56 PEER REVIEW Abstract This article presents a college English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher training model in the USA based on mentoring as profes- sional development. It targets pre-service teachers intending to teach academic ESOL to adult ESL college students who need to improve their English language proficiency and critical thinking skills before taking credit college courses. These ESOL students attend a year-long immer- sion course for twenty five hours a week before returning to their home campus for a placement in college. The model is based on a partnership between a TESOL master’s degree program and several English language immersion programs. A funda- mental belief that guides this partnership is that teacher quality can be enhanced through professional development and more practical train- ing with in-class practice teaching, suggesting that classroom instruction and course work are insufficient. The mentor-mentee relationship is indeed, a transformative one that can forever change the course of one’s life. Cienkus, Grans Haworth, & Kavanagh, 1996, p. 2 Introduction Teaching is a lonely situation for experienced teachers as well as novice and pre-service teachers. Each of these groups has a set of professional goals they alone must achieve and actualize in their practice. For experienced teachers, their challenge is to maintain a level of innovation in their lessons while implementing current methodology; novice teachers explore and resolve their understanding of how Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) methodology and second language learning theory inform the development of instructional plans; and, pre-service teachers (teaching interns) begin their journey as they develop an intuitive sense of how methodology and language theory function as integral parts in making Mentoring as professional development: a college TESOL teacher training model Virginia M. Tong, Mimi Blaber, and David Housel
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AbstractThis article presents a college English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher training model in the USA based on mentoring as profes-sional development. It targets pre-service teachers intending to teach academic ESOL to adult ESL college students who need to improve their English language proficiency and critical thinking skills before taking credit college courses. These ESOL students attend a year-long immer-sion course for twenty five hours a week before returning to their home campus for a placement in college.
The model is based on a partnership between a TESOL master’s degree program and several English language immersion programs. A funda-mental belief that guides this partnership is that teacher quality can be enhanced through professional development and more practical train-ing with in-class practice teaching, suggesting that classroom instruction and course work are insufficient.
The mentor-mentee relationship is indeed, a transformative one that can forever change the course of one’s life. Cienkus, Grans Haworth, & Kavanagh, 1996, p. 2
IntroductionTeachingisalonelysituationforexperiencedteachersaswellasnoviceandpre-serviceteachers.Eachof thesegroupshasasetof professionalgoalsthey alone must achieve and actualize in their practice. For experiencedteachers,theirchallengeistomaintainalevelof innovationintheirlessonswhile implementing current methodology; novice teachers explore andresolvetheirunderstandingof howTeachingEnglishtoSpeakersof OtherLanguages (TESOL) methodology and second language learning theoryinform the development of instructional plans; and, pre-service teachers(teachinginterns)begintheirjourneyastheydevelopanintuitivesenseof howmethodologyandlanguagetheoryfunctionasintegralpartsinmaking
Mentoring as professional development: a college TESOL teacher training modelVirginia M. Tong, Mimi Blaber, and David Housel
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Theprofessionalgoalof thesepre-serviceteachersistoteachacademicESOLtoadultESLcollegestudents.Thefoundationforthismodelisapartnershipbetween Hunter College and the CUNY Language Immersion Program(CLIP)whereourgraduatestudentteachers(teachinginterns)areplacedatdifferentCLIPsiteswithinCUNYandmentoredbyfacultyattherespectivesites.Afundamentalbelief guidingthispartnershipisthatteacherqualitycanbeenhancedthroughmorepracticaltraining,i.e.,in-classpracticeteaching,suggestingthatclassroominstructionandcourseworkareinadequate(Kiley,2010).
CLIPisan intensiveEnglish language immersionprogramforCUNYESL(EnglishasaSecondLanguage)studentswhohavebeenacceptedintoCUNY,butwholacktheEnglishlanguageskillstobegintheircollegecreditstudies.ESLstudentsinCLIPreceivecontent-basedESLacademicinstructionfortwentyfivehoursperweekforamaximumof oneyear.CLIPisidealbecauseitprovidesalearninglaboratoryforourTESOLmaster’sdegreeteachinginternstocompletetheirteachertrainingbygaining“hands-on”experienceteachingacademicESOL,whichcomplementstheirtrainingtoteachESOLliteracy.
