LITTLE THREAD ABOUT MENTORS Been thinking a lot about the importance of informal mentors. When I was a student, I always sought out that kind of relationship from teachers, and I’ve tried to make myself available as one since I’ve been the teacher. It’s really formative.

As a Y8, our English teacher would let us come over to her room for lunch once a week to chat about Shakespeare and life and her family and our school. I idolised our A Level Sociology teacher, who always really listened and helped to not take things too seriously.

My in-school mentor in my teacher training year was exactly what was needed - fully human, always up for a chat, compassionate and willing to vent with me about the hilarious frustration of being a novice.

Where certain kids from my first classes needed more time, the school was supportive in funding teachers to tutor 1:1, and it quickly became clear that the social rapport was as powerful (at least) as the extra practice. I still sort-of-mentor a few of these now they’re 17.

I wrote this thing about mentoring a few years ago, but it’s just hit me now that I have always tried to seek out mentors and that I’ve always been keen to position myself as one. https://www.teachwire.net/news/marxist-canoeing It has quietly shaped my approach to teaching and to life.

This article shares some context for youth/child mentoring, as well as raising some of the critical pitfalls (around power, gender and deficit positioning) - https://infed.org/mobi/mentoring-and-young-people/

There’s some interesting reading here from @CollectivED1 about mentoring (and coaching) in the professional context - http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/5253/1/CollectivEd%20Dec%202017%20Issue%201.pdf