2019 California Induction Conference

It has never been more apparent that the need for highly capable and qualified teachers is a key goal for educational systems. How one supports another’s growth and builds capacity as effective problem-solvers and decision-makers does not happen by chance. It requires skills and knowledge that go beyond content expertise and begins with establishing and maintaining learning-focused relationships. Within that relationship the mentor balances three key functions: offering support, creating cognitive challenge, and facilitating professional vision to energize growth and learning.

One tool skilled mentors use is to navigate across a Continuum of Interaction to customize responses in developmentally and contextually appropriate ways for meeting the learning needs of novices. Within these learning-focused conversations, the Continuum increases novices’ capacity to learn from their teaching, while decreasing their dependency on their mentors.

This interactive session will describe each of the three functions and identify mentor moves and strategies for each as well as connections to the Continuum of Interaction. Participants will engage with the content through facilitated discussion, application of strategies and tools with scenarios, and identify goals for refining their own skills.