The Hunter College-CLIP partnership: an overviewDuringtheSpring2009semester,theHunterCollegeTESOLAdultProgram(theadultESOLtrackof theTESOLmaster’sdegreeprogram)launchedateachertraininginitiativebasedonamentoringprofessionaldevelopmentmodeltoinvolveCLIPsatdifferentcollegecampuses.
The primary goal of the Hunter College-CLIP partnership is to create ateachinglaboratorywhichfunctionsasasafeenvironmentforpre-serviceteacherstoenhancetheirteachingskills,tryoutinstructionalstrategies,anddevelop their teaching approach with the guidance of an on-site mentorand‘clinicalsupervisor’associatedwithHunterCollege.Theterm‘clinicalsupervision’issometimesusedinthesenseof theeverydaysupervisionof atrainee’sperformance(seeNotes).
CLIP mentors provide on-site support and feedback to teaching internsanddonotevaluatetheirperformance.Theclinicalsupervisor isalsotheseminarinstructorandthispresentsadditionalbenefitsforinternstoreceive
Program implementationTraditionally, the preparation of pre-service teachers pursuing a TESOLmaster’s degree is structured around the completion of a sequence of content-specificadultESOLcourses,completionof programrequirements,culminatingintheawardof themaster’sdegree.Whenpre-serviceteachersgraduateandtakeontheirfirstteachingassignment,theyareoftenleftalonetomakeinstructionaldecisionsandhonetheirskillsthrough“onthejob”trialanderrorwithoutthebenefitof collegialsupporttoexploreideas.TheHunterCollegeteachertrainingmodelsetsthecontextforpre-serviceteacherstohaveprofessionalconversationswithexperiencedteacherstheycanturntoforadviceandsupport.Thesedialogssetatoneof collegialityandencouragebeginningteacherstoremainintheprofessiondespitetheiranxieties.
CLIP expectationsThe Hunter College-CLIP partnership provides a unique opportunity forgraduatestudentteacherstounderstandtheculturalandlinguisticchallengesof teaching academic ESOL to college ESL students. Teaching internsareplacedatCLIPsitesforsixtyhoursoverthecourseof asemester,forapproximatelytenweeks,atanaverageof sixhoursperweektoteachwholeand/orpartsof lessons,assistESLstudentsduringclass instruction,andobservethementoringteacher.
Mentors’responsibilitiesarefar-reaching.Asexperiencedteachers,theyareexpectedtoplaninstructionwiththeintern,modelgoodteachingtechniques,offer suggestions for class management, engage in on-going problemsolving and provide informal feedback. In this capacity, mentors discussideasrelatedtoteachingandlearning,andcommentonclassinteractionswithoutevaluatingpre-serviceteacherssointernsfeelfreetoconfideinthem.Mentorsareawardedacollegecoursevouchertocontinuetheirprofessionaldevelopmentoncetheyhavementoredtwoteachinginterns.
Hunter College expectationsPre-serviceteachersareobservedandevaluatedbytheclinicalsupervisorforthree45-minutelessons.Theformalobservationconsistsof ameetingbefore the lesson to discuss the viability of the instructional goal andsetof activities,andafterthelessontoanalyzethelesson’sstrengthsandweaknessesanddiscussrecommendationsforimprovement.Twoof thethreeformalobservationsareconductedinperson.Thethirdisvideotapedandremainsavailableforcontinuedreferenceforthepre-serviceteacherwhichisespeciallyhelpfulduringtheirbeginningyearsof teaching.
