Running head: TEACHER MENTORING AS A MODEL FOR BEST PRACTICE 1

Teacher Mentoring as a Model for Best Practices in the Classroom

Marie Dalton and Danielle S. Hindieh

Long Island University

April 2018
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Abstractt

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of being a mentor teacher. This study focuses

on looking at the impact of the informal mentoring experience on the mentor teacher as a model

for best practices in education. A review of the literature shows that assigning experienced

teachers to guide and support novice teachers provides valuable professional development for

both new and veteran teachers. The literature shows that being given the formal or informal

assignment of acting as a mentor results in improving the quality of instruction given by the

mentor teacher in their own classroom. Studies have found that experienced teachers improve

and develop their pedagogical practices through the mentorship process by engaging in reflective

activities, professional conversations, and responding to student needs. Mentor teachers improve

their teaching practices as they model flexibility, organization, and collaboration for a novice

teacher.

Keywords: mentor, teacher, best practice, reflection, collaboration, flexibility,

organization
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Teacher Mentoring as a Model for Best Practices in the Classroom

The education system has been overwhelmed with the task of dealing with teacher

shortages, high teacher turnover rates, and improving teacher performance. Both formal and

informal mentorship programs are one solution the education community is looking at to

improve these issues. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of an informal

mentoring relationship on teacher performance and effectiveness of an experienced teacher.

Literature Review

Teacher mentoring programs have dramatically increased over the years as an approach

to support and retain novice teachers. The vast majority of what has been written about

mentoring has focused on the attitudes and behaviors mentor teachers should reinforce in their

work with novice teachers. “Good mentors should be sincere in their dealings with mentees, be

able to listen actively and understand mentees’ needs and have a well-established position within

the academic community” (Sambunjak, Straus, & Marusic, 2009). The student teaching

experience is the first time mentee teachers are able to put the pedagogy they have learned in

their preparation programs, into practice in the classroom. To help foster this crucial transition,

mentors need to be respectful of the attempts made by their mentees, as well as the ideas mentees

share from what they have been recently taught. As found by Sambunjak et al., mentoring was

seen as a crucial developmental relationship between the mentor and the mentee (2009). The

study also demonstrated that mentoring has a strong influence on career guidance, and personal

development.

The mentoring process is also most productive when “mentor teachers are … comfortable

in fulfilling the role of mentor when provided guidance as to expectations of the role of training

to support fulfillment of responsibilities” (Childre & Van Rie 2015). It is always important for
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the mentor teachers to not be given the role without proper preparation first. While being a

mentor can be a great benefit to them, it is not without planning and preparation. Mentor

teachers need to know what is expected of them (rules and regulations governing the process)

and what is expected of their mentees when the mentorship is completed. As explained by

Childre and Van Rie, “it is imperative that mentor teachers are aware of evidence-based practices

teacher candidates are learning to ensure the continuity in information across settings for

candidate success” (2015). For example in New York State, pre-service teachers are required to

complete the EdTPA process (New York State Teacher Certification Accreditation). For many

mentors this process was not something they had to complete and is therefore foreign to them,

making it difficult to advise mentees on, if they have not been already briefed on the process

themselves.

Mentoring is also a collaborative effort between the mentor and the mentee. As

illustrated by Turner & Greene (2017), pre-service middle school teachers found that their early

clinical experiences combined with the influence of their mentor teacher, all had powerful

impacts on their development as teachers and on their personal identities. Mentor teachers

support novice teachers to learn how to deal with individualized problems and build their

pedagogical skills. Mentorship opportunities give the chance for the educators involved to

reflect and analyze their instructional delivery, classroom management, as well as assessment

results. “Quality clinical experiences that involve effective mentoring by capable professionals

are critical to the development of highly skilled and knowledgeable teacher candidates” (Childre

& Van Rie, 2015). An effective mentoring experience aims to expand the perspective from

which novice teachers view problems and foster their independent problem-solving abilities.

