This Active Life -- November 2002

Cover Story

Mentoring a New Generation

You made education your cause--not just your career. Here's how retired members retain the spark as they guide a new generation of educators.

By John O'Neil

Laura Kirchner became a teacher for the same reason most people do--to make a difference in the lives of children.

Now retired, she continues to touch lives--but as a mentor to a new generation of educators learning their way toward becoming teachers.

"It's definitely a cause of mine," says Kirchner, who taught in Louisville, Kentucky, for 31 years before retiring last year. "You go into teaching because you want students to have the best possible experience. When you retire, mentoring new teachers is a great way to reach students by supporting the new ones."

Don't doubt how much novice teachers need you. Twenty percent of new teachers leave the profession within three years; in some urban districts, close to 50 percent of newcomers leave within five years, says Linda James of the NEA Department of Teacher Quality. As many quit, "new teacher mentoring is the one thing that keeps people in the profession."

Kirchner, who mentors educators teaching on an emergency basis as they earn their credentials, has a very personal reason for doing so.

"I began teaching with an emergency certificate back in 1968 during our first big teacher shortage," she says. "I came into the classroom after two years of college, and I had a terribly rough time. But some other experienced teachers took me under their wing and really helped me."

Kirchner soon established herself in the classroom and in her local, and when she became president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA), she made addressing the problems faced by new teachers a priority.

Kirchner now participates in the project she helped get off the ground. A partnership of JCTA and the Jefferson County Public Schools, the "RENEW" project (Retired Educators Nurturing Early Educators Well) links approximately 60 retired teachers with more than 100 newcomers with emergency credentials. The district pays for the program's coordinator, who is housed at the JCTA office, as well as the $20 per hour stipend to the retirees.

Kathy Jo Pullen, who mentors at Farnsley Middle School, says the teachers she worked with last year "absolutely loved the program." She helped the novice teachers develop systems for dealing with paperwork and also served "as a shoulder to cry on," she says.

In addition to showing new teachers tricks of the trade, Kirchner says she and other retired teachers offer something else: a perspective, honed by years of reflecting on life in schools, about how to survive those crazy first few years. That's just as important as a lesson plan to newcomers, who often are overwhelmed by the paperwork, the demands of administrators or parents, and the long hours.

"I tell the people I work with that they need to work hard, but they have to have some fun, too, and they should try not to take it home with them," says Kirchner. Experts say that such encouragement can help make the difference between a new teacher who sticks it out to become an accomplished professional and one who quits.

Like many mentor programs that involve retirees, the Jefferson County program focuses on providing support, not evaluation of performance. (Others carry out the formal evaluations.) The distinction is critical, because new teachers say they need a friend and coach with whom they can be completely candid.

"The new teachers like having someone they can discuss problems with, without any fear of an evaluation," says Su Lively, president of the Hampton (Virginia) Education Association (HEA), which launched a mentor program using retired teachers last year.

HEA's program, which grew to involve about 20 mentors and 60 novice teachers last year, is supported by the HEA, the Virginia Education Association (VEA), VEA-Retired, and NEA-Retired, as well as the local school district and universities. A grant from NEA-Retired, in addition to an NEA Urban Initiative Grant and a grant from the NEA Teacher Quality Department, helped to jump-start the program.

Ruthann Kellum, former president of the HEA, was instrumental in launching the program. Kellum says retired mentors:

• Bolster confidence. By talking it out with a veteran, new teachers realize the issues they're facing are shared by most novices. Mentors "help these people hang in there and alleviate their frustration," says Kellum.
• Serve as advocates. New teachers often are afraid to make waves, or pepper their colleagues with questions. Without support from a mentor, they may suffer in silence. A mentor "helps them see that if something isn't working properly, they can ask questions."
• Offer practical strategies and tips. With so many teachers pressured to prepare students for tests, newcomers face even greater pressure to organize and deliver the curriculum. Mentors "can help to prepare lesson plans, offer tips for teaching particular concepts, and help new teachers with daily organizational skills," says Kellum.

Bettyrene Pope, who serves as a mentor in the Hampton program, says their work begins before the school year starts, when she helps her mentees plan lessons and get the classroom organized. She remains in close contact with the teachers she helps throughout the year.

Pope's guidance "made a huge difference," says Amy Link, a second- year teacher who was one of Pope's mentees last year. "She provided an unbiased opinion; I knew that if I talked to her about something, it wouldn't get back to everyone," she adds.

For her part, Pope says that Link blossomed during their year together. "She developed more confidence. She knew from the start what she wanted to do, but she needed to figure out how to get from point A to point B. I helped her through the rough patches."

