Coaching & Mentoring Handbook

Skills for LifeImprovement Programme

Mentoring in EducationThe Mentor as Critical Friend

Skills for Life Improvement Programme

The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered on behalf of the Quality Improvement Agency by CfBT Education Trust and partners

Mentoring in Education TE4056 The Mentor as Critical Friend Tutor: Dr Michael Stokes [email protected]


CfBT Education Trust 60 Queens Road Reading, RG1 4BS

T: 0118 902 1920 F: 0845 838 1207 E: [email protected] W: www.sflip.org.uk


QIA Skills for Life Improvement Programme – D2 Coaching and Mentoring Mentoring in Education: TE 4056 The Mentor as Critical Friend

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The Mentor as Critical Friend TE4056 Introduction The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is new. It builds on previous initiatives, making best use of people, systems and materials to help deliver the Skills for Life strategy in the future. It is an innovative programme designed to support creative change in a wide variety of self-improving organisations. The programme is delivered through three separate strands:

• Strand 1 – Workforce development • Strand 2 – A whole organisation approach to quality improvement • Strand 3 – Innovation in teaching and learning

The Skills for Life Improvement Programme is delivered by a consortium led by CfBT. The consortium includes some of the key national agencies. These are:

• CfBT Education Trust

• Edexcel/ Pearson

• Epic

• General Federation of Trade Unions

• LLU+ London South Bank University

• Learning and Skills Network

• National Foundation for Education Research

• The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education

• National Research and Development Centre

• Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities

• The Network

• University of Wolverhampton



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This is one of two modules that make up the Postgraduate Certificate in Mentoring and Coaching in Education. The programme is designed to engage new and experienced mentors and coaches in a consideration of their contribution to the training and support of others and to their own professional development. Module 1, The Mentor as Critical Friend (TE 4056) concentrates on how the concepts and skills of mentoring and coaching are set within current professional contexts of Skills for Life. The module enables participants to understand how they carry out their practice. Aims To enable participants to enhance their mentoring and coaching skills by:

• setting up coaching and mentoring programmes; • evaluating the effectiveness of coaching and mentoring as a mode of

continuing professional development • making Skills for Life developments sustainable and embedded within the

fabric of organisations. Outcomes To enable participants to:

1. consider the role of mentor and coach in their organisation 2. recognise the value of coaching and mentoring in their work with their

colleagues 3. define and differentiate between coaching and mentoring 4. gain knowledge and skills in coaching and mentoring 5. outline how they will put into practice a coaching and mentoring model

in their organisations, suggesting possible barriers and strategies for overcoming these

6. achieve The Mentor as Critical Friend certificate 7. identify future professional development needs.

Introduction A well conceived mentoring and coaching programme contributes to a culture of learning in an organisation and supports broad-based leadership and high levels of professional quality in staff. Such a programme for staff new to an institution helps them develop into dynamic and resourceful educational leaders who can respond to the diverse academic and social needs of their colleagues and/or their learners. Research also shows that mentoring programmes have the potential to decrease the number of staff who leave an organisation in their first year of practice. In this handbook you will find a series of activities and supporting material and ideas that should help you to meet the outcomes of the module. There will also be an additional Reader to be used alongside your practice.



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It is unlikely that you are unfamiliar with the role of mentor or coach. Think about someone who has influenced you in your life and why they were influential. It is likely that there will have been several people who have been influential in your life at particular times or stages. You could consider a ‘timeline’ of your life and identify when a person was influential. On the timeline place an arrow at the year of influence and the initials or name of the person who was influential. Age Now 10 How many do you remember? What made them so influential? Those memories should help you decide what is required by a protégé from a mentor or coach. Activity (a) With a group of colleagues, list what you feel is required from a mentor by a colleague in a mentoring relationship. Or: List what you feel is required from a coach by a colleague in a coaching relationship. On completion, compare your list with those from other groups – are they similar, will a colleague be seeking the same things from a mentor or coach? Do you as a whole class feel there is anything missing from the lists? (b) As a mentor/coach who will have to meet the needs of this colleague, what qualities/attributes do you have to have in order to meet their expectations? In your small group produce a list. Compare your list with those from other groups. Are you in agreement? Do you possess those qualities/attributes? If you do not have all of these attributes does that mean you should not be a mentor/coach?



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Other groups have produced a list of skills and attributes for mentors/coaches: compare your list with theirs. Is there anything missing from your list in comparison with the others? The lists illustrate the various views of what is thought to be a mentor/coach and to some extent these lists help define a mentor/coach. See CUREE (2005) The National Framework of Mentoring and Coaching London: DfES (in the Reader). From Clutterbuck, D. (2001) Everyone Needs a Mentor, 3rd edition. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development: “Mentoring is a partnership between two people built upon trust. It is a process in which the mentor offers ongoing support and development opportunities to the mentee. Addressing issues and blockages identified by the mentee, the mentor offers guidance, counselling and support in the form of pragmatic and objective assistance. Both share a common purpose of developing a strong two-way learning relationship. Mentoring helps mentees and mentors progress their personal and professional growth. Its primary focus tends to be on the acquisition of people skills which enable individuals to operate effectively at high levels of management. The aim of mentoring is to build the capability of the mentees to the point of self-reliance while accelerating the communication of ideas across the organisation. The mentoring relationship is confidential. The mentor offers a safe environment to the mentee within which they can discuss work-related issues and explore solutions to challenges. For this reason, in a formal mentoring scheme, mentors are rarely in a line relationship; they are off-line. In this way, the mentors are not required to evaluate the current work performance of the mentees. They are there to help the learner manage his/her own learning. Mentors can help individuals reach significant decisions about complex issues. Through skilful questioning, they help clarify the mentee’s perspective while bringing an additional view to bear on the issues. Mentors are not there to solve problems but rather to illuminate the issues and to help plan ways through them. Mentoring is a positive development activity. Mentors can discuss current issues relating to the mentee’s work, offering insights into the ways the organisation works, how the informal networks operate and how they think about the challenges and opportunities they encounter. Mentors can advise on development and how to manage a career plan; they can challenge assumptions; and, where relevant, they can share their own experience. Mentoring has proved to be very effective in transferring tacit knowledge within an organisation, highlighting how effective people think, take decisions and approach complex issues. Sharing views and ideas builds



