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Bizarre professional feedback
12th May 2023
In my first year of teaching, after completing my first parents’ evening, a colleague in my school told me that I needed to “work on my face”. A little harsh I felt and it left me wondering how I could respond to this somewhat direct advice - without resorting to surgery. It turned out he was saying that I needed to relax and enjoy the experience rather than looking startled and on edge; helpful advice albeit expressed somewhat unfortunately.
I only joined Learning Partners last September in my role as Secondary Cohort Lead at George Abbot SCITT. My background as a senior leader is in Teaching and Learning and Staff Development but the opportunity to work more closely with trainee teachers has afforded a range of experiences that are new to me; not least visiting a wide range of schools, meeting colleagues across the partnership and working alongside trainees as they develop a range of new skills.
What has been a particular privilege is seeing strong and respectful relationships that have built over the year between mentors and our trainee teachers. The mentor’s role is the most important in the whole process of teacher training and, almost exclusively, our trainees talk with gratitude and enthusiasm about the advice, support and feedback they receive.
Why, for the most part, does this relationship succeed? I think there are several factors at play. Trainees are highly invested in the process and recognise they are novices. They are motivated to make progress and are willing to learn from the expertise around them. Our mentors also see the value in developing new teachers, both in terms of recruitment for our schools but also in terms of the rewards of helping trainees make progress and seeing the impact in the classroom. However, I think the main reason is the fact that, like all relationships, they succeed from time spent together. As mentors and trainees plan together, reflect together and experience the highs and lows of the school year together, a level of trust develops which enables feedback to be constructive, safe and valuable.
There is much research on approaches to mentoring, coaching and giving feedback that suggest effective methods. However, what underpins every successful programme is the environment in which the feedback is given. Trust and genuine care should always be at the heart of any process that seeks to help colleagues make progress and building others up and supportive next steps are key elements of this process. This is what I have seen in many of the mentor/trainee relationships this year so on behalf of the SCITT, thank you to all of you that have mentored trainees both in this and previous years.
…and in case you’re wondering, when I trained to teach, all those years ago, I had two excellent mentors and the “face” comment in my first school provoked much hilarity across my department and the wider staff. And I learnt to enjoy parents’ evenings…
In my first year of teaching, after completing my first parents’ evening, a colleague in my school told me that I needed to “work on my face”. A little harsh I felt and it left me wondering how I could respond to this somewhat direct advice - without resorting to surgery. It turned out he was saying that I needed to relax and enjoy the experience rather than looking startled and on edge; helpful advice albeit expressed somewhat unfortunately.
I only joined Learning Partners last September in my role as Secondary Cohort Lead at George Abbot SCITT. My background as a senior leader is in Teaching and Learning and Staff Development but the opportunity to work more closely with trainee teachers has afforded a range of experiences that are new to me; not least visiting a wide range of schools, meeting colleagues across the partnership and working alongside trainees as they develop a range of new skills.
What has been a particular privilege is seeing strong and respectful relationships that have built over the year between mentors and our trainee teachers. The mentor’s role is the most important in the whole process of teacher training and, almost exclusively, our trainees talk with gratitude and enthusiasm about the advice, support and feedback they receive.
Why, for the most part, does this relationship succeed? I think there are several factors at play. Trainees are highly invested in the process and recognise they are novices. They are motivated to make progress and are willing to learn from the expertise around them. Our mentors also see the value in developing new teachers, both in terms of recruitment for our schools but also in terms of the rewards of helping trainees make progress and seeing the impact in the classroom. However, I think the main reason is the fact that, like all relationships, they succeed from time spent together. As mentors and trainees plan together, reflect together and experience the highs and lows of the school year together, a level of trust develops which enables feedback to be constructive, safe and valuable.
There is much research on approaches to mentoring, coaching and giving feedback that suggest effective methods. However, what underpins every successful programme is the environment in which the feedback is given. Trust and genuine care should always be at the heart of any process that seeks to help colleagues make progress and building others up and supportive next steps are key elements of this process. This is what I have seen in many of the mentor/trainee relationships this year so on behalf of the SCITT, thank you to all of you that have mentored trainees both in this and previous years.
…and in case you’re wondering, when I trained to teach, all those years ago, I had two excellent mentors and the “face” comment in my first school provoked much hilarity across my department and the wider staff. And I learnt to enjoy parents’ evenings…
