Becoming a mentor

“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.”

Steven Spielberg

About the Chartered Teacher programme

The Chartered College of Teaching aims to raise the status of the profession and support teachers to acquire the expertise necessary to maintain excellence in teaching and secure the best outcomes for children and young people. The Chartered Teacher programme, offering an accredited, career-long professional development pathway, is central to achieving this goal.

Beacon Partnership Chartered Teacher programme is the means through which teachers in Sussex and the surrounding areas can obtain Chartered Teacher status. This recognises the knowledge, skills and behaviours of excellent teachers, highlighting the importance of teaching expertise in supporting the education and development of children and young people. It represents the first step in the development of a career pathway focused on effective classroom practice rather than leadership.

The information below provides an overview of the role and responsibilities of a mentor on the Beacon Partnership Chartered Teacher programme.

The role of a Beacon Partnership Chartered Teacher mentor

During the programme, participants will undertake a series of assessment and activities that relate to the Chartered College of Teaching’s Professional Principles. The mentor will play a pivotal role in supporting participants to complete these successfully by:

Supporting them to complete an effective professional development plan and providing ‘sign-off’ that the plan meets the required standard
Supporting participants to develop their practice through watching their videos of practice and promoting dialogue and reflection
Supporting participants through their school-based improvement project, including drafting a research question, designing a research plan and evaluating outcomes

Beacon Partnership Chartered Teacher mentors will be expected to commit to support a minimum of three participants enrolled on the programme and to be available to provide this support for 15 months from June 2020.

During the programme, this will involve:

Attending part of the first face-to-face launch event in January 2021
Six online or phone mentoring sessions per participant

In addition to the above, you will be expected to:

Participate in any necessary training or induction, provided free of charge by Beacon Partnership
Familiarise yourself with your mentees’ details prior to your first contact with them
Provide feedback to Beacon Partnership and the Chartered College about the programme and the mentoring provision
Receive feedback from Beacon Partnership and your mentees regarding your mentoring practice, as part of your self-evaluation
Support the work that participants do online by reviewing submissions and encouraging critical reflections on practice
Write a short summary of each mentoring session on an online participant portal to help your allocated mentees monitor their development
Submit a reference at the end of the programme for each mentee

Essential skills, experience and qualities

Based upon research into effective mentoring, the Chartered College have identified key areas of knowledge, skills and qualities that successful applicants will need to demonstrate in order to become mentors.

Knowledge & Experience:

An understanding of what makes effective professional development
A solid grasp of the use of mentoring to facilitate the professional development of others
A clear understanding of effective strategies to support professional reflection and growth
Strong knowledge and experience of education theory and practice
Experience of evaluating impact of practice
Experience of conducting research-based improvement projects

Skills:

Effective communication skills
Effective listening and questioning skills
The ability to build rapport with others
The ability to provide reflective, developmental and constructive feedback and challenge
Willingness to model expertise as appropriate and required

Behaviours:

Self-aware and able to take a flexible approach
Willing to share openly
Acts as a positive role model
Values, and is committed to, career-long professional learning
Respectful and empathetic

The benefits of being a Chartered Teacher mentor

There are a number of benefits to being a Chartered Teacher mentor, including the opportunity to:

Contribute to the professional development of others
Play a role in the development of the Chartered Teacher programme
Become part of a network of Chartered Teacher mentors, with opportunities to collaborate and support one another
Demonstrate your commitment to your own professional development
Improve your mentoring skills
Access resources and materials developed to support the Chartered Teacher participants, such as webinars and reading lists
Free online-only membership to the Chartered College, or 20% off full membership

What our past mentors say

“Mentoring teachers is such a privilege, it’s a way of developing the best teachers of the future and enables you to reflect on your own experiences and knowledge.”

Jo Calladine-Evans, Teaching School Director Rother Teaching School Alliance, Teaching School Council Sub Regional Lead

“I have been fortunate to have mentored on the London based CTeach pilot and with the 2019-20 cohort. Mentoring has provided me with an opportunity to network with an experienced and skilled group of mentors and to extend, through professional dialogue with my mentees and other mentors, my own knowledge of educational research and new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.”

Claire Rivers, Teaching School Director, St Mark’s Teaching School Alliance

Payment and expenses

£20 per call per participant. There will be six mentor calls over the course of the programme.

Eligibility criteria

In order to apply to be a Chartered Teacher mentor you must meet all of the following criteria: A member of the Chartered College of Teaching, or willing to join. Mentors are offered free ‘online-only’ membership of the Chartered College of Teaching. As a member you will get access to a host of articles, resources, webinars and discounts on books from a range of publishers to support you in developing your teaching practice.

Currently working in the education sector
Trained in mentoring
Significant experience of mentoring teachers
Able to fulfil the role and responsibilities as described in this document

If you have any further questions or are interested in becoming a mentor for future cohorts, please email beaconpartnership@beacon-academy.org