Research Title

Effectiveness of a Structured Mentoring Programme on Autonomous Self-Regulation of Beginning Teachers.

©2004 COPYRIGHT NANYANG GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Mona Lisa SmileVideo Scene One 5:47 – 10:15 [4min]Video Scene Two 14:47 – 16:43 [2min]

What is teaching?

What makes it good? or bad?

And who decides?

Names of Group Members :

• Mrs Pearl Tham Poh Cheong (Catholic High Secondary School - English Dept)

• Mdm Toh Gim Hoon (Nanyang Girls’ High School – Chinese Dept)

• Mrs Sandy Tan (Nanyang Girls’ High School – Science Dept)

Rationale of Project

• Based on observation and past literature review on Mentoring Beginning Teachers and Needs Analysis, there is a need for an effective Structured Mentoring Programme in developing Beginning Teachers.

Objectives of the Project

1. To set up a structure and a process for a Structured Mentoring Programme in CHS and NYGH which includes a system of Needs Assessment, Lesson Observation Cycles and regular Contact Logs.

Objectives of the Project

2. Within this set-up, the project aims to develop greater autonomy in SIX Beginning Teachers through Questioning Techniques in Pre and Post Lesson Conferences and regular Contact Logs.

How is this relevant to you (if you are not a beginning teacher or mentor)?

The Education Ministry has been

recruiting an average of 2,200

teachers a year since 2009.

Are you one of the 2,200

potential teacher mentors?

How is this relevant to you (if you are not a beginning teacher or mentor)?

“No matter how friendly the relationship is, oneimportant rule must be in place – that the teacher is the instructor and mentor, andtherefore, cannot be on the same level socially as his or her charges. The terms of acceptable behaviour must be internallypoliced by the teacher as he has the commanding role.”

NUS sociologist Dr Paulin Tay Straughan quoted by The Sunday Times 5 Feb 2012 Special Report: Teacher-Student Relationships.

Literature Review

“Mentors will be able to customise the learning process to each beginning teacher’s needs.”

Stephen P. Gordon and Susan Maxey (2000) How to Help BeginningTeachers Succeed..Association for Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment. Place of Publication: Alexandria, VA. 2000, 22.

Literature Review

“The primary objective as amentor is to help the beginningteacher to think things throughfor themselves.”Melanie Allen (2009) Mentoring: Questioning [online]

http://learningmatters.com/dwn/584/index.html

Accessed on 11 Nov 2011

• “Several questioning techniques can be used:– Probing Questions (What made you do this?)– Hypothesizing Questions (What if…?)– Justifying Questions (How would you explain?)– Summarising Questions (What is the main point of

this activity?)– Comparison Questions (How does strategy X

compare with Y?)”

©2004 COPYRIGHT NANYANG GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Literature Review“Mentors should pose questions thatlead their colleagues to ask productivequestions themselves, to consider othersources of information that mightprovide additional insight, and togenerate their own possible solutions.”Lana M. Danielson (2009) Educational Leadership: How TeachersLearn - Fostering Reflection [online] http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/feb09/Vol%2066/num05/Fostering-Reflection.aspxAccessed on 11 Nov 2011

Literature Review

“By choosing words carefully,mentors can more positivelyinfluence the thinking andfeelings of beginning teachers.”Costa, A & Garmston, R.J (1999) Cognitive coaching: a foundation for

renaissance schools – syllabus. Highlands Ranch. USA.

Number and Demographics of Beginning Teachers:

• Catholic High School (2) – 1 male and 1 female lower secondary English teachers

• Nanyang Girls’ High School (4) – 2 male lower secondary Chinese teachers and 2 female lower secondary Science teachers

Duration / Time Frame of Implementation

• A minimum of 5 sessions per Beginning Teacher in terms 2 and 3.

• These sessions include Lesson Observation Cycles (pre-lesson conference / lesson observation / post lesson conference) as well as Contact Time with Beginning Teachers.

