Effect of mentoring in education - Essay Example

ANALYSE THE EFFECT OF MENTORING IN EDUCATION INTRODUCTION According to Rachel Williams , contemporary education is plagued by chronic annual turnovers of teachers and hundreds of thousands of qualified teachers not working in the profession. Ingersoll and Smith (2003) argue that the teacher turnover problem is high overall worldwide; however, teacher attrition has a stronger impact on new teachers compared to veteran teachers. From this perspective, mentoring represents an important opportunity and strategy not only to positively impact teachers' attrition but also to educate new generations of teachers. Meier (2009) indicates the importance of reinventing of schools through mentoring, which provides continuous involvement and education for teachers and enhances their adherence to this profession. From the critical perspective, having significant impact on education, mentoring facilitates the process of attracting and retaining those teachers who in turn bring to the classroom various backgrounds, different motivations, and valuable experiences based on their educational training. DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING MENTORING IN EDUCATION The term mentor has been invented during the times of Greek mythology and the life of Odysseus. The word mentor originated from Homer's Odyssey. King Odysseus of Ithaca went to fight in the Trojan war and requested that Mentor care for his home and son. Mentor was expected to guide and counsel Telemachus, the son of Odysseus (Everson & Smithey, 2000). Therefore, mentoring practices have been a part of the human experience from the beginning. In contemporary context, mentoring emerged primarily from the medical field. From there it gradually expanded into business and educational field. Researchers indicate that it was Kram's work that brought attention to the importance and benefits of mentoring into the minds of leaders of schools and universities, government entities, hospitals, and other medical organisations to implement this as a strategy for leadership development, knowledge management, and recruiting and retaining talent. There are numerous definitions for the word mentoring. Providing the broadest definition for mentoring, Clawson (1996) states that mentoring occurs when both parties in a relationship acknowledge the importance of what one can teach and the other can learn. Beyene and colleagues (2002) defined mentoring as a process in which two people engage in a mutually beneficial mentor-mentee relationship. Practically, the role of the mentor is also reflected within the definition. For example, the mentor's role is to serve as a model of appropriate attitudes, values, and behaviours for the mentee; to convey unconditional positive regard; and to provide a forum in which the mentee is encouraged to talk openly about anxieties and fears. At work, the mentor should interact informally with the mentee, thus maintaining a positive and informal relationship. Beyene and colleagues (2002) state that the role of the mentor is to provide emotional support, information, advisement; to share values, facilitate access to key networks, motivate, be a role model, and protect the mentee. Also, the mentor should provide activities that allow for shared information. The purpose of mentoring in educational setting can often be both complex and highly difficult at times. Common mentor programs have similar purposes and those include helping someone inexperienced learn a new job, improving instructional performance via modeling by an experienced teacher, attracting the best candidates by using mentoring as a recruitment tool, and responding to local or state mandates. From the critical perspective, there are several key things that can make an individual a stronger, more effective mentor in education setting. It has been encouraged that individual mentors not forget the importance of serving as a nurturer. Often, when workloads become heavier and deadlines quickly approach, the nurturing component can be mistakenly abandoned. Through nurturing and teaching beginning educators, mentors have the ability to increase mentee's level of job satisfaction and self-confidence. A boost in both of these areas can positively impact teacher retention. It is also suggested that relationships remain a primary focus for the mentor and the mentee. While mentors focus on content, processes, management, and standardised tests, the condition of a relationship between mentor and mentee cannot be forgotten. Mentors are encouraged to think about how they communicate with their mentees. Communication should be positive, specific, useful, and delivered in a non-threatening manner. Communicating in a healthy way can help strengthen the relationship a mentor has with new teachers and also provide the mentor with a way to better reach the mentees. As relationships are fostered and mentees see that mentors care about them both professionally and personally, results will be greater. Mentees will open up, be more likely to receive constructive criticism, and share more about the things they need assistance with. Hicks, Glasgow, and McNary (2005) explained that mentoring is a multifaceted role for any veteran teacher. Mentoring someone well takes a great deal of time as you think, plan, and meet the various needs which can arise with a beginning classroom teacher. The authors stressed that if schools are to retain effective and loyal teachers there has to be a mentor who can assist new teachers with the different people that novice teachers must interact with, while navigating different challenges that can arise. New teachers have to be aware of the people they will deal with. Not only will a beginning teacher be dealing with students, but they will also be dealing with parents, other professionals in the school building, and other individuals from the community. An effective mentor must teach new teachers how to positively and effectively communicate with each of these parties. IMPACT OF MENTORING ON TEACHERS A teacher shortage is evident in the United Kindom (Williams, 2010). A lot of first year teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Schlichte and colleagues (2005) argue that the high teacher attrition rate is due to the loneliness and alienation experienced by beginning teachers who desire to socialize and engage with their colleagues. Furthermore, new teachers experience feelings of ineffectiveness in the classroom and distance from their veteran peers. Mentoring has been identified as a critical factor in eliminating such feelings as isolation among first-year teachers (Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2005). Mentoring programs provide a structure for the mentor-mentee relationship that combats the challenges faced by first-year teachers. Tellez (1992) conducted a quantitative study of 128 first-year teachers to determine if first-year teachers seek help from their mentor teachers (formal relationship). However, he stated that 98% of first-year teachers sought assistance through informal mentoring relationships rather than