The University of Warwick

Initial Teacher Training Programme (Lifelong Learning Sector)

Literacy, ESOL and Numeracy Subject Specialist Programmes

Subject Mentor’s Handbook

2011 - 2012

Thank you for taking on the role of subject specialist mentor for a trainee teacher on the University of Warwick’s programme of Initial Teacher Training (ITT). You have joined a team of people whose efforts will transform education and training in the Lifelong Learning Sector.

Within the Warwick partnership, we aim to train teachers who will set themselves high standards and continually aim to improve their skills and understanding. We recognise that our trainees will all begin at different starting points so we aim to work with individual trainees to develop the skills they have and raise awareness in them of their potential.

We asked our trainees recently about the help and guidance they had received from their subject mentors and most rated help from their mentors as one of the best aspects of their training programme.

Good luck with your mentoring – we hope you enjoy the experience too!

The information in this handbook is divided into four sections to help you find what you want quickly:

  • The mentor’s rolep3
  • The teacher training programme of your menteep4
  • What you need to do and what you need to know nowp5
  • All the forms you needp9

Contact Details
Website: www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/esc/quals/suppment
Your mentee:
Name
Email
Telephone
The Programme Manager or Course Tutor at college of your mentee:
Name(s)
Email
Telephone

Part 1.

About the role of a subject mentor

What’s the job of a subject mentor? He or she is a critical friend, a role model for a new teacher, a subject specific coach, someone who can facilitate, make links to useful other people and arrange for things to happen because they know the ropes. S/he will also make friendly judgements on what the trainee teacher is doing and saying, and how they are acting and will be able to give some helpful feedback on this to the trainee without totally discouraging them.

You are not alone in working with your trainee; it is a team effort. The Programme Manager at the University or college will be your link to the programme itself. They may also be the observer who visits your trainee or there may be another person whose role is to observe. Together you will guide your trainee. [1]Make sure you know how to contact the course’s Programme Manager or the Course Tutor; it is going to be important to keep in touch with the teacher training team as your trainee moves through the programme.

What makes a good mentor?

Some people have suggested the following attributes make the mentoring experience good for both parties:

  • Being warm and welcoming
  • Good listening skills
  • Being able to put yourself in the trainee’s place – and empathise
  • Giving space to make mistakes sometimes
  • Giving encouragement to try new techniques and praise for real achievements
  • Challenging the thinking of the trainee
  • Giving constructive feedback

What is not included in the job?

You are not their counsellor: this is a professional relationship and the Mentoring Agreement (in Part 4) sets out what you should both be expected to do or not do. Similarly you are not their manager, although some mentees may have their line manager as their mentor. We use the word ‘supervision’ in the sense that you are keeping an eye on their teaching and aiming to help them to do it better, but we are realistic about the amount of time which any mentor may have to give to a new teacher.

It is vital that everyone working with the trainee is aware of what is happening so keep in touch! Your trainee’s Professional Development Portfolio is a key electronic and paper-based document to help with this – so insist that you see it regularly. This is where the trainee keeps a range of evidence about their developing skills as a teacher. One section, the Teaching Observation File, will house all the observation reports, the trainee’s evaluation of observed lessons and their reflections on what was said to them. Please look at these documents regularly to check that you and the trainee’s observer are both working in harmony and if there is any doubt, speak to them about your trainee.

Part 2.

About the Literacy, ESOL and Numeracy (LLN) Subject Specialist teacher training programme generally

The University of Warwick offers an initial teacher training programme for would-be and practising LLN teachers working in the lifelong learning sector. The programme has two possible journeys for the trainee teacher. Both journeys begin with an introductory course called Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS). Once a PTLLS course is completed, adult literacy, ESOL or numeracy trainees choose the progression route most suited to them. Some will prefer to move on to the generic Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS). This is a two year programme, which would need to be followed with a one year Subject Specialist (Literacy, ESOL or Numeracy) Additional Diploma in order for teachers to be fully qualified. After engaging in Professional Formation this could lead to Qualified Teacher Status: Learning and Skills (QTLS). Alternatively most trainees prefer to move from the PTLLS to a two year partly integrated subject specialist DTLLS programme which includes the subject specialist training, and similarly, can lead to QTLS. Some trainees may already hold a legacy generic teacher training qualification so may only be undertaking an additional diploma for their subject specialism.

