Mentoring Matters
By Kim Kyff2006-2007 Michigan Teacher of the Year
The teaching profession has changed dramatically over the years. Higher standards have inspired teachers to learn new skills and sharpen those skills they already possess. Life in the classroom is full of challenges and change. Is it any wonder then that the latest statistics indicate approximately 40% or more novice teachers leave the profession within five years? This should concern all stakeholders within the profession, especially veteran teachers and administrators. How will we continue to make quality gains in educational reform if we are losing the valuable resource of novice teachers? Research demonstrates that having an effective mentor in the first years of teaching increases novice teacher job satisfaction, confidence, and the likelihood of them remaining in the profession.
Beginning teachers enter the classroom full of idealism and knowledge of the latest educational research. They are eager to begin practicing their craft and improving their skills. What do we expect from them? We expect them to accomplish the same tasks as a veteran educator without the experience and real-life knowledge. Furthermore, many veteran educators adopt a "sink or swim" mentality toward the new teacher. After all, if we (the veteran teacher) managed to survive our first years without assistance, so should the new teacher. This outlook needs to change immediately.
Developing quality, effective mentoring skills allows the veteran educator to engage in highly effective professional development. These veterans begin to hold a magnifying glass to their own teaching practices reflecting on, "Why do I do the things I do? Does this really impact student learning?" Mentors begin applying their coaching skills to their own students by listening, asking inquisitively, and providing non-judgmental feedback. Mentoring, along with providing validation for the veteran teacher, lead to professional renewal and regeneration.
Through mentoring the novice educator, experienced teachers are able to improve and increase their instructional techniques and knowledge. Veteran teachers can learn first hand the current educational research and how to apply it in the classroom setting from the collaborative relationship with the novice teacher. Increases in student achievement occur through this "give and take" relationship.
Michigan is fortunate to have a unique avenue that provides practical resources, strategies, and tools to promote effective teacher induction and mentoring. The ASSIST web site was developed utilizing U.S. Department of Education grant funds directed through the Michigan Department of Education to the College of Education faculty at Michigan State University (MSU). The MSU faculty worked in partnership with faculty at the University of Michigan, as well as master teachers in several Michigan school districts.
The ASSIST research-based frameworks and professional tools for on-the-job learning represent best practices in instructional leadership and effective classroom teaching. There are more than 1,000 pages of tools and resources available on the ASSIST site. For ease of navigation, the resources are organized into three main sections: Organizing Induction; Improving Practice; and Continuing to Learn. These tools are designed for use by principals and other program leaders, veteran teachers acting as mentors, veteran teachers transferring to a new grade level or subject, veteran teachers looking to reinforce and strengthen skills, and novice teachers. The veteran and the novice teacher are able to explore these tools together strengthening their skills and relationship.
Relationships are integral to the educational process. It is through student-teacher relationships and the relationships of mentors and novice teachers that true learning takes place. To paraphrase Parker Palmer in his book The Courage to Teach: Mentors and novices are partners in an ancient human dance, and one of teaching's great rewards is the daily chance it gives us to get back on the dance floor. It is the dance of the spiraling generations, in which the veterans empower the novices with their experience and the novices empower the veterans with new life, reweaving the fabric of the community as they touch and turn.
This is your invitation to dance. Become a mentor!