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understanding and trust. The mentor and mentee relationship often evolves into a key friendship, invaluable when difficult decisions arise.” (pp. 4–5) What is a mentor/mentoring? Hall (2003) suggests that:

• mentoring is an ill-defined concept which is deeply contested by some critics who see some manifestations of it as built upon a questionable ‘deficit’ model.

• mentoring exists in many forms which are at least partly defined by the origin, purpose, nature, and site of the mentoring relationship. (p. 1)

Mentoring is typically defined as: a relationship between an experienced and a less experienced person in which the mentor provides guidance, advice, support, and feedback to the protégé (Haney, 1997). Mentoring is a way to help new employees learn about organisational culture (Bierema, 1996), to facilitate personal and career growth and development, and to expand opportunities for those traditionally hampered by organisational barriers, such as women and minorities (Gunn, 1995). The benefits of mentoring are not only work related; mentoring can provide individuals with opportunities to enhance cultural awareness, aesthetic appreciation, and the potential to lead meaningful lives (Galbraith and Cohen, 1995).

What is a coach/coaching? Kilburg (1996, p. 135) defines coaching as “a helping relationship formed between a client… and a consultant who uses a wide variety of behavioural techniques and methods”. Kilburg further contends that the aim of this coaching intervention is to achieve a “mutually identified set of goals…”. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “… an ongoing relationship that focuses on clients taking action toward the realisation of their visions, goals, or desires.” (Bennet & Martin, 2001, p. 6).

Peer coaching is a confidential process through which two or more professional colleagues work together to reflect on current practices; expand, refine and build skills; share ideas; teach one another; conduct classroom research; or solve problems in the workplace (Robbins, 1991).

Coaching is always part of mentoring, but coaching does not always involve mentoring. Coaching within the context of a mentoring relationship has to do with the skill of helping an individual fill a particular knowledge gap by learning how to do things more effectively (Zachary, 2000, p. 74). The attributes of a coach For coaching to be effective, it must offer a high level of content knowledge, take into account the context in which learning is taking place, address the goals of the [organisation and their learners], and involve individual teachers in determining the direction their learning is to go (Joyce, Murphy, Showers, & Murphy, 1989). In summary, a... coach’s strengths should fall into three areas: knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics.



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A coach: • has knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards • has knowledge of curriculum-driven support materials and technology-

enhanced resources for grade levels, subject areas, and student needs • possesses the characteristic of being a good listener, which includes

asking open-ended questions and using pauses effectively • possesses the characteristic of being trustworthy, which includes

honouring confidentiality and being consistent in language and behaviour

• has skills in collaborating with others and being a team player • has skills in being a good note-taker, collector of data, and researcher • possesses teaching skill that can be used to model lessons and

strategies; uses knowledge, skills, and characteristics to provide feedback and new ideas for various situations. (LPA, 2004, p.11).

Feger et al (2004) suggest that coaches need specific knowledge and skills:

• Interpersonal skills • Content knowledge • Pedagogical knowledge • Knowledge of the curriculum • Awareness of coaching resources • Knowledge of the practice of coaching

How do coaches use their skills?

Other definitions and analyses The problem with any study of mentoring begins at the very beginning for, as Clutterbuck noted at the Third European Mentoring conference in 1996, “the biggest problem for researchers into mentoring is still defining what it is” (Clutterbuck,1996). Simple rule-of-thumb definitions abound in the literature, often drawn directly from dictionaries. A typical example would be the characterisation of mentoring as “conceptually it is the classic strategy: the more experienced shall care for and train the less experienced, in a non-judgmental manner” (Gulam and Zulfiqar, 1998). The emphasis on ‘care’ and a ‘non-judgmental manner’ are the features which are taken to distinguish mentoring from other forms of instruction. However, this does not take us very far: as soon as we attempt to describe what this means in practice, we find that we are back in what has been described as the ‘definitional quagmire’ (Roberts, 2000) surrounding mentoring. For example, Philip (1999) has the following to say about the litany of terms associated with mentoring: Mentoring can hold a range of meanings and the terminology reveals a diverse set of underlying assumptions. For example, youth mentoring has been associated with programmes aiming at coaching, counselling, teaching, tutoring, volunteering, role modelling and advising. Similarly the role of the



