The cheek of it

[MontytheMoose]

Having a bit of a rant on here.

I have been mentoring pgce students for many years, including the last four years at my current school. I don’t mind doing it, even though it’s unpaid because I get a bit of slack in my timetable.

Today, my hod suggested that he wants me to continue next term but I may not be able to give any of my classes over to the student. In other words, I would do all the mentoring in my ppa time and write all the bloody reports without actually seeing them teach and with no benefits for me.

I mean WTAF?! He thinks I am being unreasonable for telling him I don’t want to do the job anymore. I don’t even get paid for it.

Why doesn't he want them to take one of your classes?

It’s more about the subject he wants to request from the college. I teach a certain discipline and if he requests another one, there will be no opportunities for me to give any of my classes.

I think you are quite right to say no. You can suggest that it would be better for the student to be mentored by one of the teachers he or she will be working closely with. I don't think that the student needs to take all the mentors' classes and in fact should work with other teachers, but completing all the mentoring in your PPA time with no give elsewhere is completely ridiculous.

Well then, the person whose classes the student will be taking needs to take on the mentoring role. If they are experienced enough to be handing over classes to a student, they should be capable of mentoring. if not, maybe your HOD needs to step up?

You can’t mention a PGCR student who doesn’t have a few of your lessons, it just doesn’t work! You need to see them teach on a regular basis to be able to offer advice and watch them develop relationships with students.

Then he needs to find a mentor in that discipline! You're right, you need to see them teach.

Is he requesting eg Physics with a view to potential recruitment? I can see the point of it. But he hasn't really thought it through!

The students don’t take all my lessons. I try to spread them round the department fairly so that they get a range of teaching styles.

He has an agenda to get them to take his lessons and can only do that by suggesting a particular discipline of the subject.

Well, the solution is obvious then!

Or that’s just me being cynical...

Haha! It is obvious! However, if you are in the delegation game, maybe not so!!

I was in a large department and I supposedly worked with everyone. I delivered one week’s lessons to one of my mentor’s classes and was observed a couple of other times over the two terms.

I would not recommend it.

If you have slack in your timetable then surely you are not mentoring in your ppas...?

You haven’t read my post properly Rachie. When a student takes my class it gives me a bit of slack. I am obviously in the room but I am not teaching as such. I mentor in my free periods, which I give up for no remuneration.
I put a great deal of effort into mentoring and being supportive to student teachers, giving written feedback every lesson.

Do you realise that your school receives £££ (from the student teacher’s uni, paid for by their hard-earned fees) ? At the least this should be put towards any cover costs.

I’m not even that bothered about the money. I’ve been doing it for years. What pisses me off is I’m expected to do it without the student actually taking a couple of my classes. So, I do all the mentoring out of goodwill in my frees on a jam packed timetable and he benefits. I was made to feel totally unreasonable for getting my back up.

I did this and was always conscientious with all the coaching, observations, reports etc., knowing that the £500 for each would go to my Faculty. I was on a tt of 38/50, but it was part of what contributed to my breakdown with WRS

Sorry to hear that gazillion. Hope you have recovered now.

Say no! The students need to be mentored by the teacher(s) they’re actually working with. If you’re the lead mentor for the school then you can be named as their mentor and sign off the reports and so on, but you can’t take on the full role without having some release time.

Monty I understand now. When I did PGCE mentoring, the student quite often didn't have one of my classes, just how it worked out. I had 1 extra "free" for mentoring though (not that it was, cos I was mentoring, but you get the point!)