their formal mentors assigned to them (Tellez, 1992). They sought help from experienced teachers perceived as friendly and caring (Tellez, 1992). When the mentor is viewed as approachable, supportive, and invested in their success, mentees are more likely to participate in the mentoring process. In an earlier mixed methods study, Gehrke and Kay (1984) found that mentees viewed mentoring as a support system. Three-hundred teachers in 12 school districts were surveyed about their mentoring relationships. Of the 188 teacher respondents, 41 were selected for in-depth interviews. The findings from the interviews indicated that the mentoring relationship developed informally through the use of the mentor's interest in the mentee. Displaying interest in the mentee included asking questions, informal conversations, encouraging remarks, and classroom visits. Gehrke and Kay (1984) revealed that mentors were influential in their mentees' decision making. The majority of the mentees reported that an informal mentor relationship was quite significant in their career guidance and classroom support. A first-year teacher mentor program is one vital strategy that school districts can implement during the induction process; this will lead to a decrease in teacher attrition (Darling-Hammond, 2003). Recently, there has been a notable increase in teacher induction programs that offer mentoring and transition support (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004). The researchers conducted a secondary analysis to determine if first-year teacher mentor programs were helpful and provided the support necessary for teacher retention. More than two thirds of first-year teachers reported participating in a mentoring relationship. Smith and Ingersoll (2004) found that first-year teachers, who were provided with mentors, were less likely to leave the profession after their first year of teaching. The researchers concluded that the support of the mentor with collaborative activities can reduce the high teacher turnover rate of first-year teachers. In an earlier quantitative study, Stroot and colleagues (1999) surveyed 85 first-year teachers in a large urban school district. The survey focused on the components of teaching and the role of the mentor. The researchers asserted that mentoring programs are necessary to assist first-year teachers in transition into the urban school setting. Often, first-year teachers are not given the transition support necessary for classroom success; thus, mentoring can provide much needed assistance to ensure success in the classroom both for the mentee and for the students. According to Darling-Hammond (2003), mentoring is a strategy that will retain first year teachers in the field. Everston and Smithey (2000) conducted a study with two school districts to examine the efficacy of using a research-based mentoring program to assist mentor teachers in supporting their mentees. The researchers collected data using questionnaires, narrative records, classroom observations, weekly summaries of mentoring meetings, and ratings of student behaviours in the classroom. Everston and Smithey (2000) noted that mentees of the mentors who participated in a research-based mentoring program were more organised, managed instruction at the beginning of the year, and established more workable classroom routines. Additionally, the mentees noted better student behaviour in the classroom. Overall, trained mentors were able to provide more effective support to their mentees. In support of this, Andrews and Quinn (2005) conducted a quantitative study to examine the impact of mentoring on first-year teachers. The researchers administered a 20 item survey questionnaire to 188 first-year teachers in a western U.S. school district. One-hundred-thirty-five teachers responded to the survey. The mentees were assigned a mentor by either the district or the school principal; thus, the mentees participated in a formal mentoring relationship. The researchers noted that mentoring enhanced the teaching process for new teachers. Furthermore, the researchers stated that formal mentoring was viewed as powerful and supportive by the mentees. Finally, Marable and Raimondi (2007) conducted a study to examine what teachers perceived as the most and least supportive factors during their first years of teaching. The researchers wanted to determine if teachers viewed mentoring as supportive during their initial years. Marable and Raimondi (2007) noted that teachers who were mentored during their first years found it supportive and helpful. However, the teachers made two vital recommendations to the mentor program: allow teachers time to meet with their mentors and ensure that mentors did not serve in a supervisory role. REFERENCES Andrews, B. D., & Quinn, R. (2005). The effects of mentoring on first-year teachers' perceptions of support received. The Clearing House, 78(3), 110-116. Beyene, T., Align, M., Sanchez, W., & Ballot, M. (2002). Mentoring and relational mutuality: Protgs perspectives. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 47(1), 87-102. Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). Keeping good teachers: Why it matters. What leaders can do. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 6-13. Clawson, J. G. (1996). Mentoring in the information age. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 17(3), 6-15. Gehrke, N. J., & Kay, R. S. (1984). The socialization of beginning teachers through mentor protg relationships. Journal of Teacher Education, 35(3), 21-24. Evertson, C. M., & Smithey, M. W. (2000). Mentoring effects on protgs' classroom practice: An experimental field study. Journal of Educational Research, 93(5), 294-304. Hicks, C., Glasgow, N., & McNary, S. (2005). What successful mentors do. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press. Ingersoll, R. M., & Smith, T. (2003). The wrong solution to the teacher shortage. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 30-33. Marable, M. A., & Raimondi, S. (2007). Teachers' perceptions of what was most (and least) supportive during their first year of teaching. Mentoring and Tutoring, 15(1), 25-37. Meier, D. (2009). Reinventing schools that keep teachers in teaching. Rethinking Schools, 23(3). 1-14. Schlichte, J., Yssel, N., & Merbler, J. (2005). Pathways to burnout: Case studies in teacher isolation and alienation. Preventing School Failure, 50(1), 35-40. Smith, R. M., & Ingersoll, R. M. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover American Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 681-714. Stroot, S. A., Fowlkes, J., Langholz, J., Paxton, S., Stedman, P., Steffes, L., & Valtman, A. (1999). Impact of collaborative peer assistance and review model on entry-year teachers in a large urban school setting. Journal of Teacher Education, 50(1), 27-41. Tellez, K. (1992). Mentors by choice, not design: Help-seeking by beginning teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3), 214-221. Williams, R. (2010). Hundreds of thousands of qualified teachers not working in profession. Guardian, January. Retrieved Nov 12, 2010 from Read More