Theseformallessonobservationsrepresenttheheartof theintern’slearningastheclinicalsupervisorprovidesdifferentinsightsandperspectivesfromthoseof thementor.Thisvaried inputenables interns to select feedbackthatmakesthemostpersonalsenseforthemastheycreatetheir identityasteachingprofessionals.Anyandallinstructiontheteachinginterndoesisinaccordancewiththementor’scurriculumincludingthelessonfortheformalobservations.
ThisHunterCollegetrainingmodelhasseveralvenuesbuilt-inforpre-serviceteacherstosharetheirinsights.Thecourseishostedonaweb-basedlearningmanagementsystemthatmakesavailableacoursediscussionboardandablogfor internstodialogwiththeclinicalsupervisorandwitheachother.The strength of the discussion board is the unlimited access to peers toraiseanissueorconcernandgetimmediatefeedback.Overthesemester,theseminarinstructorwillpostseveraldiscussionboardprompts,e.g.,howinterns manage silence, handle error correction and manage dominantstudents.Internspostageneralresponse,andalsorespondtoeachother’spostings.Thisimmediacycandomuchtoalleviatetheanxietyandstressthataccompanybeingabeginningteacherbyprovidingamyriadof suggestionsfromavarietyof perspectives.
Internsalsopostindividualweeklyjournalentriestothecourseblogcreatedespeciallyforprivate“dialoging”withtheseminarinstructoraboutteachingandlearningandclassmanagementquestions.Thejournalblogisnotguidedbyapromptandisopenforinternstocommentandreflectontheirteaching,classroomassistanceandlessonobservations.Typicalareastheycommentonare:whatlessonelementswereeffectiveorlesseffective,whatpartof thelessoncouldhavebeentaughtdifferentlyorimprovedupon,andwhatinsightstheygainedfromtheirparticipationandinteractionwithstudentsandmentor.Theseminarinstructorhastheoptiontorespondtoblogcomments,andindoingsocreatesanexchangethatisdirectlyrelevanttothequestionsraisedbyanintern.Reflectingontheirinternshipactivitiesisacriticalcomponentof theseminarbecauseitallowsinternstoorganizetheoreticalideasinordertounderstandhow theyshape their instructionaldecision-making, lessondevelopmentandimplementation,andassessmentof thelesson.
The CLIP placement sitesTheCLIPsaresituatedatninedifferentCUNYjuniorandseniorcollegesin New York City accounting for ESL students from 150 countries. CLIPschedulesavarietyof dayandeveningclassestotalingtwentyfivehoursaweek.Thisflexibletimeframeallowsinternswhoareinemploymenttomeettheirsix-hourrequirementinthemostefficientwaypossible.
Acrucialfirststepisidentifyinganappropriateplacementsitethatextendsthephilosophicaltenetsof theteachereducationprogram(Scannell,2007).The CLIPs provide a highly appropriate set of circumstances for severalreasons.Fromasystem-wideperspective,CLIPispartof CUNYandpre-serviceteachersareabletointernatprogramstheywillmostlikelyteachatinthefuture.TheCLIPscanprovidepre-serviceteacherswiththeexperiencetheyneedteachingacademicESOLtoadultESLcollegestudentsinordertounderstand theculturaland linguisticdifficultiesencounteredby thesestudents.Duringseminarmeetings,internsrevealthatconnectionsbetweentheoreticalideas(e.g.,whaterrorstocorrectandhow,teachinglanguageinasequencedwayandperhapstheneedtore-teachitdifferently)andactualclassinstructionarenotfullyappreciateduntilthesebecameevidentintheirteaching.Understandinghowtheoryinformspracticeisinvaluableintheircareerdevelopment.
The nature of CLIP classesThoughnon-creditbearing,theESOLclassesinCLIPcomprisetwentyfivehoursof lectures,discussionandwritingassignmentsperweek.Thepurposeof theImmersionProgramistoassistESLstudentstoimprovetheirEnglishlanguage skills to mainstream to regular classes. Upon completion of a
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maximumof oneyearof studyinCLIP(twoacademicsemesters)studentsreturn to their home campuses for placement into college level courses(CUNYMatters,2005).