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mentor has been described as role model, champion, leader, guide, adviser, counsellor, volunteer, coach, sponsor, protector and preceptor. A similar range of terms may apply to the mentee: protégé, client, apprentice, aspirant, pupil, etc. The process of mentoring itself may also be described variously as ‘reciprocal’, ‘helping’, ‘advising’, ‘leading’, or ‘facilitating’, as ‘a collaborative enterprise’ with shared ideals or as a ‘learning process’ by which the mentor leads by example. In general however knowledge and understanding about the processes which take place within mentoring relationships remain at a preliminary stage. Clearly some of the meanings are contradictory, especially in the absence of explanatory frameworks (p. 1–2). This certainly demonstrates the potential for confusion, but does little to indicate what, if anything, is unique to mentoring that can distinguish it from other forms of educational process. The terminology surrounding mentors, mentoring and mentees, protégés or learners is bewilderingly various, vague and sometimes misleading. Roberts (2000), in a re-reading of mentoring literature published between 1978 and 1999, attempts to cut through this ‘quagmire’ by distinguishing between what he sees as the essential and the contingent attributes of mentoring: Mentoring appears to have the essential attributes of: a process; a supportive relationship; a helping process; a teaching-learning process; a reflective process; a career development process; a formalised process; and a role constructed by and for a mentor. The contingent attributes of the mentoring phenomenon appear as: coaching, sponsoring, role-modelling, assessing and an informal process.

If developing learning organisations in a learning society is a desirable social goal, mentoring can perform an important function in helping people develop their highest potential. If ‘everyone is capable of being a teacher (mentor) and a learner (mentee)’ (ibid., p. 92), individuals should strive to develop their capacity to learn from and support the learning of others.

There are a few guiding principles for effective mentoring. In order for mentoring relationships to function well, a healthy psychological climate must be maintained to provide a mutually beneficial and growth producing experience. Such a climate includes mutual trust, respect, autonomy, care, and appreciation. According to Daloz (1986), mutual trust and non-judgmental listening are crucial to ‘move the [protégé’s] reflections onto a level where meanings are made’ (1986, p. 125). Daloz emphasised the importance of giving the protégé voice so that both mentor and protégé can see movement in perspectives and thinking, eventually introducing conflict to promote self-examination and further development of alternative perspectives. Motivation is critical throughout the mentoring relationship, as are praising positive growth, modelling appropriate professional conduct, ‘providing a mirror… to extend



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the student’s self-awareness’(p. 234), and watching for signs that the relationship may be transformative and growth producing for both partners. Are you capable of being a mentor, do you have the necessary attributes? As you are studying this module you will undoubtedly have the professional experience to be a mentor, but what other attributes do you possess? In order to mentor others it would be helpful if you knew more about the person you are. Mentor capability Task Hidden talents Malderez (2001) suggests that much of our talent remains hidden until required and that we are rather like an iceberg in which seven eighths of our talents are hidden beneath the surface. On the diagram below in Area A identify those of your talents that are obvious to all. In Area B list just a few of your talents that are not so obvious to others.



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Activity The Iceberg

Share your findings with a close colleague – perhaps identify some similar talents. It is likely that after some thought you recognise that you do have a range of talents that could help meet the needs of a protégé. However, would you be a capable mentor?

Area A Known

Area B Unknown

From Malderez and Bodóczky (2001)



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Aspects of the mentor role Where do you think you will be, high or low? Features of the mentor role

Low High

I. Model

1 2 3 4 5

2. Envisioner

1 2 3 4 5

3. Energiser

1 2 3 4 5

4. Investor

1 2 3 4 5

5. Supporter

1 2 3 4 5

6. Standard-prodder

1 2 3 4 5

7. Coach

1 2 3 4 5

8. Feedback-giver

1 2 3 4 5

9. Eye-opener

1 2 3 4 5

10. Door-opener

1 2 3 4 5

11. Idea-bouncer

1 2 3 4 5

12. Problem-solver

1 2 3 4 5

13. Career counsellor

1 2 3 4 5

14. Challenger

1 2 3 4 5

15. Friend

1 2 3 4 5

16. Assessor

1 2 3 4 5

17. Intermediary

1 2 3 4 5

18. Tutor

1 2 3 4 5

This is an adaptation from: Cameron-Jones, M. & O’Hara, P. (1995). ‘Mentors’ perceptions of their roles with students in Initial Teacher Training’, Cambridge Journal of Education, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 189-199. The following questionnaire may help you determine more objectively if you do have the capabilities of being a mentor. The Mentor Scale is inspired by the FIRO-B, an instrument developed by Will Schutz for leadership training.



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The Mentor Scale This scale lists 39 sentence stems, each with two possible endings. Keeping your work environment in mind, quickly review each item and circle the letter of the ending that you think best completes the sentence. Read each item carefully but choose your response quickly. Instruments like this tend to be more accurate if you go with your immediate reaction rather than pondering on your choice. Do not leave items blank. You will find some items in which neither choice is perfectly accurate. Select the one that seems better. After completing the questionnaire fill out your score form. The Mentor Scale

