1

Being a Mentor

Session 1

The Edinburgh City Council in partnership with Edinburgh University

2

Mentoring Experience

• Consider a positive mentoring experience that you have had

• Share this with your partner

3

Skills and Qualities of a good Mentor

• Think about your own experience

• Identify the skills and qualities demonstrated by the mentor

• How did they make you feel?

4

Consider your Mentor’s skills and qualities

• Do some self evaluation against this list

• Where are you in relation to the list of skills and qualities? Is there anything missing from your list?

• What do you do well?

• What would you like to develop?

Skills and QualitiesThese personal skills and qualities are key to the role of a

good mentor and coach.

• ability to create an environment of trust• high order communication skills• empathy• sensitivity• respect• honesty• belief in potential

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Mentors......

• Develop a productive and supportive relationship.

• Understand professional standards.• Use formative assessment strategies.• Consider mentee’s work to guide

instruction and the setting of professional goals.

• Facilitate learning opportunities.• Build leadership capacity and skills.

Ref: New Teacher

Center,Santa Cruz,

California

(2007)

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Mentors......

• Develop a productive and supportive relationship.

• Understand professional standards.• Use formative assessment strategies.• Consider mentee’s work to guide

instruction and the setting of professional goals.

• Facilitate learning opportunities.• Build leadership capacity and skills.

Ref: New Teacher

Center,Santa Cruz,

California

(2007)

8

Mentoring Competencies

• Focus on mentoring goals• Listen to understand• Strive for excellence• Have a flexible approach

Ref:New Teacher Center,

Santa Cruz, California

(2007)

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A Mentoring DialogueAssess the mentee’s needs by:• building trust• identifying successes and areas for development

Establish a focus for work by:• paraphrasing• clarifying

Support mentee’s development by:• instruction• collaboration• reflection

Promote accountability by:• identifying next steps• follow-up

Ref:New Teacher Center,

Santa Cruz, California

(2007)

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The Mentoring Continuum

• Instructive

• Collaborative

• Facilitative

Ref:New Teacher Center,

Santa Cruz, California

(2007)

Questions

• Open

• Investigative

• Closed

‘The Iceberg Model’

Results (The Outcomes) Behaviours ( Our Habits) Emotions (What we feel)

Thinking (What we think)

Ref: Rock, David (2007) Quiet Leadership; Harper Collins,New York

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Unpicking Situations

• What did you set out to do?• What happened?• What did you expect/not expect?• What were the certainties/uncertainties?• How did you feel at each stage?• What are the outcomes?

Ref:Megginson,D. and Clutterbuck,D.(2009)Further Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring Butterworth–Heinemann

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How will I reach my goals?• What actions will I take?

• Timescales

• Other resources

• How I will know? (success criteria)

From: Shetland Islands Council Coaching

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References

• New Teacher Center, Santa Cruz, California (2007) http://www.newteachercenter.org/

• Further Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring David Megginson and David Clutterbuck Butterworth–Heinemann, Oxford (2009)

• Quiet Leadership David Rock Harper-Collins, New York (2007)