Dimensions of Mentoring
'Going Beyond Minimal Standards'
What To Expect
As you prioritise time and space to examine the difference you make, you invest in your wellbeing and raise the level of your job satisfaction. By validating explanations of your practice, you will increase your sense of balance and agency and bring greater meaning and purpose to your role of mentor.
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Getting close to your daily work
If you are a mentor who finds yourself increasingly busy, we provide a non-threatening and supportive space for you to pause and reflect. We guide you to extract valuable insights from your recent conversations and observations.
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Charting your educational influence
By seamlessly shifting between the broader cultural context and your personal experiences, our tools lead you to recognise key attributes integral to the Cycle of Growth. The critical analysis offers breadth and depth. You'll contemplate the notion of productive and unproductive spaces as you reflect on your experience of mentoring relationships.
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Commit to act with fresh intent
Each stage of the process has been crafted to equip you to become more alert and more aware in your mentoring relationships, so that you can adapt in real-time, and be responsive to emergent needs in the moment.
Want to know more?
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The Motivation
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An Engine Room For Learning
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to use the tools?
You can use the tools on any laptop, pc, tablet or smartphone.
What about time – how and when do I find time to reflect?
We appreciate the relentless demands of a school day. The FITS tools can be used at a time to suit you and are designed to fit in with your schedule. We recommend school leaders provide teachers with a dedicated block of non-contact time to ensure maximum value is gleaned from each reflection.
The reflections takes approximately 30 – 40 minutes. A progress bar at the top of the screen helps to track your progress.
Keep the momentum going for as long as possible. When concentration wanes, take a break to process your experience and resume later. We've integrated a pause and resume function that allows you to save your progress, log off and return to your reflection when convenient. (Although, because your reflection focuses on a specific lesson from your timetable, we advise you resume before your memory fades.)
What sets the FITS tools apart?
The FITS tools are designed to foster thoughtful
engagement. They probe your experience, your interactions, your values, your context, and your knowledge. The FITS tools give you space to think for yourself - and permission to be curious.
As you interact with the prompts, you'll notice that some of your responses will be immediate, tied to vivid memories. Others will
encourage you to take your time, prompting deeper contemplation as you search
for a considered response.
The prompts are grounded in Dr Warren’s research and
experience.
I have quite a strong accent, what if the transcript is hard to make sense of?
The default setting for the software is British English
and is typically accurate. To preserve the integrity of your responses, audio is presented alongside the text giving you the option to play back your responses.
Can I share specific responses with a mentee or colleague?
Of course! You have the option to share extracts if you choose to. This offers substantial material for meaningful, professional conversations. Alternatively,
you can add evidence of your insights and learning to your personal, reflective journal.
Can I purchase more than a single reflection?
Yes, you have the option to buy a 'Mini Bundle' of 6 reflections or invest in a 'Mighty Bundle' that gives you access to 25 reflections.
Will opting for a bundle save me money?
Yes, indeed. The 'Mini Bundle' offers a 10% discount, while
the 'Mighty Bundle' provides even greater value with a 20% discount.
How does that translate into prices?
A single reflection costs £23. The 'Mini Bundle' of 6 reflections is priced at £124.20 (unit price £20.70).
The 'Mighty Bundle' of 25 reflections is available for just £460. That drops the cost to £18.40 per unit.
So the Mighty Bundle is the best value?
Yes, the 'Mighty Bundle' empowers you to make the most of our discounted bundle of 25 reflections. This provides a versatile range of options to create tailored solutions for diverse professional needs across the entire school or multi-academy trust.
What advantages come with investing in a Mini Bundle?
There are two main benefits:
Firstly, our 'Mini Bundle' of 6 reflections is thoughtfully
designed to conveniently address an individual’s Professional Development needs throughout the entire year.
You might choose to use a specific tool throughout,
and may even decide to restrict coverage to a single teaching group to compare
and contrast your initial responses with those that follow. Each half-term,
you'll have a resource at your disposal.
And Secondly?
If you're working as part of a team, our 'Mini Bundle' of 6 provides each team member with the opportunity to independently collect data on specific
priorities. You might collectively choose a particular tool that directly addresses a priority issue you're focusing on.
Can you provide reassurance about GDPR?
Certainly, rest assured that we are fully GDPR compliant.
This ensures that you can focus on enhancing your ability to analyse and
articulate your thoughts, while effortlessly sharing insights with others.
While pupils won't directly contribute to FITS, they will be the primary focus of your responses. To maintain confidentiality, we advise you avoid using pupils' (or colleagues') full names; initials or codes will suffice. For more
details, refer to our policy document.