Mentoring Relationship

Reflection Activity 4: Avoiding the pitfalls

What would you do if…..   Scenario 1.    You have observed your mentee recently and noted that there were problems with ensuring that all the students are fully engaged in learning.  When you discuss the session afterwards and give clear evidence of the problem from your notes, your mentee becomes agitated and refuses to accept that anything can be done about students who are unmotivated and don’t want to learn. Following this dialogue, you provide comprehensive, positive and constructive feedback in written form, giving concrete suggestions for development.  You suggest that your mentee reflect on this and consider changes that could be made.  The next time you observe a session, no changes have been made and, at the feedback session afterwards, your mentee says that he is beginning to feel that teaching is ‘not for him’. Scenario 2.    You have agreed with your mentee that you will meet for half an hour once a week at an agreed time to review progress, discuss any issues arising from the past week and agree times for lesson observations, co-planning sessions, etc.  You have also agreed that at other times you will keep in touch via email and have also given your mentee your mobile number. It is now halfway into the autumn term and you receive an email message indicating that your mentee, who is on an in-service programme, feels unable to cope with the pressures of the classroom.  Your mentee starts phoning you frequently to ask for help, and each time you do your best to suggest possible strategies.  After two more days, your mentee phones you late in the evening in a distressed state and keeps you talking for over an hour.  Scenario 3.    Both you and your mentee are delivering different modules of a vocational learning programme to the same group of students.  Your mentee has been using some very effective active learning strategies to which the students have responded with enthusiasm.  Feedback gathered from the students indicates that, whilst they have no serious criticisms of lessons delivered by you and other members of the teaching team, they particularly enjoy your mentee’s lessons. After completing these three scenarios, re-read and reflect on your responses before continuing.  Once you are satisfied with your responses, post one of them on the Reflection Activity 4 blog and the other two into your diary. In order to complete this task successfully you should: Write a response of at least 100 words to each of the three scenarios