The program is based on theme(s) and content, taking information andideas from disciplines ranging from history, to literature to anthropologyand physical sciences; some themes include at the beginner proficiencylevel,“SciencethroughBiography,”attheintermediatelevel,“BridgingTwoWorlds,”andattheadvancedlevel,“WaterWorld”(CUNYMatters,2005).Instructionfocusesonacademicskillsthatdevelopcriticalthinkingandhelpstudentsunderstandhowtoconductresearch.ImmersionProgramstudentsenhancetheircomputertechnologyskillsbycreatinge-Portfolios,researchinginformation on the Internet and using presentation software to improvecommunicationskills(CLIPLAGCC,2012).
Another challenge for these students is their struggle to reconcile thedifferences in the expectations between their native culture and valueswith theAmerican college institutional culture andvalues (Jordan, 1997;Masterson,2007).Theseincludefamilycommitments,culturalimmersion,andperceptionsof collegeversusreality(Masterson).Howwelltheyareabletomanage thesocioculturaland languagedifferencesbetween thenativeandsecond(adoptedAmerican)culturesiskeytotheiracademicsuccessincollege.
iew The heart of the matter: the mentoring teacher –
teaching intern relationshipWe often think of ESL students as being a part of a community of learnersconnectedbythecommongoalof learningEnglish.Someof thecharacteristicsof suchalearningenvironmentareasenseof egalitarianism,collaborativelearning,andtakingresponsibilityfortheirlearningandthatof others.Teachingfostersasimilarconnectionamongeducatorssincetheyareapartof acommunityof teacherswhowanttoimprovethequalityof theirinstructiontohelptheirESLstudentsreachtheirfullpotentialandgraduatefromcollege.Beingagoodteacher isnotanendpoint; it isacontinuousprocessof action,reflectionandplanning,andcollaboration(Baloche,1998).Mentoringissynonymouswithcollaboration.
Mentoring in the truest sense isanextensiveandstructuredschool-wideinitiativewhereexperiencedteachersinthekindergartento12thgrades(K–12thgrades)mentornoviceandexperienced(e.g.,thosenewtotheschool/district)teachersinayear-longmentorship(MLRN,1993).Inpreparation,mentorsreceivepre-training,andon-goingprofessionaldevelopmenttolearnhowtostrategicallyencourageandprovideguidancetoteachers(Holloway,2001).Aspartof theirrole,Hollowaystates,mentorshelpnoviceteachersplan lessons, assist them in gathering information about best practices,observethenewteachers’classes,andprovidefeedback.
TheHunter–CLIPmentoringmodelissimilaryetdifferent.Overall,itisveryflexibleinthat,unlikethetraditionalmodel,CLIPoffersclassesduringthedayaswellasintheeveningwhichmeansthatinternswhohavedayjobscancompletetheirinternshipduringtheeveningsession,andviceversa.Intermsof administration,curriculumforeachCLIPclassisbasedonadifferentthemesuchas,“OutsidersinLiteratureandFilm,”“ThreeAmericanLives”,and“Space-TimeandtheFourthDimension”,inadditiontothepreviouslycitedthemes.Instructorshavethefreedomtoselectathemebasedontheirpersonalpreference,andthischoiceaddsavestedinterestinthedevelopmentof curriculumby the instructor.Being able to capitalizeon choosing theclasstheme,theselectionof literature(e.g.,booksandgraphicnovels),andresources(e.g.,web-basedmaterialssuchaspodcastsandwebsites),bringsasenseof authenticitytotheclassthatmakesteaching“comealive.”
Whilethereisatheme-basedcurriculum,itisnotstate-mandatedbecausethegoalof theCLIP is toassistESLstudents to improve theiracademicreadingandwritingskills,notnecessarilytolearnandmanipulatecontentasisexpectedinatraditionalcurriculum.Themesprovideafocusfortheclasstolearnreadingandwritingacademicskillssuchascomparingandcontrastinginformation, making inferences, evaluating, predicting, using discoursemarkerstoorganizewrittenwork,supportingtheirarguments/positionsonagiventopic.Whiletheyarelearningandimprovingtheirreadingandwritingskills,studentsarealsorefiningtheircriticalandanalyticalskills.
