MUL05659 Co-mentoring – Critical Reflection in Practice Barbara Mullen Melton Secondary College 1 ABSTRACT As the need for schools to attract and keep new teachers increases concurrently with more experienced teachers reaching retirement age, mentoring has been seen as increasingly important as a means to support teachers in their role. Co-mentoring is a development beyond induction mentoring and is suitable for all teachers at any stage. A co-mentoring program was therefore, developed and implemented at a Melbourne outer west suburban school, Melton Secondary College (MSC). Co-mentoring encourages shared reflective practice to improve teaching. A collaborative relationship is developed in which each participant is both learner and teacher. In collaborative mentoring both parties are equal: the potentially negative imbalance of power that can often develop between teacher and learner should not exist. The relationship between co-mentors is based on mutual trust and openness. This paper explores the development of a co-mentoring program from the early planning stages, through to its implementation in 2004 and subsequent evaluation. INTRODUCTION As the need for schools to attract and keep new teachers increases concurrently with more experienced teachers reaching retirement age, mentoring has been seen as increasingly important as a means to support teachers in their role. Co-mentoring is a development beyond induction mentoring and is suitable for all teachers at any stage. A co-mentoring program was therefore developed and implemented at a Melbourne outer west suburban school, Melton Secondary College (MSC). Co-mentoring encourages shared reflective practice to improve teaching practice. A collaborative relationship is developed in which each participant is both learner and teacher. In collaborative mentoring both parties are equal: the potentially negative imbalance of power that can often develop between teacher and learner should not exist. The relationship between co-mentors is based on mutual trust and openness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the Co-mentoring Program at MSC, as an initiative devised, implemented and evaluated from the bottom up. While studying issues in management for change, undertaken towards the completion of a Master of Education degree, I was investigating how to create a learning organisation at MSC. As a fulltime classroom teacher and the school’s Equal Opportunity Co-ordinator, I could see the need for a mentoring program. My study and work coalesced and I began researching. This paper first explains the background to MSC. Like many other government schools, it is a school experiencing much change and the workplace culture is under pressure. The development of a learning organisation at MSC was seen as a way to support teachers and teaching practice and, consequently, a study of the different models of mentoring was undertaken. An appreciation of how co-mentoring was different from past mentoring experience identified this practice as a possible solution for MSC. An historical investigation of developments in teaching and the needs of teachers confirmed the importance of mentoring, and co-mentoring, in particular. All these issues are discussed in this paper. This then led to the challenge to introduce a cohesive mentoring program at MSC which incorporated, as seamlessly as possible, both induction mentoring for teachers new to MSC and co-mentoring for existing teachers. This paper therefore describes the development of the MSC structured mentoring program and the training program for co-mentors. The final part of the paper considers the evaluation of the co-mentoring program, and identifies some key areas for the continuation of the journey towards its improvement at MSC. 2 CONTEXT As the first secondary college of Melton, established in 1975, MSC has been the largest of the secondary colleges in Melton. Enrolments at Year 7 however have been dropping in recent years: from 241 in 1999, to 130 in 2005. The school is considered ‘traditional’ and is still known locally as the High School. Overall, there is a gender imbalance in favour of girls. According to the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) description of MSC, there are very low proportions of LOTE (Languages other than English) speakers at home. Almost one third of the students, however, are recipients of the EMA or Youth Allowance and Melton residents tend to be on low to middle incomes (Shire Profile, 1999-2000). Indeed, many students at MSC experience economic hardship. Yet this does not necessarily lead to students who are highly motivated to succeed educationally in order to improve their economic status. In 1996, 51.9% of the Melton population had left school before they were 16 years of age (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996). This supports anecdotal evidence that education is not highly valued among these secondary level students. The staff at MSC has experienced considerable change in the last ten years. While there has been a core group of long term staff, there have been many teachers who have come and gone over that time. The workplace culture at MSC has also been under pressure both from changes imposed by governmental policies and the need for adjustment that changes in student numbers bring about. It was deemed important to develop a focus for critical reflection on teaching practice to support teachers in these times of change; this could then have the potential to produce a learning organisation at MSC. A PLAN TOWARDS DEVELOPING A LEARNING ORGANISATION A learning organisation is a dynamic, productive, supportive workplace where employees are encouraged to develop their own and their organisation’s potential. A working definition of a learning organisation was derived from Field (1995), in which he identifies three key factors: reflection on practice; learning how to learn; and learning supports, such as leadership. Strategies to incorporate these key factors were considered and it was decided that mentoring was the most effective immediate response. Furthermore, mentoring could be implemented from the bottom up at MSC. It was in 2003 that a structured mentoring program was made a priority by the Equal Opportunity Working Party at MSC. This group had been formed in response to the increased numbers of new staff who felt keenly the challenge of being beginning teachers at MSC. As a result of recommendations of this Working Party, a position was created for a Mentoring Co- ordinator to implement a mentoring program in 2004. A time allocation of 50 minutes a week was allowed for this. During 2003, research into what form of mentoring would be adopted by the school was undertaken. In order to work towards achieving a learning organisation, a variety of perspectives and models of mentoring were considered and an investigation of these revealed the importance of co-mentoring as the most appropriate model to adopt. Different perspectives on mentoring The three perspectives below provide an understanding of what mentoring encompasses. Having defined the theoretical and empirical perspectives, it becomes possible to appreciate the development of the postmodern perspective in encouraging reflective practice amongst peers. 3 A Theoretical Perspective A theoretical understanding of mentoring may be based in the history and etymology of the word. From the myths of ancient Greece, the word describes a nurturing process where a more skilled or more experienced person takes a less skilled or less experienced person under their wing. The mentor becomes a role model, a teacher, who sponsors, encourages, advises and develops a friendship with the protégé. The objective of this ongoing relationship is the professional promotion and/or personal development of the protégé (Anderson & Shannon, 1988). The mentor is one who can open themselves to others, who can lead incrementally and who can express care and concern. The mentor is a role model, a nurturer and a care-giver. Five separate functions of the mentor are defined by Shannon and Anderson (1988). The teaching function involves modelling, informing, confirming or disconfirming, prescribing and questioning. The sponsoring function involves protecting, supporting and promoting. The encouraging function involves affirming, inspiring and challenging. The counselling function involves listening, probing, clarifying and advising. The befriending function involves accepting and relating. The activities used to achieve this are demonstration lessons, observations and feedback and support meetings. An Empirical Perspective Field studies of student teachers participating in induction programs in teacher education in the UK are a rich source of data for the understanding of mentoring. Furlong and Maynard (1995) describe various stages in mentoring for new teachers: Stage 1: beginning teaching, where rules, rituals and routines are learnt. The mentor role here is one of a role model. The strategies for the mentoring process include observation by the new teacher and collaborative teaching between mentor and new teacher. Stage 2: learning to teach, where the teaching competencies are learnt. The mentor role here is as a coach. The strategies for learning involve observations by and of the new teacher and feedback on their performances. Stage 3: understanding students and becoming effective teachers. The mentor role here is as a critical friend. The strategies defined for this phase are observation by the new teacher and re- examination of lesson plans. Stage