The program had other benefits as well. About one-half of the mentors, who had not been members of VEA-Retired or NEA-Retired, joined during the year, says Kellum.

Helping Them Early

What better way to recharge your batteries than to work with energetic teachers-to-be? That's one of the benefits for Illinois retired members participating in an innovative program linking the Illinois Education Association (IEA) Council of Retirees and the IEA Student Program.

The program, now in its fifth year, was designed to build a bridge between student and retired IEA/NEA members, says Marietta McManus, the retired liaison to the program. Close to 100 retired mentors are available, and they are matched with students seeking a mentor. The mentoring relationship continues until the participating student graduates.

"We talk with them about real-life experiences in their courses or student teaching--student behavior, scheduling, or dealing with the principal," says Keith Hauge, one of the mentors. Mentors meet face-to- face but also continue the relationship via phone or e-mail. Working with those about to step out into the teaching force "really energizes you."

Annemarie Riphagen, a former student member who chaired the program last year, says students benefit from "the kind of information you won't get in your university methods classes."

Jennifer Weter, vice chairperson of the IEA student program, says her mentor, Jerry Abern, helped her think through a tricky course assignment. "I had to write a paper on my teaching philosophy, and I had no idea what I was going to write about," she says. "I talked to Jerry and he asked me the right questions about experiences that I've had in the classroom as a student, and we used those to formulate what I would and would not do as a teacher."

The Iowa State Education Association-Retired program (ISEA-R) and the student program are teaming up to create an intergenerational mentoring program, says Barb Cunningham, ISEA Retired Committee Chair. The program targets college seniors headed for student teaching, she says. The program, which received grant support from NEA-Retired, will kick off this year.

"New teachers still need the ear of an experienced teacher," she says, "and retired teachers can listen, talk, and advise. We give ideas, motivate, and spark the new teacher."

For Hauge, mentoring the new generation of teachers means reconnecting with the calling that first drew him into teaching.

"You have to have a purpose or a cause in life,"he says. "Mentoring is another way of sharing your expertise. It keeps you alive."

Support is No TALL Order for Minnesota Retirees

When teachers retire, too often they take their vast knowledge and skills with them out the door, says Tom Siebold.

"We're celebrated by our colleagues and parents, but there's no exit interview, no real tapping of our experience," Siebold says.

That's changing, thanks to programs such as Teachers as Learners & Leaders (TALL), an innovative project launched by Education Minnesota in which retirees play an integral part. A group of about 30 retired teachers, Siebold among them, serve on a TALL support team, training local "professional development activists" in an effort to strengthen staff development programs statewide.

Education Minnesota launched TALL in 2001, with the support of a Best Practices grant from the state department of children and families. One of the program's aims is to work with school districts and local unions to create high-quality professional development programs that reflect current research. Last year, more than 70 percent of the local unions in the state participated.

Retired teachers participating on the support team receive training to hone their skills in working with groups. Then they go out in pairs to provide training to the professional development activists around the state, says Sara Gjerdrum of Education Minnesota. They address such topics as the knowledge base for professional learning. Each support team member also serves as a contact for 20 or more locals to answer questions or facilitate their work.

Sue Greenberg, a former local president and support team member, says she sees teachers taking charge of their professional growth. In one local, two members who received the training asked their administration if they could plan the district staff development day. They were initially rebuffed but kept pushing and finally got the go-ahead. "I talked to them afterward, and they said it was the best day they ever had," Greenberg says.

"For me, the revolutionary thing about TALL is not its content, it's the fact that it fully integrates retired teachers," says Siebold. "The passion that brought us into education to begin with is still aflame."

--J.O.

Why You're Needed

Across the nation, more than 2.2 million teachers will be needed in the next 10 years because of teacher attrition, retirement, and student enrollment.

Odds are, some of them will be working in a school near you.

If you think you may be interested in sharing your know-how with newer teachers or teacher candidates, here are a few suggestions:

• Check with your local and state Associations for existing mentoring programs that tap retired teachers. If such programs do not exist, or if they do not involve retired teachers, you might suggest creating a program and get involved in setting one up.
• Consider contacting a local principal, such as the principal at the school you worked in, to see how you can help new teachers.
• Find out what kind of orientation your district provides to newcomers. Volunteer to take part in summer orientations or to serve as a contact to handle questions and calls from new teachers during the school year.
• Work with your local Association or with individual active teachers to secure grants to support classroom innovation or mentoring activities. The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE), for example, gives more than 300 small grants each year to active members, so you'll need to develop your ideas in concert with your local active colleagues. (For more information about NFIE grants, go to www.nfie.org or call 202/822-7840.)