new teacher mentorship model

[SUSAN WOOD]

new teacher mentorship modelI read your original idea and the new design.
You are doing great work, it's clear.  An additional thought - mentoring
offers benefits, including learning, to the mentor as well as the mentee,
beyond pay.  I would hope that the OS meeting outcome would include an
expression of needs/wants that would provide for new teachers and mentors
alike.  The balance of give/take is important as is acknowledging mentor
benefits.   I'm thinking of things like keeping time commitments for
meetings/calls, giving feedback, questioning and learning jointly, making
sure offers/acceptances are appropriate to interests and skills - and when
they are not, how to change the agreements and relationships.   There is a
certain amount of courtesy and testing of the relationship that needs to be
explored in Open Space so the program gets off to a good start.


  -----Original Message-----
  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Rhett
Hudson/Chris Weaver
  Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2000 9:54 PM
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Subject: new teacher mentorship model


  Dear OSLIST,

  I'm all excited and bleary-eyed from one of those sweet breakthroughs into
a new application of Open Space.  I've drafted an Open-Space-based design
for a mentorship project for new public school teachers (with help from
Esther, BJ, and Chris Corrigan).  I'm striking while the iron is hot - this
could be piloted state-wide in North Carolina by the fall, bringing together
a number of teacher-support programs who have never worked in consort.  I
share it with you in its newly-created form for your feedback, and of course
in the hope that it might be useful to someone else out there.

  PS TO MICHAEL HERMAN:  Where would be the best niche for posting this type
of item on the openspaceworld website?


  LEARNER-BASED COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP for NEW TEACHERS
  Draft, 6/30, by Chris Weaver

  RATIONALE
  New teachers are working in highly complex environments and have multiple
layers of needs.  They are constructing their own practice in individual
ways based on their diverse professional strengths and the diverse
environments in which they work.  The mentoring they receive should be
driven by each teacher's priorities, rather than by the agenda of an
individual mentor or support program.  The new teachers should have
effective access to a wide variety of mentoring expertise.

  END RESULT
  At the end of the Formation Meeting, each new teacher will have chosen a
number of mentors whom they can easily contact for different types of
advice.  Each mentor will have identified a number of new teachers whose
needs match their area of expertise.  In the ongoing contact and meetings,
these multiple mentor-mentee relationships will deepen, and new
relationships will be easily formed based on the needs of the new teachers.


  I.  FORMATION MEETING
      When?         Mid-August
      Where?        NCTeach University Host Sites
      Who?            All New NCTeach Teachers
                          All available mentors (LEA, Coach-to-Coach,
NCTeach Master Teachers, Available
                          NCTeach Faculty)
      How Long?    3 1/2 hours (in this example, 6:00 to 9:30 pm)
      Process?      Open Space Technology
      Description:
                          6:00 to 6:45  -  All teachers and mentors meet.
Each participant is given a list of all participants, with individual
contact information (particularly email addresses) and room for note-taking
below each name.  Instructions are also included for ongoing listserv and/or
web-based communication.  Open Space process is introduced.  Participants
are invited to convene focus groups on a particular topic reflecting the
needs of the teachers (e.g. High School Biology, classroom management,
Standard Course of Study and Projects, homework expectations, Inclusion, EOG
7th grade reading Benchmarks...)  The convenor of each focus group (could be
a teacher or a mentor) selects a time and location for their conversation.
Schedule is posted on the agenda wall.  Participants know that they may move
freely between focus groups at any time, to find the place where they can
learn or contribute to the highest degree possible.
                          6:45 to 7:30  -  Focus Groups, session I
                          7:30 to 8:15  -  Focus Groups, session II
                          8:15 to 9:00  -  Focus Groups, session III
  The convenor of each focus group is responsible for facilitating that
group, and for ensuring that a simple report is compiled.
                          9:00 to 9:30  -  Whole Group Closing Meeting
                          FOLLOW-UP  -  All focus group reports will be
compiled and distributed, electronically and/or hard copies, to all
participants within 24 hours.

  II.  SUSTAINING MEETINGS
      Sustaining meetings will be held monthly throughout the school year,
following the same Open Space Process.  Focus groups will continue to be
convened around specific teacher needs.  New teachers will thus deepen their
relationships with established mentors while maintaining access to new
mentors.  New teachers will also learn collaboratively from one another, and
mentors will learn from all participants.  Focus group reports will be
compiled and distributed following each Open Space meeting.

  III.  SUPPORT BETWEEN MEETINGS
      New teacher support between meetings will be driven by teacher needs
and requests.  Communication will occur on-line, as well as by phone and in
person as requested.  A fund will be established to pay for substitutes so
that mentors can make classroom visits to new teachers when requested
whenever possible.

  IV.  MENTOR ROLES AND COMPENSATION
      In this structure, mentors are compensated for their participation in
the monthly Open Space meetings and for being available to the new teachers
between meetings.  Mentors will be compensated by their sponsoring
organizations (NCTeach, Coach-to-Coach, local District/LEA).  In this
learner-based structure, the actual hours spent in mentoring work will be
impossible to precisely predict.  Data on this will be collected as the
program unfolds, and adjustments in compensation/workload will be negotiated
as needed.

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