Dr Keith Watson, NACE Curriculum Development Director

The start of a career in teaching brings such excitement but also possibly some anxiety. The new Early Career Framework (ECF) is designed to support new teachers and is a welcome and long overdue development in teaching. It promises much, but thoughtful preparation is needed to ensure it does not become a ‘paint by numbers’ approach which underestimates the human element. 

The framework focuses on the two strands ‘Learn that…’ and ‘Learn how to…’, with a helpful outline of the eight Teachers’ Standards. The importance of knowledge and memory is emphasized, which has implications for teaching methods. Putting together a programme of support to develop an early career teacher (ECT) against these standards requires thorough planning and skillful delivery with the individual needs of the teacher at the forefront of the process. 

Having delivered similar programmes in various forms for the past two decades to nearly a thousand teachers and hundreds of mentors, I have reflected on what needs to be in place for the successful completion of an ECT programme, whether designing your own or using one of the approved offers.

1. Recognise the importance of mentoring

The role of the mentor is vital. In Greek mythology, Mentor was the wise counsel to the inexperienced learner, and it is this knowledge and wisdom of what it means to be a professional that is important to a new teacher alongside the ways in which they can develop their teaching. The mentor has a critical role to play in supporting wellbeing, nurturing, encouraging and helping the ECT to develop the resilience needed as a teacher. Training for the role of mentor and time to invest in the process is of high priority and needs recognition within the school of the importance of the mentoring role.

2. Consider the use of coaching (done well!)

Some ECT programmes are emphasising the use of instructional coaching to improve teaching. This style of coaching has much to offer – however, it is worth remembering this is only one element of coaching and an even smaller subset of the wider mentoring required for an ECT. Coaching is based upon relationships with trust a fundamental aspect. It is a conversation-based approach to moving someone from where they are to where they want to be. It takes knowledge and skill and takes time to learn. It needs training, not in a one-hour session nor even a one-day course but instead over time to embed skills that will help others flourish. It has enormous potential for teacher development when done well.

3. Support for early career teachers’ wellbeing

It is important to remember the ECF is not an assessment tool. There is a danger that the standards become a tick-list to be ‘covered’ rather than understood. A worst-case scenario sees an early career teacher reviewing learning materials late into the night and being in danger of burnout. A skilled mentor will help manage that and ensure the wellbeing of the ECT is looked after. 

4. A professional development programme with a varied diet

This can include observations of outstanding teachers – but be careful here. It is crucial that the observations are guided by a skilled coach or mentor. When teachers wanted to visit my former school, they had to have a coach with them – “no tourists here” was our phrase. The nuances of teaching often need pointing out. The diet should also contain research reading and discussion, projects, tasks that widen experiences (hear a child from every year group read this morning, for example) and the chance to discuss and debate. Learning from knowledgeable professional colleagues, not solely the assigned mentor, is also vital. Using external organisations can enhance programmes by bringing in particular knowledge and expertise to ensure the teachers have access to up-to-date specialist research-informed information. 

5. Provide opportunities for early career teachers to network 

One of the Teaching School programmes I delivered had 120 attendees for the year. The buzz in the room on professional development days was great and the sharing of experiences and the moral support provided was an essential part of the programme. I hope this is not lost with more remote and recorded delivery.

6. Develop a rounded knowledge of pedagogy and curriculum

There is much to know and learn. It will take time both for subject knowledge and pedagogical understanding to become embedded, building on training at the ITT stage. For instance, the ECF states that: “Pupils are likely to learn at different rates and to require different levels and types of support from teachers to succeed.” 

This should include considering the importance of effective provision for more able learners, which could be missed. While ability is not fixed and we know that neuroplasticity means our brains are not hard-wired, it is also evident that some pupils achieve significantly above their age-related expectation or may display talents across the curriculum. It is important as teachers that we reflect on this and consider how we develop the kind of cognitively challenging classrooms that learners can thrive in. How do we extend thinking and ensure our pupils are challenged daily? Any ECT programme needs to include how we challenge all learners and is important the new teacher receives expert training in this, along with the other elements listed. 

All six of these areas are important, but I return to the key point made. The mentor remains central to the whole process. If you want to know why then look at what this former NQT had to say on the subject of her mentor:

Of course, that mentor was very well trained over time. If the Early Career Framework is delivered well, that is how it should be for all new teachers.

NACE’s support for early career teachers and the staff who support them

At NACE we have created a range of resources to help early career teachers and their mentors. We have expertise which will not be present in most ECT progammes so our offer can be used to complement existing programmes. This includes:

• A new series of online bite-sized training sessions and resources that cover topics such as identification, planning, ensuring challenge and practical teaching ideas. This covers both the ‘What’ and the ‘How’ to develop the knowledge of ECTs in relation to more able learners. 
  
• Coaching and mentoring support – bespoke to you and your school; can be used to support teachers and leaders at all career stages.
  
• Early Career Teachers Network Group – meeting termly online – where questions are asked, ideas shared and experiences reflected upon in a supportive, friendly, motivational setting. The next meeting is scheduled for 4.00-5.15pm on 16 November 2021 – book your place now, or check our events calendar for upcoming sessions.
• A NACE Essentials guide on ‘Getting started with more able learners’ (available in full for NACE members, or join our mailing list to access the free sample version).

Read more about NACE’s ITT and ECT support

Professor Rachel Lofthouse, Professor of Teacher Education and Director of CollectivED The Centre for Mentoring, Coaching and Professional Learning at Leeds Beckett University, explores the importance of mentoring in schools and poses some questions to help educators develop effective practices for sustained personalised professional learning.

Reflect back: what mentoring have you received or given?