1. People probably see me as a. hard-nosed b. a soft touch

2. Work days I like most are a. unpredictable b. planned

3. When it comes to celebrations, most organisations need

a. fewer b. more

4. When I evaluate people my decisions are based on

a. justice b. mercy

5. My approach to planning my personal activities is

a. easy-going b. orderly

6. People generally see me as a. formal b. personable

7. When it come to social situations I a. hold back b. jump in

8. I like to spend my leisure time in ways that are fairly

a. spontaneous b. routine

9. I believe leaders should be more concerned about employee

a. rights b. feelings

10. When I encounter people in need of help, I’m more likely to

a.. avoid b. get involved

11. When I am in a group, I typically a. follow b. lead

12. Most people see me as a. private b. open

13. My friends know that I am a. firm b. gentle

14. If I were in a group of strangers, people would most likely remember me as a

a. listener b. leader

15. When it come to expressing my feelings, most people probably see me as

a. guarded b. comfortable

16. When people I depend on make mistakes, I am typically

a. patient b. impatient

17. When I eat out, I generally order food that

a. sounds unique

b. I know I like



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18. In general I prefer a. the theatre b. a party

19. In a conflict, when anger is involved, my emotional fuse is usually

a. short b. long

20. In an emergency situation, I would most likely be

a. calm b. anxious

21. I prefer to express myself to others in ways that are

a. indirect b. direct

22. I am likely to be ruled by a. logic b. emotion

23. When in a new and unfamiliar situation, I am usually

a. carefree b. careful

24. In a festive social situation, I am usually

a. passive b. active

25. When I am blamed for something I did not cause, my initial reaction is to

a. listen b. defend

26. If I am in a situation in which I lose or am left disappointed, I get

a. sad b. mad

27. If someone came to me in tears, I would probably feel

a. awkward b. at home

28. Most people see me as a. an optimist b. a pessimist

29. People usually see me as a. uncritical b. critical

30. If people were given a forced choice they would say I was

a. too quiet b. too loud

31. At the end of a long party, I usually find myself

a. exhausted b. energised

32. When I work on projects, I am best at getting them

a. started b. completed

33. I believe people should approach their work with

a. dedication b. inspiration

34. My social blunders typically leave me a. embarrassed b. amused

35. When my organisation announces a major change, I get

a. excited b. concerned

36. People are likely to see me as a. firm b. warm

37. After a tough day, I like to unwind a. alone b. with others

38. Change is most often my a. friend b. adversary

39. My work and social life a. are separate b. often overlap



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The Scoring Form Sociability Using simple hatch marks, count up your ‘a’ and ‘b’ for the thirteen sociability items ‘a’ ‘b’ 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37 Totals ________ ________ Dominance Count up your thirteen dominance items ‘a’ ‘b’ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38 Totals __________ ________ Openness Count up your thirteen openness items ‘a’ ‘b’ 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39 Totals ___________ ________ From: Bell, C (2002) Managers as Mentors, San Francisco, USA: Berret-Koehler Publishers, pages 23–28. Interpretation This scale measures, at one point in time, a coach’s need for sociability, dominance, and openness. Sociability has to do with your preference for being with or apart from others.



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People with high column ‘a’ scores in sociability tend to be reserved loners; those with high column ‘b’ scores tend to be outgoing joiners. People with similar numbers of ‘a’ and ‘b’ are neither highly sociable nor highly reserved; they can be moderately sociable or moderately reserved, depending on the situation. What does sociability have to do with coaching? People who have high sociability scores will find the rapport-building and dialogue-leading dimensions of coaching easier. They will have to work hard to avoid dominating discussions. Low sociability scores are found among people whose reserve may make them a bit unapproachable. These people will need to work harder at helping colleagues open up and communicate. Dominance is about your preference regarding being in charge. People with high column ‘a’ scores are comfortable having someone else do the leading, and often prefer it. People with high column ‘b’ scores tend to like being in control and often assert that need. Low dominance scores can also indicate a high need for independence. People with balance scores are neither highly dominant nor highly submissive. They can control moderately or not at all, depending on the situation. Dominance is a major issue in coaching with a partnering philosophy. The whole concept of peer coaching is based on a relationship of shared power. High-dominance scorers are reluctant either to give up control or to share control of the relationship; they have to work hard to listen rather than talk. Low-dominance scorers, on the other hand, may need to work to assume leadership of the relationship. They may take such a low-key, laissez-faire approach that their colleague feels insecure and without guidance. Openness refers to how easily you trust others. High column ‘a’ scores are found among people who are cautious, guarded, and reluctant to show feelings. High column ‘b’ scores are typical of people with many close relationships, who are comfortable being vulnerable and tend to express their feelings easily. People with similar ‘a’ and ‘b’ scores are moderately open or moderately cautious, depending on the situation. High-openness scorers will find it easy to reveal themselves in a coaching relationship. In fact, their challenge is to be candid and open enough to encourage their colleague to do likewise, while not being so aggressive as to overwhelm or intimidate them. Low-openness scores, however, will need to work at overcoming their caution in order to take early emotional and interpersonal risks with the colleague; their instinctive guardedness can make their colleague feel that mistakes might have dire consequences. The above tasks have helped you have a clearer picture of who you are and what you might become. Your coached colleague has talents and experience that you will be able to draw on as you develop your relationship with them. We do not use a similar selection process for protégé on the course but there is information available for protégé selection on websites, e.g. www.peer.ca or



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in texts, e.g. AoC, LSC (2001) Mentoring Towards Excellence, which may be found on the www.lsc.gov.uk website.

The idea of mentoring is that it is a particular kind of personal relationship in which there is some degree of choice between the parties to it. Gehrke (1988) makes exactly this point when she writes that the mentor-protégé relationship requires ‘desire by both parties’ (p. 43). Thus, the relationship can be understood as one that is not based on rank but on a mentor's greater experience and wisdom.

