectO CommitmentO Confidentiality

ResearchO Janette Long, Australian Catholic

UniversityO Reframe role of mentor to help mentee

O Problem solvingO InnovationO Leaders within organizationO Emphasizes school-wide concerns

O CreativityO Professional autonomy with colleaguesO Build capacity of self and othersO Improve both pedagogy and student learning

ResearchO Leslie Huling

O Since 1980’s increased effort to support and retain novice teachers

O Most previous literature—mentee focused

O Recently literature—mentor focusedO 1986 Study also reflected in current

researchO 66% of 178 mentor teachersO Professional growthO Intrinsic rewards

BenefitsO Professional CompetencyO Reflective PracticeO RenewalO Psychological BenefitsO CollaborationO Contribute to Teacher LeadershipO Mentoring Combined with

Inquiry/Research

Why Participate in Mentoring

O Knowledge and skills exchange

O Content knowledge

O Pedagogy

O Teaching and Learning Strategies

O Experiential learning

O Learning through reflection on your experiences

O What are you doing?

O Why are you doing it?

O How is it working?

O Network building

O Personal and career growth

Informal Mentoring

OA natural mentor/mentee

match

OMore flexible structure

ONo time limits for specific

activities

ONo evaluation process

Informal Mentoring

O Tends to last longer than a formal

mentoring relationship

O Tends to be more successful than a formal

mentoring relationship

O Tends to promote caring values, such as

respect for students, that are often

overlooked in a formal mentoring program

So Who?

O Who is the person you are thinking

about right now with whom you can

develop a mentoring relationship?

O How can you help that person?

O How can that person help you?

ReferencesO “The Role of Teacher Mentoring in

Educational Reform, Stan Koki, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning

O “Assisting Beginning Teachers and School Communities to Grow Through Extended and Collaborative Mentoring Experiences, Janette Long

O “Teacher Mentoring as Professional Development, Leslie Huling, ERIC Development Team

Thank YouO Diane Clements

Assistant Professor, Monroe Community Collegedclements@monroecc.edu

O Gloria A. MorganAssociate Dean, Genesee Community Collegegamorgan@genesee.edu