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  • Essay / Challenges faced by school leaders in creating a mentoring program

    One of the major challenges facing educational institutions in modern times is ensuring a strong faculty who can sustain the quality of teaching and learning. This appears to be a challenge given that quality teaching can only be the result of a strong faculty with knowledge of school culture, programs, policies and learning environment constantly evolving in which teachers can develop professionally. Given the changes in licensing policies and the expectations of education ministries in the current scenario, teacher retention and enrichment is a matter of greater concern in majority schools in the UAE. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In my article, I was eager to examine the challenges school leaders face when creating a mentoring program that is not viewed in isolation but as an ongoing process that enriches further enhances the learning environment. As a member of the SLT, I have always returned to the key questions of why, despite the presence of a team to welcome new teachers, the process has still not succeeded in recent times in retaining good teachers for a period of time. longer duration. I wanted to further explore practices in the mentoring process that are directly linked to decisions exercised by key policy makers. I wanted to be more aware of the mentoring process to ensure support for a mentee that would result in long-term professional growth for both mentor and mentee. The literature I reviewed showed a series of common factors that needed to be considered as this had a direct link to the problems encountered in the mentoring process. Before I jump into my research, I also like to establish a fact from my review on the concept of mentoring. Although mentoring is an age-old practice, mentoring is defined in multiple contexts based on the extent of the role it plays in contributing to a strong workforce that is both effective and efficient. The literature shows from the beginning the diversity in the definition of mentoring. Mentoring is a complex social learning process offered in both a formal and informal context, typically delivered by an experienced senior to a novice or less experienced with the aim of developing skills based on mutual partnership with agreement on common objectives to be achieved at the end of a specified period – Blackwell, J (1989); Moore and Amey (1988); Wegner (1998); Jacobi, M (1991). Institutions must be able to establish a mentoring process in which the mentor and mentee feel stimulated, valued, challenged and engage in more authentic dialogues that enable learning and, overall, professional development. Whether it is a formal or informal setting, it must be understood that learning is a very complex process because it is closely linked to social relationships, past experiences, the sharing of knowledge and expertise through the interaction. Hobson, A.J., Ashby et al (2009). Wenger's model consisting of 3 interrelated concepts, namely: mutual commitment, joint enterprise and shared repertoire, seem to me to be key elements which also lay the foundation for creating a compatible mentor and ensuring mentorship. The process incorporates good communication channels that allow for feedbackprofessional. Wenger, (1999). Before I can expand and connect the commonalities in the area highlighted in the literature, I like to highlight the challenges identified in the absence of a good mentoring process and how they relate to my area of ​​interest. Challenges related to lack of mentoring process for new teachers in schools: Lack of appropriate staff - Shortage of qualified candidates Increased costs due to affected quality. Basic safety protocols affected due to lack of less qualified and poorly trained personnel. Overworked staff. Dissatisfied mentors who lack knowledge about reflective or critical practice. reflectionMore directive than directingImbalance between work-life for new mentors and mentors Mentors feel isolated Mentors report heavy workload Lack of thoughtful feedback and failure to understand the key role that critical questions and reflection play. Lack of system to recognize eligible leaders or mentors to improve the system As mentioned earlier, it is evident that learning requires both when people are divided into groups in a practical environment to observe and learn together or to be guided. It is not a mandate that the mentor must be matched with the mentees, but there must be an opportunity for new staff to choose a mentor who they believe will broaden their scope. knowledge in the field that interests them and help them progress professionally. New staff can generally only be asked about this hunger to engage in a professional context and push to excel if they feel placed in an environment with highly competent and experienced staff who are not only familiar but have knowledge in-depth understanding of how the process works. works and knows how to show the process constructively. New teachers who begin working in schools begin working with almost the same responsibilities and expectations as any experienced school staff. It is said that a large majority of them leave the profession quietly at the start of their career, that is to say during the first four years of practicing the profession, because they are placed in the " sink or float” by most schools. This is mainly because integration programs mainly focus on infrastructure and school culture rather than the know-how and how to provide quality teaching and curriculum. Ultimately, the growth prospects of teachers lie in the opportunity provided to them to improve the quality of teaching and lead directly to the improvement of the overall quality of the teaching and learning process at school. 'school. Schools must be able to hire quality mentors who can guide the new teacher from the early stages in acquiring the skills needed to find solutions, engage in critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to face the real situation in relation to school practices. The school must identify a whole-school approach in which existing staff readily understand the need to guide and engage new teachers in authentic professional dialogue, essential for growth. Characteristics of a good mentoring process: Must have a clearly defined objective, approach or objective. and a procedure for identifying the selection of mentors. Must have a procedure for completing mentors. Must have appropriate cognitive training for mentors on how they can view the procedure as atwo-way growth process for mentor and mentees. Must be able to brief mentors early on. the importance of working in groups, sharing experiences and suggestions and reflecting the same approach on mentees. Must be able to inform mentors of the importance of keeping a journal of reflective feedback on their training and coaching. Must be able to accommodate the space, time and resources available for the process. Must be able to enable and promote professional communication. Create a mutual agreement (willingness to teach and eager to learn) between the mentor and mentee. Must be led by a competent manager who can evaluate and monitor program progress. in school as live data for mentors and leaders. From the literature, it is clearly evident that when it comes to schools, effective mentoring programs are those that focus on the development of key pedagogical knowledge and behavioral management. Leaders must be able to select mentors who are capable but also willing to model good practice, recognize progress on how to do better, allow mentees to have feedback on teaching practice goals and expectations of the program, as this plays a central role in ensuring that mentees do so. I don't feel lost, isolated or stagnant in their profession. Looking back on my personal experience as a mentee and mentor, I understand how Wenger's interdependent concept is able to create an umbrella and channel information across the notions about the functional aspect of mentoring, the expectations of mentors and the role key to communication for the success of the program. I found this article very helpful in describing and understanding the drawbacks of existing programs at our school. In the readings, the importance of mutual engagement could not be more elaborated. The mutual agreement between mentor and mentee lays the foundations for being able to deal with complex situations of poor quality teaching, lack of effort, teachers leaving their training very early and lack of willingness of mentors to share their experience. The need for mutual agreement should be initiated from the moment leaders, teachers and principals develop the curriculum. Leaders must create common ground with prospective mentor teachers about the needs and positive benefits for the school, themselves, and the new teachers. Mentors should feel valued and leaders should ensure that the program inspires them to go the extra mile to mentor outside of their normal teaching. At school, every teacher must be made aware of the importance of sharing best practices rather than working in isolation, which lays the foundation for being able to use this willingness to guide those who have difficulties in the same area. The environment should be an open learning environment that engages and inspires teachers in authentic academic dialogues from the beginning. In such a scenario, leaders have a larger pool to select potential candidates who will be mentors and who value the importance of knowledge sharing, which allows them to advance professionally and whom they are responsible for mentoring . In this concept I was also able to explore the qualities expected of a good mentor. Considering the fact that mentoring requires more work (involves the individual being present to enable the mentee for a set period of time) and a process that takes more time (a 4-level meeting model, understanding the pitches of understanding, learning and.