Landay argues that mentoring exists only in the context of a collaborative relationship based on a partnership in which neither party holds a position of power over the other. Stanulis & Russell (2000) also view ‘mutuality’ as a feature of the mentoring relationship and insist, ‘equality can be achieved between all participants’ (p. 79). Basic assumptions about mentoring

• Beginning educators need and deserve ongoing professional development opportunities.

• Mentoring is the central feature of any successful beginning educator induction programme.

• Without mentoring, new staff will focus on survival. With mentoring, new staff can focus on professional development and serving students.

• Mentors and protégés both gain from the experience. • Mentor programmes built on a knowledge base of best practices have

the greatest potential for success. • If a district has expectations for a mentoring program, a formal

programme with in-depth mentor preparation and support must be in place.

• Mentoring partnerships can vary widely, from one-on-one mentor-protégé partnerships, to teams of mentors working with single or multiple protégés.

From Oregon State Mentoring Programme 2004: www.ode.state.or.us The first meeting between mentor and protégé is usually the most difficult or awkward for many prospective mentors and the following information may help.



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Strategies and Considerations for Initial Conversations To-Do List Strategies for

Conversation Mentor Considerations

Take time getting to know one another

Draw up a picture of your protégé through conversation

Establish rapport Exchange information Identify points of connection

Talk about mentoring

Ask: ‘Have you ever been mentored before?’

Talk about your own mentoring experience

Determine the protégé’s goals

Ask: ‘What do you want to learn from this experience?’

Determine if the protégé is clear about his or her own aims and objectives

Determine the protégé’s relationship needs and expectations

Ask: ‘What do you want out of the relationship?’

Be sure you are clear about what your protégé needs or wants from the mentoring relationship. If you are not, encourage the mentee to think through what he or she wants from the relationship

Define what you will be able to do

Ask: ‘What would success look like for you?’

Do you have an area of experience or expertise that is relevant to this person’s learning goals?

Share your assumptions, needs, expectations, and limitations candidly.

Ask for feedback. What are you willing and capable of contributing to the relationship?

Discuss opportunities and options for learning

Ask: What is the most useful kind of assistance I can provide Discuss ways: learning and communication styles

Discuss the implications of each other’s styles and how they might affect the relationship.

Your style of conversation too is important, note the comments from Shea, G. (2002).



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Information vs. Advice

Shea, G (2002) describes a useful device from Karpman, S. on a way of analysing psychological games. Karpman called his device the ‘Drama Triangle’. It illustrates why people often resist taking advice.

Persecutor Rescuer

Victim

Someone who feels victimised by a problem may send a plea of ‘help’ to another person who is perceived as a rescuer (i.e. a more capable person). The victim’s feelings of inadequacy are real, but their lack of ability usually is not. The would-be rescuer accepts the inadequacy of the victim and offers advice. In doing so, she contributes the ‘why don’t you’ component to the ‘why don’t you – yes, but’ psychological game. Most often the victim rejects the advice with ‘yes, but’, followed by a reason for not taking the advice. This is hardly surprising, since the person knows all of the facts of the problem and has already considered and rejected the easy answers. The rescuer has only the information that the victim gives in response to each suggestion. Each new suggestion is rejected for some seemingly new reason. Finally the rescuer grows impatient with the rejections and turns persecutor, responding with something to the effect of, ‘Buzz-off – you don’t really want to solve this problem.’ At that point, each party is confined in his or her own judgement. The victim feels even more like a victim. He not only has the original problem, he also has to deal with the would-be rescuer who is exasperated with him. The would-be rescuer has confirmation that the victim was and still is inadequate. The victim is convinced the problem is too big to be solved by anyone. And the relationship has been damaged. (Shea, G (p.66))



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Why use a coaching scheme in an organisation? The easiest answer is because it will improve performance in the organisation. It will improve staff performance, staff motivation and retention and it will improve student motivation and achievement. There appear to be great improvements if coaching is also linked to other forms of staff development. The following statements are just some of the many that support the use of coaching and the benefits that coaching brings to individuals and organisations. Training programmes that include coaching post-training will result in increased performance. Olivero et al (1997) found that coaching following a training programme significantly improved productivity. Thirty-one managers in public sector agencies underwent a training programme which was followed by eight weeks of one-to-one coaching. The training programme increased productivity by 22.4 per cent. Following the coaching programme productivity increased by 88 per cent. Other researchers have found that, in particular, peer coaching: 1. is essential for implementation of new curriculum and instructional strategies into classroom practice:

• Just because a teacher has read about, heard about, or attended a ‘training session’ on a new instructional strategy, does NOT mean it will be used in the classroom.

• Research shows that results will be very low (5–10 per cent) if only theory, demonstration, and practice are used to teach new instructional strategies with an expectation that implementation will occur.

• Implementation of new instructional strategies into classroom practice is high (80 per cent) when peer coaching is used

2. directly influences implementation and teacher effectiveness which leads to increased student achievement:

• Lowe-achieving students are the first to benefit as teacher effectiveness improves.

3. deepens subject matter knowledge of teachers: • It encourages teachers to be action researchers: to examine

student work, curriculum materials, and subject matter in relation to content and performance standards.

4. breaks down isolation: • It gives teachers opportunities to plan lessons together, observe

and learn from each other, share materials and strategies. 5. offers meaningful intellectual and social engagement with ideas around teaching and learning practices:

• It increases the thinking a teacher does about student work and classroom practice.

