A difficult question because sadly I’ve never really had a mentor, once I’d done my CELTA I started work for someone who was willing to give me a lot of independence, and didn’t have the time to do much mentoring. Later I worked in secondary schools where the mentality was along the lines of  ” I’m not sharing that idea/book as it’s MINE” or in business schools where I was the only English teacher.

It’s only recently I’ve developed any kind of mentoring relationship, although it’s more of a mutual help and support thing with a few colleagues. It has helped me see how I would try to be if I was someone’s mentor:

– Ask and Listen, how was your day/lesson, what would you change?…

-Share, material, ideas, websites, worries and questions.

– Encourage others to find their own solutions, “ah, I had a class like that, I remember, it was in 1996, I did X and Z with them”, not much help I don’t think.

– Encourage reflective teaching, share a journal, watch each other’s classes or videos of classes.

Tell me about your mentor.