a mentoring idea

[Chris Corrigan]

I think the short answer is ...bad controlling idea.  i think the long
answer is....what a fantastic opportunity.  I think that opening space
for the relationships to unfold within could be a very valuable
exercise...I'm sure needs and passions would come forward that you could
never have planned for otherwise.  And the relationships will be that
much more meangingful.

I agree with others in letting people propose the topics they wish to
convene around.  For sure the needs of the teachers will come forward,
and the mentors may find themselves alone in a group if their passion is
not shared by others.  The other benefit of opeing the space is that the
line between teacher and mentor will probably become blurred...not a bad
thing for the operatives in any educational system to experience.

But don't tell them this ;-)

Chris



Rhett Hudson/Chris Weaver wrote:

> Hi people!
>
> I'm excited today about a new application of OS that emerged in a
> meeting this morning.  I'd love feedback, especially on one particular
> aspect.
>
> I'm working with a program called NCTeach, in North Carolina, which is
> a newly-created way for people working in other fields to switch
> careers and become public school teachers.  We have about 175 people
> statewide who are making this bold transition.  They are currently in
> an intense summer graduate program at six sites across the state.
>
> I am helping to develop the structure for a mentoring program to
> support these new teachers.  Mentors for new teachers are commonly
> assigned in a one-to-one relationship; experienced teachers are paired
> up with new teachers.  They drop by for scheduled or unscheduled
> meetings at the school.  Often the chemistry is not right, and the
> mentee-mentor relationship becomes another source of stress for the
> new teacher.
>
> Here's what I imagined today:  What if all the mentors and all the new
> teachers at a particular site (say, 25 of each) attended a half-day
> (or more if we can) Open Space to start things off.  The focus groups
> would be convened around the needs of the new teachers.  Useful
> relationships would be formed, but not in a one-to-one fashion; the
> new teachers would leave that event with the names and contact info
> for ALL the mentors, and with relationships with several of them based
> on their OS interactions.
>
> >From then on, the new teachers would choose when, how, and from whom
> they would need help.  Mentors could be paid for being available, and,
> hopefully, for attending regular mini-open-spaces with the new
> teachers throughout the school year.
>
> So:  Has anyone else done this type of thing as an alternative
> structure of a mentorship?
>
> And, here's my specific question:  During the first OS, I am
> considering inviting only the new teachers to convene focus groups.
> On one level this feels heretical to the spirit of Open Space.  But on
> another level I want to deliberately break the set-up of the mentors
> being the experts.  I want the whole program to be oriented around the
> needs of the new teachers, not around the expertise of the mentors.
> In my current thinking, requesting that the mentors not convene focus
> groups but instead to simply attend the ones to which they feel they
> can contribute the most would serve to empower the new teachers.
> WOULD YOU DO THIS?  Or is it a bad controlling idea?
>
> Thanks a lot!
>
> -Chris Weaver

--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7

Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036

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