When were you last mentored over a sustained period? Who gave you their time and attention? How was your professional practice shaped through focusing on details and contexts particular to you? Which aspects of being mentored do you remember with appreciation? Were there any causes of frustration?

Many teachers have only been formally mentored as a student or trainee teacher and as an NQT. It was essential then because mentoring enabled workplace learning. At this career stage, schools are workplaces that are strangely familiar from the trainee’s time as a pupil, but that soon throw up unfamiliar challenges as they became teachers. 

Stephen Billett (2011) draws our attention to the three key goals of workplace learning: knowing that the worker wants to be in that role, acquiring the initial skills needed in that role and developing relevant competencies for future workplace learning. In the case of student teachers, this would suggest that we need to firstly ensure that teaching is the student teacher’s desired goal; assuming that it is, we then need to help them to identify prospective specific career interests. We should also offer the support that student teachers need to help them to gain key occupational capacities; in other words, learning the skills needed to do the job as they enter the profession. Finally, workplace learning for student teachers should allow them as a new entrant into the profession to develop occupational competencies that they will need for future professional learning, ensuring that they have the skills needed to keep developing to meet future challenges.  

Be in the present: how does or could mentoring help you now?

What are you currently grappling with that you feel is just outside of your skillset? What gaps are you aware of in your knowledge base and how do you plan to remedy this? Who are you currently talking to and working with closely? Does this relationship have qualities of mentoring? Do you tend to take either a mentee or mentor stance? 

The training and induction period for teachers is relatively short and even with the new Early Career Framework (ECF), mentoring is still prioritised at the start of a teacher’s career. But if we recognise mentoring as a scaffolding practice for workplace learning, and if we remember that every year teachers face new challenges and take up new opportunities, then it is worth reflecting on the positive difference that mentoring in schools might make to teachers throughout their career.  

Through my research I have developed a model of professional learning (Lofthouse, 2018) which positions mentoring as one form of professional development practice. The model proposes that mentoring in schools can have most impact when the mentoring participants work with a sense of solidarity towards shared goals, take full account of the authentic realities of the school context, and are encouraged to be creative in developing approaches to practice. 

Think ahead: how could mentoring be developed in your school?

Would there be value in developing mentoring approaches that extend beyond current provision in your school? How might mentoring be enhanced to allow for sustained personalised professional learning? What capacity for growth might be generated through greater mentoring engagement? 

While all teachers and school leaders are rightly keen to address issues of workload, there are some important questions to ask about how we make the very best use of the resources available to us. Staffing is by far the greatest budgetary cost in a school and managing timetables and deployment time is a challenge. Adding additional engagement with sustained mentoring to those workloads and costs may seem unreasonable. But just flip that for a minute. Staffing is also the biggest resource that schools have; potential resides in each individual, as does expertise. 

My model is now known as the CoG Model of Professional Learning (Lofthouse, 2020). If we put mentoring at the heart of the model, we must ask ourselves, “Is mentoring helping us to learn and develop or has it just created more busy work?” CoG stands for Cycles of Growth; mentoring should enable learning to be cumulative, and new and effective practices to be generated. 

If we think ahead to developing more mentoring, we do so in the belief that it will trigger professional learning and thus change professional practices and behaviours. My research suggests extending mentoring could help to create schools where teachers and leaders are able to articulate their ideas and share their achievements through multiple internal and external networks. It can also reassure professionals that as they are always learning, it is OK to ask for both support and critique. This helps to open up access to new ideas and ensures that ideas and evidence are reviewed with an informed perspective. 

If mentoring is effective, professionals at all career stages learn to accept critique which is given in a generous spirit, and know that they can offer the same to others. Building this into the fabric of the workplace allows teachers and leaders to meet the challenges of their work by allowing their professional repertoires and expertise to expand, so that their schools become more effective in creating successful education for all. 

The take-away…

Being a mentor can share characteristics with Cinderella. It offers little glamour in professional lives and often happens behind the scenes, but it is essential. I lead a research and practice centre at Leeds Beckett University called CollectivED and we believe that both being mentored and offering mentoring can make a difference throughout professional lifespans (hence our use of the hashtag #MentorsMatter). The schools’ workforce is diverse and its challenges are significant, but the opportunities to make a real difference through education are real. As teachers and school leaders, it is important to know what can make that difference, and while we acknowledge that no single strategy fits all, there is a lot to be said for developing approaches which sustain personalised professional learning. Mentoring can support this.  

References 

• Billett, S. (2011) Workplace curriculum: practice and propositions, in Dorchy, F. and Gijbels, D. (Eds), Theories of Learning for the Workplace, Routledge, London, pp. 17-36. 
• Lofthouse, R. (2018) Re-imagining mentoring as a dynamic hub in the transformation of initial teacher education: The role of mentors and teacher educators, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-042017-0033. Available as open access document at http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/5262/1/ReImaginingMentoringasaDynamicHubAMLOFTHOUSE.pdf
• Lofthouse, R. (2020) Creating and Engine Room for Learning, Carnegie School of Education Blog, https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/carnegie-education/2020/11/creating-an-engine-room-for-learning/

A former secondary school teacher, Rachel Lofthouse is now Professor of Teacher Education and Director of CollectivED The Centre for Mentoring, Coaching and Professional Learning at Leeds Beckett University. You can contact Rachel via email and follow her on Twitter @DrRLofthouse / @CollectivED1. Free working papers are available via the CollectiveED website.  

NACE coaching and mentoring services

NACE offers coaching and mentoring services to support school leaders and practitioners at all career stages, helping to develop a wider culture of coaching and mentoring across the school. These services can be provided remotely or on-site, and are tailored to the meet the needs of each individual and organisational context. Find out more.