With major changes to the education landscape being implemented following the ITT market review and now a change in government, the role of the mentor and coach within schools is more important than ever.
Teachers that undertake these roles within our schools help to foster and develop our current workforce and guide those who are training to enter the profession. The retention of talent within our schools is inextricably linked to how well people feel supported and this has an impact on the retention of talent within our schools.
To support colleagues, we have recently published a book, Mentoring and Coaching in Education: A Guide to Coaching and Mentoring Teachers at Every Stage of their Careers, which draws on our own wide range of experiences.
The idea for the book came from wanting to support teachers and those that support them to better prepare them to successfully transition into the next stage of their career. The professional learning of those we support within schools is important to help them make sense of their purpose and motivations for being a teacher. We must also recognise that the professional learning and growth of those that provide mentoring and/or coaching is as important, if we wish to retain that talent within our schools.
We start the book with clearly defining the terms ‘mentoring’ and ‘coaching’ and then explore how they are currently used within schools to support teachers at every stage of their career. The chapters cover mentoring and coaching of initial teacher trainees, early career teachers, middle leaders, senior leaders, headteachers, women into leadership, and BAME colleagues into leadership. These are written with reference to the relevant research in the field and propose amendments and repurposing to make them fit with the realities of supporting the professional growth of teachers within schools. The inclusion of reflective questions for the reader and suggestions of further reading were included to help guide them on how they can use the ideas presented in the book to their own situation.
Throughout the book we explore the theoretical frameworks, key strategies and principles at each stage of a teacher’s career to support phase specific development, and delve into how these strategies can be used to help teachers to continue to develop to become confident classroom practitioners, as well as future leaders.
Overall, the book is written for anyone who is in a teaching role within schools and supporting the development of others, whether this is working with trainee or student teachers through to headteachers. It is designed to introduce a range of tools and approaches that can be used as well as how to use the toolkit that they are developing. It is not tied to a particular single framework, but presents a variety of approaches that the reader can utilise to support the professional growth of another.
We hope the book is a useful addition to NASBTT members’ resources on how coaches and mentors can offer support and provide a safe supportive environment to allow teachers to continue to grow and develop, whatever phase they are in on their learning journey.
‘Mentoring and Coaching in Education’ is available to buy from Bloomsbury.
Derek Boyle has been the SCITT Director at Bromley Schools’ Collegiate since 2013. He holds an MA in Leadership in Education and is currently studying for a PhD with the University of Wolverhampton researching building mentoring and coaching capacity within schools that support ITT placements.
Lizana Oberholzer is a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education and Postgraduate provision. She is the programme lead for the University of Wolverhampton’s International MA in Education, as well as the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications for School Leadership.