KOTESOL National Conference 2018
(Featured Workshop)
Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto,
Director, International Teacher Development Institute and Co-author of Let’s Go
Michael Griffin, The ELT Workshop
Mentoring Without Borders
Abstract
In the past, teacher mentoring programs were largely face-to-face pairings of teacher educators and practicum students, or experienced and novice teachers in the same school, and the focus was largely on building classroom skills. With ever-increasing opportunities for practicing teachers to engage in professional development online, a more recent challenge for mentoring programs is to help teachers become effective learners, too.
Mentoring is still a process in which one colleague supports another’s personal and professional development, but the needs of mentees, the experience of mentors, and the locations where these relationships develop are constantly evolving with both the growth of social networks and the involvement of growing numbers of teachers from developing countries or low-resource contexts.
When communities of practice focused on teacher development are online and open to teachers around the world, members are often at very different stages in their professional growth, and in their ability to make effective use of online training opportunities. The role of teacher mentor has shifted from being the source of knowledge to becoming a coach for learning.
Presenters will share from their experiences educating and mentoring teachers, and teacher-mentors, especially in online communities. The techniques that we have found to be successful in empowering teachers to become more confident educators, leaders, and mentors themselves will be useful for anyone participating in education training programs in both face-to-face?and virtual settings.
Biographicals
Michael Griffin has been involved in teacher education since 2009 and has developed and run teacher training and mentor training courses. He’s been teaching on the New School MATESOL program since 2010. He became involved in iTDI after hearing Chuck Sandy discuss it at the KOTESOL International Conference in 2011.
Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto has been training since the mid-80s, and has worked with teachers in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. She organizes online courses for the International Teacher Development Institute and supports mentors working with teachers in the iTDi community.
See the list of Presentations at the KOTESOL 2018 National Conference
