Induction

 

Mentoring and Induction

An effective induction is essential if you wish to establish a meaningful and successful relationship with your mentee

We would view the induction as an on-going process, rather than a 'one-off' briefing, so we advise you to plan a series of sessions which induct the mentee gradually. Consider what may be involved in each session, how much information to provide at each stage and then decide how many sessions that this may require.

Consider the induction to have three aspects:

  • Practical
  • Contractual
  • Philosophical


Practical aspects:

Included in these are important issues such as the location of toilets, photo-copier, and kettle! An induction checklist Is provided in the 'Mentor Guide' and in the trainees CPPD file

An important aspect will be the timetable. As mentor it will be important that you provide your mentee with as broad a range of experience as possible. Ideally, your mentee should gain experience of different learners and contrasting approaches to learning and teaching, with varying sizes of classes, different groups of learners and a range of subjects within their own specialism.

Rules, regulations, sanctions and procedures need to be made clear.

In research undertaken in 2000, Whittaker found that the majority of trainee teachers felt that they were not provided with clear guidelines within which to work.

Go through procedures for dealing with issues such as:

  • Late arrivals to the session
  • Mobile phones
  • Eating and drinking in the classroom
  • Taking the register
  • Swearing

Make sure that your mentee is aware of students who have learning difficulties and strategies for addressing key targets such as Every Child Matters and functional skills.

 

Contractual aspects:

 In their first chapter on mentoring and coaching, Megginson and Clutterbuck (2005) provide some hints on how to establish and manage a mentoring relationship. They emphasise the importance of developing rapport with the mentee, but also having a clear understanding of what can be expected from the relationship. The University has expectations about the way our trainees are supported during their work-based experience, and these are outlined in the Mentor Guide.  

While bearing these in mind, it is important that you to reach an agreement about what is expected in the mentoring relationship. You as a mentor, your organisation or your department may have specific ways of working that will affect the way you undertake mentoring and this should be clarified with your mentee whose responsibilities our outlined below

Responsibilities of the Trainees

Whilst on placements trainees are reminded that:

  • they have a professional obligation to their host institution their colleagues at the institution and the students in their care.
  • common courtesy is expected with respect to institution policies, custom and practice and dress code.
  • they are required to adhere to their host institution's holiday patterns and absence will require a call to the host institution as soon as possible
  • they are required to liaise regularly with their mentor and inform their mentor of forthcoming observations of their teaching practice
  • they are advised to share their progress and any feedback received in relation to their teaching practice

In preparing for your first meetings with your mentee, you should consider the following issues and reach a written agreement with your mentee. The issues to consider are:

  1. Clarity about expected behaviours. (Dress, time-keeping etc.)
  2. Boundaries of the relationship
  3. Timings and frequency of meetings
  4. Limits of confidentiality
  5. Responsibilities towards one another
  6. Formality/informality of meetings
  7. The nature of the relationship. (Issues such as challenging one-another)


Philosophical and Ideological aspects:


A key aspect of the mentor's role is to engage the mentee in philosophical and ideological discussions about the pedagogy of their specialist subject. Trainees need to have the opportunity to articulate their ideas and approaches to learning and teaching and to review these perspectives as they gain experience and competence in the learning environment.

During the induction period, it will be important for the trainee to come to an understanding about their mentor's personal philosophies and ideologies in relation to learning and teaching and also the shared ideologies within the department. Clarity about these issues is required so that trainees do not find themselves contradicting rules or adopting the wrong approach in the classroom and it will also help the trainee to reconcile their own ideas and those that they have studied on the course. This will allow them to critically analyse both theory and best practices.

Bibliography

Megginson, D. AND Clutterbuck, D (2005)

Whittaker, G. (2000) 'Sink or Swim: