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Dear Susan,<BR>
<BR>
Thank you for your comments. I agree that the benefits to the mentors will likely be deep and far-reaching, and that as we do our work in Open Space that a spirit of mutuality will likely manifest. In my proposal as written I am trying to meet the people who are involved in the traditional mentorship structure where they are currently...I don't want to be the one to nudge the mentors out of their accustomed position of expertise; I want Open Space to work that deep-learning magic.<BR>
<BR>
Your reflections on the care that could go into the building of the relationships are very helpful. I had not considered this aspect before you raised it. I received the fine news today that NCTeach would like to hire me officially to join the team to plan and implement the mentorship aspect of the program over the next year. Your comments lead me to the idea of spending time with the planning team (which includes people with many years' experience developing mentor trainings) to explore the relationship-building elements of mentorship. What does this process look/feel like from the inside? What could it be at its best? Perhaps we can come up with some good "guiding questions" to send out to our participants before the first Open Space. Thank you Susan.<BR>
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-Chris<BR>
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From: SUSAN WOOD <susanowood@prodigy.net><BR>
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>
Subject: Re: new teacher mentorship model<BR>
Date: Mon, Jul 3, 2000, 9:34 PM<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Arial">I 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. <BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="2">-----Original Message-----<BR>
<B>From:</B> OSLIST [<FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</U></FONT>]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Rhett Hudson/Chris Weaver<BR>
<B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 29, 2000 9:54 PM<BR>
<B>To:</B> <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>
</U></FONT><B>Subject:</B> new teacher mentorship model<BR>
<BR>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>Dear OSLIST,<BR>
<BR>
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.<BR>
<BR>
PS TO MICHAEL HERMAN: Where would be the best niche for posting this type of item on the openspaceworld website?<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
LEARNER-BASED COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP for NEW TEACHERS<BR>
Draft, 6/30, by Chris Weaver<BR>
<BR>
RATIONALE<BR>
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 <I>should be driven by each teacher's priorities, </I>rather than by the agenda of an individual mentor or support program. The new teachers <I>should have effective access to a wide variety of mentoring expertise.<BR>
<BR>
</I>END RESULT<BR>
At the end of the Formation Meeting, each new teacher will have chosen <I>a number </I>of mentors whom they can easily contact for different types of advice. Each mentor will have identified <I>a number </I>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.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I. FORMATION MEETING<BR>
When? Mid-August<BR>
Where? NCTeach University Host Sites<BR>
Who? All New NCTeach Teachers<BR>
All available mentors (LEA, Coach-to-Coach, NCTeach Master Teachers, Available <BR>
NCTeach Faculty) <BR>
How Long? 3 1/2 hours (in this example, 6:00 to 9:30 pm) <BR>
Process? Open Space Technology<BR>
Description:<BR>
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 <I>reflecting the needs of the teachers</I> (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.<BR>
6:45 to 7:30 - Focus Groups, session I<BR>
7:30 to 8:15 - Focus Groups, session II<BR>
8:15 to 9:00 - Focus Groups, session III <BR>
The convenor of each focus group is responsible for facilitating that group, and for ensuring that a simple report is compiled.<BR>
9:00 to 9:30 - Whole Group Closing Meeting<BR>
FOLLOW-UP - All focus group reports will be compiled and distributed, electronically and/or hard copies, to all participants within 24 hours.<BR>
<BR>
II. SUSTAINING MEETINGS<BR>
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.<BR>
<BR>
III. SUPPORT BETWEEN MEETINGS<BR>
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.<BR>
<BR>
IV. MENTOR ROLES AND COMPENSATION<BR>
In this structure, mentors are compensated for their participation in the monthly Open Space meetings and for <I>being available </I>to the new teachers<I> </I>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.<BR>
<BR>
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