Dumfries and Galloway have an established mentoring programme for newly appointed Head Teachers and Deputes. The authority’s view is that one of the most crucial factors involved in effective mentoring is the ability of mentor and mentee to ‘get on.’ This case study reflects the experiences of a newly appointed primary Head Teacher in a small rural school working with an experienced Head Teacher.
In Dumfries and Galloway mentoring is defined as,
'a process whereby an experienced, highly regarded, empathetic person (the mentor), guides another individual (the mentee) in the development and re-examination of their own ideas, learning and personal and professional development'
Mentoring is about building a relationship based on confidence and trust. It goes beyond straight instruction and passing of practical skills and extends into areas of career development, life planning, and sharing of useful contacts. The mentor takes an interest in the mentee’s progress and acts as a sounding board for their ideas and concerns.
The authority see coaching and mentoring as complementary activities forming part of a continuum of one-to-one support with coaching conversations occurring within a mentoring relationship.
The authority has concluded that mentoring is a purposeful conversation in which a mentor offers support, insight and perhaps advice to an individual within a skilfully constructed and managed ongoing relationship. This dialogue should lead, though perhaps not directly, to tangible outcomes which benefit the individual and their organisation. The authority consider that mentoring is not about telling or advising a less experienced colleague how best to run their school.
In the mentoring relationship described here the mentee met her mentor about 5 times over the course of the year. Most meetings had been in the mentee’s school which had helped the mentee feel a little more relaxed ‘on home ground’, although they had also met once over an evening meal. Most meetings had been at the end of the school day and had lasted upwards of 2 hours.
They set an agenda via email before each meeting then added to it on the day with clear action plans developed for completion before the next meeting. The range of areas discussed was comprehensive though both felt that the most learning and impact on practice occurred when exploring Leading and Developing People.
As the mentee had not previously held a promoted post and had also not previously worked in Dumfries & Galloway there was an initial need for immediate, practical help from her mentor.
'I had not had a promoted post before this appointment, so I was prepared to be led somewhat by my mentor. I needed help with basic stuff at first - like what do I throw away and what do I keep! I was still at a rather reactive stage when we first met - I hadn’t really got to the stage where I could look at forward planning.
One of the first things my mentor did which was really useful was that she introduced me to the idea of carrying out an audit of where the school was now on all sorts of aspects. It was such a simple idea but it paved the way to clarifying what was important to do and in what order it should be done. That really helped a lot.'
The mentor has provided guidance on how to approach key aspects of the Head Teacher’s role and supported the new Head Teacher during the early phase of her appointment.
'My mentor has helped me break down my work…breaking new initiatives down into more manageable steps for the people who will have to implement them; making a set of targets which has made the job much more achievable. Before I talked with my mentor, I didn't really know where to start! I would definitely have been too quick in my pacing of change and struggled to keep people with me. It's a much more strategic overview I now have.
Without a mentor I guess I would of course have learned how to do things properly, but it would be a much longer process learning by my mistakes. Especially in a remote rural school - you would feel very isolated. It could become a very negative experience for you. I think I would have drowned without it. I would have got so entangled I might not have been able to manage. I would have tried to do too much and would have become very demoralised.'
This has helped build the Head Teacher’s confidence in her ability to perform her role.
'Part of the long-term effect of my meetings is that I now have the confidence to act on my own initiative in certain situations where I might have been hesitant before.'
This mentee was typical of many of her peers in her assessment of the quality of the support she received from her mentor and the nature of the issues she felt she could raise with her mentor.
'There are lots of things I would talk to my mentor about that I wouldn't mention to my Quality Improvement Officer, for instance. I could also phone other people for help I suppose, but I am not going to confide in them like I do with my mentor.'
This confidence in the integrity and confidentiality of the mentoring relationship lies at the heart of the potential for learning and development that the relationship can bring. The depth of the learning is determined to a significant degree by the quality of the relationship.
Mentors and mentees in the authority are highly committed to the programme and its future development. Head Teachers are often motivated to participate as mentors because they recall their own ‘white-knuckle ride’ on appointment.
From the mentee’s perspective this professional relationship will continue to develop.
'Where do I see this going in the future? Well, I would like to think that we will talk less and less about the day-to-day issues and start to focus on a longer-term vision for my school.
That’s not to say we won’t talk about some of the nitty-gritty stuff; there’ll always be that I guess… but I think we will have the space to really explore where I want the school to go. Maybe we won’t meet so often but I would like to think that she will be there in the background for me for a long time yet…
A mentor can be for life, not just for Christmas you know!'
Following evaluation of the 2006/2007 Head Teacher/Depute programme, the authority are enhancing the programme in a number of ways. These include offering an induction workshop for mentees and mentors and extending the programme to include newly appointed Principal Teachers. The authority is also embarking on a cross service coaching and mentoring programme involving colleagues from Children’s Services, NHS and social work managers. Mentoring and coaching are seen as important and growing aspects of creating a developmental culture across the region.
For more information please email Gillian Brydson, Education Officer, Dumfries and Galloway Council.
In association with Education Scotland
Comments
Con Morris,
3 March 2008, 9.26 pm
Very informative and grounded, Gillian! I am interested to know how you select and / or get volunteers to be mentors? How do you promote the 'getting on' bit between mentor and mentee? Is there a try-out session of some sort? Con