 

Research Design

All questionnaires/surveys used were bilingual to meet the needs of all teachers.

Research Design

Needs Analysis

Pre

Post

Quantitative

Survey

Qualitative

Survey

Intervention

Questioning

Techniques

Pre-intervention

‘Needs Assessment Questionnaire for BEGINNING TEACHER ’ (Adapted from Gordon,1991)

Handout pages 1 and 2

Research Design - Instrument One

Research Design - Instrument Two

Pre- and Post- Quantitative Survey

'Reasons for Learning'

(Adapted from University of Rochester, 2008)

Handout pages 3 to 5

Autonomous Self-regulation自我调节能力

“Self-Determination Theory 自我决定论differentiates types of behavioural regulation in terms of the degree to which they represent autonomous or self-determined (versus controlled) functioning.”

University of Rochester (2008). Self-determination theory – An approach tohuman motivation & personality. The Self-Regulation Questionnaires.[online] http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/measures/SRQ_text.phpUniversity of Rochester, New York. Accessed on 5 September 2011.

The 12 survey questions that related to reasons for the beginning teacher participating actively in the Structured Mentoring Programme were sorted into TWO big categories.

• Autonomous Regulation Questions – questions 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10 (5 questions)

E.g. Q10

The reason that I will work to expand my knowledge of teaching is because it’s challenging to really understand how to teach well.

• 我努力拓展个人教学和扩大知识的原因是 因为要如何搞好教学是教育工作者最大的挑战。

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7• not at all true somewhat true very true• 不完全真实的 有些真实的 真是的

• Controlled Regulation Questions 控制能力 – questions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12 (7

questions) E.g. Q2

I will participate actively in the Structured Mentoring Programme as a Beginning Teacher because others might think badly of me if I didn’t.

• 作为一位新任教师，我会积极参与结构性指导课程因为如果我不参加，别人可能会认为我不够好。

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7• not at all true somewhat true very true• 不完全真实的 有些真实的 真是的

Each survey question has a possible maximum score of 7.

The responses for questions in each category were tallied and the average score for each category was then obtained.

• The last step was to calculate the Relative Autonomy Index by the subtraction of the Controlled score from the Autonomous score.

• The Relative Autonomy Index shows the degree to which beginning teachers feel self-determined.

Post-intervention

Qualitative Survey onStructured MentoringProgramme (we crafted the 3 Qs)Handout pages 6

Research Design - Instrument Three

Q1 In what ways did your Mentor help

you?

Q2 How did participating in the

Structured Mentoring Programme

benefit you as a Beginning Teacher?

Q3 Why is it important for you to expand

your knowledge of teaching?

©2004 COPYRIGHT NANYANG GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Mentoring And CoachingQuestioning Template Pre-Lesson Planning Post Lesson Reflection(Adapted from Allen, 2009)Handout pages 7 and 8

Research Design - Intervention

FindingsPre- & Post-intervention quantitative survey

Autonomous score

Controlled score

Relative Autonomy Index (Autonomous score – controlled score)

BT1 Pre-

intervention

32/5 = 6.4 out of max 7

29/7 = 4.1 out of max 7

6.4 – 4.1 = 2.3

BT1 Post-

intervention

31/5 = 6.2 out of max 7

28/7 = 4.0 out of max 7

6.2 – 4.0 = 2.2

BT4 Pre-

intervention

32/5 = 6.4 out of max 7

27/7 = 3.9 out of max 7

6.4 – 3.9 = 2.5

BT4 Post-

intervention

31/5 = 6.2 out of max 7

23/7 = 3.2 out of max 7

6.2 – 3.2 = 3.0

BT1 & BT4 are autonomous self-regulated learners. They want to actively participate in the Structured Mentoring Programme as part of their own growth.

triangulate with Qualitative Survey

Q3. Why is it important for you to expand your knowledge of teaching?