The reflective bond created in a mentoring relationship provides a safe space for teachers to
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become skilled at independently identifying and addressing the unique learning problems of their

students.

Another key component of the mentoring relationship is reflective practice. This is

important not only on the part of the mentee but also on the part of the mentor. For the mentee,

reflection is an important part of the learning process as a new teacher. New teachers are

constantly reflecting on their new skills with the guidance of their mentor for support. “In the

context of learning at work, the student has a responsibility for his/her learning and development.

Furthermore, the student is treated as an active and reflective learner who is involved in active

interaction with the learning environment. The foundation of the student’s learning and

mentoring is their personal learning plans and learning objectives” (Kupila, Ukkonen, &

Mikkola, 2017). The mentees need to maintain an active role in their mentorship, always

engaging in constant reflection to ensure they are developing their craft as new teachers. This

student teaching process is very valuable to the mentee and through this process, mentees are

able to bridge the gap between theories and practice, finally using all the pedagogy they have

learned in university (Martinez Agudo, 2016).

Mentors also engage in reflection. By reflecting on their own work they are better able to

hone their craft by incorporating new pedagogical skills they have seen their mentee display.

“Other benefits for teachers mentoring preservice teachers included increased sense of

professionalism and professional responsibility, reduced teacher isolation, a greater sense of

community, improved instructional skills, increased motivation and an opportunity for teachers

to reflect on their practice” (Smith & Nadelson, 2016). A good mentor is never satisfied with

their own instruction as it is. They are constantly working to improve themselves as an educator.

The best teachers are the best students, always learning from their own experiences and the
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experiences of those around them. “Good mentor teachers are transparent about their own search

for better answers and more effective solutions to their own problems. They model this

commitment by their openness to learn from colleagues, including beginning teachers, and by

their willingness to pursue professional growth through a variety of means” (Rowley, 1999).

Mentoring is all an important time for mentors to showcase their skills in flexibility.

New teachers are teaching while they continue to learn how to teach. Somethings you can only

learn while you are in the practice of teaching under the guidance of an experienced mentor.

Blending knowledge of content with knowledge of students is not something you can do until

you are in a classroom (Feiman-Menser, 2001). For the mentee the process of being flexible

and juggling new skills and feedback can be rewarding and challenging all at the same time, “the

promise of mentoring lies not in easing novices’ entry into teaching but in helping them confront

difficult problems of practice and use their teaching as a site for learning. As a result,

participating in a serious mentoring relationship may actually make the first years of teaching

more strenuous in the short run while promoting greater rewards for teachers and students in the

long run” (Feiman-Menser 2001).

Mentoring also provides experienced and novice teachers the opportunity for meaningful

collaboration. “Similar to other learning situations, collaborative mentoring processes are

largely determined by mentees’ perceived satisfaction while being mentored” (Dorner & Kumar,

2017). This is important to note because mentors need to keep in mind that to be successful they

need to fully collaborate and work with the novice teachers. Mentors cannot simply tell novice

teachers how to teach, they must model the essential qualities associated with best practice in

their everyday lives as educators. They need to work with them to develop best classroom

practices and then provide constructive feedback after their implementation.

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Mentoring comes in many different forms. Mentoring can be a formal obligation (e.g., a

mentor teacher and a student teacher) and informal (e.g., an experienced teacher collaborating

with and providing guidance to a new teacher or untenured teacher in the building). Formal

mentoring can be seen in different forms as well. It can be seen in the traditional model where

mentors give advice for mentees to take and apply. It can also be seen though the model where

the mentor is a coach to the mentee. “a mentoring program that is responsive to and impacts the

deeper needs of new leaders should have a new perspective. Embedded in such a program is a

focus on the growth of mentors as well as mentees. Mentors learn to develop a coach-like

mindset to move beyond simply giving surface level advice. Instead, mentors' most important

work is to help new leaders explore and develop their individual leadership strengths”

(Augustine-Shaw & Reilly, 2017). This is important because a coach does not lecture his/her

players rather they tap into the strengths their players possess and help nurture them.