All these courses are part-time and most trainees are already in employment as teachers, trainers or instructors. Some may even be working full-time. In addition all the courses are studied at level 5. So they are faced with a challenge as they undertake this programme.

[More information about the course programme and the assessment schedule can be found on the mentors’ website page at www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/esc/quals/suppment ]

Trainees’ teaching practice

Think of the course as two parallel lines. The top line is the course and their coursework: five assignments in Year 1, four assignments in year 2 (DTLLS) or three assignments on the additional diploma programme.

The lower line stands for their professional development as a teacher and it is at this point where your knowledge, skills and enthusiasm can make a huge difference to a trainee teacher. Trainees are expected to teach for 150 hours over the two years of the DTLLS programme (75 hours for the additional diploma). Your role as mentor is to supervise and/or support their teaching and guide them with any aspects of their teaching where it is clear that they need to extend their skills.You will work with the tutor who observes your trainee, to improve their teaching skills and to help them to become a reflective practitioner who will continue to want to improve their teaching as a matter of personal pride.

During a DTLLS two year course the teacher trainer will make at least six observations; for the additional diploma there will be at least three. Your part in this process is different in kind to that of the teacher trainer/observer. You will supervise/support a wider range of teaching activities than that which takes place in the classroom or workshop. However, you will be required to observe your mentee twice on the two year programme or once on the one year programme.

Trainees on the programme

There is often an exciting mixture of experience, backgrounds, qualifications and subject specialism in the groups of trainees undertaking this programme. Since September 2007, anyone teaching a group which is funded in some way through the public purse is expected to have taken some training in teaching. This requirement has added to the diversity of trainees who may be taking the Warwick Programme. Check out the starting point of your mentee as far as previous teaching experience is concerned.

Part 3.

What specific things are you responsible for doing?

What does ‘Supervision and/or Support’ mean?

See yourself as a supportive but critical friend.

Get to know as much as is possible about your trainee and his/her work and the learners involved. Do this through short, planned meetings where there are set topics for discussion, review and/or action. Try to negotiate that you will drop in during your trainee’s teaching for a short time unannounced, and use this to get a feel of what is happening in that session and to ask your trainee questions about what was happening. When and if asked, observe for longer and give verbal feedback.

So we ask you to:

  • Understand the trainee’s teaching: know the curriculum, have experience of the learners and their level.
  • Decide on their experience level:you could have a mentee who has been teaching for several years; s/he will need a different level and type of support to the mentee who has never taught before.
  • Develop a relationship with the trainee so you are aware of their individual needs. Ask to see their Individual Learning Plan so you are aware of any barriers to learning they may have.
  • Consider the teaching the trainee has to do in any one week to make a judgement about the relative demands of each group and the challenge your trainee is facing. Greater support will be needed where the trainee has a heavy work load.
  • Discuss with the trainee whether the following are appropriate, relevant, and of good quality:
  • the scheme of work/ILPs
  • the lesson planning
  • resources to be used
  • work done by their learners
  • their marking of learners’ work
  • moderation of work (if appropriate)
  • Look at your trainee’s paperwork or course management files. Trainees will benefit from developing good organisational skills which prevent problems building up later.
  • Develop your trainee’s ability to self-evaluate
  • discuss sessions taught which have gone well and those which have not (even if you were not there)
  • help trainees to make connections between the causes of good and bad sessions
  • follow this up with a discussion about the other ways in which this might have been done
  • assist with action planning
  • Further the trainee’s understanding of their learners’ needs:
  • discuss differentiation for specific students
  • enable the trainee to get the learner’s perspective on their teaching
  • Push forward your trainee’s professional development by:
  • encouraging the trainee to widen his or her experience of teaching: different levels, groups, contexts
  • identifying areas for development
  • planning together a strategy to help
  • reviewing success in the above
  • action planning future development in small ways and by setting long-term targets.

How long will this take?

