Assessment 1: Mentoring Scenario

By: Evan Houghton

Task: Students analyse their workplace context and outline a scenario for a workplace mentoring program that will form the basis for assessment two.

Introduction:

This document aims to articulate the analysis of my workplace context and outline a scenario for a workplace mentoring program. To do this, I will take a science-inspired, theoretical blended approach, which will help form the framework and basis for further development.

To begin, it is important first to acknowledge that traditional definitions of mentoring are losing traction (Mullen & Klimaitis, 2021). This may be due to educational institutions and learning environments evolving into a modernised and technologised society. Furthermore, they also describe mentoring theories and frameworks as a “complex definitional terrain, which equity, inclusiveness, and social justice are tenets” (Mullen & Klimaitis, 2021, p.19)”. This captures the importance of utilising scientific theories and frameworks when designing a mentoring program, as mentoring can be vastly different from other developmental relationships and needs to be properly understood (Mullen & Klimaitis, 2021).

The workplace context:

Currently, I am employed full-time as a vocational education and training (VET) teacher working in a government high school setting. The course I have been given permission to teach from the Victorian Institute of Teaching, is a Certificate III in Engineering Studies, endorsed by an external registered training organisation (RTO). This entails delivering one unit or elective for two year ten classes and a full, two year program for year eleven and twelve students, enrolled in the course. Our school currently offers seven different types of VET subjects, including a Certificate II in Music, Business and Furniture Making, Certificate III in Information, Digital Media & Technology, Sport & Recreation and Community Services (Hume Central Secondary College, 2024). At this current time, the high school has over two hundred staff members, which includes eight VET teachers and one VET leader. These social and organisational arrangements are critically important, as working as a VET teacher in this large and complex setting can feel isolating, especially when belonging to a small minority group.

The problem I have identified within my workplace context is the lack of professional networking available for VET teachers practicing in a government high school setting. By drawing from Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory, organisational site agencies, including the social and material networks can be explored (Fenwick and Edwards, 2010). An actor-network theory takes the approach of allowing us to see how things interact, behave and become accepted as the norm (Fenwick & Edwards, 2010). In addition, Stephen Kemmis’s theory of practice architecture, introduces workplace arrangements as embedded in the site of a practice. Reflecting back to my workplace context, these arrangements can either enable or constrain the praxis of a VET teacher, such as the sayings, doings and relating of a work environment (Francisco, 2021).

Proposed mentoring program:

The mentoring program I see appropriate to address the identified problem encompasses Higgins and Krams's inspired developmental network model. As this mentoring model recognises a protégé’s or mentor’s support being received from a network of people rather than from a single person (Chandler et al., 2016). In this instance, the protégé identifies the mentees and developers, which allows them to transcend past organisational boundaries as well as potentially creating formal and/or informal mentoring networks (Chandler et al., 2016, as cited in Alston & Hansman, 2021). By utilising a developmental network model approach to mentoring, theory-driven frameworks and concepts can be used to influence the mentoring program's design at all developmental stages.

The key stakeholders and identified roles include:

 VET Teachers - Mentee

 VET leaders - Mentor

 Industry Professionals – Mentor

 Learning Specialist – Mentor

 RTO Consultants – Organisational Stakeholder

 Principle Class – Organisational Stakeholder

 Department of Education - Organisational Stakeholder

The roles of each stakeholder will vary, but they will also have very different seats at the discussion table. On a micro-level, the mentee gets to choose from a list of VET teachers, leaders, industry professionals and learning specialists. The role of each of these mentors will be to unmask potential areas for improvement and provide clear career developmental support. Discussions on the table include teaching pedagogies, organisational arrangements, and materialistic and socialistic relationships. The role of the organisational stakeholders will be to discuss education-based policies, VET teaching requirements, including arrangements to formalise and grow the program. Discussions off the table for the organisational stakeholders will include personal and career aspirations disclosed during the mentee and mentor relationship, unless it is appropriate to do so.

Rationale:

The proposed mentoring program addresses the identified problem by allowing the mentor to openly discuss worksite nuances as well as what works (Alston and Hansman, 2021). By including the frameworks from Latour’s actor-network theory and Kemmis’s practice architecture theory, this allows for a scientific approach to broaden and be made.

Reflecting on the VET teachers practice, Dickie and his associates (2004, as cited in, Choy et.al, 2017) describe the multifaceted and complex role of a VET teacher as having a dual identity. Further described as an industry and educational professional. By including an industry professional in the mentoring program, career and education-related projects can be discussed, assisting the VET teachers' educational practice.

Conclusion:

When designing a mentoring program, it’s critically important to take a theoretical-based approach to the contextual analysis and further mentor planning. These models, theories and frameworks can help guide this process to uncover issues and opportunities that may arise during the mentorship program.

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of my specific workplace context and propose a mentoring scenario that addresses both a specific need as well as the evolving definition of mentoring. As a full-time VET teacher in a government high school, the limited opportunities for professional networking has allowed me to explore Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory and apply it to Higgins and Krams's developmental network model. Combined, this theory and model addresses the lack of networking by providing open communication and allowing opportunities for individual improvement and career development.

References:

Alston, G. D., & Hansman, C. A. (2021). Mentoring in Adult and Continuing Education. In T. S. Rocco (Ed.), The Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education (1st ed., pp. 107–116). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447849-14

Chandler, D. E., Murphy, W. M., Kram, K. E., Higgins, M. C., Mangiante, E., Peno, K., & Kenahan, R. (2016). BRIDGING FORMAL AND INFORMAL MENTORING A Developmental Network Perspective (pp. 1–20). Information Age Publishing-Iap.

Choy, S., Hodge, S., Grootenboer, P., & Edwards-Groves, C. (2017). Teaching Practice in Australian Vocational Education and Training: A Practice Theory Analysis. In Practice Theory Perspectives on Pedagogy and Education (pp. 157–173). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3130-4_8

Fenwick, T. J., & Edwards, R. (2010). Actor-network theory in education (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203849088

Francisco, S. (2020). Developing a trellis of practices that support learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 42(1), 102–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2018.1562439

Hume Central Secondary College. (2024) Curriculum. Hume Central Secondary College. https://www.humecentralsc.vic.edu.au/curriculum-2/

Mullen, C. A., & Klimaitis, C. C. (2021). Defining mentoring: a literature review of issues, types, and applications. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1483(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14176