Mentoring in Schools with Haili Hughes

In this episode of Mind the Gap, Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner welcome Haili Hughes, an English teacher, Head of Department, teacher mentor, and author of the new book, Mentoring in Schools: How to become an expert colleague.

To start off the episode (1:59), Haili describes what inspired her to write the book. She noticed there wasn’t much literature on mentoring as a practice; nothing that bridged the theory and practice. She decided to write a book that educators could reference again and again. She also describes how she used focus groups to get teachers’ voices directly involved in developing the content. Haili also talks about (8:59) the Early Career Framework, addressing the concerns some educators feel with the framework and giving her perspective on how it can be used properly.  

Tom also shares a story from early in his career, describing the lack of mentoring he received (15:20), which leads into a practical discussion about how to set up mentoring in schools. How often should teachers meet with their mentors and what should they discuss? Later, Emma discusses the many hats educators wear (23:30) and how trying out different roles is the best way to determine your own unique strengths. Tom, Emma and Haili also discuss the challenges educators face, their own work with schools nationwide, and much more. 

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