TO BE A MENTOR

Mentoring is the professional and human connection of people working on a task with a common goal. It is a pedagogical interaction based on dialogue. In my 39 years of practice in education, I was a mentor to trainee pedagogists at their beginning of professional work, a school mentor in the implementation of several projects and programs and a mentor to principals who attended leadership programs in education.  Since a few months ago, in the ETF Project and the Educational Forum "Innovative Teaching Practice", I have been a mentor to teachers in two secondary vocational schools from Vrnjacka Banja and Vlasotince, small towns in Serbia.

I was happy with the invitation, the work, and the opportunity to share and acquire new knowledge. Since I got involved in the phase when the schools wrote their Projects, I firstly had to get some knowledge about the schools. Through their sites, I gained a picture of the school, education profiles, teaching staff, space and resources they have. The next step was a detailed acquaintance with the projects, the planned activities, implementers, time dynamics and the necessary funds for the implementation of project activities. I received additional information and explanations at the meetings with the Project members and trainers that the teachers went through. This was followed by a video meeting with members of the Teams of both schools.

Of course, innovation and mentoring post-CoVid have to respond to certain challenges.  Many have had and still have health problems.  There are other problems: learning loss and gaps in students' knowledge; classes are still realized both live and online.  Teachers have been expected to respond to crisis management: closure of schools, changes in timetable; school holidays were postponed, missed classes were compensated on weekends.  For some, these problems come on top of other concerns: about the social or material status of teachers, the lack of support.  All this complicates the work of teachers and mentors.

I see myself as a communicative person, I know the teaching process, I love challenges, creativity, I accept innovations, I am aware of the difficulties that educators face in their work. It would be expected that I could easily perform the role of a mentor. However, every mentoring experience is unique. It's the same as when you have two children and you think you can raise and teach both children according to "one size fix all".  And despite your efforts, nothing goes and succeeds the same with the second child as with the first.

My mentoring of teachers in the project teams of two secondary vocational schools was very pleasant. We had the experience of learning constantly from each other. I tried to build trust with teachers so that they would see me in the role of a counselor who supports, and encourages them to achieve the planned goals.

Every other week we had online meetings where we talked about current activities in the implementation of the project, but also about current problems and difficulties. I visited each school only once, at the time when the teachers suggested it. The visits were in different phases of the project in two schools. The school in Vrnjacka Banja was in the middle of the planned activities, and I visited the school in Vlasotince when they had the finals of the project and the ceremonial presentation of their product that the students made - smart benches.

During the visits, I had the opportunity to see what the realization of the project really looks like in the school environment. I talked to students and teachers.

In addition, through our cooperation, I tried to improve the competencies of teachers in the field of planning classes and project activities. Teachers of secondary vocational schools are very experienced in the realization of teaching, but sometimes they experience difficulties translating their practices into a written plan. The plan of activities is very important because it can be shared, corrected and refined.

At one time, it seemed to me that my feedback regarding the lesson plans was perceived, by some teachers but not by others,  as my questioning and controlling their work. I was also aware of negative influence of factors that were not related to either the project or the school. For example, the situation in society, the politicization of society before the elections in April, the poor financial and social position of teachers, all those factors "spilled over" through the walls of classrooms.

These reactions forced me to rethink my approach. For example: I pointed out how many different activities they have already carried out, what still needs to be done to achieve the goal and how important their work is for both students and the school. I tried to make them aware of their innovative way of working and the positive changes they bring to school and I pointed out how critical their contribution was. Like any teacher who teaches in two different classes, I learnt to adapt my approach to their needs and situation, but in both cases I believe that the key to the role of mentor is patience, respect for professional and personal specifics each teacher and building a shared vision of the project.