Mentor materials
Contributing to the wider school culture and beyond
Intended outcomes
The intended outcomes of this topic are for Early Career Teachers to:
Learn how to develop as a professional by:
- Strengthening pedagogical and subject knowledge by participating in wider networks
Build effective working relationships by:
- Contributing positively to the wider school culture and developing a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils within the school
- Seeking ways to support individual colleagues and working as part of a team.
Activities
Supporting individual colleagues and working as part of a team (15 minutes)
Guidance to mentors:
All teachers work as part of a team, although it can be easy to forget this when in a busy classroom all day. As a new teacher, being the constant recipient of support can obscure the fact that they can also play an important role within their teams and wider school community.
Supporting individual colleagues and working as part of a team are important ways to establish and continue to build effective professional relationships.
In this part of the topic, mentors are supporting ECTs to understand why it benefits everyone if colleagues support each other, through building effective working relationships and providing development opportunities for all. Support the ECT to feel confident in making these contributions by identifying areas of expertise that they can contribute by, for example, reminding them of their strengths in particular areas of subject and pedagogical knowledge.
Pose the question: What have been your experiences of supporting others so far, whether formally or informally?
Examples might include contributing at team meetings, peer observations, in the staff room or as part of a wider community of practice.
When ECTs have identified one or two occasions when they have done this, follow up by asking them: What did the colleague(s) learn from your support and what did you learn from offering it?
Pose the question: When and how have you contributed to your immediate team? What did your colleagues gain from this and what did you learn from it?
This could be a phase, subject or other group of colleagues. For example, this might have been through sharing something they have learned on this programme or from wider networks, or sharing a resource they have developed.
Pose the question: In what ways can you continue to contribute to the development of your team?
Support the ECT to identify how they can do this, including areas of practice where they have expertise that could be more widely shared. This could be through strategies including:
- Continued close working with a colleague or a less experienced teacher
- Leading on the development of schemes of work or similar
- Sharing experiences of working successfully with a group of pupils with colleagues.
Contributing to the wider school culture (20 minutes)
Share the following statement for the group to discuss: Contributing positively to the wider school culture and developing a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils within the school is part of building effective relationships.
Pose the question: What do you think is meant by ‘shared responsibility’? Why is it important?
The idea of shared responsibility is that all teachers take responsibility for all pupils in their school, not just those they meet in their classrooms. This includes in corridors, at break and lunchtimes and in extra-curricular activities.
Some of the reasons why it is important might include:
- It supports the wider school ethos and systems
- It ensures consistency for pupils, creating a predictable and secure environment
- It supports other colleagues across the school and promotes high expectations across the school.
Pose the question: In what ways have you positively contributed to the wider school culture? What have you gained from this?
Examples might include:
- Doing a breaktime duty
- Running an extra-curricular club
- Volunteering to help at the school play or parents evening
- Always intervening in corridors even with pupils they do not teach.
ECTs should recognise that contributing to the wider school culture, outside of their classrooms, helps them to develop a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils in the school, not just those in their immediate lessons. It also helps all teachers to support each other, through networks of mutual support and teamwork.
Pose the question: Which aspects of the wider school culture you would like to contribute to over the coming year? These might include:
- Leading or supporting extra-curricular activities e.g. science club, plays, school trips
- Contributing to the development of whole school, subject or phase policies
- Supporting cross-phase, transition or community activities
- Mentoring for new ECTs and/or teacher training students
- Attending school events such as the school play, Christmas concert etc.
Together, identify one or two aspects of the school culture that ECTs will contribute to, when and how they will do this, such as who they will talk to and/or whose permission they need to get started, and when this will happen. If appropriate, mentors should offer to broker any conversations needed with colleagues.
Participating in wider networks (20 minutes)
Guidance to mentors:
During the programme, ECTs may already have engaged with wider networks. Networks might include:
- Subject associations
- SEND networks
- Multi-academy trust meetings and professional development activities
- Local networks such as TeachMeets, ResearchEd, etc.
- Social media networks and groups
- University alumni groups.
These networks are useful in helping teachers to strengthen their pedagogical and subject knowledge. Often, discussion with colleagues will also support teachers to contextualise this learning in their own practice, and thereby develop approaches that will be appropriate for the pupils they teach.
Introduce the following:
Wider networks outside school provide valuable opportunities for teachers to develop their subject and pedagogical knowledge. These networks include formal groups such as subject associations, the Chartered College of Teaching and the Research Schools Network, and informal groups such as subject- and phase-focused groups on social media and TeachMeets.
Pose the question: Which wider networks have you already engaged in? Can you give examples of what you have learned from them?
Using Handout 12.1 (a list of subject associations) to support this, ECTs should identify one or two wider networks that will help them continue to develop their practice.
In addition to learning from others in these networks, ECTs should be encouraged to contribute themselves, for example through giving presentations, writing or active membership of committees. In order to build confidence in this, mentors should share their own experiences of these activities, and, if appropriate, identify a time when they could jointly present at a network meeting or conference.
Planning for action
Before ending this topic, agree two actions:
A final lesson observation of the ECT by the mentor, and a focus for this observation, which could be drawn from any aspect of the programme, but should aim to support the ECT looking ahead to their further professional development, as this will be the focus of the final two mentor topics.
Between now and the next topic, ECTs should also have a conversation with a colleague who has a leadership role in an area of interest to them (such as a subject or phase lead, SENCO, curriculum lead or head of department) about the experiences the colleague has gained to help them achieve that role, and what they have learned from it. Mentors and ECTs should agree who this colleague will be and when the ECT will approach them for the conversation. It would be beneficial for ECTs to plan their questions in advance and they may seek approval from the mentor.