KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4
Years 1-11
For such a vital tool in the fight against teacher shortages, there is very little research that sets out clearly what the key mechanisms are that make an Early Career Framework mentor effective in their role.
Instructional coaching has showed promising signs of helping novice teachers make progress. But as there are so many different instructional coaching approaches, this can also be confusing for mentors.
With this in mind, many training providers are re-structuring their Early Career Framework mentor training to equip mentors with the tools they need to be able to make the most of the time they have with their ECT.
This is what led me to formulate my ‘High Leverage Mentoring Actions’. These are based on hundreds of research papers evaluating mentor support.
These approaches are not the only ways you can support ECTs, of course. But they are scaffolds that you can draw upon and adapt accordingly to help you perform your role well.
This guide outlines what these actions are and gives practical suggestions for how you can use them to help your ECT feel confident and make progress.
Inside the guide
- Discussing the ‘Learn how to’ – including suggested questions to use
- Modelling and deconstruction of strategies
- Observing and discussing expert colleagues’ practice – how to bring focus to observations
- Rehearsal and feedback – including the five principles of deliberate practice
- Triangulation with research – how to engage with research as a teacher
While the suggestions in this guide are by no means the only things you can do to help your ECT thrive in their first two years, they are a useful start.
We need to get this right. It is key that we have well trained mentors supporting our most vulnerable teachers, so that we have a generation of expert teachers making a difference to our students.
Read more thoughts from Haili Hughes about the Early Career Framework. Haili is a senior lecturer at the University of Sunderland and head of education at IRIS Connect. Follow her on Twitter at @hugheshaili. Visit her website here.
