Foundations of Mentoring

As a mentor teacher, you ensure the success of our future educators by coaching pre-service teachers to become independent, reflective professionals. In this module, Role of the Mentor Teacher, you will become familiar with crucial mentor teacher qualities extending beyond your subject expertise and explore the role of mentoring student teachers in a reflective approach by providing learning experiences, coaching, and assessment. You will become familiar with the skills required to be an effective mentor teacher, understand how to develop a trusting, collaborative relationship, and learn how to intentionally plan opportunities that foster personal and professional growth within both the classroom and the entire learning community.

Establishing effective relationships creates a foundation for student teachers to bridge theory and practice together; trust, respect, compassion, and humility are built upon that foundation to develop a relationship that will withstand the student teaching experience. It is the responsibility of a mentor teacher to understand the individual strengths and needs of the student teacher, and to guide student teachers on their journey. In this module, Fostering Effective Relationships, you will explore why educational relationships are so important, the elements that build a foundation for these relationships, and how we can foster effective relationships with all stakeholders in the student teaching process.

Classroom teachers become mentor teachers not only to share wisdom and skill, but to seek the opportunity to learn together. In this module, we will explore how to guide the next generation of professional teachers, ensuring they value a knowledge base built on ongoing research and inquiry. This module will focus on the role of reflection and continual learning, professional inquiry, action research while teaching students and mentoring student teachers, and elevating teaching practice with action research.

The science of good teaching has evolved, and educators understand that learning is a result of an effective learning environment, positive relationships, and identifying student learning as the primary goal. Mentor teachers share their classrooms, time, and knowledge in the coaching of preservice teachers, and student teachers gradually build responsibilities and teaching skills. This module will improve both student teacher and mentor instructional performance, resulting in increased student knowledge and learning. You will explore essential questions to encourage student teachers to analyze their effectiveness, and learn key characteristics of creating effective classroom environments, based on learning theories, instructional strategies, and methodologies woven into lesson planning and design.

The Faculty of Education and the Field Experience department have created a substantial website, clearly outlining mentor teacher roles and responsibilities and Government of Alberta Teacher Quality Standards. Effective mentorship and coaching provide student teachers with written feedback, and evidence to support recommendations. This module, Written Feedback, will explore all aspects of formal assessments, providing timely quality feedback, and creating a powerful final assessment.

Effective mentorship and evaluation of student teachers is built upon a trusting collaborative relationship, regular communication and dialogue that supports growth, and meaningful feedback. In this module, Verbal Feedback, you will explore the University of Alberta Field Experience website, as well as current research and best practices. You will learn the value of providing timely verbal feedback and sequential improvement suggestions, and the skills required to articulate your pedagogical practice and provide valuable feedback.

The role of a School Coordinator extends beyond acting as a bridge between Field Experiences and partner schools. As a School Coordinator, you embrace the opportunity to organize orientation days, coordinate student teacher involvement in supervision and extra-curricular activities, and ensure that Field Experience expectations are followed. In this module, you will learn how to cultivate teacher mentorship capacity and whole school pedagogical capacity while supporting mentor teachers in their supervision of student teachers. This goes beyond offering tips and tricks, instead building a vision and shaping the values of the school staff. As a School Coordinator, you step into the role of being a lead mentor and master coach, dealing with whole school matters, sharing a wider perspective on educational issues, and facilitating a learning community that provides guidance, structure, and support for mentor and student teachers learning and working together.

Investing the emotional energy in discussions and activities to build trust ensures continued, rich dialogue throughout the Field Experience. Meaningful professional development occurs for both mentor and student teachers when regular conversations occur. It is important to create a time and place for authentic, trusting conversations between student teachers, in order to discuss and resolve emergent issues, such as supervision and instruction, examine and explore aspects of indigenous learning, and face the praxis shock experienced as their personal pedagogical beliefs and ideas are challenged by day to day teaching. In this module, you will learn how to support pre-service teacher meetings to discuss potential issues, the benefits of accessing the collective intelligence of the group, and the impact of modeled and embedded peer collaboration within your school environment. You will learn how to support this modeled and embedded peer collaboration with additional professional development activities.