approach may do so for several reasons. They may determine the teacher being advised is functioning at a moderate level. The teacher demonstrates the ability to make effective decisions, but may not have the confidence to implement actions with authority. Additionally or alternatively, the mentor may determine the teacher’s knowledge base is similar to his or her own and both mentor and teacher are invested in the decision being considered. Often, when a collaborative approach is used, both the mentor and the teacher are equally committed to solving the problem. A collaborative approach requires the mentor and teacher openly discuss possible solutions and reach an agreed-upon decision regarding how to improve instruction that is genuinely acceptable with both parties. As a result the teacher is affirmed in his or her ideas about teaching.


When an effective mentor determines the teacher is functioning at a high level and possesses most of the knowledge and expertise necessary to be effective, he or she will often choose to use a non-directive supervisory approach. In doing so the mentor will start by asking open-ended questions to guide the teacher’s thinking, but decision- making and implementation remains the sole responsibility of the teacher. The mentor will not interject ideas, but only clarify the thoughts or ideas provided by the teacher. The goal of this approach is to assist the educator in thinking through alternatives that help the teacher reach his or her own conclusions.


Developmentally Appropriate Mentoring Matching a teacher’s developmental level (Fuller & Bown, 1975) with a specific supervisory approach (Glickman, 1985) is likely to provide the most effective mentoring outcomes for all involved. This suggests a directive approach would be most effective for teachers operating at a self-concerns level. At this point, mentor feedback should not only provide solutions to immediate issues, but also help direct the teacher’s concerns away from self and more toward teaching. As teaching concerns become the educator’s primary focus, mentoring should change to a more collaborative approach. As the mentor and teacher work together to find answers to the issues at hand, effective mentors steer conversations away from teaching concerns and focus on student learning. In effect,


ala breve


mentors model this concern for the teacher. As the teacher’s concerns become centered on student learning, the effective mentor moves to a non-directive approach, coaching the teacher as he or she makes decisions for themselves. In general, as teachers become increasingly aware of their impact, they are provided greater autonomy.


A note of caution is necessary at this point, because the process outlined above appears to suggest that effective mentoring is very systematic with teachers consistently moving from one concerns level to the next. Fuller and Bown note, however, that teacher development is not linear, but fluid, as teacher concerns tend to revolve rather than evolve depending upon context. Therefore, the mentoring approach must be fluid as well. Even if the mentoring approach has been non-directive, it is not uncommon to find it necessary to provide a directive approach when teachers are in new environments or have new information to apply to their teaching. Additionally, a teacher may be at different stages of development in different environments. For example, a young band director’s concerns may be focused on student learning in the concert ensemble, but due to lack of experience, he or she is self-concerned when working with a jazz ensemble. Effective mentors will match their supervisory approach to the developmental level demonstrated by the teacher at any given time. Mentors have had and will continue to have a tremendous effect on young music educators. When mentors effectively assess a teacher’s developmental level and match their supervisory approach to that assessment, they are likely to find their feedback and advice to be increasingly effective. The outcome will benefit many, but most importantly, students in music classrooms will be the primary beneficiaries of effective teacher mentoring.


References


Conway, C. (2010). Issues facing music teacher education in the 21st


century:


Developing leaders in the field. In H. S. Abeles & L. A. Custodero (Eds.), Critical issues in music education: Contemporary theory and practice, (pp. 259-275). New York: Oxford University Press.


Drafall, I. E. (1991). The use of developmental 39


clinical supervision with student teachers in secondary choral music: Two case studies. Available


Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 9210787)


Fuller, F. F. & Bown, O. H. (1975). Becoming a teacher. In K. Ryan (Ed.), Teacher education 74th


yearbook of the National


Society for the Study of Education, part II (pp. 25-52). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


Glickman, C. D. (1985). Supervision of instruction: A developmental approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.


Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P. & Ross- Gordon, J. M. (1995). Supervision of instruction: A developmental approach (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.


Killian, J. N., Dye, K. G. & Wayman, J. B. (2013). Music student teachers: Pre- student teaching concerns and post-student teaching perceptions over a 5-year period.


Journal of


Research in Music Education, 61(1), 63- 69.


Miksza, P. & Berg, M. (2013). A longitudinal study of preservice music teacher development: Application and advancement of the Fuller and Bown teacher concerns model. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(1), 44-62.


Powell, S. (2014). Examining preservice music teacher concerns in peer and field teaching settings. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(4), 361-378


Dr. Michael Raiber is a Professor of Music and holds the Busey Chair in Music Education at Oklahoma City University. .


from ProQuest


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