Informal mentoring is also a very valuable. In this way, experienced teachers are not

explicitly told to mentor a specific teacher. Rather these more experienced teachers are

collaborating with novice teachers on their grade or department and by the nature of their

experience level, provide invaluable insight to the novice teacher. Novice teachers gravitate

toward experienced teachers to seek out their advice and wisdom on different areas of their

teaching practice, building level culture, and procedural norms. The experienced teacher acts as

a ‘mentor’ in dispensing advice. The experienced teacher also benefits from the collaboration

with this newer teacher as they get to learn of new pedagogies currently being taught to future

educators in universities.

Methods
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This study focused on diary entries of a second language teacher, Ramona, with over 30

years of teaching experience at the high school level with nearly 15 years as an adjunct professor

at a local community college. She teaches Spanish to upper classmen in grades 11 and 12 in a

rural high school not far from a large urban area. The high school has an enrollment of 1,000

students and is the only high school in the district. Diary entries were analyzed using coding.

Micro and in vivo coding, open and axial coding, as well as context-related memos were used to

analyze the diary entries. The diary entry coding revealed three major themes related to teacher

mentorship and best practice:

 Theme 1: Mentoring a novice teacher provides an opportunity for an experienced teacher

to engage in reflection of their own teaching.

 Theme 2: Mentoring provides an opportunity for an experienced teacher to model best

practices such as flexibility.

 Theme 3: Mentoring provides an opportunity for an experienced teacher to engage in

meaningful collaboration.

Results

The results of the coded diary entries of Ramona, a 30 year veteran teacher, present three

themes. The three themes present in the analysis are that mentoring highlights the importance of

reflection, collaboration, and flexibility as models of best practice in education. Analysis of

Ramona’s diaries show that teachers at any level of experience within the profession will benefit

from the mentoring process by gaining time to engage in meaningful collaboration and reflection

as a means to improving their practice. The research also showed that being flexible is also

another quality that is possessed by effective teachers.

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Discussion

Ramona’s own diary entries illustrated how even as a 30-year veteran teacher she was

still engaged in reflection, and collaboration on a consistent basis. Her diary shows how an

effective teacher is not measured by their years of experience but rather by their attitude and their

willingness to be flexible, collaborative and reflective. The best teachers do not know everything

but are willing to share what they do know with others. They are also willing to embrace the

ideas of others, constantly striving to better themselves as educators.

Ramona’s thoughts and feelings regarding her work as an educator allows other educators

to see the value in her reflections of best practices. Ramona’s own vulnerability highlights the

necessity for all educators to strive to be as flexible, collaborative, and reflective as possible.

Mentoring Provides an Opportunity for Reflection

The first theme present in the research highlights the reflective process that mentor

teachers engage in. The process of being a mentor necessitates reflection. The experienced

teacher looks back on their own teaching in an effort to demonstrate the highest levels of

instruction to their mentee. Ramona talks about the new ideas she will be bringing into her

classroom in the coming school year, “I am definitely going to remember to use ACTFL's Year

of Language (YOL) topics when planning my activities. In addition, I have several new and

exciting ideas for incorporating technology into a variety of assignments, different ways of

approaching content, and other activities to engage my students in using their new language

skills in authentic situations.” Ramona has been teaching for over 30 years but that hasn’t

stopped her from seeing the importance in pausing to reflect on where she is with her teaching

and where she could go next with it.

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Mentoring Provides an Opportunity to Model Flexibility.

The second theme present in the research explores how the mentoring process allows for

experienced teachers to model flexibility and organization. In describing the first days back with

her students, Ramona says, “we are bulging at the seams. Every seat is occupied, and some

students are sharing tables. Every textbook is issued, and in some classes, we've had to use

classroom sets of texts while we frantically try to locate additional texts someplace else.

