For several years I’ve been a mentor for new faculty members within my department and in other departments. The role of a faculty mentor involves collaborating with new teachers and administration, identifying areas for growth, setting action plans, conducting classroom observations, and analyzing student data to improve engagement and performance. I also have a master’s degree endorsement in instructional coaching. Schools with formally trained instructional coaches and mentor programs typically provide a better launchpad for new teachers as well as providing more resources for internal professional development.

The GROW model in instructional coaching stands for Goal, Reality, Options and Will Do. This approach is appealing because it encourages conversation to address specific challenges. It evaluates what’s been tried and it assesses the outcomes of those attempts. This process includes goal setting and mapping out realistic steps for progressing and defining success. The approach also includes asking big questions, such as: “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” This encourages asking and answering larger open ended questions. Lastly, once a development roadmap is established the GROW approach involves action items for next steps, establishing milestone goals, and performance indicators about whether the goals were met or exceeded. Similar to tailoring curriculum to individual student needs, instructional coaching can be tailored to support the onboarding of new teachers or to help existing faculty as an internal resource for professional development.