Uncommon Habits

I am passionate about mentorship! I have been fortunate to develop mentorship relationships with multiple dynamic educational leaders since 2015. I have a made a habit of regularly meeting with three mentors and have others that I meet with based on their particular expertise.

This is uncommon. 

Especially in the world of education. On numerous occasions, when fellow teachers or leaders learn that I proactively seek out mentors to learn from, they’re surprised and say things like, “Really?!? Why do you do that and when do you have the time?” This gives me an opportunity to explain the benefits I derive from mentorship. 

Mentorship is a prominent concept in both business and leadership literature. However, for a variety of reasons, this doesn’t always translate to schools. Beyond mentorship programs for first year teachers, seeking out mentors seems to be rare for most educators. It is more common for principals and heads of schools to have mentors than teachers and support positions. For example, a recent episode of the Heads Up Podcast by ISC Research brought up the importance of mentors for international school leaders. But, mentorship isn’t just for leaders, what value would it add to schools if teachers had mentors in the roles they aspired to (ie. expert teachers, support positions, curriculum designers or leaders)? Taking this a step further, what if mentorship systems were weaved into the very fibers of school cultures like they are at Amazon?

Mentorship and School Culture

Education literature is clear that mentorship for positional leaders and teacher leaders is valuable and can benefit school culture (Barth, 2002; Bush & Glover, 2014; McKay et al., 2018). It’s helpful for schools to understand that mentorship is a two way street, benefitting both mentee and mentor. Therefore with the proper mentorship program, advantages for leaders, teachers, whole schools, and their communities abound. 

Questions For Mentors

Before I meet with mentors, I send a few questions related to their experiences, work, and ways that I’m looking to level up. Here are some of my current favorite questions & discussion points to use with mentors. 

General Questions: 

• What are you passionate about? 
• Who are your mentors and what have you learned from them? 
• Tell me about the most difficult day in your current role. 
• What are your favorite resources to use to learn about cutting edge content in your industry? 
• What is your definition of positive organizational culture and which organizations have you experienced with the best ones? 

Leadership Questions: 

• What are the most exciting strategic initiatives that your organization is working on?  
• Who are some of the best people that you’ve hired? How did you convince them to join your team? 
• What do the best organizations do to keep the best people? 
• In your experience, what are the best mental health supports that organizations offer their staff? 
• Tell me about a time when your leadership instincts were right and a time they were wrong. 

Education Specific Questions: 

• What are the qualities of the most dynamic & impactful leaders in schools that you have encountered?
• Education experts say that 2 international schools open everyday around the world. In an increasingly diverse and competitive international schools market, what are the best schools doing to set themselves apart? 
• How do you lead change in schools where a critical mass of staff are resistant to change? 
• What is your philosophy on the use of AI in schools?
  

Learning from mentors is a powerful renewable opportunity to soak in their experience as a catalyst for growth. If you haven’t already, reach out to a mentor, you’ll be glad that you did! 

For more information on the value of mentors and how to build a mentorship relationship read my original article: The “Mentorship Mindset”. I am looking forward to adding to this series in the coming years as I continue to grow in mentorship.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Visit my Connect Page to get in touch. 

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah

References

Amazon (2023). Amazon VP Beth Galetti on how Amazon employees contribute to their co-workers’ success. 

Barth, R. S. (2002). Learning By Heart. John Wiley & Sons.

Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: What do we know? School Leadership & Management, 34(5), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Heads Up Podcast (2023). Navigating challenges within international school leadership (timestamp: 36:30).

McKay, S. R., Millay, L., Allison, E., Byerssmall, E., Wittmann, M. C., Flores, M., Fratini, J., Kumpa, B., Lambert, C., Pandiscio, E. A., & Smith, M. K. (2018). Investing in Teachers’ Leadership Capacity: A Model from STEM Education, 27(1).