The nature of the mentor – intern relationshipOneof theintegralcomponentsof thisrelationshipisadministrativesupport.CLIPdirectorsknowtheirfacultyandareathereforeinthebestpositiontodeterminehowtheirinstructionalstrengthsandpersonalstylecansupportaproductivementor–internrelationship.Matchingaqualifiedmentorwiththecompatibleteachinginterniscritical.MentorsandtheirteachinginternsdevelopateamteachingapproachtohelptheircollegeESLstudentsreachtheiracademicgoals.Someof thecharacteristicsof mentorsincludebeingamasterteacher,beingconfident,havingacommitmenttoprofessionalgrowth,andastrongsenseof caringforpeople(MLRN,1993).
Directors ask the strongest and most experienced teachers, those whohavefiveyearsteachingexperienceandareknowledgeableaboutteachingstrategies to be mentors (Saffold, 2003). Selected mentors model goodinstructional lessons that are carefully prepared and scaffolded allowingmaterials to be meaningful, challenging and accessible to the students.Experiencedteachersalsoknowhowtoworkwiththeculturaldifferencesof thestudents.Oncepre-serviceteachersareidentifiedforaplacementsite,theCLIPdirectorinterviewsthemtodeterminethebestmentor–internmatch.Aspartof gettingtoknowtheteachingintern,theysubmitaresumeanddiscusstheirteachingexperiencewiththedirector.
Infact,theinternshipsareconsidereda win-win-winpracticeforallinvolved.The teaching intern gets hands-on experience under the guidance of amentoringteacherandseminarinstructor;thementorgetstheaidandsupportof asecondteacher;andtheESLstudentsbenefitfromtheextrainteractionandinstructiontheyreceivefromtwoteachers.
Attheendof eachsemester,mentorsprovidefeedbackontheprogressinternshavemade,makesuggestionsfortheircontinuedprofessionaldevelopmentandcommentonwhattheygainedfromthecollaboration.TestimonyfromCLIP mentors describes their positive experiences and success of thepartnership.Commentsrevealthekindsof benefitstheygained:
Intern’s perspectiveFrom the intern’s perspective, there are four components that make thisteacher training model effective: first, the collaborative and collegialrelationship with the mentoring teacher; second, the support from peersthrough the seminar, discussion board, and “show-and-tell” sessions;third,theconstructivecriticismandfeedbackprovidedbythesupervisingfacultymember;andfourth,theopportunitytoself-reflectthroughviewingvideotapesof one’sownteachinganddevelopingaprofessionale-Portfolio.
Implications for mentoring: looking forward Afternearlyfourdecadesof practice,anewphaseof mentoringhasevolvedcreatingamentoringculture.Partof thisnewculturecallsformentorstobeactionresearcherswheretheyself-studytheirmentoringtechniques(referredto as “generative research mentoring”) to examine their best mentoringpracticesforthepurposeof gaininginsightsaboutwhattechniquesaremosteffective and ways to improve the process of mentoring (Fletcher, 2012;Ponce,WilliamsandAllen,2005;WhiteheadandFitzgerald,2006).Forthoseof uswhoarenewteachers(pre-service,novice),teachertrainers,collegefaculty in trainingprograms,weallhavecontributionsand insightsaboutmentoringthatcanenhancethegrowingmentoringculture.
collegepopulationthatisculturallydiverseandhasabroadrangeof languageneeds and prior school preparation experiences. Many CLIP studentsdiscussedinthisarticlestartESLclassesatabeginner’sproficiency;theymustreachahighintermediatetoadvancedlevelof Englishtomanagecollegecoursework.ThechallengeforteachersistoassisttheirESLstudentstoraisetheirlevelof Englishproficiencyandteachthemhowtousetheircriticalandanalyticalthinkingskillstointerpret,analyzeandevaluatecollegetextssotheycanaccessthesocialandculturalknowledgenecessarytosucceedincollegeinpreparationfortheirfullparticipationinsociety.