Plan for ten or fifteen minutes a week, if practical, and decide with the trainee what you will do in that time so you both know what to prepare for the meeting. ‘Little and often’ is the approach which will keep you in touch with what is happening in the trainee’s teaching. Over the course of a year, this may build up to 10-15 hours depending on your trainee’s skills and confidence.

If meeting each week is not possible, perhaps you could arrange to hold your meeting over the telephone or using Skype.

How do I know whether my trainee has reached an appropriate standard of work?

Remember that this programme takes a developmental approach to bringing on the teaching skills of the trainee. Whatever their starting-point, they should be improving as the course progresses. You are not alone in overseeing the teaching of this trainee; others will have observed whole sessions but will take a more formal approach. They will have written a full observation report on what they have seen. You should expect your mentee to bring his or her Teaching Observation Filewith them when they talk to you so that you can also see these reports. You will find them helpful in identifying areas where your mentee needs to improve his/her teaching skills. You will not need to report on your trainee until the end of each year unless you have major concerns about his or her teaching, when you will consult the Programme Manager. However, we should like you to use the Feedback Form (Appendix 2) included in the documents section to give feedback to your mentee about any aspect of their teaching; it would also be useful if you could oversee the Record of Mentoring (Appendix 3) as a means of tracking your meetings with your trainee and the discussion which took place. It is the trainee’s responsibility to maintain this record. Your encouragement to do so would be helpful and you may wish to keep a copy for yourself, particularly of the targets you have set. This information will be blended into the assessments made by the tutors so that the trainee can be set appropriate targets for year 2 or for the period following the end of their course, before they apply for QTLS.

There is an opportunity to combine the Feedback form and Record of Mentoring using the trainee’s online Mentor Record in their e-portfolio, for those following the Warwick University flexible study model (see Appendix 4).

What should I expect from my mentee?

The following list might help you with making comments on your trainee:

  • Are they listening to feedback? (openness)
  • Are they seeking to improve? (attitude)
  • Do they work hard enough at what they are doing? (effort)
  • Have they made progress during the supervision? (development)
  • Can they evaluate honestly the quality of their work? (reflectivity)
  • Are they in the right job working with appropriate level of learner?
  • Do they have the ability to reach the appropriate standard?
  • Can they identify with what they need to do to improve their teaching skills?

If the answer to all the above is ‘Yes’, your trainee has developed from their original starting point and is likely to develop further. Work with your trainee to identify action points – or targets - which, if followed, will ensure further development. The record documents are formative assessments of the trainee and at the end of each year, ensure that you both review what has been achieved. The trainee will be able to use this information after they have finished the course for the Professional Formation stage of gaining their QTLS status. An assignment in year 2 of the DTLLS, Assignment 3, requires further reflection on the trainee’s part on their progress through their training; you should ask to see this at the appropriate time.

How do I know what we need to talk about?

In the Formssection of this handbook, you will find one page from the Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in the LifelongLearningSector(Appendix 1) which sets out simply what your mentee should be able to do by the end of the course as far as the subjectspecialism is concerned. It will guide you as to what is expected of your mentee.

You might find it useful to use this checklist at points during your mentoring discussions:

  • Subject knowledge: what level does the trainee have?
  • Understanding learners’ needs: differentiation between learners
  • Planning: long and short-term
  • Delivery and resources
  • Managing the learning
  • Assessment
  • Evaluation and Reflection
  • Managing classroom or workshop behaviour
  • Equality and Diversity issues
  • Motivating learners
  • ILT skills of the trainee

Each one of the above list is an important part of the teacher’s role. Whilst you are talking to your trainee, try to assess his or her level of understanding about what is appropriate within your subject area on each of these topics then use this to set the next target.

What if things go wrong?

For a few trainees, teaching practice does not have a successful outcome. Should your trainee be one of these, you will be involved in the discussion about whether this trainee should fail their teaching practice or not. The teacher training team, and the trainee’s observer, will have evidence which you should look at. Your opinion of the trainee and his/her teaching will be evidence to be considered by the Programme Manager. It will be important at this stage that you have evidence of the trainee’s commitment and achievements so keep some notes for yourself. The Subject Mentor’s Feedback Form is where you will write some brief notes on the feedback you have given your mentee. Make sure you keep a copy for yourself.