Describe your action plan and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.
My capstone project encompasses the creation of a mentorship portfolio and program for elementary general music teachers who are hired in the Billings school district. The fine arts education coordinator will electronically share the portfolio with each new hire. The program will involve a mentor teacher paired with the new teacher (mentee) and include specific expectations for meetings, information to discuss, observations, etc. The mentorship portfolio and program will initially be implemented during the 2024-2025 school year and then revised as needed for future years according to ongoing feedback gathered from the mentor, mentee, and fine arts education coordinator.
Diversity, Equity, and Cultural Competency, Explore and Challenge Inequity - The mentorship portfolio will provide consistent information to every newly hired teacher. The mentorship program will address the inequity of years of teaching experience by allowing the program to be flexible based on the needs and wants of the newly hired teacher (i.e., a first year teacher may desire a higher level of mentorship than a mid-career or seasoned teacher). Therefore, although the mentorship program will include specific guidelines and parameters for the mentor teacher to follow, it may be catered to the specific needs and wants of each mentee. By serving as a mentor teacher myself, I will purposely promote equitable practices between myself and the mentee by ensuring that each newly hired teacher receives what they desire to help them work toward becoming effective practitioners.
Instructional Leadership Competency, Coaching and Mentoring - By creating a mentorship portfolio and program for newly hired elementary general music teachers, I will be promoting an environment where trust and respect may be developed between the new teacher and a mentor teacher while fostering the development of colleagues. By serving as a mentor myself, I will be guiding colleagues to make their own professional decisions by asking the mentee appropriate questions and encouraging reflection during the regular meetings and scheduled observations.
Overarching Competency, Personal Effectiveness - Designing a mentorship portfolio and program will capitalize upon my passion to increase teacher recruitment and retention for elementary general music teachers in my district while developing my organizational and leadership skills. Through respectful and thorough collaboration with a variety of colleagues, I will gather diverse insights to create an in-depth product that may be continually updated upon input from all stakeholders.
Overarching Competency, Adult Learning - The implementation of the mentorship portfolio and program will provide a variety of methods for adult learners to grow professionally (i.e., individual research done by the mentee through exploration of the mentorship portfolio, one-on-one, regularly scheduled meetings between the mentor and mentee, two-way observations between the mentor and the mentee). By assigning a mentor to each newly hired elementary general music teacher, the expertise of the mentor teacher will be valuable in guiding the mentee and promoting student success.
How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?
My leadership will leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders in a variety of ways. I will ensure the opinions and ideas of all stakeholders are gathered using a variety of methods (e.g., online surveys, group conversations, one-on-one interviews). Then the data will be carefully considered to determine the scope and contents of the mentorship portfolio and program.
How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?
I will collaborate with my elementary general music teacher colleagues, non-music elementary specialist teachers and the district fine arts education coordinator. Upon gathering data through group surveys and conversations with the other elementary general music teachers during PLC, I will use questioning during one-on-one interviews with a non-tenured elementary general music teacher and the fine arts director to further refine the scope and contents of the mentorship portfolio and program. Once the data has been gathered and refined, then I will reflect upon the feedback from others and my original ideas to create the mentorship portfolio and program.
How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?
Any obstacles I encounter in implementing my plan will be addressed through respectful communication and thoughtful consideration. I don't anticipate many obstacles while creating a mentorship portfolio and program since there is a general consensus among my colleagues and supervisor that this is much needed within my district. However, if I do experience an obstacle, I will be sure to talk it through with the applicable people and use collaboration to further explore the obstacle and creativity to deduce a pathway around it.
How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?
After creating the initial mentorship portfolio and program, I will seek out feedback from the current elementary general music teachers and the fine arts eduction coordinator. They will be given the opportunity to suggest changes and voice concerns before the implementation of the mentorship portfolio and program. I will also have the mentors and mentees complete a Google Form survey half way through the school year and at the end of the school year in order to gather input on how the mentorship portfolio and program may be positively changed for future years.
Artifact #7: Empathy Interview Questions and Responses from district fine arts education coordinator
Artifact #8: Empathy Interview Questions and Responses from non-tenured elementary general music teacher
Artifact #9: Finalized Capstone Project Action Plan