At the heart of the mentoring initiative is the relationship between thementoringteacherandteachingintern.Whenimplementingamentor-internteacherprogram,thereareseveralcomponentsthatareessentialtomakingthe initiative work well: selecting the right program that reflects similarphilosophical tenets (Scannell 2007); matching the strengths, needs, andpersonalityof theinternteacherwiththeskills,expertise,andpersonalityof thementoringteacher;and,finally,clarifyingtheexpectations forboththementoringteacherandtheinternteacherbeforetheplacementbegins.The advantages of establishing this type of professional culture can besummarizedasa“win-win-win”relationshipamongthementoringteacher,teachinginternandtheESLstudent,eachbenefittinginadifferentway.
NotesTheterm‘clinicalsupervision’issometimesusedinthesenseof theeverydaysupervision of a trainee’s performance. Clinical supervision according to‘TheGoldGuide’tospecialtytraining(Departmentof Health,2007)involvesbeingavailable,lookingovertheshoulderof thetrainee,teachingonthejobwithdevelopmentalconversations,regularfeedbackandtheprovisionof arapidresponsetoissuesastheyarise.Itisanaspectof lifelonglearningwithpotentialbenefitsforbothsupervisorandsupervisee.
Appendix A Stages For Implementation of Hunter College/CUNY & CLIP Partnership
I. Planning Communicate with Director to Plan the Internship
College seminar instructor communicates with CLIP Directors to plan for the number of placements and possible mentoring teachers.
At this time, expectations and responsibilities for the partnership are reviewed with the Directors.
Teaching interns are made aware of the expectations and responsibilities of the course and internship.
Director meets with teaching intern to determine a suitable mentor for the internship.
Mentors receive a description of the expectations and responsibilities of the partnership and their participation.
Mentors complete a short pre-assignment expectation questionnaire that is shared with the teaching intern assigned to them.
II. Implementation Mentoring Teachers and Teaching Interns Accomplish Expectations
Mentors and interns meet to set up logistics e.g., scheduling, process of collaborating.
Clinical supervisor consults with mentor about the progress of the intern.
Mentors plan instruction with the intern, model good teaching techniques, offer suggestions for class management, engage in ongoing problem solving and provide informal feedback on the intern’s participation and teaching.
Interns teach whole/parts of lessons, assist students, identify resources for lesson activities, and observe mentor during class instruction.
Clinical supervisor/seminar instructor meets with observes and gives feedback on lesson observations.
As the seminar instructor conducts class and sets a discussion agenda for teaching interns based on their web-based responses to discussion board prompts and journal blogging.
III. Assessment Determine the Success of the Internship
Interns create e-Portfolio to document the accomplishments of their teaching experience.
Mentors complete a post-assignment reflection about the progress of their intern and what recommendations they have for their intern.
Interns develop a final reflection about expectations, the Big Idea they have learned, professional goals, and what they would like to know more about that wasn’t discussed during the seminar.
Fletcher,S.(2012).‘Researchmentoringteachersininterculturaleducationcontexts;self-study’,International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education,1/1:66–79http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/20466851211231639(AccessedAugust7,2012).
Ponce,A.N.,Williams,M.K.andAllen,G.J.(2005)‘Towardpromotinggenerativeculturesof intentionalmentoringwithinacademicsettings’,Journal of Clinical. Psychology,61:1159–1163.doi:10.1002/jclp.20157
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Whitehead,J.andFitzgerald,B.(2006).‘Professionallearningthroughagenerativeapproachtomentoring:lessonsfromatrainingpartnershipandtheirwiderimplications’,Journal of Education for Teaching:International Research and Pedagogy,32/1:37–52(February)EJ729099.
