Teacher Mentor programme
Teaching can be challenging, and it can seem particularly overwhelming when one is in the beginning of one's teaching career or entering a new teaching environment. During Hanken's Teacher Mentor programme, mentors (more experienced teachers) will provide guidance for their mentees (less experienced teachers) in different aspects of teaching and learning ranging from practicalities to deeper questions in teaching and pedagogy. At the same time, the mentor programme allows mentors to reflect on their current teaching practices and philosophy through discussions with their mentees.
The Teacher Mentor programme takes place each academic year with start in September. Application is open in May each year for both roles (mentors and mentees) and the mentorship pairs are matched during June. In the beginning of the programme, each pair creates their plan for the mentorship programme, discussing how often they are going to meet, which topics they want to cover, and what expectations they have so that the program is always tailor-made for each mentorship pairs' needs and interests. Read more about participation as a mentor or as a mentee below.
Participants in the pilot group shared their experiences from the Teacher Mentor programme during a TeachCafé: watch the recording (30 min) from here.
Application
Application to the programme is open yearly in May. A link to the application form is sent out in the Teaching Lab newsletter when application to the programme is open. The information provided in your application is used to match mentors and mentees. Thus, we would like to hear about your expectations for the programme.
Participate as a mentor
Hanken's Teacher Mentor program seeks experienced Hanken faculty members interested in sharing their teaching experiences and expertise with newer generations of teachers by becoming mentors. While you need to have a sufficient experience in teaching at Hanken, other teaching experience is considered to be a valuable asset as well. Before the start of the mentorship program, all mentors will be provided with a coaching session and materials on how to be a mentor.
All participants receive a certificate of participation from the program. As a mentor, you can earn 1 ECTS for participation in the Teacher Mentor program by completing a list of mandatory tasks. You can also participate in the program without earning study points.
Benefits for the mentor:
- Opportunity to reflect on your current teaching practices.
- Getting a fresh perspective on teaching from a newer generation of teachers.
- Being challenged about your own teaching practices (e.g., through questions about choices made in a particular teaching situation).
- Opportunity to help others do their best.
- Participating in active sharing of educational knowledge to improve the quality of teaching at Hanken.
Participate as a mentee
Mentees can be faculty members that have recently started their teaching careers, as well as PhD students who are interested in and participate actively in teaching. You can also be a mentee if you have some teaching experience already, but you are new at Hanken, or if you have had a longer break in teaching.
All participants receive a certificate of participation from the program. As a mentee, you can earn 2 ECTS for participation in the Teacher Mentor program by completing a list of mandatory tasks. You can also participate in the program without earning study points.
Benefits for the mentee:
- Professional development in teaching.
- Opportunity to gain personalized feedback on your teaching from a more experienced colleague.
- Improvement of confidence in teaching.
- Learning about Hanken's teaching culture, teaching environment, and available tools.
- Opportunity to ask teaching and career related questions.
- Opportunity to earn 2 ECTS
- Expanding/strengthening your professional network.