Negotiating
Negotiating the Relationship
"Negotiating is the business phase of the relationship--the time when mentoring partners come to agreement on learning goals and define the content and process of the relationship. . .
The negotiating phrase has more to do with creating a shared understanding about assumptions, expectations, goals, and needs than actually putting a formal agreement in writing. . .
It involves talking about some of the soft issues in a relationship--topics like confidentiality, boundaries, and limits, which often are left out of mentoring conversations. . .
Zachary Lois J. (2000). The Mentor's Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, p. 51
Things to Talk About. . .Up Front!
Well Defined Goals & Outcomes
What does each of you want from this mentoring relationship?
Success Criteria and Measurement
How will you know when you both have been "successful" in this mentoring business?
Delineation of Mutual Responsibility
What does each of you agree to do?
Accountability Assurances
How will you work together to hold each other accountable for making time to do what you plan?
Confidentiality
What do you agree to in terms of protecting confidential information?
What do you agree to in terms of deciding when each one might need to seek the assistance of others?
Protocols for Addressing Stumbling Blocks
What are your routines for collaborative conversations or problem-solving strategies?
Boundaries
When and how do you agree to communicate with one another?
What are the topics that are relevant?
What is off-limits, in terms of your mentoring relationship?
Partnership Agreement
How do you document your decisions about these issues?
Develomental Phases for Novice Teachers
Research suggests that most teachers move through these phases in their first months of teaching:
Early Idealism, Enthusiasm, Altruism
Disillusionment, Disappointment, Frustration
Personal Survival
Dealing with Difficulties
Hitting a Plateau
Rejuvenation
Moving On—Choosing Reflective or Non-reflective Path
Here are suggestions for mentors as they see novice teachers moving through these phases:
When Teachers Begin Learning Their Craft
What Mentors Should Think About. . .
Early Idealism, Enthusiasm, Altruism
Focus on relationships with pupils; role was seen as something that just happened without a great deal of effort.
New teacher needs to see lots of models and demonstrations…of lesson plans, classroom management systems, record-keeping systems, demonstration lessons—with conversations about why and how you make the decisions you do. New teachers needs to hear your reasons for teaching, your positive stories in the face of frustration.
Disillusionment, Disappointment, Frustration
Focus on what is not going well, even if they are relatively small or insignificant. Every frustration seems overwhelming.
New teachers need to understand that all teachers experience frustration and disappointment but that they can learn planning and problem-solving strategies that can help them take control of seemingly hopeless situations. They need to feel powerful and need to know where they can find resources to help. A wise mentor once said, “Just keep breathing.”
Personal Survival
Focus on whatever seems to help get through the day. Reactive rather than proactive; letting the students define the situation. Focus is often on classroom management.
Support and co-planning is useful now, with conversations about how students respond, what some alternative decisions might be, what goes right and what could be better. Just-in-time help to solve problems is critical. New teachers need to hear about their strengths as well as talking about their targets for improvement.
Dealing with Difficulties
Trying to replicate what they believe to be teacher behavior—acted on their procedural understanding of what it means to be a teacher; spends many hours planning, but reluctant to differentiate for pupils’ individual needs. Developing coping strategies.
The key at this stage is to support effective planning to avoid problems. Mentoring activities can productively focus on differentiating among student responses and the effective of teaching decisions on different students.
Hitting a Plateau
Showed little appreciation for relationship between teaching and how students learn; more confidence in abilities but still focusing on procedures—“acting like a teacher”
At this time, the new teacher is experiencing some success. The temptation is to do just enough to keep things moving along effectively, but missing opportunities to enhance student learning and deal with less obvious challenges.
Rejuvenation
After getting a handle on the daily routines and procedures, makes time for rest and focusing on successes. Often happens during or soon after winter holiday.
Celebrate with the new teacher, and help them focus on specific evidence about what is happening and how things are going.
Moving On—Choosing Reflective or Non-reflective Path
At this phase, beginning teachers needed to be “moved on” to understand the role and responsibilities of being a professional educator; needs support in evaluating beliefs in terms of their own practice and in terms of students’ learning.
This phase calls for less obvious personal support and more challenge to focus on student learning processes—on the role of assessment in reflection and planning. This is the time to support new teachers in developing their personal style and to encourage ongoing professional development.
(Adapted from Furlong, J. and Maynard, T. (1995).Mentoring student teachers: the growth of professional knowledge. Routledge: London. p. 76).
Think about how you can best "meet your novice teacher where he or she is right now. . . What do these phases mean for what you say and do? Click here for a printable reflection sheet.
Providing Feedback to Novice Teachers
Ask open-ended questions:
How do you think the lesson went?
Why do you think it went the way it did?
How do you know that was the reason?
When you did this. . .the student reacted by. . .Why do you think that happened?
What did you expect would happen when. . .”
Were there any surprises?
Help me understand what you took into account when planning thi particular activity.
I noticed that you altered your prepared lesson plan during this activity.
If you could teach this lesson again, what, if anything, would you do differently?
Why?
What conclusions can you draw from the way the lesson went?
What conclusions can you draw from our conversation today? (p. 46)
Avoid embedded negatives . Think about how you would rephrase the following questions to remove any negative overtones.
“Can’t you come up with a better way to do that?”
“Why didn’t you see that you miscalculated when you planned to have students exchange seats?”
‘That probably won’t work. Do you have any idea of what you might do instead?” (p. 47)
--Hal Portner. (1998). Mentoring new teachers. Thousand oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 8.
Suggestions for Teachers Receiving Feedback
Focus on what is being said rather than how it is said.
Focus on feedback as information rather than as criticism.
Concentrate on receiving th enew information rather than focusin on defending the old.
Probe for specifics rather than accept generalities.
Focus on clarifying what has been said by summarizing the main points to the satisfaction of all parties
--Hal Portner. (1998). Mentoring new teachers. Thousand oaks, CA: Corwin Press, p. 54.