(From SCCAC (2004))



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The Annenberg Institute (2003) in their work with schools has found that: • effective coaching encourages collaborative, reflective practice • effective embedded professional learning promotes positive cultural

change • a focus on content encourages the use of data analysis to inform

practice • coaching promotes the implementation of learning and reciprocal

accountability • coaching supports collective, interconnected leadership across a

school system. CUREE (2005) point out that: “Learning to be a coach or mentor is one of the most effective ways of enabling teachers or leaders to become good and excellent practitioners; current practice appears to concentrate the opportunity amongst those who already excel.” (p 7) Finally, in a study by CIPD (2004) they asked employers questions about the benefits of coaching: Questions asked % of respondents who agree

Coaching can deliver tangible benefits to both individuals and organisations

99

Coaching is an effective way to promote learning in organisations

96

Coaching and mentoring are key mechanisms for transferring learning from training courses back to the workplace

93

When coaching is managed effectively it can have a positive impact on an organisation's bottom line

92

Coaching is grounded in five key skills, suggest Creasey, J. and Paterson, F. (2005). These are:

• establishing rapport and trust • listening for meaning • questioning for understanding • prompting action, reflection and learning • developing confidence and celebrating success.

These skills are of course used in the coaching process. There are also a number of coaching techniques that complement a coach’s preferred style of working. The commonest, i.e. the one that is advocated by most coaches is that of GROW (Downey, 2001):



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G Goal for the session

R Reality of the contextual issues surrounding the topic

O Options for a way forward with the topic

W Wrap up the session with agreement about the next steps

Activity

You are the coach: how would you use GROW in your particular circumstance? What actions would you take under each of the headings in the table below?

Coaching step

Activities

Goal

Reality

Options

Wrap up

On completing the model – in discussion with the whole group – ask: what are the issues that arose with the GROW model? Do you feel this is the model for all coaching occasions? What else would you be seeking?



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The ‘10 minute’ session For some colleagues goal-setting may be an uncomfortable process and they may want their ‘coach’ to help them determine their goals. This requires a number of steps. For example, if a colleague is seeking the help of a coach to improve their teaching they may not recognise which aspect of their teaching they need to improve first. Step 1 – they have to decide whether teaching is the issue that they should be considering. Step 2 – seek agreement to watch them teaching. Many staff are not comfortable with other colleagues sitting in on their session. Step 3 – watch them teaching for 10 minutes. Step 4 – check if they were comfortable with you in the classroom/workshop. (You may have to watch them two or more times before they feel they are not disturbed by your presence.) Step 5 – once they are comfortable agree with them what aspects of the session they wish you to observe. Agree what you will be looking for and what you will take notes on. Step 6 – meet after the observation to offer your report on your observation. Step 7 – decide on the next steps. (After: Gottesman, B. (2002)) Activity You are going to observe 10 minutes of a video of a teacher working with a group of adults. After the 10 minutes you are going to be asked a number of questions: For what three things you observed would you congratulate the teacher? What three things you observed would you wish to discuss with the teacher? Thinking about the end of the Day 1 session, how will you report your views to the teacher? If you had been the teacher observed by the coach how comfortable would you be by the comments made? How do you make your comments comfortable? One answer is to only report facts to your colleague. For example: You talked for eight out of the ten minutes I observed. You asked five questions, two of them to named individuals and three to the class as a whole. You do not report or offer value judgements, e.g. I thought it went well.



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Evaluative vs. neutral terms Think of three personal performance problems you have encountered. Describe them first in evaluative terms and then in neutral terms that are specific and measurable. Evaluative Terms Neutral Terms e.g. Your reports are Your last three reports were always late. 2–3 days late. 1._________________________ 1. ________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ 2. _________________________ 2. ________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ 3. _________________________ 3. ________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ ___________________________ __________________________

Feedback There is a lot of advice about giving feedback: some of it is down to style and some of it is down to views of learning.



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There is the advice to keep it SIMPLE from Ford (2003): Feedback skills Sensitive Issue related Meaningful Prompt Listen Easy to understand From Lynda Ford 27 April 2003 from http://www.trainingfoundation.com/articles/default.asp?PageID=1170 There is advice from South Yorkshire: Feedback should: • be precise and specific, not vague or general; • be honest, accurate; • relate to behaviour not to the person; • focus on what can be changed rather than on what can not; • focus on the receiver and offer feedback which is of use to them – it is not

a chance to show off your powers of observation; • avoid exaggerations; • suggest, not instruct; • ask questions rather than make statements; • encourage self-evaluation. Found in http://www.go4uni.ac.uk/schools/mentors.html This exercise has considered the performance of lecturers in the classroom/workshop but coaching and the techniques offered may also be used in a range of other contexts, e.g. management issues, administrative tasks, techniques/skill issues, career progression.



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In order to meet the requirements of TE4056 you must complete the assignment. The following advice should help.