BT4:So that the same lesson content can be delivered via different teaching pedagogies when dealing with different learning habits of different learners.

BT2 Pre-

Intervention

30/5 = 6.0 out of max 7

21/7 = 3.0 out of max 7

6.0 – 3.0 = 3.0

BT2 Post-

intervention

23/5 = 4.6 out of max 7

15/7 = 2.1 out of max 7

4.6 – 2.1 = 2.5

Autonomous score

Controlled score

Relative Autonomy Index (Autonomous score – controlled score)

BT3 Pre-

intervention

31/5 = 6.2 out of max 7

18/7 = 2.6 out of max 7

6.2 – 2.6 = 3.6

BT3 Post-

intervention

32/5 = 6.4 out of max 7

29/7 = 4.1 out of max 7

6.4 – 4.1= 2.3

BT5 Pre-

intervention

32/5 = 6.4 out of max 7

32/7 = 4.6 out of max 7

6.4 – 4.6 = 1.8

BT5 Post-

intervention

28/5 = 5.6 out of max 7

36/7 = 5.1 out of max 7

5.6 – 5.1 = 0.5

BT2, BT3 & BT5 are controlled self-regulated learners.They started off wanting to participate actively in the Structured Mentoring Programme for their own growth but the need for affirmation by their mentors increased.

triangulate with Qualitative Survey

Q2. How did participation in the Structured Mentoring Programme benefit you as a Beginning Teacher?

BT5:It has equipped me with a support system that I can rely on in times of difficulty and it helped to alleviate the stresses of coping with various situations.

Autonomous score

Controlled score

Relative Autonomy Index (Autonomous score – controlled score)

BT6 Pre-

intervention

28/5 = 5.6 out of max 7

27/7 = 3.9 out of max 7

5.6 – 3.9 = 1.7

BT6 Post-

intervention

32/5 = 6.4 out of max 7

24/7 = 3.4 out of max 7

6.4 – 3.4 = 3.0

BT6 felt more self-determined after intervention and resigned from teaching to do what he really wanted.

triangulate with Qualitative Survey

Q1. In what ways did your Mentor help you?

BT6:- As a Beginning Teacher, it is sometimes difficult to anticipate the problems that I face during planning. My mentor provided just the right amount of assistance, allowing me to retain my own style while giving me the tools I needed to be able to plan lessons effectively on my own.- I did not systematically reflect on my lessons before this mentoring programme. I have found this new habit to be very useful in helping me plan for future lessons.

ConclusionBoth the quantitative and qualitative findings showed that an effective Structured Mentoring Programme helped the beginning teachers to reflect systematically and regularly.

The questioning techniques provided the beginning teachers with tools to effectively plan their own lessons.

Limitations

The sample size of six beginning teachers is too small for conducting a statistical t-test to calculate the significance of the difference between the pre-intervention score and the post-intervention score.

Hence the qualitative finding is used to triangulate the data from the quantitative finding that all six beginning teachers benefitted from going through the Structured Mentoring Programme.

Discussion One possible future research area is on the building of teaching and learning communities. There may not be a need for mentors to merely coach beginning teachers within the school. Future mentoring can transcend physical boundaries of schools and countries with the use of technology.

Reflection

The use of the pre-intervention ‘Needs Analysis of Beginning Teacher’ may not be a true reflection of the extent or awareness of the beginning teachers’ needs.

Hence a follow up dialogue on a one-to-one basis may need to be conducted.

Reflection

Beginning teachers can be a little sensitive at times as they may perceive that their lessons are good.

Mentors used questioning techniques to guide them to gradually realised the importance of critically reflecting on their own lesson planning and lesson delivery.

Reflection

Mentoring was more time-consuming than expected.

Perhaps School Management could recognise the importance of a time-tabled slot for mentoring.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Ms Chua Bee Leng, our course co-ordinator, for her invaluable guidance, patience, warmth and good humour during this course.