Flexibility is the name of the game, and we are definitely being flexible!” Ramona illustrated

how essential flexibility is to a teacher and their students. An experienced teacher knows that in

modeling flexibility they are allowing those around them, (mentees and students) to see how

‘going with flow’ and adapting to the circumstances you are presented with can lead everyone to

be the most productive, modeling the importance of not wasting time focusing on what is beyond

your control. In her second semester of the school year her teaching assignment changes and

instead of dreading the change she is flexible and eagerly looks forward to the challenge, “My

teaching assignment changed at semesters and I am now learning about new students. This is a

challenge I look forward to eagerly.”

Mentoring Provides Opportunity to Engage in Meaningful Collaboration

The third theme addresses the effect mentoring has on building and promoting

meaningful collaboration. The very nature of the mentoring process is intertwined with

collaboration of colleague. In her diary Ramona discusses the collaboration process and how

she sees it as an essential way to enhance her own teaching. “Through the years I have

discovered that sharing materials and ideas with colleagues is perhaps one of the best ways to

enhance my teaching. I love listening to what others are doing in their classes and sharing what I
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do in mine!” Collaboration is a way for both veteran and novice teachers to develop and

enhance their practices within the classroom.

Conclusions and Implications

The research has shown how essential the mentoring process can be to both the mentee

and the mentor. The research also highlights how it is vital that mentors be educated and up to

date on the educational and systemic expectations of mentees during the mentoring process.

Even informal mentors can benefit from understanding what expectations novice teachers have

been put under by their administrations.

What does this mean for today’s teachers? How can they use this research to better

themselves as educators? Teachers today can use Ramona’s insights to guide their own

reflection and collaboration. They can discover how being flexible can lead to a more

harmonious classroom environment. They can look at the benefits Ramona has received from

opening up herself to collaborate with her colleagues and engage in meaningful collaboration.
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References

Agudo, J. D. M. (2016) What type of feedback do student teachers expect from their school

mentors during practicum experience? the case of spanish efl student teachers. Australian

Journal of Teacher Education, 41(5). Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.au/ajte/vol41/iss5/3

Augstine-Shaw, D., & Reilly, M. (2017). I am a mentor, I am coach effective mentors help new

leaders develop their own strengths. The Learning Professional, 38(5), 52-58.

Childre, A. L., & Ginny L. (2015). Mentor teacher training: a hybrid model to promote

partnering in candidate development. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 34(1), 10-16.

Dorner, H., & Kumar, S. (2017). Attributes of pre-service and inservice teacher satisfaction with

online collaborative mentoring. Online Learning, 21(4), 283-301.

doi:10.24059/olj.v21i4.1020

Feiman-Nemser, S. (2017). Helping novices learn to teach lessons form an exemplary support

teacher. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 17-30.

Kupila, P., Ukkonen-Mikkola, T., & Rantala, K. (2017). Interpretations of mentoring during

early childhood education mentor training. Australian Journal of Teacher Education,

42(10). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2017v42n10.3

Rowley, J. B., (1999). The good mentor. Educational Leadership, 56(8), 20-22.

Sambunjak, M. D., Sharon, E., & Marusic, A., (2009). A systematic review of qualitative

research on the meaning and characteristics of mentoring in academic medicine. Croatian

Medical Journal, 25(1), 72-78. doi:10.1007//s11606-009-1165-8

Smith, J. & Nadelson, L., (2016). Learning for you and learning for me: mentoring as

professional development for mentor teachers. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in

Learning, 24(1), 59-72. doi:10.1080/13611267.2016.1165489

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Turner, S. L., & Greene C. C. (2017). Opening the classroom door – a survey of middle grades

teachers who mentor preservice teachers – lessons from clinical partnerships and

implications for practice. Middle Grades Review, 3(2). Retrieved from

http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol3/iss2/6
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Table 1

Word Analysis of the 25 Most Commonly Used Words in Ramona’s Diary Entries
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Figure 1. Word cloud illustrating the 25 most commonly found words in Ramona’s diary entries.
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Methodological Addendum
Coding of Ramona’s Diary Entries
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