The Assessment Task for ‘The Mentor as Critical Friend’ This is made up of an evidence file based on your work as a mentor with a protégé. Think of it in four parts: Part 1 The context – who are you and what brings you to mentoring. (The Mentor Scale indicated the sort of Mentor you would be – do you agree with it? Why might it not be accurate, why might you not wish to agree?) What do you understand about mentoring – you will have a definition of mentoring from the first workshop. (Compare it to the definitions in the readings, e.g. those from Woodd or from Anderson and Shannon – does this help you re-write a definition?) What are you expecting from the mentoring process? Do you have a model of the mentoring process that you might use? (Are you an Egan or a Kolb type?) Who is your protégé? What is their background? What do they teach? (Some mentors find it helpful to identify the learning styles of their protégé and compare it to their own – Mumford’s article suggests this is important.) Does your protégé have a scheme of work, or current lesson plans? Congratulate them: they have already met some of the FENTO standards. This could be 1500 or 2000 words, depending upon how easy you find it to write. Part 2 Lesson observation – keep a record of your observation – in writing. Provide feedback – keep a record of your feedback – in writing. (The article ‘Flying Solo’ may help. You may also state if you were evaluative or neutral in your feedback.) Produce an action plan for your protégé as a result of the observation and feedback. Consider the FENTO standards, share some of them with your protégé, record those you refer to. You may wish to write about the way you observed, compare it to the suggestions in ‘Mentoring Towards Excellence’ you may wish to state whether you felt comfortable as the observer. This would be close to 1000 words in total. You may have meetings with your protégé at other times – record them, make a note of what was said – perhaps link it to one of the readings, e.g. did you behave like a coach or a mentor? Another 500 words! Part 3 Carry out a second observation perhaps a month after the first. Observe with the action plan in mind – record your observation. Provide feedback – record the feedback. Action Plan. Another 1000 words!



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This observation and feedback to be observed by a University tutor. You will receive a verification statement of this ‘joint’ observation. Part 4 Record your conclusions about your mentoring. Be critical of the verification information – use the articles and other reading or activity. Finally, this last piece will be 300 – 400 words. Be critical. The final evidence file will be around 4000 words. The best could be published. All could be published! You will need to refer to some of the literature to support your views. The following guide will help you set out those references accurately. Brief guide to Harvard Referencing

Paraphrasing is the act of taking the essence or key themes of an author’s

work and presenting those ideas in your own words. Paraphrased work is

indicated by use of the author’s name and the date of publication (Armpit

2002). Where you have used a direct quotation i.e. “the exact words of the

original text” (Footsore 1999, p.27) then you must also include the page

number. Thumb’s (2001, p.120) name is used here outside of the brackets

(parentheses) because it is “an integral part of the sentence” whereas

elsewhere the author’s name is shown in parentheses because the name is

not part of the sentence (Thumb 2002). Wiley, 1987 (in Coyote 1997, p. 34) is

the correct way of citing a secondary source though in the references section

“the writer should reference only the source that was actually encountered”; in

this case Coyote. Where the author is unknown the citation should appear

thus: (Anon. 2000). Quotations or paraphrasing should not be italicised,

underlined, coloured or emboldened. The only necessary indicators of

quotation or paraphrasing are the use of name and date with the inclusion of

double quotation marks and page(s) for direct quotation (Fry 2002). Fry adds:

Where a quotation is more than 4 lines in length it should be introduced by a colon followed by two empty lines, indented five spaces from the left margin and typed with single spacing but without quotation marks. The author's surname, date and appropriate page number(s) appear at the end. (Fry 2002, pp. 127–128)



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Other tips First names, website addresses, journal or book titles should not

normally appear in the text, only ever the author’s last name. The School of Education does not require Bibliographies, only

References i.e. just a list of the actual sources cited in the text. Wordage includes all of the direct quotation and paraphrasing used in

the text; it does not include the references section or appendices. Submitted work should be at least 12 pt font of a suitable type (e.g.

Arial, Times, Tahoma). Work should be at least 1.5 line-spaced. Each page should be numbered and should include your name.



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References Alred, G, Garvey, B. and Smith, R. (1998) The Mentoring Pocketbook. Blackwell. Annenberg Institute for School Reform (2003) Instructional Coaching, Providence, RI: Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Bennett, J.L. & Martin, D.J. (2001) ‘The next professional wave: Consultant/coach’, Consulting to Management, 2(3), pp. 6–8. Benioff, S. (1997) A second chance: Developing mentoring and education projects for young people. London: Commission for Racial Equality. Bierema, L.L. (1996) ‘How executive women learn corporate culture’, in Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2 pp 145-164. CIPD (2004) Coaching and Buying Coaching Services, London: CIPD. Clutterbuck, D. (2001) Everyone Needs a Mentor, 3rd edition. London: CIPD. Colley, H. (2001c) ‘Righting rewritings of the myth of mentor: A critical perspective on career guidance mentoring’, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 29 (2), pp. 177–197. Creasy, J. and Paterson, F. (2005) Leading Coaching in Schools, Nottingham: NCSL. See www.ncsl.org.uk/media/416/5B/leading-coaching-in-schools.pdf. CUREE (2005) Mentoring and Coaching for Learning: Summary report of the mentoring and coaching CPD capacity building project 2004 - 2005. Coventry: CUREE. Daloz, l.A. (1986) Effective Teaching and Mentoring: Realizing the Transformational Power of Adult Experiences. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Downey, M. (2001) Effective Coaching, London: Texere. Ensher, E.A. and Murphy, S.E. ‘Effects of Race, Gender, Perceived Similarity, and Contact on Mentor Relationships’, Journal of Vocational Behavior 50, no. 3 (June 1997): 460-481. (EJ 543 999) Feger, S., Woleck, K. and Hickman, P. (2004) ‘How to develop a Coaching Eye’, Journal of Staff Development, Vol. 25, No.2 pp 14-18. Galbraith, M.W. and Cohen, N.H. (eds.) ‘Mentoring: New Strategies and Challenges’, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education no. 66. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Summer 1995. (EJ 511 202-208).



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Gehrke, N.J. (1988) ‘Preserving the essence of mentoring as one form of teacher leadership’, Journal of Teacher Education 39 1 (1988), pp. 43–45 Gottesman, B.L. (2002) Peer Coaching for Educators, Lanham, MD, USA: Scarecrow Education. Gulam, W.A. and Zulfiqar, M. (1998) ‘Mentoring: Dr Plum’s elixir and the alchemist’s stone’, in Mentoring and Tutoring, Vol.5 No. 3, pp. 39-45. Gunn, E. ‘Mentoring: The Democratic Version’, Training 32, no. 8 (August 1995): pp. 64–67. Hall, J.C. (2003) Mentoring Young People: A Literature Review, SCRE Research Report 114 Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Haney, A. ‘The Role of Mentorship in the Workplace’ in Workplace Education, edited by M.C. Taylor, pp. 211–228. Toronto, Ontario: Culture. Kilburg, R.R. (1996) ‘Towards a conceptual understanding and definition of executive coaching’, Consulting Psychology Journal, 48, 2, 134–44. Kram, K. (1983) ‘Phases of the mentor relationship’, in Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 608–25. Landay, E. (1998) ‘Mutual mentoring: Designing and teaching a linked university/ secondary school course on literacy’, English Journal 88 1 (1998), pp. 59–63. Leading First Associates (LPA) (2004) Reading First Coaching: A Guide for Coaches and Reading First Leaders, Illinois: Learning Point Associates, www.learningpt.org Malderez, A. and Bodóczky, C. (1999) Mentor Courses, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Megginson, D. & Clutterbuck, D. (2004) Techniques for Coaching and Mentoring. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Montgomery, D. (1999) Positive Teacher Appraisal through Classroom Observation, London: David Fulton. Olivero, G., Bane, K.D. & Kopelman, R.E. (1997) ‘Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: Effects of productivity in a public agency’, Public Personnel Management, Vol.26 No. 4 pp. 461–9. Phillip, K. (2000) ‘Mentoring: pitfalls and potential for young people?’ in Youth and Policy No. 67, pp. 1–15. Rhodes, C., Stokes, M. and Hampton, G. (2004) A Practical Guide to Mentoring, Coaching and Peer-networking, London: Routledge Falmer.



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Robbins, P. (1991) How to Plan and Implement a Peer Coaching Program. Alexandria, VA, USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Roberts, A. (2000) ‘Mentoring re-visited: a phenomenological reading of the literature’, in Mentoring and Tutoring, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 145–170. Shea, G. (2002) Mentoring, 3rd edition, Crisp: Menlo Park, USA. Stanulis, R.N. and Russell, D. (2000) ‘Jumping in: Trust and communication in mentoring student teachers’, Teaching and Teacher Education 16 (2000), pp. 65–80. Southern California Comprehensive Assistance Center (SCCAC) (2004) Coaching for Results: Peer Coaching Study Teams to Increase Professional and Students Learning, LA, USA: SCCAC.


Mentoring in Education TE4056 The Mentor as Critical Friend: A Reader



TE4056 The Mentor as Critical Friend: A Reader Contents

1. Woodd, M. (1997) ‘Mentoring in further and higher education: learning from the literature’ in Education + Training, Vol. 39, No. 9, pp. 333–343.

2. Roberts, A. (2000) ‘Mentoring Revisited: a phenomenological reading of the literature’ in Mentoring & Tutoring, Vol.8, No. 2, pp. 145–170.

3. Anderson, E.A. and Shannon, A.L. (1995) ‘Towards a conceptualization of mentoring’ – extract from Kerry, T. and Shelton Mayes, A. (1995) Issues in Mentoring. London: OU Press/Routledge, pp.25–34.

4. Cohen, N.H. (1995) ‘The Mentor Role: Six Behavioural Functions’ – extract from Cohen, N.H. Mentoring Adult Learners, Florida, USA: Krieger Publishing, pp. 187–190.

5. Butcher, J. (2000) ‘Mentoring in professional development: the English and Welsh experience’ – extract from Moon, B., Butcher, J., Bird, E. (2000) Leading Professional Development in Education, London: Routledge Falmer, pp. 97–106.

6. Maynard, T. (2000) ‘Learning to Teach or Learning to Manage Mentors? Experiences of school-based teacher training’ in Mentoring & Tutoring, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 17–30.

7. Mumford, A. (1995) ‘Learning styles and mentoring’ in Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 27, No. 8, pp. 4-9.

8. Montgomery, D. (1999) ‘Classroom Observation’ – extract from Montgomery, D. (1999) Teacher Appraisal Through Classroom Observation, pp. 28–52.

9. John, P.D. & Gilchrist, I. (1999) ‘Flying Solo: understanding the post-lesson dialogue between student teacher and mentor’ in Mentoring & Tutoring, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 101–111.

10. Fabian, H. & Simpson, A. (2002) ‘Mentoring the Experienced Teacher’ in Mentoring & Tutoring, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 117–125.

11. Gibb, S. (2003) ‘What do we do when we talk about mentoring? Blooms and thorns’ in British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, Vol.31, No. 1, pp 39–48.


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Coaching & Mentoring Handbook